After a relatively quiet summer – at least by recent standards – I’m back into the swing of things, with a bulging list of commissions.

Top of the list is a new series of books for reluctant teenager readers on the history of music called Pop Histories. Each of the six books is dedicated to a different genre or style of music. I’ve just started writing the Story of Hip-Hop, the first title in the series.

The same editorial company, Calcium Creative, has also commissioned me to write a number of titles in another series, entitled Crime Science. With my titles including Terrorism and Cold Cases, they should be fascinating to research and write.

Although the summer was light by recent standards (I took my first holiday in a long time and spent a fair amount of time over at London 2012), I still found time to write a fair bit. Some of you may have noticed that I contributed all of the athlete profiles for Triathlon Plus magazine’s excellent Olympics 2012 supplement. I’ve also been writing a lot for Juno Plus. Speaking of which, here are links to a few recent reviews and features:

Mungolian Jet Set: Mungoldelics (Smalltown Supersound)

Various: Jerome Derradji presents 122 BPM (Still Music)

Idjut Boys: Cellar Door (Smalltown Supersound)

Various: Sofrito – International Soundclash (Strut)

Dusted Down – Brooks: Clix (Mantis Recordings, 2000)

If that wasn’t enough, I’ve also been contributing to Rugby League World magazine every month, writing the “Grassroots” section about the community game throughout the UK.

Right, best crack on – loads to do this week!