It’s a very hectic afternoon, so here’s a quick roundup:

• Rambling African Geek has initiated a series of lengthy posts concerning race and science fiction. He argues that, outside of invasion locales, science fiction authors have failed to paint a portrait of Africa and that he is “virtually invisible to the perceived SF mainstream, which is overwhelmingly white, hetero, male and only interested in stories by and about other white hetero males.”
• Obvious headline of the week: Blogging moves into mainstream. I guess news travels slower in Ohio.
• At long last, Jonathan Coe has completed The Closed Circle, the sequel to The Rotters’ Club.
• Galleycat reports that Peter Gethers, the “creative genius” who unleashed Kate & Allie will be heading some motion picture entity called “Random House Films.”
• Apparently, Margaret Atwood isn’t the only one writing about Penelope. Children’s novelist Adèle Geras also has a book coming out.
• In Australia, it looks like a new antiterrorism law could have a major effect on the definition of “sedition,” which may affect an Aussie novelist’s freedom of expression.
• A Gore Vidal biography is making the rounds.
• The BBC notes that there’s only one work of fiction on the Guardian’s First Book Award list.
• Tangerine Muumuu is doing the NaNoWriMo. Some years ago, I publicly posted a NaNoWriMo effort in process. Unfortunately, I was prevented from completing the extremely weird Oedipal narrative that resulted due to my apartment catching on fire. I wish her well.
• And speaking of aborted creative efforts, Quiddity reports that Terry Gilliam is reviving The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Maybe.