I'm off to Cornwall tomorrow for a nicely-timed bit of house-sitting/writer's retreat type thing.  Ever notice how writer's are the only profession that take "retreats"?  You never hear of an accountancy clerk flying out to the Hebrides to do a little bit of private, reflective actuary, do you?

It's not as if I'll be in the hinterlands and will still be electronically active (especially, like most of us, for certain election results), but before I go, I wanted to post some reminders of current things.  First, two events I'm doing in November:  17 November, the UCS Beyond Words Festival and 29 November, the Big Science Read, at Bury Central Library, near Manchester.  See the Events tab for more details.

Next, there's still time (if you're in the UK and between the ages of 5 and 16) to enter the competition they've asked me to set and judge in the Guardian. 

And finally, the paperback of The Knife of Never Letting Go is at last in stores.  I know, because I've seen it, despite what Amazon keeps claiming about it not being out until next week.

Otherwise, happy Halloween and Armistice.  I might write before then, but only if I feel like it.