18.01.2012

Am I only updating this because of the blackout? Maybe I AM and maybe I AINT! LOL

Back home from a camping trip to the beautiful Wollemi National Park. On the morning of the fourth day, I woke and slipped out of my sleeping bag, and the water in the weir was first stunningly still and then exploding with squabbling swamphens. There were reeds and ripples, silver and spilled ink, and I realised that despite its faults, I am living in a perfect time, or at least as perfect as times can get.

No doubt, after a week of catastrophic world news, the internet etc I will start doubting what it is that I felt: That the world isn't ending, because there are no endings, only change. If we destroy ourselves, there will still be glow-worms in the dark crevices of the mountains, and if there are no children to peer at them and giggle with delight, there will be, again, later, eventually, and everything will be OK so long as there is beauty and at least one person left alive to see it.

For now, 2012 continues to be kind to me. The Second Card of the Major Arcana has sold to Apex. White Lies has sold to Redstone SF. "John West" has selected four of the best for my TPP Twelve Planets collection. I have had some supremely gentle and encouraging novel rejections. I have read some excellent books. Other writers have been generous with their time and their critiquing eyes.

I am so lucky.

23.11.2011

Supposed to take the Small One to see the Christmas Light Spectacular at Hunter Valley Gardens tonight. Naturally, the monsoon-like rain is coming down hard enough to turn the display into a sizzling electrified death trap.

*sigh*

Consolation: I've had a story accepted into Pink Narcissus Press's Daughters of Icarus feminist science fiction anthology, which I'm really excited about. Again, submissions are still open so this will be contingent on geniuses not squeezing me out of my spot, but it is a wonderful, wonderful feeling when you set out to try and do something and a person twelve thousand kilometres away who you've never met thinks that you've been successful. Much gratitude to Cat Sparks for pointing me in the direction of the guidelines (looking forward to Ishtar!)

Fablecroft is moving from WA to TAS and having an empty-out-my-garage SALE, so if you've ever considered picking up Worlds Next Door, Australis Imaginarium or After The Rain (I have short stories in all 3 collections!) you can get all three delivered to your (Aussie) doorstep for just $35 or at bargain individual prices. Sale ends Dec 14th.

Also, Alisa WON that World Fantasy Award for Twelfth Planet Press (Tansy tells it best!) so you know what else to send your spec-fic loving family members for Christmas! (If you have money left to burn after all that, Anywhere But Earth would also make an excellent gift purchase.)

If anyone needs me, I'll be over here watching YouTube videos of Christmas lights with the dramatically sniffling Small One...

30.08.2011

Two more short story sales. Complaints Department is to appear in the Futures feature of respected scientific journal Nature, and near-future sci-fi Sleeping Beauty (provided a bunch of geniuses don't submit at the last minute and bump me out of my spot!) has been accepted by Fablecroft for anthology Apocalypse Hope.

Congratulations to Alisa Krasnostein for her well-deserved World Fantasy Award shortlisting for Twelfth Planet Press. I really, REALLY wish I could go!

23.05.2011

So. Apparently it DOES get better! Yowie tied with The February Dragon by L.L. Hannett and Angela Slatter to win Best Fantasy Short Story at the Aurealis Awards. W00t!

It was an amazing night. I love Sydney anyway, and the venue for the Awards ceremony was a gorgeous old theatre. Once again, it is the generosity and enthusiasm of the local spec fic scene that makes events like these, and the attendees did not disappoint any more than the organisers did. I got up early the next morning to go out for a day trip on Sydney Harbour in a 150-year-old, beautiful 3-masted sailing ship, the James Craig. It took the volunteer crew about an hour to set 18 of the 21 sails, what with all the heaving and ho-ing and "ahoy aloft!", but when they did, she glided so swiftly and silently through the waters of the Pacific, I thought I might cry.

In other words, I spent a big chunk of what was supposed to be my San Diego money, so I may not make it to World Fantasy Con after all.

There's no photo of the shiny award itself because my computer is yet to be repaired. Ah, mindlessly destructive Trojan (whose name I will not utter here). If only removing you was more like capturing a Spanish Treasure Ship on the high seas and less like picking paralysis ticks out of an Old English Sheepdog's scrotum with tweezers two sizes too small.

Apologies to anyone expecting correspondence. I hope to be back in business within the next few weeks!

12.05.2011

Have you been waiting impatiently for a copy of the technically excellent and uniquely imaginative Kathleen Jennings' very first magazine cover? Chunky Issue #51 of the newly quarterly ASIM is due out any day now, and will contain not only my love letter to Tasmania, The Bird, The Bees and Thylacine but sixteen other offerings for the bargain price of $12.95. I can't imagine an illustration more different, yet equal in awesome, to the drilling robot from COSMOS. Squeee!

27.04.2011

Back from attending the 50th annual Australian SF Convention in Perth. I could fill a book with everything that happened there; people met, things said, ideas had. After the long journey home, it's already becoming dreamlike, fading like the image burned into my retinas of my toddler's white sandals, made luminous by camera flashes, as she ran across the stage to accept my Best Novella Ditmar from a grinning, kneeling Ellen Datlow [7.05.11 EDIT: OMG, sorry Ellen. I know the difference between you and Ellen Kushner! Really! Obviously I need an editor for my website and not just my fiction].

To everyone who donated their glowsticks to the Small One, my eternal gratitude. To the organisers of the con, to everyone who voted me into the top spot for Best New Talent and Best Novella/Novelette for The Company Articles of Edward Teach, and to my friends and idols who came to congratulate me afterward, you made that night absolutely magical for me. Does it get better than this? Congratulations to all the other winners and nominees.

26.03.2011
Exceedingly weary today but also exceedingly happy. Being up all night with the flu meant I was online when the 2011 Australian Ditmar ballot came out. Edward Teach is there in the Novella/Novelette category, which is just brilliant, and I once again have a chance at Best Talent...not that the path is clear, even with the over-talented Peter M Ball out of the way (no I didn't kill him, he won last year so he's ineligible this time). I recognise all those other names and (curses!) can think of at least one short story by each of them that I really liked.

In the 2010 Aurealis stakes, Yowie has made the shortlist in the Best Fantasy Short Story category and Sprawl in Best Anthology. Great to see Mammoth Guy get on the Science Fiction shortlist with Angaelien Apocalypse and also, for Fantasy novel, Juliet Marillier's wonderful Heart's Blood which spoke to my secret self back when I first read it; Death Most Definite and Power and Majesty being worthy opposition for it, and my two most-often-loaned books of the year.

Since last update, I've also joined SFWA as an Associate Member, thanks to Cosmos being a qualifying market, and discovered that Edward Teach / Angaelien Apocalypse reached #6 on the Newcastle Herald Independent Booksellers' Bestseller List over the weekend. Maybe the Newcastle Herald is not the NYT but WHO CARES, our ultra-cool novella double is now a Bestseller and nobody can tell me otherwise.

I am really excited about going to Perth for Swancon/Natcon in April, Sydney for the Aurealis Awards in May, and, if certain economic stars align, World Fantasy Con in San Diego in October.

20.02.2011

Twelfth Planet Press is giving away three copies of Edward Teach/Angaelien Apocalypse on Goodreads for free! You have 8 days left to sign up. Also...I'M READING A BOOK, MAN, I'M READING A BOOK! Hahaha!

02.02.2011

Happy Release Day for issue #37 of the gorgeous and intelligent COSMOS magazine, containing my science fiction story Breaking the Ice (Edit: Sorry for the error here before, Breaking the Ice is definitely the correct title). Get it in pretty much all Australian newsagents and no doubt some overseas ones, too. I am incredibly excited about it! Difficult to remember what other news I wanted to mention here.

Oh, right. Twelfth Planet Press has announced the authors of the Twelve Planets series, subscriptions available here, and the line-up is predictably fabulous; I am particularly terrified of comparison with Cat Sparks and Margo Lanagan, but they say whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger! If YOU have a real job and love science fiction and fantasy, you could make a worse decision than signing up. I'll probably be getting them one at a time. Sue Isle's is first, Tansy's next. Keen to read them.

Third belated news item: the utterly selfless Tehani from Fablecroft has converted her imminent After the Rain print anthology to a Queensland floods (and maybe cyclones, too, after tonight?) fundraiser limited edition e-book. If you were going to donate anyway, why not pick up free fantastic fiction in the process? Clicketty clicketty HERE before Feb 15th.

02.12.2010

So I lost NanoWriMo, only making 27 000-odd words instead of 50 000. I plead whooping cough! But November was not a complete write-off (ha, did you like that one Petrie?); I had an absolute ball at the Sydney Freecon with Matt Chrulew, Jo Anderton and co.. The atomsphere was that of a dozen wild specimens of SF fan captured inside a specialty bookshop, and I appreciated all the hard work done by Garry Dalrymple in organising the event, and it was also nice to drop in to Infinitas for the first time and check it out.

Although production of words has dropped off as I hack, splutter and choke my way around the house, I am thrilled by the release of Edward Teach/Apocalypse which can be purchased HERE, the appearance of Yowie on the Last Short Story Recommended Reading List for 2010, and the impending release of Sheryl Tempchin's Zahir end of year print anthology which should be available on Amazon soon and will be a nice Christmas present for me.

Also, I don't think I've mentioned that my stories The Bird, the Bees and Thylacine and Fruit of the Pipal Tree have been accepted into ASIM #51 and Fablecroft anthology After the Rain respectively. Yipppppeeeee! Bring on 2011!

08.09.2010
Home from Aussiecon 4, a fantastic experience. I learned so much and met so many people. If you gave a panel or if I chatted with you at the con: HUZZAH! Thanks for the wild ride. Special thanks go to Juliet Marillier, Tehani Wessely, Terri Sellen, Alex Pierce and Helen Merrick + family for their kindness and generosity. Thanks Trent Jamieson, Peter Ball, Geoff Maloney, Dirk Flinthart, Cat Sparks and Rob Hood for keeping my husband entertained while I spent large chunks of the day in panels. Not to mention the Hugos. I can't count the times my head almost exploded from the awesomeness.

It was also almost impaled by Dirk's Jatz-as-shuriken. Watch out for him at your next con. He may be armed with Arnotts' Shapes and they are pointy.

Congrats to Peter Ball for winning the Best New Talent Ditmar and saving Simon Petrie from a whacking. Although I still need to beat Simon up for writing that pun-packed story in ASIM that had my husband singing zombie variations of Meatloaf songs for three days straight. Purchasers of #46 have been warned.

02.07.2010
Lots of news, because I have been slack. In no particular order, Zahir #23 is now live, and my story, "The War of the Gnome and the Mountain Devil" can be read HERE. I love the accompanying artwork and the magazine is always a refreshing read. Aurealis #43 is also now available, and can be purchased HERE. Even if you only buy it because of Geoff Maloney, I will still love you. Worlds Next Door is available for pre-purchase HERE, and you can find out more about reprint anthology Australis Imaginarium, which is set to include not only my "Night Heron's Curse" but Lee Battersby's "Claws of Native Ghosts" and other such delicious Australian treats, at the Fablecroft Publishing website. Stay tuned for SQUEEEEE when I get my hands on that Shaun Tan cover. Finally, "Yowie," my story due to appear in Sprawl, has been made into Episode three of the Twelfth Planet podcasts by fabulous Tansy Rayner Roberts and can be listened to HERE. Hooray!

07.04.2010
Busy busy! Typing like a madwoman to finish the Waltzing Mathilda first draft in time for my Snowy Mountains camping/caving/fishing/goldpanning holiday next week. Destination:Future has been released, containing my story "Ambassador"; it has earned a starred review by Publisher's Weekly and can be purched from Amazon HERE or from Borders, HERE . My favourite is Simon Petrie's story. Then again, I am not without bias. Go, purchase, enjoy!

03.01.2010
An awesome start to the New Year. Yesterday, Yowie was accepted for the Twelfth Planet Press suburban fantasy anthology, Sprawl, and today The War of the Gnome and the Mountain Devil was accepted for the July edition of newly electonicized magazine Zahir. Spec Fic For Kids has been renamed Worlds Next Door, and is still on track to be released this year, while I hope to see Aurealis #43 make its appearance soon. ASIM #41 came out in October and can be purchased HERE - and, look! New Ceres Nights has been shortlisted under best anthology in this year's Aurealis awards. Go, NCN, go!

24.08.2009
Writers Festivals? What Writers Festivals? If I fail to acknowledge their existence, I don't have to feel bad that I can't go. Anyway, who cares? I've made my first inroads into the US of A. A sci-fi short called Ambassador has sold to the very respectable Hadley Rille for an anthology called DESTINATION: FUTURE. Let us drain a goblet, clink cannikin and toss a pot to Destination:Future ...and curse all rovers who should ever give quarter to an Englishman!

26.04.2009
Doing the I Got Into Aurealis Magazine Dance this month. Death's Daughter and the Clockmaker has been accepted for issue #43. Meanwhile, NCN is out: You can purchase it (along with ASIM #37 and Canterbury 2100, making it a Dyer trifecta) from the online shop at Twelfth Planet Press.

23.02.2009
Belated update. Been crazily trying to finish TFT draft. Congratulations to Cat Sparks for taking out my category at the AAs. The awards night was hilarious and heartwarming - from Simon Higgins exhorting Sean Williams in an uncanny Yoda voice to write the 17 book adventures of Young Yoda, to the beautiful acceptance speeches of KA Bedford and Melina Marchetta. Fun to see so many admired and glamorously dolled-up writers in the flesh. Overflowing with gratitude towards Tehani, Alisa and Tansy for their immediate welcome, for being an enthusiastic and vocal cheer squad, and for being so nice about my story, The Widow's Seven Candles, due to appear in New Ceres Nights very soon.

04.01.2009
Exciting news. Not only has Night Heron's Curse been shortlisted for an Aurealis Award, but The Platter of Palate's Pleasure has been accepted by ASIM for their May issue, #41. Is this vindication of Kevin J Anderson's Popcorn Theory? *dances around the room*

10.09.2008
The Brisbane Writer's Festival is almost here. They called today to say I'd made it into Jim Frenkel's Masterclass. Huzzah! I hope my cold goes away before it's time to hop on the plane.

16.06.2008
Looks like my short story about the giant eel, Night Heron's Curse, is going to be in the November (#37) issue of Andromeda Spaceways. Very exciting. Though I will probably blow the money on buying copies of the magazine. D'oh!

08.03.2008
Wentworth Falls are incredible. The tournament at Mountain Archers was great fun. We stayed at Wendover. If I lived in Blackheath I'd have a birch grove in my landscaped gardens, too. Plus lots of Japanese maples and ginkgos. Autumn colour is the best.