I have been very lax recently about posting blogs and updates - sorry. My excuse is that I've been busy with my new book, a cultural history of cities to be published by Bloomsbury in the UK (more on that later), and reviewing. I've also discovered Twitter and would definitely recommend it - but with a warning: it is addictive! So come and say hello @PD_Smith !

One of the great new contacts I've made on Twitter is Dr Tim Jones (@physicus) who is currently on a career break studying for an MSc in Science Communication at Imperial College. He co-presents a show called Mission Impossible on Imperial College Radio and he invited me on to talk about Doomsday Men. You can stream the program here. (The interview is about 40 minutes into the show.)

As I say, there are lots of fascinating people to meet on Twitter - one of my favourite authors William Gibson is there, disguised as @GreatDismal, as well as many other great writers, like Clare Dudman, Fiona Mackenzie, and Thomas Levenson, author of Einstein in Berlin, bloggers like John Self, publishers and agents, such as my own, Peter Tallack.

To quote one of my other favourite authors, Nick Harkaway, Twitter is like a "giant pub". So order a drink and join the big conversation...