I’m traveling later in the day to see a friend, which means I have some non-blog related tasks to attend to first, which means I AM LEAVING YOU. For the rest of the day, not forever. UNLESS I DIE. Which I’m not planning to. JUST SAYING.

But as they say, when a door closes a window opens, the better to leap out of, and in that spirit I say to you: Hey, in the comment thread, why don’t you recommend to folks here another writer’s blog that you read on a regular basis? Because writers are interesting! And we smell of lilacs. It’s true.

Just tell us why you like the blog, and leave a link to it (just typing in the URL is fine, you don’t have to fiddle with html) so people can check it out. Try one link a comment, since three or more links per comment will likely just you send to the moderation queue, and I won’t be around to free comments on a regular basis. You may post more than comment in the thread.

You can also suggest interesting author Twitter feeds if you like, because that’s just like blogging, only shorter.

If you’re a writer you may suggest your own, but if you do, your blog better be AWESOME. Because that’s what readers here deserve.

All right, then. You kids have fun. See you tomorrow.

My excellent friend Karen Healey wrote me today with this:

I think that your Whatever readers might be interested in Tales for Canterbury. It’s an anthology of original and reprinted short stories in electronic and print form, the proceeds of which are all going to the NZ Red Cross (Christchurch) Earthquake Appeal.

The writers and editors are all donating their work, and while the brief was for stories of hope, survival and the future, rather than for any particular genre, there are some notable SFF names in there – like Juliet Marillier, Neil Gaiman, Gwyneth Jones, Jay Lake, Helen Lowe, Jeff VanderMeer, and Sean Williams.

The website for the anthology is here, and pre-orders can be made here.

There you are, folks.

This week at FilmCritic.com, I ask: Where are the women writers and directors in science fiction film? Because, hey, there aren’t very many. At all. Is this a general problem of women writers/directors being thin on the ground in film? Or is it something else? My thoughts await you, and as always feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments.