Bookworm

WHEN Margaret Atwood first had the idea of a machine that could allow a writer to sign personalised copies of her books at a distance, many people thought she was just having a dig at the gruelling schedule publishers tend to set for their touring authors.

Not so. Her invention, LongPen, produced by Unotchit ("you no touch it"), a company she set up last year, has already passed the prototype stage and will, she reveals, be ready for a full demonstration at the London Book Fair (5-7 March 2006).

"You can't be in five countries at once and someone's always feeling left out," she explains. "This might help. I could sign in one country, there'd be a video feed to another country, and the machine would produce my signature and any requested message there.

Atwood is - patently - a genius and should be seen at all costs when Mr Byng's Myths masterclass rolls into Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum on Monday. And get a copy of her new book, The Penelopeiad - signed, if possible, in the old-fashioned way - while you still can. (See feature, page 6.)

GHOSTLY CONTACTS

FINALLY, make sure you're in touch with the other world this Halloween with a seasonally spooky tale. There are plenty of them, for children and adults alike, in Edinburgh this weekend as the International Storytelling Festival bows out for another year. Full details on www.scottishstorytelling centre.co.uk