check out website: www.ttapress.com

Somehow this crept into my slush pile, but I think it might have dropped out of a wormhole. Spookily, it seems to sum up my own approach to writing. If you don't try you cannot fail, and if you don't want to try, you don't have to, is possibly the best advice ever offered to a would-be writer. After all, there are plenty of writers out there that have no problem putting pen to paper - and in the Science Fiction publishing world some never seem to stop!



Another declaration by Mat is that hard work won't necessarily make you successful because usually you need to be in the right place at the right time. Yes, it's stating the bleedin' obvious but he says it so nicely...

Chapter headings include 'Save Time, Fail From The Start' and 'Bad Advice And Where To Find It' - sub-headings are even more specific with 'How To Prevent Good Ideas' and 'Believe Me You Don't Want To Be A Writer'.

The best bit is 'Free Stuff Is Sweeter Than Wages'. His advice, contrary to every other clever clogs, is write for free unless you are doing somebody else out of a fee. Sites like SFCrowsnest are much richer because so many people contribute for free and it's even better when more people join in. Everyone's opinion is valid, as long as they agree with me.

To sum up, this is a funny guide to avoid the pain of writing and thereby being poor and unhappy from a guy who enjoys the pain of writing, is slightly above the breadline and by my observations deliriously happily.

Read, take action, be happy, because making decisions is half the battle.

Sue Davies

(also) News Editor and Reviewer
www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk