Currently re-reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen while I'm waiting for the new Dresden Files book to come out in paperback. Last time my interest petered out somewhere around Midnight Tides (Book 5), but going back through Deadhouse Gates (Book 2), I have to say that I had completely forgotten how great a writer Erikson is. Also, Iskral Pust rules.

I think I lose steam through all these huge series because as great as a truly epic story is, there are often just too many characters to keep track of. You just manage to get interested in one group when BAM! you're in another scene with a completely different group of people. Once there are enough such groups, you start forgetting what these people were doing last and why you were interested in that in the first place.

Otherwise, this has been stuck in my head since the weekend. It's two years old so I'm sure everyone's seen it, but if I have to live with it, then I might as well inflict it on anyone else who hasn't been infected yet.

Some cool stuff for writers I've come across in the past few days:

• Holly Lisle's Writing Pages - everything you want to know about becoming a fiction writer, and probably some things you didn't.


• Put Your Character in a Sticky Situation - need some more conflict? Try one of these.


• Write or Die - although it's more like "type, or we make you listen to Rick Astley".

And just because I think this is great, here's the article on Otto the Octopus for those who didn't see this on Twitter or Facebook (via Pharyngula).

I've never been much for random socializing, but I thought I'd try putting up a Skulking Ninja blog. It'll include both the apologies for late comics that you know and love, as well as other things that I think should go in a blog, like rants about Kids Today and blurry pictures of the neighbours' cat.

But before I get on with that, and since this week's comic isn't late, I'll start with NaNoWriMo. Anyone else doing NaNo this year? I did it in 2005 and managed to squeeze out a terrible urban fantasy novel about loser vampires. This year I'm doing a sword 'n' sorcery fantasy. I started 5 days late and I'm keeping up with the comic as well so it's a ton of work, but it's a lot of fun. Masochistic, "oh gods, where's the plot going next?", "I suck at writing!" fun. If I survive this, next year I'm going to write a terrible bodice-ripper. With actual bodices getting ripped. I'm not sure anything risque will happen in it otherwise, but there will be pieces of bodice all over the place, let me tell you.

Also, I can't believe that it's taken me this long, but I finally read Code Name: Hunter, and the story's really quite good. If you enjoy urban fantasy, don't dislike furries (and if you don't and do, what are you doing here? Shoo! Shoo!) and haven't come here from there, you should check it out.

Last of all, I really enjoyed drawing those goofy faces in panel 5 this week. Oh, Castus. You have issues.