Brenda and Effie by Bret

Here's Brenda and Effie as drawn by the brilliant Bret Herholz! What do the Brenda fans out there think? Do they look how you imagine them? I'm urging Bret to keep plumping Brenda up and make her a bit more bosomy. But I love the look of these two. They look just as if they're about to launch into some terrifying investigation.

This is all in preparation for a special project that I really hope comes off...

For myself, I'm almost halfway through the first draft of a special secret project that began on New Year's Day... and I'm on schedule so far...!

I'm longing to catch up with reading. I'm coming to the end of Lev Grossman's 'The Magicians', which I have just adored, all the way through. The final, climactic sequences are crazy. They've gone bonkers. I'm looking forward to writing a piece about the book here, quite soon. After that, I want to / need to read Cormac Mccarthy's The Road - which I'm dragging my feet about a bit, because everyone else in Book Club says how bleak and disturbing it is. A couple of members had nightmares about it. I'll leaven the experience by listening to the unabridged new novel by Laurie Graham, which I got from Audible - and reading, at last, 'A Billion for Boris' by Mary Rodgers - which was the *other* lost kids' book I couldn't remember, and the second one that the amazing Nick at A Pile of Leaves plucked out of the ether for me.

But I'm falling behind in my reading, I feel like... I've mysteries and space operas and murders and merry men and werewolves and angels to get to...

And this week's looking pretty busy. Tomorrow I'll be all day at the recording of something very exciting... more about which, later...!

Thanks for all the comments - here and on facebook - about Paul Gallico! I loved hearing recommendations for Gallico stories I've not read yet. Seems like there's a lot of fondness out there for him. We need to get someone to bring out a full edition of his books, maybe...?

Keep the comments and questions coming - I love getting them.