voice recognition systems and stuff

Leaving in a few minutes for Fantasycon in Nottingham, after a lovely couple of days in the Peak District with Colin and Susanna. I wasn't meant to be working while here, but I did a small chunk of Eternals, and yesterday at Nick Powell's request I wrote some new lyrics for the opening song in the Wolves in the Walls stage play. (Websites here and more specifically at http://www.improbable.co.uk/wolves/.) It'll be at

Platform at the Bridge, Glasgow
13th - 14th October

Northern Stage, Newcastle
17th - 21st October

West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
25th October - 4th November

Liverpool Playhouse
7th -11th November

Malvern Theatres
15th - 18th November

Oxford Playhouse
21st - 25th November

I heard that it now is going to the US early in 2008. Slightly disappointed that the US tour so far just looks very East Coast and Chicago, and hoping it'll travel a bit more, at least to San Francisco.

An early review of Fragile Things up at http://speculativereviews.blogspot.com/2006/09/fragile-things-by-neil-gaiman.html

We're trying to get away in the next ten minutes, although a very frustrated Susanna is trying to pay her TV license over the phone, or rather to persuade it that she already has a TV license, but she's dealing with a voice recognition system at the other end that doesn't recognise hers as actually being a voice, while she and Colin are also trying to arrange a pick-up for 500 signed and slipcased copies of Ladies of Grace Adieu. (Which are only on-sale at http://www.jonathanstrange.com/. Or will be, once they've been picked up and taken away. And Susanna won't be doing signing tours and things, so if you want a signed copy, with lovely Charles Vess illustrations, that's probably your best bet.)