2011 is nearly done, my birthday’s come and gone, I’ve edits that I’m working on for Night’s Engines (that’s Roil 2), and new books in the works (one that is particularly complicated, and fun, and came to me in a flash on my birthday – thanks dear old backbrainstorymachine).

It’s been a satisfying year both professionally (as a writer, a bit-of-a-teacher, and as a staff member at Avid Reader working with some of the finest people you could hope to work with) and personally. I launched two new books into the world The Business of Death and Roil *, and made a whole heap of ridiculous videos (many featuring a singing pie) some were even about writing.

And I found that some people actually seem to like what I write – which is rather nice.

I’ve also been lucky to work with two excellent (and very different) publishers, and I’d like to thank both Angry Robot and Orbit for all their effort kicking me into shape. We produced two pretty fine books, I reckon.

Next year should see an awful lot of writing done, and Night’s Engines (the cover art of which is awesome) in print (which wraps up the duology, though I keep wondering if there isn’t a third book in there – a certain image keeps haunting me – but we’ll see how book two goes first).

I’ve learnt so much about writing this year, what works for me, what doesn’t, what I’m afraid of (currently, fears change like the winds), and just how much I can push myself. Hopefully I’ll be wise enough to use some of that next year.

Finally, I’ve had it driven home to me, again, and again, just how lucky I am in my friends and my family. I don’t know how I deserve it, but there you go, some times the world throws you good cards. The best card, of course, is my wife, Diana. We’ve got each other’s back, and she amazes me every day with her energy, her good humour, and her creativity. I’m the luckiest bastard in the world.

I read some cracking books this year. Highlights by friends were Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Love and Romanpunk (though everything from Twelfth Planet Books I’ve read has been nothing less than brilliant – same for books by Tansy) Marianne de Pierres’ Angel Arias, Christopher Currie’s The Ottoman Motel, and Krissy Kneen’s Triptych.  All of them are amazing books, beautifully written (and jealousy inducing, you want your friends to do well, but come on, guys!).

Lev Grossman’s The Magician King enthralled me (as did Magicians, which, come to think of it, I read this year, too) it’s a funny, bleak, wonderful book ruthlessly logical as well as magical. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach was a delight (and it’s a novel about baseball, but it’s not really about baseball) as was Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad. Kate Griffin keeps knocking them out of the park with her Matthew Swift books, they’re the right mix of messy and poetic and magical, and Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London was delightful, and I still stand by my description of it being the Bill meets Buffy. Oh, and there was Joanne Anderton’s Debris a book I liked very much, indeed, and something rather different to a lot of contemporary fantasy or sf (she seems to like to mix her genres as much as I do!).

The Art of the Hobbit is just one of the loveliest books ever (if you love Tolkien’s art, which I do). The Weird edited by Anne and Jeff Vandermeer is vertiginously brilliant (and a very important book for all Fantasy and Horror readers I’ve linked to its spin off website, a wonderful source of all things weird) and Richard Morgan was breathtakingly deconstructionist with the Cold Commands. And China Mieville’s Embassytown was another bit of brilliance, there are few authors as consistently challenging and entertaining.

It’s felt like a rather long year, I’m sure that I’m missing more than a few books that I’ve loved this year – feel free to prod my memory. But one thing I noticed, in a time where publishing went through some tumultuous changes, was the sheer number of really good books produced. I felt that for me, as a reader, there have been few better years. So, there you go.

*Which you can currently get very cheaply here

After my brother’s video, it seems almost criminal to follow it with a book corner, but it’s time to give you the latest Trent’s Book Corner Christmas.

Christmas is crashing towards us like a freight train, which means I’m overdue for a Trent’s Bookcorner Christmas Special, I just need to find my santa hat – and so does Trent.

I’ve been writing a bit lately, working on some new projects and getting a few older things into line (like the two novels I wrote a couple of years ago, that no-one has ever seen, but which I think are pretty damn good).

And there’s a post over at the fabulous Ian Irvine’s blog that I’ve written on worldbuilding – I’ve called a not particularly helpful guide, because it is precisely that, but if you’re interested in some of the foundations of the Death Works books (and the Nightbound Land for that matter) then you might find it illuminating.

Finally thanks again to all the people that have read and reviewed Roil and the Business of Death over the last few months. I’ve read a fair few of them (I know, bad Trent) and there’s been some that I’ve agreed with, some that I’ve not, but, either way, it’s pleased me greatly to think that people have engaged with these books. I like `em all, these odd books of mine, and I always respect the time and effort that goes into writing a review, silence is a dreadful thing to face with a book, chatter, argument, discussion that’s what most writers want – and it’s great to see it happening.

Oh, and finally, as opposed to the previous finally, which possessed less finality than it ought, can I draw your attention to the short film my brother, Travis, wrote and directed. It’s not suitable for work, but definitely worth checking out if you have six minutes or so to spare.

I’ve just finished mentoring nine fabulous writers at the Hachette Manuscript Development Programme – all of whom, if they want it, and want to work hard enough (and are a little bit lucky) have an excellent future ahead as writers.

It was an absolute pleasure getting to know them all, and to help support them through the week of writing, thinking about writing, and editorial reports and whatnot. I don’t know if I am capable of teaching people how to write but I do my best to get them to question their writing, play, and be brave (bravery is an exciting thing).

Support is such an important thing for a writer, and particularly a beginning writer. I’ve been lucky throughout my career to have a wonderfully supportive family, then writing group, as well as the knowledge that the best writer’s organisation in the country (if not the world) was at my back.

On top of that, my workplace has always been very flexible (not just Avid), my publishers lovely … and then there has been one person who has never lost faith in me, my wife, Diana.

Diana has had an amazing and perilous life*, that she lived long enough to meet me is wonderful enough, that I’ve had the pleasure to know her, and to be her husband is an endless delight and mystery. I can only hope that I am as supportive of her, as she is of me (and, she deserves so much more).

Stories are at the heart of my life, and she is the heart of those stories.

And… she tells her own stories, just in a different way.

Well, there’s a new Book Corner up, I can’t believe that I only started doing these just under twelve months ago – November 16 apparently.

If anyone had told me that I was going to have four books published in the past twelve months, I wouldn’t have believed them, but at least it made sense. If anyone had told me that I would make thirty odd videocasts, many of them featuring a really bad animation of a talking pie, or that people would ask me to sign copies of their books with drawings of the pie, or that they would send me videos of their child singing about the pie, I really wouldn’t have believed them, and it wouldn’t have made any kind of sense at all.

But that’s life. You never know what you might end up doing with it. These videos really have been too much fun.

So, let me give you – Pieo: The True Story.

There’s an interview with me over at the Ranting Dragon thanks to the wonderful Michelle. She asked some great questions, and if you’ve ever wondered how I would take down the wonderful Sam Sykes author of Tome of the Undergates and Black Halo the answer is here (yeah, I’d cheat).