I Write, Uhm, Stuff...

The Locus Recommended Reading List for 2013 is up here. For once, thanks to my mighty e-reader and the easiness of downloading magazines as they come out, I'm a little more au fait with many of the works mentioned. As I scan the list this year, I can nod in approval, frown with disapproval, tut-tut and cheer, making it a far more participatory process.

And while you're over at Locus, stop for a quick read of Kameron Hurley's essay 'Making Excuses for Science Fiction'. I've been there. I still find myself there from time to time if I carelessly wander during a conversation. Mostly I just avoid telling people outside a certain group that I write because then they'll want to know what I write, and I don't want to go there because, like, you know, they wouldn't understand! Or so I tell myself. And often it's true - I can see the odd expressions on their faces. Mostly, it's just too hard.

Kameron Hurley also tackles geeky elitism as part of the problem, and  wisely writes:

Yet I contributed to this very narrative about my work. Instead of talking about my books as serious (or at least fun) literature, I found myself fall­ing into the same self-conscious trap I had as a kid, when I muttered about how I was writing a story about an expedition to Venus where the volcanos erupted with flowers. I said stuff like: ‘‘Oh, you probably won’t like it. It’s pretty weird,’’ or ‘‘It’s not for everyone,’’ or ‘‘You’ll only like it if you read a lot of science fiction.’’

I anticipated their reactions, and pulled my punches.

One might think I said these things in a pure fit of shame. But as I got older and moved in geekier and geekier circles with folks who loved the same books I did, I recognized that some of this was not shame, but pride. There was some elitism in it of the, ‘‘People like me just get this and you won’t’’ variety.

That’s not pulling a punch. That’s punching yourself in the face.

 And yet it all just boils down to telling stories and readers hopefully enjoying them. Why, oh why, must we complicate things?

Finnegan Begin Again

January has been a bust writingwise, and in a general getting-things-done way with too much Real Life taking up all my time and energy, so I think, by necessity, I'll can my 2014 plan for hitting the ground running from day one, spend the last week of this month clearing the decks, lining up lists and projects, switch to the lunar cycle, shake off this false beginning and make the upcoming Year of the Horse my new starting line.

Year of the Horse. Now that sounds like my kind of a year! I'm not sure officially what the predictions are from those in the know, but since I don't believe in that kind of thing anyway, I can make it whatever I want it to be. I choose to make it just like horse riding - a speedy, exhilarating, going places, wind in my hair, slightly dangerous kind of a year interspersed with leisurely rambles through forests, beautiful scenery, good companionship, and much chatting.

Yep, that's a plan. Bring on the ponies.

Aliens Favourably Received

Lazily scooting around the blogs before I sit down for my first session of serious 2014 writing, I discovered over at Alex Dally MacFarlane's blog that Aliens: Recent Encounters, the anthology she edited (which includes my short story Nullipara) is on io9's list of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2013.  

io9 writes:

There were a lot of anthologies this year, including several with ambitious themes — but this one blew us away more than any other.

Mostly because of the sheer volume of greatness contained in these 32 stories, ranging from Ken Liu's "Bookmaking Habits of Select Species" to Ursula K. Le Guin's "Seasons of the Ansarac." These are classic stories of alien encounters, from some of the best science fiction writers working today.

 Nice. Very nice. I'm loving 2014 already.

Shadowy Figure

Well, it's official now. A bit scary, but official.

If you pop over to the Australian Horror Writers Association's website, click to the Australian Shadows Awards and check out the 2013 Shadows Awards judges, you'll spot yours truly suspiciously lurking on the Short Works / Collections / Edited Works panel.

How did this come about?

Well, I received an email in 2012 inviting me to participate, and I almost jumped on board then, being both interested in the behind-the-scenes process and wanting to give something back to an organisation that has so many sterling volunteers giving up their precious time to help their fellow writers. One cannot just be a taker.  I'd just had major surgery and knew I was going to be off recuperating for 8-10 weeks. I thought I'd quickly recover and have oodles of time for reading (and writing.) But I also worried things might go pear-shaped and that I wouldn't be able to fulfil my obligations, so I declined, telling the awards director to try me again this year (and thank goodness I did, given that I spent most of my days until the end of October napping, and my brain was mostly zonked out on painkillers.) One year later, almost to the day, in comes another email. This time, after much thought, I decided to do my bit for the organisation, and so there I am, on a panel, judging...

I'm already well into it, reading a story a day and letting each one swill around inside my head for a goodly while before I make my call. And believe me, being one of those anal, overly responsible types, I take the whole business very seriously.

So, yes, much to do until the end of February 2014

Because I Love A Good Writing Quote or Two (And Haven't Got Much Time For Blogging)

Here, over at SFWA, Larry Hodges has provided a bonanza of 50 quotes. Hastily skimming it, I especially like the obviousness of 13 & 35, and the Jasper Fffordeaness of 17:

13. "Writers never quit and quitters never write."

17. "Choose your words carefully because somewhere in there is a character who has to live with what you choose."

35. "If you write regularly, soon you'll have a lot written. If you don't, you won't."

Now I have to head off to the city for medical crap even though it's my designated don't-take-the-train-to-the-Arvo-Job-but-stay-at-home-and-do-stuff-like-reading-and-writing day. Toodles.

Wow, She Did It Again!

I forgot it was the weekend of the Aurealis Awards! Luckily, there are plenty of bloggers to remind me of that fact.

The winners are all listed here. Congratulations to them one and all.

Perusing the list, I saw a familiar name - that mysterious writer Thoraiya Dyer I posted about here back in December 2012 when The Wisdom of Ants was published in Clarkesworld. It's a great read, and well, as you can see from the list, she's gone and won the Aurealis for the Best Young Adult Short Story for that exact story. And not long ago, she won a Ditmar for it too. Let's not even talk about all her previous Aurealis wins. The woman obviously knows how weave a tale, so a great big congratulations to her on her multiple wins.

However, I thought it was time that I really buckled down and found out more about this Thoraiya Dyer person, but alas, for all my wonderful Googling skills, all I could find was this photo from Conflux 9 over at Donna Maree Hanson's blog. Apparently, behind all those nibblies, the elusive Ms Dyer is lurking within that impressive steampunk samurai outfit .

It's a wonderful photo - nice composition, lush greenery as background, classy dessert stand, delicious cakes, polished armour - but it really doesn't help me any with my enquiries.

So, my investigation continues.

Happy Talk

I wasn't going to blog tonight, but was just reading Justine Larbalestier's excellent post about how you don't have to be a tormented soul to be a writer - and no, there's no 'but it helps' punchline to go with that - when I came across, and just had to nick, her link to this Forbes list of The Ten Happiest Jobs, because there, in the top 5 no less, we have:

4. Authors: For most authors, the pay is ridiculously low or non-existent, but the autonomy of writing down the contents of your own mind apparently leads to happiness.

So true. Money, believe it or not, and gasp, gasp, gasp, isn't everything. That said, covetous soul that I am, I would still prefer to be paid a decent amount for my scriberly work and be both happy and well paid, because:

Ya gotta have a dream, if you don't have a dream,
How you gonna to have a dream come true?

Amusingly, if you scroll down,  below the list of the Happy Ten, there is also the list of the Ten Most Hated Jobs which were generally much better paying and have higher social status. What’s striking about the list is that these relatively high level people are imprisoned in hierarchical bureaucracies. They see little point in what they are doing. The organizations they work for don’t know where they are going, and as a result, neither do these people.

So, rich, poor, got lots of stuff, haven't got much stuff, happy, not happy - things are not always as they possibly superficially seem...

Experiments in Self-Exposure

I've only ever been asked exactly four times to write pieces for other blogs, but each time I venture out into the wide world of the Internet, I learn new things. The most important lesson I've learnt is the most obvious, that once something with your name on it is out there, it's out there, and there's no undoing it.

The first invitation I received was an email from the ether last year soliciting my help for a project that looked fun and interesting - a blog about writers and their loyal lap warmers that might eventually become a book to be titled A Cat on my Keyboard. I was flattered to receive the request, and enthusiastically set about ruthlessly exploiting a member of my feline tribe for self-promotional purposes. Also, I wanted to share with the world just how damned cute he is. The result was this piece about Cooper. As you can see, I was obviously the only person who responded to the request for cutesy, catty material, which now seems a little embarrassing. The whole blog and book thing seems to have completely stalled too. Ah well, I couldn't know that at the time. Lesson learnt: check out who else is supporting such projects before you commit.

The second invitation blew me away - an offer to participate in this 2012 Snapshot of Australian Speculative Fiction. My gosh, was I excited and flattered and all of the above or what? I carefully crafted my answers to David McDonald's questions, but then ruined the effect by sending off a hastily snapped selfie to accompany the post. All I can say in my defense is that I'd just been through one operation and was rushing around getting things ready for the second major operation, my mind addled by pain and my judgement seriously impaired by pain killers, so the photo seemed okay at the time. Then, while I was in recovery, my two, ever-so-sensitive brothers began to tease me about it, because that's what brothers do. When I looked again with my post-op eyes, I saw they had a point. Lesson learnt: I desperately need to scrub up, find a photographer who specialises in diffuse lighting, and procure myself a professional looking author pic for self-promo purposes.

My third invitation was the one I blogged about a few weeks ago - the author interview for Return of the Dead Men (and Women) Walking, which hasn't been used yet. Possibly it won't be used because it will require too much editing - I did go on a bit, and it turns out the interviews are actually micro interviews. Lesson learnt: find out how much space you're supposed to take up with your wafflings.

And now for my most recent foray out into the world of letting it all hang loose - I'm this week's Wednesday Writer over at David McDonald's excellent blog Ebon Shores. And a big thank you to David for extending this invitation. I think it's an okay piece, but of course I'm having second thoughts about it now that it's too late to go back.  As you can see, it does need an author pic, but since, as I told David, I don't have any reasonable and attachable photos that don't include a horse, the book cover will have to suffice. Lesson learnt: the same one as earlier, namely that I still need to secure a tolerable author pic.

Funnily enough, late last night, mere minutes after I emailed off this piece about second-guessing, I received notification from two editors, who last week quickly rejected my first submission to them for a themed publication, that they're holding my second submission for further consideration. It was a story I sent off on a whim when I suddenly realised it fitted the guidelines even though I was sure they'd outright reject it...

Cleaning my Slate

Can one become addicted to watching Bruce Willis movies? After seeing Loopers last week and Moonrise Kingdom yesterday, I was overcome by, and surrendered to, the urge to watch 12 Monkeys again last night. Now I find myself eyeing the multiple stacks of blu-rays kindly left by my brother and battling the urge to pull out Die Hard 4 tonight - a worrisome development, because Sunday is Game of Thrones night in this household. I shall be strong and resist. No more Brucie Boy, not for for a few weeks at least. I can control this!

Addiction is something very much on my mind at the moment because I'm slowly coming off all the pain killers that have kept me upright and functional over the past 6 months. It's a very strange experience. I completely stopped taking one medication two weeks ago, and my body tried to make me believe it was suffering shooting pains down my legs and other discomforts, but I put on my poker face, waited it out, and sure enough, four days later, my nervous system threw in the towel and everything was fine again. It's a sad day when you realise your own body has become a junkie willing to lie to you for another hit.

I'm particularly eager to be done with the last lot of pills, but have been advised to gradually wean myself them off over the next few weeks. I thought the doctors were exaggerating, but nope, it's no fun. But I'll persevere. The reason I'm so keen to see the last of them is because there's no way around the fact that these strong medications, while a pharmaceutical blessing for which I have been deeply grateful up until now, seriously affect my writing and other aspects of my daily life. They make me constantly drowsy, blunt my problem-solving abilities, and for the past 5 months, there's been a thick layer of fuzziness between my cerebral cortex and cranium. I've never been a big one for believing that you have to suffer terrible deprivations to create art, but I do find it curious that analgesics should so effectively dampen one's imagination, or at least they've done so to me. No matter how hard I've pushed my brain, there have only been brief windows of time when I've felt inventive enough to get down a few new lines. I now far better understand those stories about artists who stop taking anti-depressants when they realise the medication is interfering with their creative process, choosing to risk their own well-being rather than live what they consider a half-life devoid of artistic input. Conversely, there are others who suddenly stop producing new work when they choose to stay the medicated course rather than risk the ravages of their illness. Already today, after only a few days on lower dosages, I was back at the keyboard for a flat-out, two hour stretch before breakfast, and then another session after eating. Hopefully my brain will soon once again be unfuzzy enough for me to get back into some kind of regular writing routine.  

Since writing is itself an addiction for many of us  -  we poor scriberly junkies need regular paragraph hits to feel complete and happy, obsess about when we can clear time for our next story score when not writing, and sometimes neglect other aspects of life to satisfy the need for putting down page after page of prose - I find it amusing that what I'm desperate to break my pill-popping habits so I can satisfy another habitual craving. Of the two dependencies, however, I do think writing is the lesser evil :)

I started this year with all sorts of big plans for working really hard and producing better stories and getting them off to professional publications. I had a schedule that involved writing stories for a number of upcoming anthologies complete with timelines for their completion, had tagged a number of more ambitious stories for magazines that I would love to get into, and had even dared to put aside time for finishing my YA novel. All these plans, of course, skidded off into the concourse when I tried to negotiate a particularly sharp turn on the racing track of life. I survived, and that's what really counts, but lost most of this year to medical issues. Tomorrow, because of my time out in the Land of Not Well, there's yet another deadline that I'll most reluctantly and sadly miss because I've decided the story I've been working on isn't ready - I'd prefer not to get a reputation for subbing rough drafts rather than polished pieces.

Anyway, I've decided that all this looking backwards at all this year's lost time and lost opportunities is not only useless, but it's counter-productive and misery inducing, so today I firmly cleared the table of all but one of my writing plans for 2012. I will now turn my attention from what might have been to what might still be in 2013. With the detritus of 2012 now dumped in my wastepaper basket, I've pinned nice, new notices of upcoming anthologies with deadlines due next year to the workboard over my desk, and I've tentatively planned a more realistic, light writing schedule for the remaining two months left of this year.

Then, come the month January, I'll hit 2013, and I'll hit it hard!

The Mighty Amazon Gets a Smidge Mightier

Yep, there they were in my inbox this morning, sent on by kindly, well-meaning souls  - multiple links to the new Amazon Author Rank. I can, even now, almost hear the frantic mouse clicks of insecure writers all over the world as they try desperately to gauge how much the reading public loves them. Or not. I'm trying to resist the temptation to join their ranks. I have no status to speak of in the world of writing, but oh, the curiosity, the urge to take a just one peek...

Luckily, a few minutes later, I read this post by John Scalzi. Level-headed sanity from a professional is always welcome when these sort of media thingies threaten to sweep up and exploit less confident writers. He ends with:

Authors who start to worry about their Amazon ranking should likewise be aware that by doing so they’re allowing Amazon to define their success to a greater or lesser extent… and they should really ask who ultimately benefits the most from that: Amazon or them. Amazon isn’t (necessarily) evil, but Amazon is interested in its own goals, many of which may ultimately be at cross purposes to an authors’ own. Amazon will be happy to frame your career to suit its own purposes. All you have to do is let them.

Keep it in mind as you’re refreshing your Amazon author page to see where your ranking is right now.

 Good on you, John. All you have to do is let them. So true.

Now, gotta go. It's pouring down outside, but the Arvo Job beckons.

Much Ado About Substance

HERE the Los Angeles Review of Books gives science fiction writing the once over. Fantasy gets a slap on the wrist too. Reviewer Paul Kincaid covers in depth the short stories chosen for the three biggie 2012 Best of the Year anthologies, namely Gardener Dozois's The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Ninth Annual Collection, Richard Horton's The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy:2012, and Nebula Awards Showcase 2012.

Best of is a loaded term that is always going to provoke debates - or at least it should, if we want to keep our genre exciting and relevant. Plucking certain mortals from the mud below and elevating them to a celestial position high above others is always going to pit one person's love of straightforward, ideas-based fiction without any new-fangled experimental bells and whistles against another person's love of escapist entertainment versus a third person's loathing of mundane prose and a fourth person's hankering for more interesting story structures. Your OMG, it's the most blooming awesome story ever in the history of the universe, and if you don't agree with me you're stupid might be my meh! Talk of spheres of influence to rival the old Cold War carving up of the world into political blocks, whisperings about competent but bland talent being helped along by friends in high places, complaints about uniform editorial tastes and grumblings about timid writers resorting to backwards-looking tropes are bound to erupt, and once again, your personal writerly or readerly POV will kick in and inform your position in the debate. All of this, as long as it's done within civilized conventions, is allowable and necessary. Freedom of expression and transparency are always desirable, although one should remember (geek alert) that much like the command of a starship, an anthology is not a democracy.

There's a lot to cogitate in Paul Kincaid's article of the good, bad, maybe, and absolutely spot-on sort. Basically, he seems to think that contemporary science fiction writing is much like a cardboard character of old who is bound for a tragic ending, picturesquely languishing upon a chaise longue in a perpetual state of exhaustion and ennui as he or she sighs and awaits the final curtain.

I do hope he's wrong.

Horrible Homework

Having just quickly, and nervously, perused the questions for the author interview that Bards and Sages Publishing will use as part of their promotions for the Return of the Dead Men (and Women) Walking horror anthology, I am now totally relaxed. I'll blitz that interview! You see, apparently I've been working up to this triumphant moment over the past many months without realising it.

Consider the fact that whilst recently recuperating, I not only studied in depth that huge, vampire apocalypse tome The Passage by Justin Cronin , but also watched, as chronicled here in a few posts, the first two seasons of The Walking Dead. I am, if I may say so, completely up to scratch on how to take out large numbers of zombies or vampires, and have along the way developed theories as to which weapons I might prefer in certain scenarios. Also, whilst yelling at less rational characters on the screen or in print, I've batted about a few ideas of my own on what might constitute sound battle tactics when up against the shuffling or fast-moving undead. Adding to my confidence is the well-documented fact that I've read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and the as yet publicly unknown information that today I saw the movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer, so I'm feeling particularly well-versed on the subject of zombie and vampire mash ups. Also while recuperating, I saw Zombieland, and, I seem to vaguely recall, Vampires Suck (I was unwell!! You're allowed to watch crap when you're zonked out on painkillers!!!) Also, as I passionately posted about some time ago, I did try to get through the Twilight books, so I definitely have a few opinions about those characters to impart, and, as the jewel in my crown, I'm a Buffy fan from way back.

So, despite what some judging souls might think, none of that mostly enjoyable time spent on swotting up on popular horror was wasted, for now I can call upon this vast repository of knowledge about creatures fanged and rotten to formulate kick-ass responses to tricky interview queries about the undead.

Roll up! Roll up!

Once more, it's time for the great Aussie Spec Fic Snapshot.
Background: it all started back in 2005 when Ben Peek did a quick inventory of the Australian spec fic scene and interviewed these 43 people.
Then in 2007, this lengthening list was compiled.
Onwards to 2010, and even more people were added here. Who knows where it will all end?

This year, from  June 1 to June 7, 2012, in the lead up to Continuum 8 in Melbourne (you know, the con I won't be able to attend *sniff*) clicking the links below on a daily basis will take you to interviews with people currently beavering away in the Aussie spec fic scene. You might even (he he) bump into me at some point...

http://thebooknut.wordpress.com/tag/2012snapshot/

http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/tag/2012snapshot/

http://helenm.posterous.com/tag/2012snapshot

http://bookonaut.blogspot.com.au/search/label/2012Snapshot

http://www.davidmcdonaldspage.com/tag/2012snapshot/

tansyrr.com/tansywp/tag/2012snapshot/

www.champagneandsocks.com/tag/2012snapshot/

http://randomalex.net/tag/2012snapshot/

http://jasonnahrung.com/tag/2012snapshot/

http://mondyboy.com/?tag=2012snapshot

Eventually, all of the 2012 interviews will all be archived here.

This year, in honour of their memories, the first two snapshots are:

A tribute to Paul Haines.
A tribute to Sara Douglass.

Yielding to the Necessity of the Many Point Ones

Right, I'm back, full of cheesecake, chatter and chai. Now my keyboard beckons, and I must accept the stark fact that my workshop story will not finish itself. As pointed out in the links that can be linked via this morning's post, many masters of the dark art of writing have touched upon this arcane truth:

Robert A. Heinlein
1. You must write.
Jack Dann
1. You must begin. Every day you must write, no matter what.
Neil Gaiman
1. Write.

So, I must accept the inevitable. It seems there's no shortcut, no deal I can cut with the Devil or an in-the-know trick around this often quoted but often difficult to act upon "secret":

"The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair."
Mary Heaton Vorse

For, alas:

"The easiest thing to do on earth is not write."
William Goldman

Locus Plague

The Locus 2011 Recommended reading list is up here.

A quick scan (that's my get-out-of-jail-card for anyone I've missed or don't recognise as a compatriot - sorry!) reveals many familiar names, and one odd author out that I've added just to see if you know your Aussie SF & F writers - Peter M Ball, Kaaron Warren, Jo Anderton , Greg Egan , Margo Lanagan , Terry Dowling , Tansy Rayner Roberts , Isobelle Carmody, Chris Lawson, Alison Goodman, China Miéville, Lucy Sussex, Kim Westwood, Damien Broderick and Thoraiya Dyer.

Congrats to them all. How wow! must it be to have your name on a list that includes so many admirable talents. I was going to mention a few of the Big Ones, but gave up, unable to decide which names to pluck from such a cornucopia of coolness.

Monday Minutiae

I got a rejection for one story.

I got a hold request for another - but I won't hold my breath. I've learnt not to get too excited too soon about those.

I'm now on the Definitive List of Published Australian Spec-Fic Prose Writers.

Lots of lists

Once more exploring the Goldfields Region of Central Victoria and intrepidly heading off in a new direction, today’s journey took us past horses and sheep and paddocks and spectacular trees until we arrived at the town of Shepparton.

Of particular genre interest in Shep was the art exhibition Moooving Art which includes these examples of psychedelic livestock influenced by speculative fiction. Behold Moomaid, Spidercow and Shrekcow.

On a different journey, after cruising the spec fic sites and blogs, I've discovered that I’m on another eligible-for-the-Ditmars list. Alas, however, I did not make it onto this definitive list of Aussie speculative fiction writers, so I suppose I’d better send them the email equivalent of me in lady-of-the-night streetwalking gear waving my arms and shouting “Yoo-hoo, I’m over here.” This business does not favour shrinking violets.

I did, however, love this list over on Ben Payne’s blog last week:

Catching up on my small press reading for the year.
Here's my list of what's come out so far:

Antipodean SF Jan-June

The Tangled Bank anthology

Scary Kisses anthology

Belong anthology

ASIM #43

Aurealis #43

Legends of Australian Fantasy (not small press but should be on the list- only just realised this was new stories! How exciting!

Ticonderoga Online January

Moonlight Tuber #1

Simon Petrie's collection - Rare Unsigned Copy (any new stories in this?)

Rjurik Davidson collection - The Library of Forgotten Books (PS Publishing)

Why do I love this particular list? Because this is a list that finally makes me look good. I have a total of four stories stashed away amongst those publications (Useful Stuff / Paradigm Shift / Nullipara / A Sweet Story).

And that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.