I’m very pleased to have an article in Reconstruction’s volume 13, issue 1, which is a special issue called “How Did I Write That? Reflections on Singularity in the Creative Process.” It’s another of my Yijing-based pieces, mixing reflection and storytelling. This one I’m particularly fond of, because of the strange overlap between the story, and the process by means of which I arrived at the story. The link is here, if you would like to have a read: Wrestling the Goat. Or click on the goats—they’ll like that.

Do have a read through some of the other excellent articles whilst you are at it!

I am delighted to be able to announce that The Snorgh and the Sailor has been shortlisted for the Stockport Schools Book Award. See the link here. It’s up against some strong competition, including Helen Stephens’s lovely How to Hide a Lion, which is also published by Alison Green.

It should be a fun event, and there’s still just about time to respond to the call for papers (deadline 16th April) here.

I’m delighted to say that my EMBA shortlisted novel, The Descent of the Lyre is now available for sale on Kindle as well as in traditional hardback. You can get hold of the Kindle versionhere in the UK and the USA.

Well, I’m tremendously excited to announce—at the end of a very long and very busy day at the States of Independence independent publishers’ fair here at De Montfort University—that my novel, The Descent of the Lyre, is on the shortlist of the East Midlands Book Award.

I’m absolutely delighted with this news. The novel is published by Roman Books, a relatively new press with considerable ambitions, and I’m up against some formidable contenders. The full list is here:

• Will Buckingham – The Descent of the Lyre, Roman
• John Gallas – Fresh Air, and The Story of Molecule, Carcanet
• Graham Joyce – Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Orion
• Jon McGregor – This Isn’t the Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like you, Bloomsbury
• Alison Moore – The Lighthouse, Salt
• Neil Roberts – A Lucid Dreamer, The Life of Peter Redgrove, Random House
• Jonathan Taylor – Entertaining Strangers, Salt

This is an impressive list by any standards, and it makes me realise what a darned literary part of the country I live in. As an example of the calibre of some of my fellow shortlisted writers, Jon McGregor won the 2012 International IMPAC Dublin award, whilst Alison Moore was also shortlisted for the Booker. It’s good, too, to be nominated alongside my colleague and very good friend, the Jonathan Taylor.

The final award will be announced in June. Which gives you time to buy all the books on the list, and make up your own mind…

The Dormouse over on the website of Shakespeare & Friends, the wonderful English language bookstore in Varna, has interviewed me about my novel, The Descent of the Lyre. It is, I think (although I can’t be sure), the first time I have ever been interviewed by a dormouse, and you can read the interview here.

Just a quick post to say that I’ve recently given my blog site, TheMyriadThings.com, a bit of a facelift. Since giving the site a new lick of paint, I’m hoping to be blogging a bit more frequently over there.

The Myriad Things is, as the name suggests, a miscellaneous collection of bits and pieces—short essays on this and that, ideas, snippets and stories, an unsystematic collection of everything from the Moomins to Mao Zedong.

The author has a deft touch with imagery and color, helping to evoke the times and places. The chapters are quite short, so it’s easy to read just one more, and then maybe another, and …There are very few novels whose protagonists are classical guitarists (Like a River of Lions by Tana de Gámez is perhaps the best-known example), and it’s a pleasure to report that this one is a most enjoyable read (especially if you’re a guitarist).