Interview with Sarah Pinborough

Sarah Pinborough is an English writer who made her debut in 2004 with the novel “The Hidden”. Since then Sarah Pinborough published other five novels at Leisure Books, the publisher of her debut novel, “The Reckoning” in 2005, “Breeding Ground” in 2006, “The Taken” in 2007, “Tower Hill” in 2008 and “Feeding Ground” (reviewed on my blog) in 2009, a novel in the Torchwood series, “Into the Silence”, and a novella, “The Language of Dying”, at PS Publishing in 2009. On March this year Gollancz released Sarah Pinborough’s “A Matter of Blood” (recently reviewed here), the first novel in “The Dog-Faced Gods” trilogy, and will publish in September under the pseudonym Sarah Silverwood “The Double-Edged Sword”, the first novel in “The Nowhere Chronicles” trilogy. She was nominated for the British Fantasy Award, World Fantasy Award and Shirley Jackson Award and won the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story in 2009 with “Do You See”, published in the anthology edited by Ian Whates, “Myth-Understandings”.

Mihai (Dark Wolf): Sarah, thank you very much for the opportunity of this interview.

What stories made you dream of a writer career? Why an inclination towards the dark fiction?

Sarah Pinborough: I've always loved stories – and ever since I could write I can remember making stuff up, so I guess the idea of being a writer was always there. I don't remember a time – apart from maybe a year or so in my twenties, when I didn't write anything. It was either being an actress/film-maker or an author for me – I'm glad the writing won. I have too healthy an appetite for Hollywood! As for being drawn to the dark element of fiction, that's probably because I'm scared of just about everything and anything. I have recluse potential! I also have terrible nightmares, although now that I'm older I find that I enjoy them weirdly.

Mihai (Dark Wolf): What authors have an imprint and influence on your writing?

Sarah Pinborough: Too many! John Wyndham, Daphne Du Maurier, Roald Dahl, Stephen King, James Herbert, Kurt Vonnegut, Graham Greene . . . the list goes on. Recently I've been influenced by Graham Joyce, his slightly magical realism fantasy style had an impact on The Language of Dying, and John Connelly and Michael Marshall were big influences when I was pitching The Dog-Faced Gods trilogy. They made me see that there was a market for crime with a pinch of weird.

Mihai (Dark Wolf): It is said that no one is a prophet in their own land and it seems to apply to your case too since you have started your career in the US rather than your home land. What lead to your debut in the US? Did you try to be published in the UK at first?

Sarah Pinborough: I went to the States when I'd just started writing The Hidden and on the way back I picked up a Leisure Horror novel. I thought they'd be a great place for my book when I was done, and so when I finished it I sent it to Don D'Auria and he liked it. At that time no one in the UK was buying horror (or so it seemed on the bookshelves) so the US was a natural starting place. Six books later I finally came home as it were.

M(DW): You are a full time writer at the present, but how difficult is it for a writer to establish himself/herself?

SP: I don't think I have yet! I was lucky that the deals with Gollancz and doing the Torchwood books earned me enough to write full-time for a while (fingers crossed it lasts a while longer), but I wouldn't say I was anywhere near established. Finances and being established don't necessarily go hand in hand. You always hear stories about writers who get huge advances, don't sell through and then are dumped. I'd rather take small but secure steps up the ladder . . . although if someone wants to pay me a million pounds… ;-)

M(DW): How important is the research and documentation in an author’s writings? Is your research more thorough now that you are a full time writer?

SP: Ha! No... most writers hate research. Thank god for the internet. Both my trilogies are set in London so I do go and wander round the town (and tie it in with meeting up with friends) quite a lot, but that's about it. I try and get the facts right, especially now I'm writing more Crime fiction, but I'm not a research addict.

M(DW): You wrote fiction in different forms, novel, novella, short story. Which one felt more comfortable for you? Do some of the stories you want to write need more words than others?

SP: Novels are my most comfortable form. I only ever write short stories if I'm asked for one – wouldn't think about writing one for fun, and I've only written two novellas – The Language of Dying, and one for an upcoming anthology Zombie Apocalypse.

M(DW): You do not believe in the genre labels, but do you think that some fiction is underappreciated because of these labels? At some point in your career did you have to limit your writing to certain boundaries for some reason?

SP: Leisure have a clear idea of what they and their readers want in their books, and although I always understood that it can be very limited in terms of crossing boundaries or trying something different, so for the six books I did for them I was very clear that I was writing what I guess would be called straight horror – although I never went near a ghost or vampire or werewolf ;-).

M(DW): I understand that a part of your characters are named after real people. Did some of your personality or that of these people are transplanted into your characters?

SP: I often name my characters after people I know because they like it – but the characters and the real people are rarely similar. I'd find it very hard to write them if they were. I never consciously use any part of me in my characters. That would be weird!

M(DW): I know that your works also feature personal experiences and in a recent interview of yours I read that “The Language of Dying” is also a preserver of memories. Does the presence of your personal experiences in your fiction make the stories stronger? Is your fiction also a sweetener for your memories?

SP: I've used short stories as a way of preserving memory far more than novels (The Language of Dying is an exception in that it is only ever one breath away from the truth throughout), especially to document places I lived as a child that I won't ever go back to. For example, The Bohemian of the Arbat (Summer Chills, Constable & Robinson) was set in Moscow in the 1980s and Our Man in the Sudan (Humdrumming book of Horror Stories/ Mammoth book of Best New Horror) was set in Khartoum where I lived also.

M(DW): It seems that you changed a bit your register lately, with “The Language of Dying” and “A Matter of Blood”. Did you need a change in your writing process? Does a writer progress in the career when the author experiences new elements and genres in his/her writings?

SP: I think I just found my own style eventually and became more confident in what I was doing. I was very lucky in a lot of ways to get my first novel picked up by Leisure, but I have therefore had to grow up as a writer 'in print' as it were. I'd quite like to go through those early books with a red pen – although I dread to think how much I'd cut out! Plus, I've realised that I don't actually read a lot of straight horror – I like it in movies and in short stories but not in novels. It was a clear signal to me that my time as a horror novelist was probably over – for now at least it's time to try other things.

M(DW): “A Matter of Blood” is set in a near future, a grim outcome of our present global economic situation. What makes you see our future in dark colors? Since “Feeding Ground” has a few science fiction elements, do you consider writing a SF novel some day?

SP: Yes, I quite like the idea of Sci-Fi. In fact, my next trilogy is likely to be a crime in a much more science fiction setting. Still dark of course!

M(DW): “A Matter of Blood” features one of the strongest characters I’ve encountered in my readings, DI Cass Jones. Is it more difficult for a female writer to build a strong male character than for a male writer? Or is it a sole matter of talent?

SP: It's hard to say because I only have my perspective on it. I find it harder to write female characters, if I'm honest. I'm not a girly girl, so I'm not into shoes and shopping and romance and most of my friends are men. I do write women, but when I think of a main character they invariably pop up male. I'm not sure there's that much difference between male and female motivations – we all want the same things – we just go about them differently I suppose.

M(DW): Cass Jones is not the only character of your fiction who is deeply flawed and that makes your characters truly human. Why do you think that we don’t see more such characters in fiction? Are the writers afraid to give a human face to the flawed or negative characters?

SP: My characters are deeply flawed because I am, I guess! I find damaged people far more interesting in real life too, so it's a natural progression that I write about them. Lots of people out there do it well, though. Perhaps when writers are starting out they veer away from the human angle (the internal conflict we all have every day between right and wrong) or go for obvious little personality tics and traits as a guise for it rather than the more deep-rooted issues, but most of the books I read have got these kinds of characters in them. I just always take the angst to the hilt. I'm not sure there is a truly likeable character in the whole of A Matter of Blood (although I like them all!). Even Cass Jones can be an arrogant bastard as one of my friends pointed out!

M(DW): Speaking of female authors there are some very strong feminine voices within the horror genre, but they seem to be a bit neglected. Do you believe that horror fails to properly acknowledge the women writers within the genre? What makes women such strong horror story tellers?

SP: I hate getting caught up in the 'neglected female voice in horror' debate – we had too much of it last year – primarily because I never think in terms of gender. I have, however, just written a novel in collaboration with Sarah Langan, Alexandra Sokoloff and Rhodi Hawk – three very strong and successful female voices in the genre. The book rocks. It is interesting that women write Horror and Crime so successfully. It goes to show we're not all sugar and kittens.

M(DW): Although “Breeding Ground” and “Feeding Ground” share the same basic story and are related, is it more correct to say that “A Matter of Blood” is the first novel you write in a series? How different is the approach for a series of novels than the one for a stand-alone story?

SP: Well, technically A Matter of Blood isn't the first in a series, but the first in a trilogy, so it's more like planning one really long book. There is an arc within each but then the over-riding arc of the three books, which you wouldn't get in a series where the main character tends to remain static. The main issue when writing a trilogy is to make sure each one is satisfying in itself but also pays off a third of the over-riding story. It's certainly been harder on the brain than writing the straight horror!

M(DW): Not only that “A Matter of Blood” is the first novel in “The Dog-Faced Gods” trilogy, but you also will release, under the Sarah Silverwood pseudonym, “The Double-Edged Sword” the first novel in “The Nowhere Chronicles” series. Did you start to enjoy writing series of novels? How do you manage to handle the writing of two series of novels at the same time?

SP: Ha! It was more business sense than anything. There is a security that comes in signing for a trilogy that you don't have signing on one book! But yes, I am enjoying them – in a weird and twisted and brain-fried way – and will probably do the same again. There may well be more stories in The Nowhere Chronicles after this trilogy, but featuring different characters as the leads. I'm enjoying the world I've created there.

M(DW): Why the choice for a pseudonym in the case of “The Double-Edged Sword”? Considering that “The Double-Edged Sword” is a young-adult novel can the use of a pseudonym be seen as delimitation from the other part of your career?

SP: Gollancz wanted me to use a pseudonym for the YA so I did. I'm not sure if it's to separate the two brands within the same publishing house or because my adult fiction is very adult in terms of content. Either way, I was happy to have a different persona for the YA.

M(DW): How different is the writing for an adult audience than for a younger one? Does your experience as a teacher help you in writing “The Double-Edged Sword”?

SP: When I first started writing The Double-Edged Sword I was aware I was writing for younger readers, but by about thirty pages in I'd forgotten and was just writing a fantasy novel with younger main characters. The think I do like is that – although the book is very dark in places – you can be more quirky with YA. Kids look at the world differently than adults and they're not as cynical. My experiences as a teacher probably did help as I spent six years around teenagers and had got used to all their crazy behaviour and the way they approach things. Teenagers are great fun – they're full of all the promise of the world and have very little doubt. Their fears are different to ours. In many ways, they're more interesting.

M(DW): You won the British Fantasy Awards for the Best Short Fiction last year. Did this award change your career in any way? Does winning of such awards make a personal goal for you?

SP: Everyone likes to win awards or be nominated for them – you just can't help it! I don't think that award helped me particularly, but the year before when I was on the short list for Best Novel, that brought me to that attention of Gollancz who then asked me to pitch to them, which led to both the trilogy deals I now have.

M(DW): You are certainly focused on your two series at the moment, “The Dog-Faced Gods” and “The Nowhere Chronicles”, but are there any ideas pushing in the back of your mind for a future novel? Any other future plans for your writing career?

SP: I think once I've finished 'The Dog-Faced Gods' I'll be writing a dark SF/Crime trilogy – more news on that later!

Thank you very much for your time and answers. It has been an honor and a pleasure.

Cover art - "The Blade Itself" by Joe Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie’s novels are a part of my Pile o’ Shame, especially his debut trilogy, “First Law”. Despite this I love the covers of Joe Abercrombie’s novels, especially those of the first editions, simple and truly effective. Subterranean Press will release a limited edition of Joe Abercrombie’s debut novel, “The Blade Itself”, and this week the author posted on his blog the cover artwork of this limited edition. It was a bit surprising to see this artwork, because the first image of the interior artwork I saw on Subterranean Press website was rather confusing, mainly because I didn’t quite understand the scene depicted, its meaning and the tone of that scene. However the cover artwork made by Alex Preuss looks great, in a beautiful style and that works like a magnet for me. It still has a small problem in my opinion, although the font and the color of the title are truly appealing, I find the lettering to be too big and in a wrong position, taking away a bit too much from the beautiful scene of the cover artwork. Still, even with this small drawback the cover artwork made by Alex Preuss is very beautiful and I am happy to see that the list of candidates for my year’s best cover is growing fast.

"Grants Pass" edited by Jennifer Brozek & Amanda Pillar

"Grants Pass"

edited by Jennifer Brozek & Amanda Pillar

Format: Paperback, 320 pages

Publisher: Morrigan Books

Review copy received through the courtesy of the publisher, Morrigan Books

Humanity was decimated by bio-terrorism; three engineered plagues were let loose on the world. Barely anyone has survived.

Just a year before the collapse, Grants Pass, Oregon, USA, was publicly labelled as a place of sanctuary in a whimsical online, “what if” post. Now, it has become one of the last known refuges, and the hope, of mankind.

Would you go to Grants Pass based on the words of someone you’ve never met?

With alarming everyday news and with information that seems to describe the downfall of our world it is no wonder why the post-apocalyptic fiction picked up the interest of readers and became a genre on its own. This is one of my favorite subjects as well and it all started with Stephen King’s “The Stand”, therefore when I’ve found out about Jennifer Brozek and Amanda Pillar’s collection of post-apocalyptic stories I desired to read “Grants Pass” as soon as possible.

It is the second time this year when I come with a different approach for my review of an anthology. I believe that such projects deserve a story to story review and it is a fair way to throw a light on the entire collection, each one with its strong and weak elements. But this time I’ll go for a general review of Jennifer Brozek and Amanda Pillar’s “Grants Pass” because in the first place I read the anthology a little while ago and without the proper notes I can’t take properly every detail of each story into attention and secondly the stories share the same starting point and premise, the way they are delivered is different and depends on their authors.

“Grants Pass” starts with a prologue in the form of an online journal entry, written by Kayley Allard, a girl who considers a possible end of the world and its consequences. Hoping to meet her friend in the case of their survival she sets a meeting point in a small town, Grants Pass, but that it can also be a starting point for the rebuilding of the world. The prologue is followed by a series of newspapers entries from different countries that describe a collapsing world because of diseases outbreak following the escape of three laboratory modified viruses, natural disasters and terrorists’ acts. These set into motion the premises for the stories of “Grants Pass”, the characters of each such story learning and trying to reach the meeting point proposed by Kayley Allard, the town of Grants Pass.

Although the characters share this common goal, their situation and location is different, each one of them facing personal ordeals and the change in their existence in their own particular way. We are taken through different corners of the world, from Nepal to Belgium and United States, but the most challenging will prove to be the islands, territories that enclose and challenge the attempt of the characters to reach Grants Pass, with stories set in the island of Lanzarote, Spain, and Cyprus. Not even the space will miss this appointment, with a few heroes found by the apocalyptic events in a shuttle at four hundred kilometers from Earth. We are taken through different states of mind too, the psychological aspects playing naturally a key role in the stories and taken the characters through a wide range of emotions. The tone of stories is a battle of perspective, many of them exhaling an optimistic and hopeful undertone and others covering a grim and pessimist landscape. The anthology is brought to its final point in the same way as it is started, with a journal entry made by Kayley Allard that also sets the finish in light tones. I honestly think that “Grants Pass” would have worked better for me without that particular epilogue, but it is not bad that the collection ends in an optimistic atmosphere.

As natural for every anthology from the entire line-up of stories I had a couple that worked better for me and went closer to my heart. Going straight to my favorite story of “Grants Pass” is Cherie Priest’s “Hells Bells”, because it is rarely seen an post-apocalyptic scenario to be brought up through the eyes of a child. Cherie Priest masterfully captures the essence of childhood in subtle notes and makes it face such a dire perspective in an innocent approach. Seanan McGuire’s “Animal Husbandry” deals with the apocalyptic scenery from another particular angle. A veterinary who is in search of her daughter will find a new meaning for compassion and a new perspective for humanity in the dreary events that are unfolding. Jay Lake’s “Black Heart, White Mourning” has at its center a former patient in a mental institution and who now finds her freedom in the new landscape. Told through journal entries the story presents some unsettling thoughts, some disturbing moments and an uncomfortable end.

Post-apocalyptic fiction offers many reasons for meditation and “Grants Pass” is no different. Jennifer Brozek and Amanda Pillar collect in their anthology stories that will fuel the thoughts driven by the apocalyptic scenarios and will keep them burning long after the reader finishes “Grants Pass”.

Guest post for Vampire Awareness Month

Mark Deniz, the master mind behind many wonderful projects and the owner of the small publishing house Morrigan Books, runs a Vampire Awareness Month on his blog. Mark was very kind to invite me to his feast and from today, among his amazing guests and their wonderful articles, you can find my ramblings on a close matter to me, Dracula. I was never very fond of vampires, but I do have a lot of respect for Vlad Țepeș, the historical figure who inspired Dracula, and therefore I have chosen to take a look on these aspects from a personal perspective at Vampire Awareness Month.

Cover art - "Up the Bright River" by Philip José Farmer

In December, Subterranean Press will release a collection of short stories by Philip José Farmer, “Up the Bright River”, and yesterday the publisher showed us the artwork for the dust jacket of the book made by the great artist, Bob Eggleton. I find this cover to be exceptionally beautiful, a scene of epic proportions and a landscape in the true style of Bob Eggleton. The colors, the light and shadows of the painting create an artwork of true beauty. It is one of the covers that make me pick a book from the bookshop shelves without taking into consideration the name of the book or the author. But Philip José Farmer’s “Up the Bright River” offers excellent material between the covers too, with a few of Philip José Farmer’s early works and some of the out-of-print tales, but also “Riverworld” stories collected for the first time. Here is the Subterranean Press presentation of the upcoming Philip José Farmer’s “Up the Bright River”:

This first posthumous collection of the short fiction of Philip Jose Farmer is a celebration of the impressive variety of his prodigious output, from the space adventures he published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s through the 1970s, to his acerbic satires of religion and medicine, to his fictional biographies and memoirs, to his beloved Riverworld.
Appearing for the first time in a Philip Jose Farmer collection are his last three “Riverworld” stories—featuring characters from his own family history--as well as the “memoir” of Lord Greystoke which he claimed to have merely edited. Other highlights include “Attitudes,” the first of the Father Carmody stories; “The Two-Edged Gift,” which introduces the fictional science fiction writer Leo Queequeg Tincrowdor; “Toward the Beloved City” (about which its original editor said he had never before really understood the Book of Revelations); and “Father’s in the Basement,” a little-known Gothic horror tale which is also a satire of the writing profession.
Farmer created some of the most famous worlds in science fiction, but he also wrote in many worlds, and readers familiar only with his best-known classics may find a few surprises among these tales.

Black Static - Issue 16

"Black Static"

Issue 16 - April/May 2010

Publisher: TTA Press

Review copy received through the courtesy of the publisher, TTA Press

I am more attracted by the long fiction than the shorter form and because of my preference the collections of stories take a little longer to read. However, when I feel the need for a quick reading in the shorter form of fiction the magazines provide a great source of stories and a very pleasant way to find new interesting writers. This time was the turn of the 16th issue of Black Static to find its way on my reading table.

Taking the non-fiction into account Black Static opens with the usual two pages column of news and information, “White Noise”. Browsing through the pages of the issue 16 we can find the excellent Tony Lee’s “Blood Spectrum”, the always informative and funny reviews of the latest DVD/Blu-ray releases, and Peter Tennant’s “Case Notes”, covering book reviews and featuring this issue an interview with Sarah Pinborough. Also in this issue of Black Static Stephen Volk talks in “Electric Darkness” about the state of a modern script writer, Mike O’Driscoll takes a look on “Night’s Plutonian Shore” at James Ellroy’s “Underworld USA” series and Christopher Fowler analyzes the situation of today’s horror, throwing a doubtful eye on the rise of Paranormal Romance.

As for the fiction section of Black Static #16 we can find the following 5 short stories:

“The Overseer” by Tim Casson – The story makes a strong start for the magazine, being the best one from the five published in this issue. It is a story of a young man who enjoyed his father’s wealth, but who failed to listen to his father’s advice and finds himself struggling for survival after the collapse of the stock market. Tim Casson creates an excellent atmosphere, oppressing and disturbing, materialized in the poor accommodation where Darius, the young man, lives, the way the day workers are chosen, with a spit on their feet, and especially in the factory where the main character finds work. With an overtake on the Egyptian mythology the story offers a couple of small ironies, but also involves a mask with a curse on itself. Although I didn’t engage with the character in the fullest the story is quite interesting.

“Extreme Latitude” by M.G. Preston – The action of this story takes place in an Arctic research station set in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The story is told in a series of journal entires and through these entries we can see the story develop and the decrease in the mental sanity of the main character. Because of the isolation of the station, but also of a self-imposed solitude, a series of personal memories and a few strange events the character of the story falls into madness ending up in violent acts. M.G. Preston follows well the falling of his character, but a few of the memories involved in the story are rather ambiguous and they fall short of forming a solid reason for the character’s loss of mental sanity. However, the extreme location and position constitute enough reason for that and make the story work on an entertaining level.

“One Last Wild Waltz” by Mike O’Driscoll – Mike O’Driscoll takes the stage of the fiction section too, after the non-fiction I’ve mentioned earlier, “Night’s Plutonian Shore”. Returning home for his brother funeral the main character of the story faces his childhood house and memories, rediscovering old places and people. It is a story strongly inclined on the psychological side, following the emotions through which the character passes at his return home. The memories of his childhood and of his relationship with his brother throw a bitter feeling on the story and making the character a sympathetic one. The story would have been stronger in my opinion without the presence of the mysterious snowmen and their involvement. Although their presence is related to the reconnection of the character with his roots they rather take away from the strong psychological aspect of the story.

“The Empty Spaces” by Alison J. Littlewood – Two widowers visit a doctor when one of them starts seeing his dead wife and find out that the mind tries to fill the empty gap left by the loss of vision. Another psychological approach for a story of this issue. The story feels stronger though, because Alison J. Littlewood keeps everything at the mental level without involving unnecessary elements, instead bringing forth feelings such as regret, remorse, but also a strong desire to live. She adds a tragic event in the story and although this one remains a mystery in the most part there are enough hints to make “The Empty Spaces” stronger.

“The Moon Will Look Strange” by Lynda E. Rucker – Following the death of his daughter the main character runs as far away as he can from his home. Lynda E. Rucker explores the emotional breakdown suffered by the story’s character, obsessed by images of his daughter and ending up neglecting himself. Told from the first person perspective unfortunately this character doesn’t have enough power and failed to engage me in his tragedy. The story engages with occult elements too, but the end is predictable and rather unsatisfactory. Lynda E. Rucker’s story is not a bad one, but considering the other four story of this issue it falls behind them.

As I said I am not the biggest fan of the short fiction, but it is nice from time to time to explore short stories. And although this time I didn’t find a small treasure in the form of a short story, as it happened to me before, the 16th issue of Black Static offers an enjoyable and entertaining reason for the search of one.

"This Blog Has Heart"

Over the years I’ve received a few awards from my fellow bloggers in recognition for my work made on the blog. Every time I receive such an award I feel happy and flattered, because although I don’t seek awards and praise for my reading passion it is good to see that people find some of my opinions useful. Rabid Fox, a constant reader and commenter here, offered my blog another award, This Blog has Heart, with a very complimentary description of Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews. This award brings me joy and although lately my schedule went a bit crazy, therefore preventing me to make a few interviews I wanted to make and writing a few articles I have in mind, it also gives me another reason for working on these features a bit more. Until then though I want to show my appreciation for a few blogs I follow with great interest. There are so many wonderful blogs I read and it is a bit unfair to limit this article to only 5 of them but as much as I want to cover them all unfortunately the time and space don’t allow me this. Instead I’ll make a small spotlight on 5 blogs, new and old, in appreciation for the hard and wonderful work done by the amazing people who run them.

A Dribble of Ink – Aidan’s articles are a constant source of information and we share the same love for fantasy artwork and cover art. I discovered a few cover artworks on his blog that I’ve missed and I always find his reviews to be interesting.

Floor to Ceiling Books – Amanda started her blog in 2009, but from this year she is a constant and beautiful presence in the blogosphere. She’s got the looks, but she’s also got the brains and that is shown in her reviews and articles. She is also an avid reader and the number of books she reads puts me to shame.

OF Blog of the Fallen – Larry explores and features works outside the English language, promoting the speculative fiction in a nice attempt of broadening its boundaries. His reviews are always deep and thoughtful and his articles will stir the things up from time to time.

Ruthless Culture – Larry (OF Blog of the Fallen) and Jonathan are two bloggers on a level I wish to achieve some day. Jonathan is ruthless in his reviews, but fair. His reviews are a constant source of inspiration for me, but not in a plagiarism way.

The Speculative Scotsman – Niall started in January, but it feels like he has been around for a long time. A prolific reader and blogger Niall covers not only book reviews, but also movies and computer games, and he provides serious and excellent opinions on these matters.

I want to thank Rabid Fox for this award and his wonderful words, it means a lot to me. I also want to thank the 5 bloggers showcased here and I hope that this small recognition will help them carry on the wonderful things they are doing.