February 2012
1 post
1 tag
January 2012
2 posts
Talk Radio Europe interviews Gruff about TLGC... →
The lovely Hannah Murray of Talk Radio Europe interviewed Gruff for her hugely popular Book Show, asking where the inspiration for the metaphysical thriller came from and what is the book really about. And how do you solve all those puzzles?
Listen to the full interview here.
Gruff
June 2011
2 posts
4 tags
Google Lobbies Nevada To Allow Self-Driving Cars
Here’s another technology from science fiction that’s already here today in prototype form and quite likely to be on the streets quite soon.
http://mashable.com/2011/05/11/google-self-driving-cars-nevada/
It won’t be long before all cars are self-driving. The chances are, in time, software will be able to control a car far more safely than a human can. And your car will...
3 tags
Print your own bikinis...
This is what happens when 3D printing technology meets fashion.
The clever ladies at Continuum have developed algorithms that allow them to print and sell bikinis and dresses designed exclusively for, or even by, you.
Awesome stuff. Check it out:
http://www.thelookingglassclub.com/print-your-own-bikinis/
May 2011
2 posts
Technologies of 2035, today
If you thought the vision of 2035 painted in The Looking Glass Club seemed too advanced, take a look at some of these extraordinary prototypes that already exist today. From 3D printers to invisibility cloaks. Yep, really. You may change your mind. http://www.thelookingglassclub.com/technologies-of-2035-today/ This is the first in a small series of articles.
I hope you enjoy reading them.
...
1 tag
Looking past the Looking Glass Club...
Happy belated Easter to everyone. I’m only just recovering from a nasty bronchial flu-type infection which floored me over Easter, hence the radio silence. Quick thanks to everyone who’s emailed/tweeted/facebook messaged me. It’s always lovely to hear from people, especially when the feedback is so wonderfully positive.
Only a couple of people seemed to have disliked The...
April 2011
2 posts
WatchI bought a commercially available anti-gravity toy and used it to float my coffee cup this morning… Still don’t believe the Singularity is coming?
Award for funniest book critique goes to...
Christopher Kinsey: “I HAD to email you today … I started reading your book last week and I CAN’T PUT IT DOWN! I really loved the bit where Destiny tries to take over Fashion Fury Enterprises but then gets taken down by the board because she accidentally slept with her father, when she thought he was just her ski instructer. No, I’m kidding - I really can’t put it...
March 2011
4 posts
Special thanks to Karen Wall (@malwengoch)
I just wanted to say a special thank you to Karen Wall (@malwengoch). We’ve never met, but she’s gone to huge effort over the last few months to help spread the word about The Looking Glass Club, especially on Twitter. She even nominated me for a Shorty Award.
I’m enormously grateful when anyone shows support, writes a nice review, blog entry, facebook update, or just tweets...
2 tags
iPad prize shipped today!
We had bit of a struggle tracking down winner Phillip Wheatley to claim his prize for winning The Looking Glass Club mini-game; it turned out he’d moved to a new job in Budapest but we’ve finally been able to ship his shiny new iPad.
Congratulations to everyone who entered - you’re all winners if you got the right answers in our eyes, though there was only one iPad to give away. Fret not...
What ten mind-blowing illusions tell us about... →
I’ve decided to explore some of the themes from The Looking Glass Club in a little more depth than I was able to in the novel in this first of a series of articles. They all cover concepts I find profound, even mind-blowing, and I confess I’m more than a little obsessed with them. I hope you enjoy reading them!
Gruff
February 2011
3 posts
And the winner is...
Congratulations to Philip Wheatly of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK, who was the entrant drawn from all the correct entries submitted to the mini-game. Philip wins a shiny new iPad. Thanks to everyone who entered the competition - especially those of you who’ve bought a copy of the book and helped send it to #1 in the Amazon UK Best Seller list under SF > Mysteries and Crime just after...
Mini-game competition is now closed.
Some lucky winner is going to be getting an iPad… we’re checking all the answers and will draw a winner this afternoon. Good luck to everyone who’s played!
2 tags
Just 24 hours to go to win an iPad...
Emma Styles won an All-New Kindle at the book launch and with just twenty four hours left to play The Looking Glass Club mini-game, we’re all wondering with bated breath who’s going to win the iPad…
We’re loving just how engaged people have become with the competition. Lots of tweets appearing as people solve more of the puzzles in the book - you’re a clever bunch...
January 2011
5 posts
Two weeks to go...
There are just 15 days left now until the mini-game competition closes. The draw for the iPad will take place on the 11th February 2011, so if you haven’t already done so, getting your thinking caps on and submit your solutions to the first four puzzles.
We must say, we’re REALLY impressed with the number of people who’ve entered, and many of the entries are even correct - you...
Puzzle 14 - erratum!
Thanks to John (@C2H5OHPDX on twitter) for pointing out a small typo in puzzle 14. Hopefully, it’ll be pretty obvious to anyone trying to solve it, but just in case, here’s the correction:
The text reads: H2TePmBk + H-BeEr-H-fAt + CrXe-H-GdRn + ZrTeBeIn-Br It should read: H2TePmBk + H-BeEr-Hf-At + CrXe-H-GdRn + ZrTeBeIn-Br
ximingli asked: Hi,I have two questions.First, are all the puzzles supposed to be solved using the solution tester? I mean, some puzzles seem to have a pattern encrypted inside, while others seem not. Do we need to convert all puzzles into patterns and fit into the solution tester? I am not sure how to provide answers using the solution tester if the puzzles provide only limited number of words.
Second,...
Second,...
conorjamison asked: I live in the US, and I''ve been trying for almost a month to get your book, get bookstores don't have it, and every time I order it off of Amazon, the order gets canceled, because they don't have it (and they shouldn't be saying they do if they don't in the first place). I'd love to join the big-game competition, but if this keeps up, somebody will win before I...
tulster asked: Hi,
I entered the mini competition a couple of nights ago, and today I saw a blog post from a month ago saying you'd had what looked like a winning entry already.
Is this competition still open or should I just move on to the million pound one now :)
If it is still open, should I have received an email confirmation of my entry, as I...
I entered the mini competition a couple of nights ago, and today I saw a blog post from a month ago saying you'd had what looked like a winning entry already.
Is this competition still open or should I just move on to the million pound one now :)
If it is still open, should I have received an email confirmation of my entry, as I...
December 2010
1 post
November 2010
5 posts
5 tags
Girl geeks rocked the Looking Glass Club launch...
It was definitely Girls On Top last night at the Looking Glass Club launch party. All three of the finalists in the kick-off competition for the Amazon Kindle were female.
Congratulations to Emma Styles who won the tie-break question by guessing the closest value for the height of the Queen’s Tower (287 feet, she guessed 292) as well as correctly solving the first puzzle. She took home a...
Revised entry submitted... looking good...
We’ll need to check more thoroughly, but we’ve received what looks like the first (and so far only) correct answer to the mini-game: the first four puzzles deciphered. Remember the competition draw will be 21st December so you still have time to send in your answers for the chance to win an iPad!
Second entry in... not a winner.
Another almost-but-no-banana entry to the iPad competition this morning. Can you do better and win the iPad? http://bit.ly/aG7M7I #LGC
First mini-game submission in - FAIL!
A brave individual has submitted the first entry to our mini-game competition to win an iPad. They’ve submitted solutions to the first four puzzles and… got three correct! Good try, but no banana. Or iPad.
Can you do better?!
October 2010
4 posts
Imperial Matters Feature
Imperial Matters posted an article earlier in the week, highlighting the fact that The Looking Glass Club is the first novel to be set on the Imperial College campus in South Kensington.
An avid reader has written in pointing out that, although it may be the first novel set there, H G Wells’ short story, “The Slip under the Microscope”, written in 1896, was also set at...
The Looking Glass Club in Amazon Top 100 Best...
We haven’t even started the marketing push yet, but this afternoon, The Looking Glass Club, was ranked #54 in the Thrillers section of Amazon.co.uk!
Word of mouth about just how terrific Gruff’s Science Fiction Thriller is clearly already starting to spread…
Onwards and upwards!
UK Launch Party - 18th November 2010 - Save the...
We’ve finally settled on the date for the UK launch party- though we’re still umming and ahhing about the actual venue - we know it’ll be somewhere in Zone 1 in London.
We also know it’ll be a really fun evening, with Gruff doing book signings (of course), but also we’re going to be kicking off the LGC competitions by giving away a prize to the person who brings...
