Photos of my workspace by Kyle Cassidy

Philadelphia photographer Kyle Cassidy is in the middle of a project to document genre writers' and editors' workspaces. He and his friend/helper Colin came by yesterday to photograph mine. Believe it or not I cleaned up the space a bit before they arrived. Anyway, it was fun and I talked about how I feel about the space and how almost everything I need to work is within reach. Afterward, they took me to the Art Bar (I'd never been there, even though it's across the street) where they proceeded to get me drunk on mojitos...tsk tsk. And Kyle posted about it while we were there.

my workspace (aka living room)

J. G. Ballard RIP

I knew he was ill for a long time, but he's too young to be gone. His science fiction, particularly the work pre- Empire of the Sun, was very important to me.

Cult author JG Ballard dies at 78

Added: I realize that I should really urge everyone to read his work if you haven't. His short stories absolutely, not only for "The Assassination of JFK Considered as a Downhill Motor Race" and "Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan" but also for his more traditional stories. The novels The Drowned World and Crash oh yes.

I very much wanted to reprint his early stories on SCIFICTION, but his UK agent said no (even though his US agent was eager to do so) and he didn't want to go against her. The agent didn't want his work on the net, thinking it would lower its value (I guess).

Ditmar awards

For any Australian eligible to vote who cares about such things, the following stories published in The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy are eligible for the Ditmars:

"The Goosle" by Margo Lanagan
"Ardent Clouds" by Lucy Sussex
"Gladiolus Exposed" by Anna Tambour

For any Australian voter who hasn't a copy of the anthology and would like to read the stories, let me know and I can email you word files.