Inside the Monkey Factory

The monkeys have been hard at work recently.

I finished the third draft of The Executioner's Hat and submitted it to Writers of the Future.

I also finished the third draft of Salary Ninja and sent it Fantasy Magazine.

I revised Mr. Nine and the Gentleman Ghost and that's gone to F&SF.

I watched Slumdog Millionaire, which was okay, but it could have been much better.  Some of the character relationships weren't convincingly portrayed and some of the plot devices were telegraphed well in advance.

Much better was Gran Torino, which was completely ignored for Oscar nominations.  It's one of the best films I've seen in a long time.

I finished reading Michael Michalko's Thinkertoys - a handbook of creative-thinking techniques.  Although it was much more focused on generating ideas for business (how do I sell more photocopiers), a lot of the techniques could still be useful for developing story ideas.

Next week I'm setting off for a 3 week trip around Oz - Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.