I just heard that I've made possibly my most remarkable foreign sale of all. (And believe me, if you've read my stuff you'll know that any foreign sale for me is remarkable.) The Polish edition of Asimov's science fiction and fantasy mag will publish my short story SOME HELP FROM STANLEY (which first appeared five years ago in The Third Alternative). It's really a noir story, with the added "sf" element that the disembodied voice of Stanley Kubrick plays a part.

Anyway, for this I…

Next week I'm off to France, to the "Quais du Polar" festival at Lyon. This is to give my new French book LES ALLONGÉS (Série Noire) a push. Some of you knew this and have already had a word about it, but let me just ask the rest of you now: is there anyone else who wants me to say hi to Daniel Woodrell for them? Jeez, anyone would think it's Woodrell Fest 2007.

Just kidding. He's right at the top of our genre and it'll be great to be in his presence. Maybe I can find out what…