Miscellaneous updates and snippets

• In November, the University of California at Berkeley will, in accordance with the author's wishes, start bringing out Mark Twain's autobiography! The hundred-year delay was, indeed, at the stipulation of the author, whose multi-volume autobiography apparently contains quite a heaping helping of screed and vitriol. I'm sure that — seeing as it's Mark Twain and all — it will be exceedingly well-written screed and vitriol, and well worth the reading.


• A bunch of guys have lived their dream by crossing a five-mile-wide lake in a jumping castle/moon bounce/bouncy castle. There's video; go look! No commentary from me is necessary.


• Today I taught the last of my four sessions for this go-round of my "Writing Speculative Fiction" workshop for young writers. I'm always sad when I finish a workshop. If any of my little writing chickadees are reading this, thank you very much for everything!!! Tomorrow night I finish the equivalent one for the adults, which will also make me sad. But WEA Illawarra is planning to offer it again, starting the last Tuesday in July and running for four weeks — as soon as they post the Terms 3-4 course list, all my Wollongong peeps are encouraged to sign up!


• My friend and fellow writer Richard Harland has embarked on his epic tour of the US and the UK to promote his fabulous book Worldshaker. If you love YA science fiction, YA fiction in general, steampunk, and/or cool writers, check out his itinerary and see if you can make it to one of his events. Incidentally, he's FABULOUS at reading his own stuff — a model for us all.


• The day is drawing nigh when we shall all converge upon Melbourne for the World Science Fiction Convention for 2010. I hope I will see bunches of you there!

There. That should keep us all for a day or two.