one for the writers out there...

Iain Banks has committed the cardinal sin of failing to meet a deadline.

The award-winning novelist's latest work, Matter, was due to hit the shelves in a couple of weeks as a shoo-in for the Christmas bestseller lists.

It now won't be released until some time next March.

"It's all because I became a serial addict of the computer game 'Civilisation'," Banks said at this month's Edinburgh book festival.

"I played it for three months and then realised I hadn't done any work. In the end, I had to delete all the saved files and smash the CD.

"It is very unprofessional of me. I had to ask for an extension for the first time, which made me feel just like I was a student again."

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hardcore stupidity

Over the course of my life I've had the opportunity to do some quite amazingly stupid things on purpose. But I take my hat off to the person who sat down and spent 26 hours watching Snakes on a Plane 11 times in a row. And liveblogging it as he went. That's some amazingly spectacular hardcore stupid, right there.