Welcome!

Claire North News

Greetings! And welcome to the first entry of my new blog….

 

I guess the first thing to say is that I’ve never kept a blog before, and this will be an interesting experience, not least as several internet providers in the last few days have informed me that my flat has fallen through a hole in space and time, and finding it will make the quest for the Higgs boson look like an easter egg hunt in a playground. But, domestic crises permitting, I will try to write regularly about the things that interest me, and hopefully you too; the Urban Magic series, writing, fantasy and science fiction in general, London.

I should probably also tell you a few things about me, since you’ve wandered into my blog and might be on the verge of wandering back out in confusion.

I am a fantasy writer, and have been for an unlikely percentage of my life. For the truly curious, I was born the day after a nuclear disaster, which is the only clue I’m going to give to narrow down my age. I started writing as a teenager and through a bizarre series of circumstances, my first novel was published when I was fourteen under the name of Catherine Webb. I’ve lived in London my whole life; I went to university at the London School of Economics where I developed a bit of a thing for the Ottoman Empire (totally rocks) and the politics of the early Cold War (which went down hill, I personally think, around 1965). Having spent three years studying history, the next logical step in my non-literary career was to move to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where I currently study technical theatre.

The first and hopefully last technical theatre joke of the blog:

Q: What is a pirate’s favourite finish?

A: Artex.

It took me seven and a half weeks to find out why that was funny. You may just have to take my word on this; in its own way, it’s hilarious.

Moving swiftly on…

My tastes, I’m told, are eclectic, but I think its probably fairer to say I have no taste at all, and as a consequence like practically everything, except perhaps mushrooms and the 341 bus. Many, many days of my life have been spent watching the new series (and quite a few of the old) of Dr Who, or ploughing through the complete West Wing. If asked to name my heroes, I’d have to start with Grommit (of Wallace and Grommit fame), move onto Terry Pratchett and round it off with a hefty dose of Raymond Chandler.

But, perhaps I will leave discussion of my various science fiction/fantasy gods to a later date…

So this, basically, is me.

If you have found me by google-esque chance, then greetings and welcome!

If you have wandered to this site because you are interested in the Urban Magic series, then doubly greetings and please stick around; there will be plenty more posts on this and other subjects, and in the mean time, feel free to post comments and have a nose around the site!

Until next time….