Arise around 9:30, I think, and feel the pain of last night. Errrrrgh. As one heads to Caffé Nero for e-mail, etc., the face of the most notorious punk band in the world appears on a billboard advertising butter. Yes, Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols shilling for Country Life Dairy Products; and he’s wearing an excretiable red plaid jacket. Surely this is one of the signs of the apocalypse?

Breakfast out of the way, I seek an alarm clock so as to ensure catching my flight in a couple of days… Hang on, Jennifer’s note mentions picking me up at the airport Friday afternoon, which is excellent… but, erm… FRIDAY?!? Wasn’t it Saturday…? Shit!

I rapidly e-mail a few people pointing out that they now have a 36-hour window to meet me before I leave the country at an abominable hour Friday morning.

Back to hotel we head, after buying a newspaper for the sole benefit of confirmation of today’s date (and ensuring that there is a world outside for which to return), then check my printed flight information and itinerary. Friday, yes. Good to know that now. It might have been a bit of a problem had I got it wrong by a day.

Right. So off to Soak-Up Culture of Great Worth: the British Library to wander and stare at Really Old Books and Papers. These include (but were not limited to only): Read the rest of this entry »

Due to popular demand… Many people have asked… Someone idly asked yesterday… ‘when would this series continue?’ And so, because I am here to give the people what they want, here is what happened on the day The Colonial Went to the B.N.G.

Arising around 8:00 (although the notes for the day state an uncertainty about that time), St. Pancras International Rail Terminal is headed for, with a desire to locate coffee and food. Also, connectivity to confirm that Trudi Topham is still meeting me for the purpose of both delivering some material to me which has been ordered from both small publishers as well as through Amazon UK (which wasn’t available through Canadian sources; mostly books with different editions and/or covers), as well as accompanying me around the National Gallery.

Happily, one can check e-mail over breakfast of coffee and muffin-thing, as St. Pancras Station has free Wi-Fi! HUZZAH!

Sadly, Trudi is at King’s Cross Station on the other side of Pancras Road, but I’m able to see the grandness of this international terminal with its impressive roof of the Train Shed [image, left] which was designed by William Henry Barlow (who’s been immortalised in a statue in the Station). So, in the end, NICE!

I wander across the road, and — after working my way through a teeming mass of humanity down the entire King’s bloody Cross Station’s bloody warren of platforms and levels — locate the lady herself, complete with massive box of books. Huzzah! We head to hotel, dump the shit in my room, and then head to the wilds of the underground, where I buy an Oyster Card so as to be able to move about easily on any number of methods of available public transportation without the need to ensure my tickets not expired, correct change, and so on. For anyone visiting London, this is a boon, as you are only charged for the tickets you would normally need, but the most you can ever pay per day with this card is the maximum daily charge for unlimited use of the system and that flat rate is less than the cost of several tickets. If you plan to use the tube or the bus more than three times a day (go somewhere, go somewhere else, return to where you began), you’ve just saved money, and all you had to worry about was slapping your card on a big yellow disc when entering the tube or when both getting on and off a bus. Brilliant! Get one and make your visit to the City of Western Culture a breeze. You’ll thank me for it, I’m telling you!

The card, oddly, comes in a little yellow wallet with an advert for IKEA on the back. “Oh…! It’s got IKEA on it”, I remark to Trudi, whereupon we say “Oooooooo-OOOOOO!” at each other. Why it’s called an “Oyster Card” and not a BLAN or TORVELD as a consequence of the IKEA sponsorship is good for a few minutes of discussion. It may have something to do with IKEA’s brand-new Family Mobile — a virtual mobile phone network — but I suspect the new London Buses will be built from flat-pack kits. Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories is on its way, and we’re pleased to announce it will be available in two versions: traditional paperback, and now Jacket-less Hard-Cover!

Both of the versions will have the same artwork on their outsides [image, left], and both will have the same 258 pages inside filled with horror and terror! Rammed-full of scary and disturbing tales of things guaranteed to make your tummy all wobbly-like!

The Limited Edition, hard-cover, signed by as many people as we can, Printed Paper Case, matt laminated, un-numbered, strictly limited to 100 copies World-wide, Vitamin-D® injected, Collector’s version is made available to you for the low, low, ultra-reasonable price of only £20 and can be pre-ordered right here.

Each and every author will be signing the books using a signature sheet entirely designed & created in the Humdrumming Canadian Headquarters. That’s a total of 17 signatures: Guy Adams, James Cooper, Christopher Fowler, Gary Fry, Rhys Hughes, Davin Ireland, Andrew Jury, Michael Kelly, Tim Lebbon, Gary M^cMahon, Ian Alexander Martin Mark Morris, Sarah Pinborough, Simon Strantzas, John Travis, Carol Weekes, and Conrad Williams!! Oh yes!

The traditional version will be available for £9.99 and can be pre-ordered by clicking right here for as long as we can sell it.

Which version will you get? The traditional, boring version, or the exciting signed one? You know you want both…!

Ever wonder how a book is made?

No, not the writing part… that’s simple:

1. open bottle of whisky
2. place paper in typewriter
3. pour whisky in neck
4. pound typewriter keys
5. occasionally puff on cigar
6. slap ass of passing secretary (male or female, your option)
7. repeat #3 – #6 until deadline arrives
8. yell as editor until deadline is extended sufficiently to permit at least one cycle through #3 – #6
9. hand brilliant novel to editor for publication

See? Simple. Read the rest of this entry »