Another plug time. Sorry, I just happen to have lots of things to plug at the moment. It’ll ease off a bit soon enough, I’m sure.
Out now, in all good bookshops both physical and virtual, is the new Doctor Who Storybook 2010. It’s like the annual, designed to be unwrapped on Christmas morning (hence having next year’s date, and hence coming out in the middle of August with all the other Christmas merchandise). There’s also a Doctor Who Annual, but I’m reliably informed that’s not as good – and I can think of no better way of gauging the quality of a publication than on whether or not I have been invited to contribute.
My contribution to the Storybook is the script for the comic strip, Space Vikings! As you might imagine, with such a brilliant title as that, the title came first and the story came afterwards, as I tried to come up with a logical reason why there might be vikings in space. To find out if I succeded, you’ll have to buy the storybook. The artwork’s by Rob Davis, who has done a fabulous job, just as he did last year and on the Time Of My Life comic strip in DWM.
Haven’t read the rest of it yet (I’ve spoken to other writers and all of us read our own bits first, partly to remind ourselves what the hell we wrote, and partly to check that it’s all there and hasn’t been re-written) but it’s all written by proper writers off the telly, and illustrated with authentic I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-1979 artwork (this is a high compliment). And the frontispiece is hilarious.
The only negative point is the photo of yours truly on the back flap. I’m cringing with embarrasment so much I’m in danger of turning inside-out.