Amazon.co.uk had TPO in stock. Fleetingly.

Had to laugh yesterday. Amazon.co.uk had THRILL-POWER OVERLOAD, my history of the comic 2000 AD, in stock for about half an hour yesterday. After weeks of vague promises about when the book would be available, the online retailer revealed it had shipped copies to all those who had pre-ordered it. There were copies still left, with more on order from publisher Rebellion. I checked back 30 minutes later [authors of newly released books are not unlike proud parents of newly born babies, always checking on their offspring's health and welfare] and Amazon was down to 1 copy. Half an hour later, that was gone too. [Don't let that stop you ordering a copy using the link over at the right - Amazon should have more copies any day now.]

Normally I wouldn't pay so much attention, but the TPO project sprawled across six years of my life - seventeen if you count the time I spent working on 2000 AD and its spin-off titles. So I'm kind of precious about this book and want it to do well. It's a bit like sending your child off to university in another town or city, I guess. You can deliver them to the door, but once they're out of your sight anything can happen. I'm reliably informed that SFX Magazine has given the TPO book five stars out of five. Haven't seen the relevant issue yet, hopefully in the next day or two.

Lately I've been writing for DeathRay, a newly launched magazine that targets a similar audience to SFX. The latest issue of DeathRay [#3, on sale now] features an article of mine assessing the prospects of ten science fiction or fantasy TV shows coming to US viewers in the next six months. Future efforts include my memories of editing 2000 AD [a tie-in to the release of TPO, natch], some reviews and other reportage. It's good to flex the journalism muscles every now and then, remind myself there's life beyond the fevered imaginings in my cranium.

Plugging away at my final project for Screen Academy Scotland's MA screenwriting course. We've got another informal gathering of students in Edinburgh tomorrow, which creates a useful impetus to get stuff done. We were promised the services of individual mentors to help us with our final projects during the summer months, while tutors were away on holiday. Alas, five weeks of the thirteen have already elapsed and there's been no apparent progress. It's things like this that leave a sour taste in the mouths of students - especially those of us paying £81 in course fees for the 60 credit final project module. Thus far I've had three emails from tutors. Not sure I'd call that value for money.