What? What?! WHAT?!!

OK, so it wasn't that big a surprise really. Still a bit sad though, 'cos David Tennant totally rocks the TARDIS. Her Babyship will be distraught, mind. She will be four by the time she sees it, so she may be able to understand the concept of regeneration. Although she'll probably just end up expecting her budgie to turn into a hamster when it drops off its perch.

Anyway, the matter in hand: the eleventh Doctor. There probably isn't an actor alive who hasn't been suggested for the role somewhere on the interweb, but why not join in, eh?

It's hard to pick someone who hasn't been in it recently: Anthony Giles Head or that bloke out of Hustle might be fun. Or for that matter, James Marsters does a decent cockney voice, and he was only in Torchwood, which doesn't count. Actually I don't think being in a previous ep should preclude anyone, although I think recasting a previous Master as the Doctor probably stretches that a bit. Which is a shame, because John Simm (did I mention I met him once?) would otherwise be perfect. (Although, imagine him looking in the mirror the first time after regenerating.... 'What? What!? WHAAAAT!!!!?' and then meeting Martha Jones again....)

Or, or: Philip Glenister! 'You great... soft... sissy... girlie... nancy... French... Man United supporting CYBERPOOF!!'

For laughs: Bill Bailey. For deadpan laughs: Jack Dee.

Now I'm not sure if it's possible for a Time Lord to become a Time Lady. I don't know enough about Time Lord physiology, never mind the social and relational difficulties that might ensue (although, with Russel T Davies also going, there is a possibility that any female Doctor may not still fancy Rose Tyler). But if there was a female Doc, it would simply have to be Billie. Dr 10's still unrequited love (insert technobabble here) makes him subconsciously turn himself into the dead spit of Rose.

No, I'm still into the Bill Bailey idea.

Tuesday Tunes v CSFF Blog Tour: Beyond the Reflection's Edge

Well, it would hardly be a blog tour without a Top Ten, so here we go: the Top Ten mirror-based songs:

10. Diana Ross & the Supremes - Reflections
I probably would have gone for the Four Tops' version in preference, but this was on mixwit.

9. Velvet Underground - I'll be Your Mirror
Taken from the album with the banana on the sleeve.

8. Human League - Mirror Man
Ah, the New Romantics....

7. Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror
Now I don't normally watch The X Factor once all the weirdos have been laughed out of the auditions, but I did like this song the other night. So that's my British telly reference for the tour covered...

6. UB40 - Looking Down at My Reflection
And here are my white Brummies doing reggae.

5. The Kinks - Mirror of Love
Not vintage Ray, from the Rock Opera Preservation.

4. Hawkwind - Mirror of Illusion
There's always a spot for Hawkwind in my Top Tens.

3. Enigma - The Screen Behind the Mirror
They never quite matched the boogying monk madness of their debut CD, but I like 'em.

2. Duran Duran - The Reflex
Ok, so I got a bit stuck.

1. Petra - Magic Mirror
Not only the perfect song for the book, but by my favourite Christian rock band! Hooray! Sadly, not available for the mixtape. Booo!

So here is this week's mixtape for your listening pleasure while you wait for your copy of Beyond the Reflection's Edge...

CSFF Blog Tour - Beyond the Reflections Edge

Once again the CSFF blog tour snuck up on me like a thief in the night... but thankfully it left my laptop so I can make a passing comment on Bryan Davis's Beyond the Reflection's Edge, a sort of teen urban fantasy adventure novel with a bit of a Sliders feel and an inter-dimensional mirror motif.

At this point I could write a witty little introduction to the book, but Steve Rice already did that.

I could review it, but there are already good reviews here and here. Plus, I haven't read it, which I am led to believe is a prerequisite for a fair and unbiased review.

I could have interviewed the author, but Shane Deal did that already. I suppose I could have interviewed Shane, but that would just be silly.

I could direct you to the least read blog on the web, where there are some interesting character analysiseses, but I wouldn't like to cause a blogger to change his title. So if you read it, you didn't here it from me, ok?

Or, I could direct you to the rest of the tour, where more bloggers will be posting their thoughts on the book. Like this:

Brandon Barr
Jennifer Bogart
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Kathy Brasby
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Courtney
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Janey DeMeo
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Timothy Hicks
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Kait
Mike Lynch
Magma
Terri Main
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
John W. Otte
Steve Rice
Ashley Rutherford
Mirtika or Mir's Here
Chawna Schroeder
Greg Slade
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

My official NaNo project

Sorry, posting has been a little erratic of late hasn't it? Well I'm afraid that's not going to improve any time soon, as I have officially signed up for National Novel Writing Month, as evidenced by the appearance of the wordcount widget on the sidebar. And I have decided on my project.

I ruled Project Seven out, I want to figure out the extra character first, and because it's the story I really want to write, I want to give it proper time and attention.

I do have some (though I say it myself) brilliantly funny ideas, but the reason my writing floundered somewhat when I was younger is that I was trying to be Douglas Adams, and just couldn't be consistently funny for a sufficient wordcount, so comic is off the menu too. I'm keeping the ideas, because some of them are good; some lend themselves obviously to sketches, others I may keep for short stories, or have a comic novel ticking along for when I get bored of the seriousness of Project Seven.

So I will be digging out the notes on the sequel to Countless as the Stars, and working on that during November. My current problem with that is that I don't have a title, but hopefully one will present itself during the writing process.

Tuesday Tunes Meme

Spotted this at Velcro City Tourist Board last week, and thought it looked like fun.

The rules are simple:

• Choose a singer/band/group
• Answer the questions using ONLY titles of songs by that singer/band/group

I’m going to be psychadelic weirdos Porcupine Tree...

1. Are you male or female? Hymn
2. Describe yourself: A Smart Kid; Prodigal
3. What do people feel when they’re around you? Normal
4. How would you describe your previous relationship? Futile; Shesmovedon
5. Describe your current relationship: This Is No Rehearsal
6. Where would you want to be now? The Nostalgia Factory
7. How do you feel about love? The Start of Something Beautiful
8. What’s your life like? Stranger by the Minute
9. What would you ask for if you had only one wish? Towel
10. Say something wise: The Creator Has a Mastertape
11. What do you want to do/be in the future? Arriving Somewhere But Not Here
12. Describe your home life: The Sound of No-one Listening
13. What would your last words be? Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before it is Recycled
14. Describe your car: Rainy Taxi
15. Describe your style: Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape

That was a reasonably entertaining waste of a few minutes, and also good practice if I do opt for the comic NaNo; one of my semi-formed characters talks entirely in song titles (or possibly lyrics, I'm not entirely clear how it works yet...). I wanted to call her Julie Finkle, but annoyingly the song is called The Ballad of Julie Finkle. Still, there must be plenty of alternatives.

Traditionally I'm supposed to tag people at this point, but I'm not sure who visits any more, so I'll just leave an open invitation to anyone who passes by. If you try it, pop back and let me know, ok?

Sci-fi Song of the Week

Might as well stick with the Porcupines, eh? I couldn't find my first choice, Jupiter Island, so instead added to the mixtape this week is Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled. Which, like a lot of Porcupine Tree songs, wouldn't sound too out of place in a comic fantasy plot...

NaNoWriMo

It's October, and that can only mean two things:

1. Her Babyship will turn 3 any minute now (Eeek!)
2. NaNoWriMo is almost upon us... (eeeeek!)

Her Babyship has been (fairly or otherwise) blamed for my previous NaNo expeditions getting derailed, but nonetheless I am contemplating entering the fray again this year...

The main reason for this is that the often mentioned, never described Project Seven has been slowly developing in my mind over the last 12 months, and with the exception of an extra character I want to include but haven't quite worked out how, is all done bar the writing.

This is the story I really want to write at the moment, but the flipside of that is that I'm not sure rushing out a 50k first draft is what I want for it.

I've been looking at my various unstarted ideas and works-in-progress for something I care slightly less about to get me in the novel-writing flow again instead, and the main thing that jumps out at me as having sufficient prep to see out the month is the sequel to Countless as the Stars, which I told myself I wouldn't write until Countless had built up the cult following to make it worthwhile.

The third option remains the comic fantasy route, which appeals because I won't feel obliged to make any sense, and it will be fun enough for me to want to keep going. Pretty persuasive arguments actually, now I come to write them down.

Anyway, which of my writerly buds out there are facing the challenge next month?