The Kemblog

First day in the new ABC building

2012-01-05T20:01:00.001+10:00

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How I got my Netgear WN3000RP working

2012-01-02T19:28:00.001+10:00

I'm sharing this on my blog because I had a bit of trouble getting my Netgear WN3000RP WiFi Network Extender working. So if you're having problems, read on.

I bought the WN3000RP just before Christmas. I followed the instructions on the box. It all seemed to be going well until I got to the final step, which should have completed the connection. But the forth light wouldn't light up, and when I clicked 'continue' I got an error message saying the extender couldn't connect to the existing wifi network.

Despite this, I could connect to the extender, and the extender was communicating with the router. But it was a local connection only, nothing going out onto the internet. Which didn't make sense. Tried a few times. From a PC, Mac and the Xbox. No good.

Googled. Found people who were so frustrated they just gave up. Found some quite complicated solutions on the Netgear forums, but nothing that seemed to match my specific problem.

Put it on hold and had another go after Christmas. And got it working! Not sure exactly what the problem was, but I can tell you what I did differently this time around.

Factory reset. There's a hole for a paperclip in the side. I read on a couple of forums that people got it working after doing a factory reset. Didn't really seem to make sense but I decided to give it a go anyway.
Did the initial set-up from a PC. I think the first time around, I tried with the Mac. Don't know if this made a difference. But I went through the instructions again and got the fourth light on, which was progress.
'Diagnose'. It still wasn't connecting through to the internet. So I went into the network settings thing in Windows and I clicked on the 'diagnose' button. Windows gave me a few options. The first one I tried was something like 'automatically assign an IP address'. I tried this but it didn't work.
'Turn off router'. The second thing it suggested was turning the router off for 10 seconds then back on. Again, it's one of those things that I was dubious off, but decided to give it a go.
After that, I tried the 'assign IP address' thing again, and it worked.

After getting it up and running, it works on the Mac, PC and Xbox. It's been working solidly for a few days now, although I have to admit I haven't had the guts to turn off the extender, in case it resets or something. :)

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Skin Deep: the storify

2012-01-01T19:21:00.001+10:00

My grant year is officially over, as at midnight last night.

As you may have noticed, throughout the year I was tweeting about Skin Deep, as well as blogging, keeping track of my research, taking photos etc.

I've pulled it all together in this Storify.

Take a look here: http://storify.com/garykemble/grant-year-writing-skin-deep

(I haven't embedded it because I don't like the way it keeps expanding on the home page).

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Last-minute gift idea! Rage Against the Night charity anthology

2011-12-24T09:28:00.001+10:00

Merry Christmas everyone. If you've forgotten the horror-lover in your life, grab them a copy of the Rage Against the Night anthology. All proceeds go to current Horror Writers Association president Rocky Wood, who is battling motor neurone disease.

Featuring Stephen King, Peter Straub and more. (I also managed to sneak a story in there!)

Here's the official spiel:

Under the onslaught of supernatural evil, the acts of good people can seem insignificant, but a courageous few stand apart. These brave men and women stand up to the darkness, stare it right in the eye, and give it the finger. These are the stories of those who rage against the night, stories of triumph, sacrifice, and bravery in the face of overwhelming evil.

Here's where you get it:

Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006P18LM2/
Smashwords (multi-format ebook): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/116718

Please support this book. I'm honoured to be a part of it, and Rocky really needs a helping hand.

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Grant year, week 49: tidying up loose ends

2011-12-11T19:28:00.001+10:00

Of all my 'grant year' goals, the one that I've probably failed at most is the weekly blog!

I can live with that.

I don't actually have too much to report, but I feared that with Christmas almost upon us, I'd need to get a blog post in or else leave it all hanging with my last post, which was 'beginning to polish the second draft'.

Here's where I'm at: I finished polishing the second draft. The book is now out with readers. I've even had some feedback. But I haven't looked at it in depth -- what I'd like to do is wait until it's all in and then take a couple of days off work (annual leave -- all the grant money is gone!) read through the comments and figure out what I need to do for the third (and hopefully final) draft.

I haven't been idle in the meantime. Well, not totally idle. I've written an article for Writing Queensland (the magazine of the Queensland Writers Centre) about my grant year. This will appear early next year.

I've also started working on a Storify of my grant year, which pulls together all my tweets, blog posts and photos from the year. It's a work in progress. If you like you can check it out here.

This is also part of the process for my acquittal. It's not part of the formal process, but it's part of getting my head around what I'm going to write in my acquittal. And I'd really like to do a good job with my acquittal because, as I've said before (and will say over and over again) I'm extremely grateful to the Australia Council for investing in my project.

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Capturing the 11/11/11 moment

2011-11-12T10:14:00.001+10:00

via storify.com

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Grant year, week 44: back to work

2011-11-06T19:19:00.000+10:00

I've just started polishing the second draft, I'll probably end up changing enough to call it a third draft. :)

The break has been longer than intended, for a range of mostly boring reasons. But looking on the bright side, the extended break will give me a bit more perspective. Just 20 pages in, I've already noticed this. I thought the first 50 pages were pretty solid, but already I've found quite a few typos and clumsy language.

Which brings me to my next point. I don't know what it's like for other writers trying to 'break through' but I find I vacillate between frenzied terror brought on by the fear that I'm missing opportunities ALL THE TIME and lethargy/apathy, thinking that there's no way I'm going to 'make it'.

Somewhere is the sweet spot, where I get my best work done and manage to not make irrational decisions that may damage my real opportunities.

I've been thinking about submitting Skin Deep to the Pac Mac Manuscript Monday, but I want to make sure I send them something that represents the best writing I'm capable. At the back of my mind is the frenzied terror guy, screaming that they could close subs AT ANY MINUTE... but I'm trying not to listen to him. If I send them something crap, it will do more harm than good, right?

However, at the other end of the scale is the guy that's telling me there's no point subbing anything, anytime -- because I suck. So, at some point, you have to make the decision that it's as good as it's going to get, and then send it out. Because if you don't send it out, they can't say 'yes'!

I'm still fairly happy with what I've achieved this year. The schedule has slipped a bit. But I'm still hoping to have something halfway decent in the hands of my beta readers in time for Christmas holidays.

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Storify: Brisbane Zombie Walk 2011

2011-10-28T10:13:00.001+10:00

View the story "Brisbane Zombie Walk 2011" on Storify]

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Brisbane Zombie Walk 2011

2011-10-23T20:29:00.001+10:00

I actually wasn't intending to go this year, because every year I try to go, something happens and then I can't go.

But of course, I didn't plan to go, so I found myself not only free this afternoon, but also in the Valley.

Here's some photos...

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Macabre: out now on ebook

2011-10-18T19:38:00.001+10:00

Just in time for Halloween, the award-winning Macabre is out now in ebook format!

Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears features a whopping 205,000 words of Aussie horror -- the classics (Henry Lawson, Marcus Clarke), the modern masters (Terry Dowling, Kaaron Warren), and some of the nicest people I know (Stephen M Irwin, Shane Jiraiya Cummings and the rest of you... you know who you are!).

Oh, and if that's not enough for you, my short story about the dark heart of journalism 'Feast or Famine' is in there too.

When I first held Macabre in my hot little hands at WorldCon last year, I remember thinking, 'This is awesome. This is massive. What's the shipping cost going to be on this thing?' So it's awesome that it's now being offered as an ebook, so that this weighty tome can be offered without the weight.

It's currently available at Smashwords and Amazon, and will be available elsewhere before Halloween.

And, if you still decide you want the brick, I'm told POD versions will be coming soon.

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Grant year, week 41: 1st rejection

2011-10-16T19:56:00.001+10:00

Well, I didn't get into the Hachette MS Development program. They had 260 applications, and from those chose 10 to take part.

I have to admit, it knocked me around for an hour or so. But I've bounced back well. I think in part because of this article by Tobias Buckell, where he talks about 'milestones' and 'goals'.

Milestones are things you’d like to have happen to you. Selling a story. Selling a novel. Getting nominated for an award. Winning an award.

Goals are things you can actually achieve. Finishing writing a story. Writing a certain number of words. Writing a certain kind of story.

And...

Early on in my career I hit upon a method of focusing and rewarding only the activities that I could control. I knew I wanted to sell a story, but that it was a random pellet. So I focused on writing and submitting stories. No one could stop me from that. I celebrated every 100 rejections (with champagne and nice food and a little mini-celebration) I got as proof that I was laying down the right actions toward hopefully getting a story sold.

So, even though the rejection was initially painful, I'm still on track to reach my goal -- to have a polished MS by the end of the year.

Where do I go from here?

At the moment I'm in the process of printing out the second draft to send back to the editor and also to an early beta reader.

After that, I need to polish, and then send to a couple of other beta readers.

Then a further run-through of the MS to incorporate feedback.

And then I just have to sell the damn thing!

The other thing that's helped me keep my chin up is attending the Emerging Writers Festival yesterday.

I got to catch up with writer/editor friends, and the festival itself resulted in some interesting ideas/opportunities.

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The process of writing — Speakeasy

2011-10-12T19:56:00.001+10:00

I used to be very much seat of the pants but I generally like to have an idea of how the story ends these days.

I had too many experiences where I had 2/3 of a story but couldn’t finish it. And for novels—I definitely plan. Even though pretty much everything ends up changing.

I think you’ve got to have a plan, but be flexible.

That’s how it is for me, anyway!

via blog.awmonline.com.au

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Grant year, week 39: 2nd draft finished!

2011-10-02T21:04:00.001+10:00

Well, kinda. I think it was Trent Jamieson who said that the rewriting is finished when you run out of time. So, I think I would like to rewrite the epilogue, if I have time.

I've been really slack with my updates on the blog. Apologies for that. The reality is that there hasn't been a hell of a lot of news. I've been slowly plodding along with what I'm calling my 'continuity sweep' of the second draft. I rearranged so much, structurally, that I needed to go back and make sure that it all made sense.

And it did, pretty much. There's one thing that's niggling me, so I think that means that it's still not quite right. But I feel like if I had to send it off to the Hachette thing tomorrow, I'd feel okay about it. And I'll only have to send it off to the Hachette thing if I get shortlisted. Which, obviously, I hope will happen.

So, from here. I'll probably give myself a night off tomorrow. (I'll most likely still be writing, but just not working on Skin Deep). I've had some ideas for the follow-up book. One of which, bizarrely enough, came from my daughter. She said that she'd seen mandarin skin on the nature strip outside the house. She said maybe it's a burgular.

It got me thinking about a guy who's under some kind of magic spell and the mandarin is some sort of hypnotic prompt. He's out there, watching, quietly eating his mandarin. I don't know. If Skin Deep is anything to go by, by the time it reaches the book, it will bear no resemblance!

Anyway, next steps are to send the second draft to a couple of people who have offered to be early beta readers (if there is such a thing) and also the editor, who has kindly agreed to have another look.

And then hopefully, if I can iron out this final problem, it will just be a text edit and it will be good to go to the second round of beta readers.

Woohoo!

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From the archives: 2009 interview with Sara Douglass

2011-09-27T20:03:00.001+10:00

Q. Fantasy seems to be going from strength to strength while other speculative fiction genres (with the exception of supernatural romance) still 'struggle' - what's the appeal of fantasy?
I have to come at this by saying I don't read fantasy myself and haven't for about 15 years (if I write in a genre I can't possibly read it) but from things my readers have said, it provides a sense of adventure and romance that simply isn't readily available in real life.

Q. Can you tell me a bit about your latest book, The Infinity Gate?

Dear heavens - I wrote that when I was feeling really ill and then my world fell apart entirely, so I am trying to remember back through the fog of pain and illness! It is the conclusion of the Darkglass Mountain series. I am not too sure what I can say without revealing the plot, but we get an appearance by Axis' long-dead (or so he thought) half-brother Borneheld, even more Icarii get killed off, and Ravenna (almost) redeems herself. But the major surprise in this book is the Skraelings - they finally reveal who and what they really are and <em>do</em> redeem themselves!

Q. In late 2008 you were diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. How has this affected both your approach to writing and how you feel about the writing itself?

I was pretty stressed writing The Infinity Gate and was thinking I needed a whole heap of time off but how can I do it - then I got the cancer diagnosis and realised that if I didn't take a year or more off then I would die. Fortunately a couple of years earlier I had taken out income protection (I cannot recommend this highly enough) and I received a huge payout - so now I am free at last! Free at last! I can escape writing for at least a year! I needed a break so badly and the best thing that the cancer did was a) force me to take it and b) give me the money to do so. So I am taking off for as long a I can - writing was getting too stressful and I need a big-time break from it.

Q. I've heard from other fantasy writers that making a career out of it really can be like 'stepping on the treadmill'. Was this what it was like for you and, from the point of view of unpublished writers, do you think it's a cautionary tale (not getting the cancer, of course - more about being careful what you wish for)?

Yes for me taking on writing as a career was definitely stepping onto the treadmill. When I was writing for fun and working elsewhere, writing was my escape from work. It was enormous fun! Then I began writing as a career and it became 'work', and yes it becomes as stressful as other careers. It was no longer fun. I really, really needed a break. I'm not too sure how to escape that treadmill - I really admire any writer who maintains the level of fun for their writing as they did when it was a hobby and not a means of living.

I also found writing fantasy peculiarly stressful as you are so often trapped into writing trilogies - instead of being able to embrace new ideas each year for a new book you're trapped into the same project for years on end - I have grown very, very tired of that. I am reading a series of crime novels at the moment - they've gone on for 20 years and I really admire that author for being able to stay with the same characters for 20-odd years and still maintain interest and verve and freshness in both characters and writing.
Q. Could you see yourself just giving up writing entirely? Or, at least, when you get back into writing, doing it more on your own terms?
Yes, I can see giving up writing - writing does not define me, so I don't 'need' to actually write. But on the other hand I can just as easily see myself producing the odd book occasionally and really enjoying it. I don't think I will ever, under any circumstances, do a trilogy or series of books again. I just don't have it left in me, and I don't want to commit to that level of writing (and stress) again, but I can see myself doing stand alones every so often. I am also keen to try different genres - I would love to be able to slip into historical romance at some point. But going back into writing will be more on my own terms rather than on other people's - be they publishers or readers. I think I want to do what I want to do, now. And who knows what that will be? :) Overall, however, I am going to give other areas of my life much more attention and time. Writing will take a third or fourth seat.

You can join Sara Douglass for a live chat from 8am (AEDT) today. Go to the Flycon home for more details.

via web.archive.org

I thought I'd post this in case anyone would like to read it. I didn't know Sara but she seemed to have her priorities straight.

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September 11

2011-09-11T19:32:00.001+10:00

When the September 11 attacks happened I was living in the UK. I was at HTML training course that day. The trainer said, 'Okay, now open a browser window and go to the BBC website'. There was a screengrab of the twin towers, smoke billowing out of them. At first it seemed like a sick joke. And then we continued our training. No-one really understood the enormity of it. I don't think anyone could really believe it.

My (now) wife and I were booked to fly to New York the following week. (We ended up going in October. It was the first time I'd ever been scared of flying, and that fear persists to some degree even today. There were US flags in virtually every window. Lower Manhattan stank. I was surprised at how up-beat New Yorkers were -- they were getting on with their lives).

We came home to the share flat we were living in that evening and the TV was on, and those same pieces of vision playing over and over again. The second plane hitting. The towers falling. I still think no-one could believe it.

I was part of an online writing group back then. I'd entered a short story competition and I won. On September 10 I posted in the forum. Topic: 'Has the world gone mad?' The words had a slightly different meaning a day later.

The events of September 11 had a lot of us questioning what we were doing with our writing. People (including myself) wondered whether we should be writing such dark stories, when the world seemed so dark, all of a sudden.

When I told that story when I was on a horror writing panel at Conjure in 2006, someone in the audience said -- I can't remember her exact words, but the gist was that the lives lost in the September 11 attacks paled into insignificance compared with lives lost in the third world (or maybe she was referring specifically to the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq). And I couldn't answer her. I couldn't articulate what it was about September 11 that made it different to all that other death and suffering.

Over the past could of weeks I've been working on the ABC's '9/11 Remembered' coverage. And I think that this is the first time I've really reflected on the events of September 11.

The thing that really gets me is 'Day before the storm: photos from September 10, 2001'. The photo I've used above, by Mike Horan, is a perfect example. On September 10, 2001, people were just going about their lives. Mike, like probably thousands of people that day, posed for a photo in front of the twin towers.

"...the date has the appearance of a timer counting down the dying moments of an old world since replaced by the tense and paranoid world we live in today"

Who would have thought that those towers would be gone less than 24 hours later? There's so much melancholy in those photos. They raise the question of 'what if?' over and over again.

That resonates with me because I'm fascinated by stories about the small choices people make, and the impact those choices have on their lives.

The other reason September 11 had such a massive impact because it was carnage on an untold scale, live on TV... and it was spectacular. The second plane hit when cameras were trained on the twin towers due to the first impact.

Anyway, it's been quite a rough seven days, to be honest. I keep thinking about all those people who died. People who just got up to go to work and never came home again. People who were faced with the choice of being burnt to death or jumping out a window. And I also think about the terrorists who carried out the attacks, and what sort of lives they had, that they decided that's what they had to do to make a difference.

I keep seeing the twin towers in my mind. Thinking, 'what it?'.

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The day before the storm: Photos of Sept 10, 2001

2011-09-08T14:17:00.001+10:00

via abc.net.au

Here's a poignant look at the events of Sept 11, 2001. The photos and stories of people who were there the day before.

There's also a Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/daybeforethestorm/

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Snake

2011-09-05T12:39:00.001+10:00

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Grant year, week 35: tunnel vision

2011-09-04T19:32:00.001+10:00

Tunnel vision is what I wished I had. It's what I'm aiming for. Not quite achieving.

I've been working on some prep work for the ABC's '9/11 Remembered' coverage. It has been really engrossing work. It has also affected me emotionally. Reading first-hand accounts of people who were in New York City and Washington DC on 9/11. Also reading some background published in the years after 2001. Like 'the jumpers', which I'd somehow forgotten about (or maybe blocked from my memory).

Towards the end of last week I was feeling a bit freaked out. I decided that I probably need to vent, by writing a short story. Which I can't do at the moment because I need to stay focussed. Now that the grant is over, I don't have that safety net that allowed me to follow (writing-related) diversions. The only time I have is in the evenings, after the kids are asleep, and maybe a bit of time on the weekends.

There are things I'd like to do. I'd like to enter another manuscript into Pan Mac's Manuscript Monday.

I need to critique the last act of a friend's manuscript.

I've also got a growing urge to start work on a totally unrelated MS. This thing would be deadly to get into. It's alt-history, set in the 80s, and would require a lot of research.

It's probably the worst possible thing I could do at the moment.

Sounds like I'm having a whinge! I know pretty much all writers face the same issue, daily. Finding time to write. And dealing with the fact that no matter how much time they can find, it's never enough!

Anyway, that's where I am. Now, back to work on the 2nd draft.

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Grant year, week 33: unscrambling the egg

2011-08-21T19:18:00.002+10:00

This is a momentous day -- it marks the last of my official 'grant days'. I still owe the grant some time (from where I was on a grant day but then ended up having to look after sick kids etc), but in terms of actual grant money, it's all gone.

Do I regret taking three days a fortnight? Do I wish I could have a 'do over' and take a block of three months? Not really. I think the project gained something from having day-to-day stuff filtering into it. It took longer but I realised that although I thought I'd 'planned it out' the planning was only fairly superficial, and I needed that time to work through some of those issues.

And I still am working through some of those issues! The past fortnight I've been working on Skin Deep all day, every day (save for a few days where the kids were sick). At the start of the year, I wanted to have something structurally sound by this point. I'm not quite there, but over the past two weeks I've been working with the editor to resolve some structural issues, and I think that the book will be better for it.

At the moment it's... well, you know when you set to tidying study/junk room. One thing leads to another and you find yourself, in the middle of the day, with a room with all the cupboards empty. Piles of rubbish near the door. Stuff you want to keep but aren't sure where to put it in another pile. Books stacked up beside the bookcase in the rough order you want them. You know that eventually things are going to work out. You know pretty much exactly where you want everything to go. But in that moment, standing in the middle of the room that looks like a bomb has hit it, it's a little bit daunting.

That's where I am now.

I think that at the start of the fortnight I had a manuscript that was okay, structurally. But what I have now has the potential to be so much better. It's going to take me a bit of time to get there, but I'm confident I will get there.

I realise that this isn't the most efficient way of writing. But I've learnt lessons along the way and I've also learnt things about my book that I wouldn't have if I'd written it faster. There are happy accidents that occur when you decide to rip out a storyline, or merge two characters, or keep the core of a scene but change the setting. Ideas collide in ways you never would have thought of.

I'm still aiming to have something structurally sound by early October. Something that's worth sending to beta readers by early November at the latest.

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Grant year, week 32: editing

2011-08-14T20:17:00.001+10:00

I decided to take a two-week block of time off my day job to work on the second draft. This hasn't worked out as well as I thought it might, but there's been at least one major breakthrough that has made it worthwhile.

We've been hit by sickness, which has meant that writing days have had to be postponed. So I haven't got as much done as I would have liked to.

The editor and I have been batting emails back and forth. The editing process hasn't been exactly what I was expecting. I've drawn a parallel with what I thought counselling would be like, and how it actually was. Before I went to counselling, I thought I would go in there, tell the counsellor all my problems, and then the counsellor would say, 'You've got to do this, this and this'. In reality, counselling (well, my experience of it anyway) is more about being asked questions, and then talking through it to find your own solutions.

And this is how editing has been. So many questions. There were the questions the editor asked. Things that didn't make sense to her. Some of these I knew the answers to, but many I hadn't even thought about. And then there were the questions that these questions raised. Writing is like making a whole heap of decisions. Each decision takes the novel in a slightly different direction and closes off the other alternatives. You start with a book where pretty much anything can happen. But by the start of the third act, you have to tie up all the loose ends and deliver the pay-off.

At times, I thought the questions would never end. But I reached a point where all the questions related to one particular storyline. And I looked at the storyline and realised it was hardly attached to the rest of the book at all. So... the storyline has got to go! (Although, I may build it into book two).

And this is the other aspect that I've found working with an editor helps. In previous projects, I've found that the tendency is to pretend these problems don't exist. I have talked myself into believing that the gaping hole/elephant in the corner doesn't exist, and that if I could just paper over it enough, no-one would notice. But editors notice. That's their job. And so you admit that the fault is there and get on with fixing it.

I don't know if I'm going to hit all my deadlines this year. I still want to have something structurally sound by October, in case I make the cut for the Hachette thing. But I'm less confident the book is going to be of 'beta reader' quality by that point.

I would still like to have Skin Deep in the hands of beta readers by the end of the year. Some lovely summer reading for them!

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London: recollections from a decade ago

2011-08-09T19:56:00.001+10:00

(Photo: Hozinja/Flickr CC BY 2.0)

About 10 years ago my wife and I lived in London for about 18 months. For much of that time we lived in Bow, in the East End. Even back then London in general and the East End in particular seemed in decline/in decay and it there was the general impression that it wouldn't take much to prompt a complete breakdown.

In the middle of winter, we'd often have groups of teenagers huddling in the damp, freezing stairwells of the estate we lived in, and I can remember wondering what sort of home life they must have for this to be preferable. And not just home life. There must've been literally nothing else for them to do.

There was a general feeling of apathy at one end and fear at the other. Any attempts to improve the community were quickly quashed. We lost count of the number of times the glass was smashed out of the phone boxes on the edge of our estate, until they just didn't bother trying to fix it anymore. Someone tried to open a slightly trendy cafe across the road, and within a day someone had smashed the plate glass windows. After it was fixed, the glass was smashed again. The cafe closed down shortly after.

One night, my wife was walking home from the tube. She saw a group of kids (early teens) trying to smash a light in a railway underpass. She asked them to stop doing that. They followed her home, yelling abuse at her and joking that they should rape her.

Whenever I tell people this story, they remark that it wasn't a smart thing to do, telling them to stop. And maybe not, in the context. But maybe if more people stood up to these kids, London wouldn't be where it is now. You should be able to try and maintain order in your community, without fearing for your safety, right? Londoners are relying on the police now, but clearly that's nowhere near enough.

Another time, my wife was on the bus and there was this old woman yelling abuse at a black man. Really nasty stuff. And everyone just sat there, staring down, not wanting to get involved. It took my wife to say something before anyone else would.

Shortly before we came home, one of our flatmates was mugged on the steps, coming up to our flat. They stole her Christmas shopping. She made a complaint to the police. Our flat was egged. A brick went through the window. I don't know what, if anything, happened to the muggers. But whatever it was, it certainly didn't make us feel any safer.

The thing was, we could leave any time we wanted. There was this guy on the next floor up, he was in a housing commission place. He had no choice. He was stuck there.

And I think about those kids, sitting in the stairwell. Trapped there. Nothing to do. No options. Living in a community that's falling apart and that's not going to get any better.

What have they got to lose?

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Grant year, week 30: the unknown unknowns

2011-07-31T21:06:00.001+10:00

Still working on the second draft. Focussing on two structural issues this run-through: merging two characters and also restructuring the opening of the book, which has flow-on effects. I'm also noting any loose ends that need tying up (there's a few of them).

Due to the restructuring, I've had to write some 'pick-up scenes'. I'm taking that term from film-making, where it refers to scenes that are shot after principal photography has finished.

One of them is a back story, and it got me thinking of that old Donald Rumseld quote:

[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know.
We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know.

Writing one of these scenes made me realise how little I knew about the subject matter. Luckily I had some great reference books at hand.

At this point my goal is to have a second draft done by early October. And then, depending on the quality of that draft, send to beta readers that same month.

Still confident that I can have something polished by the end of the year.

I've also been thinking more about the follow-up book, which is tentatively titled 'Dark Matter'.

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Grant year, week 29: starting the 2nd draft!

2011-07-24T19:51:00.001+10:00

I met with... I'm tempted to say 'my editor' but I better not because I'm not paying her anything (yet)... I met with a friend who's doing WEP out at UQ. She had kindly offered to do a structural edit on Skin Deep and this week we met for the first time since I handed over the MS.

It was quite daunting, giving Skin Deep to someone to read, knowing how rough it was. We had a great discussion and between us have come up with some concrete ideas on how to make Skin Deep a better read. It was so good having someone who is intimate with Skin Deep, to bounce ideas off (and also to have an outside perspective on it). I don't know how keen Claudine will be after the 1000th email starting with 'What do you think of...'

Since then I've been beavering away on fixing some pacing problems in the opening chapters and also merging two characters. It's quite complex work. You shift a chapter and then of course there are multiple flow-on effects. It's challenging but also rewarding. I was saying to my wife that (and I don't know if this is all writers or just me) sometimes you know that something needs to be changed but the tendency is to try and avoid it, and tell yourself it's okay. I don't know if this is just laziness or what! But when you finally bite the bullet and start making the changes, it's really invigorating seeing it all come together.

I'm swapping chapters with a writer friend of mine, which will be great because we're both aiming to have our second draft finished by early October (in case we make the cut for the Hachette MS Development program). So that should help me stay on target to have something polished by the end of the year.

If I don't make the cut, my plan is to give the MS to two or three 'beta readers', with a view to having a polished MS ready for agents/publishers by the end of the year.

It feels so good to be back in the saddle.

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Who Is Louise Boat? Nyan nyan!

2011-07-20T20:53:00.001+10:00

WhoIsLouiseBoat.m4v Watch on Posterous

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Grant year, week 26: getting back on track

2011-07-04T18:47:00.001+10:00

I went to State Library on Friday, to do some research on the back story. Nothing major. I just needed to have a look at some archive stuff from 2008 and see what was happening in the news then.

I spent a good ten minutes beforehand, out the front of State Library where the buses stop, crying my eyes out. I don't know if I mentioned it here, but Mum got to read the first draft of Skin Deep before she died. She liked it, but she found it hard to follow all the characters. Which was a really astute observation, because I'd also arrived at the same conclusion. There are too many characters who don't really do much. So Mum was my first beta reader. :)

To be fair, the dearth in activity hasn't been all down to Mum. I lost some writing days before she died because the kids were sick. So I've deferred those writing days. It's tricky, because obviously with a grant you don't get 'sick days' or 'personal leave' days. I have to make up those days from my annual leave. But because I've gone part-time, the annual leave doesn't accrue as quickly.

Right, I'll stop whinging now.

Yes, I've had a break. And now I'm fired up. Not just for Skin Deep but all the next projects. I can see three, possibly four, Harry Hendrick books. And there's also a sf story set in Reagan America.

Looking through the microfiche was really interesting. I haven't done that since working on 4157 a few years back. Yes, you can look up news stories via database search. But if you're looking for the general feel of the time, nothing beats microfiche.

The downside with microfiche is that, I don't know if this is everyone, or just me, but I get motion sickness from watching the pages scroll through! (I get the same thing when I was Prezi presentations).

But it was worthwhile. I'd forgotten some of the things that happened, even though it was only three years ago.

I've also got another project I'm working on. I've been sworn to secrecy. All I can say is, watch this space!

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Eulogy for Mum

2011-06-29T10:18:00.001+10:00

Mum was a determined and feisty woman, and she loved a good laugh. She wouldn’t have wanted to see us all moping about. She didn’t want a fuss. Right up until the last she kept a positive frame of mind. So I’m going to try and keep this upbeat.

Mum didn’t have an easy start in life, and I think this is why she tried so hard to make sure us kids didn’t go without when we were growing up. Even though money was often tight, she made clothes for us and for my sister’s Cindy dolls. She also designed tshirts before it was trendy. This may be hard to believe but when I was little I was skinny as a rake. My family nickname was ‘Ironman’ and so Mum made me my very own Ironman tshirt. 

We often marvel at how brave Mum and Dad where when, aged around 30, they left their family behind and set off for a country they’d never even visited to provide us with a better life.

Mum loved making costumes (and for a while she actually worked for Brisbane Costume Hire). Whenever there was any sort of fancy dress party, Mum would make elaborate costumes. Spring cleaner, a caterpillar poking out of lettuce, the Milky Bar Kid. In primary school she made me a costume that for our mediaeval day that was so elaborate I DIDN’T win ‘best costume’ – because they thought it must’ve been hired. 
Mum had an adventurous streak and she knew what she wanted.

Shortly after Mum and Dad married in 1968, Dad knew this dodgy geezer who used to swap cars all the time. Dad was trying to get rid of his bomb and went to see what Stan had on offer … and ended up bringing a London Taxi home. You know, those black, blocky things? Mum took one look at it and said, ‘I am NOT riding in the back of that thing!’ So Dad had to trot off and find something else.

Another story from those early years. Mum wanted to learn how to ride a motorbike, so she got her provisional licence and Dad rode them out to a quiet country lane so Mum could practice. Mum got on, Dad hopped on behind her, and away they went. They crossed a rise and there was a policeman and, when he saw Mum weaving back and forth across the road, he signalled for her to stop. Unfortunately, Dad hadn’t yet taught Mum how to stop, and frantically trying to explain how to stop the bike as it hurtled down the road. The policeman had to dive out of the way to save himself. Luckily, he had a sense of humour.

Mum actually ended up becoming a driving instructor – for cars, not bikes. Mum told us about this one client who had the disturbing habit of swerving into the path of oncoming traffic for no apparent reason. Eventually, Mum told her, ‘You are never going to get your driver’s licence’. But the woman kept booking lessons.

Motorcycles also ended up playing a big part in Mum’s life. After she met Pete the two of them travelled extensively on Pete’s bike, and later in a campervan and caravan which they renovated together.

There’s a saying that goes something like: life is what happens when you’re busy making plans. That totally WASN’T Mum. She travelled Australia extensively with Pete – she’s seen far more of this country than any of us since we emigrated in 1980. She has worked as a fruit picker, seamstress, admin assistant, driving instructor, gardener, cotton chipper.

I wanted to include some funny stories. They don’t really mean anything on their own but together they give an idea of how Mum was always up for a laugh, even at her own expense.

Her brother Chris told me about this time in the mid-70s when he was around at her place helping look after us kids. Mum was buzzing around the kitchen trying to sort out dinner for us and some food for the dog.

When things had quieted down, everyone was in the lounge room when there was an almighty bang. Mum and Chris rushed into the kitchen to find the room coated in dog food, with the tin embedded in the door.

What had happened was that in her rush to get everything sorted, Mum had left a tin of dog food on the stove, which she’d forgot to turn off! 
Sharon recently told me of an incident where Mum put some rice on to cook, came back to the stove a while later to find the rice had disappeared. Mum was freaking out, trying to figure out how rice could just disappear, until she realized that she’d not put rice on to cook. It was sugar!

So Mum had her moments in the kitchen, but I still think her roasts were the best ever.

Mum loved a good laugh.

When Sharon and Mum were working for the Stubbies clothing company, one afternoon they were rushing for the bus. There was a bit of roadworks going on. Sharon jumped over the hole in the ground, her friend jumped over. Mum went to jump over... then realized the skirt she was wearing was a bit tighter than she remembered. Down she went, into the hole. Sharon was laughing hysterically, Mum was too, and the people who came to offer a helping hand must’ve been thinking ‘what are these two on?’.

One time, this was a few years ago now, she was out with Sharon and Hayley, who at the time was wearing a patch over one eye to strengthen the other eye. Mum had bought fairy floss for Hayley and Ben. Ben was at home. Hayley was going: ‘Mum can I take my eye patch off, Mum can I take my eye patch off, Mum can I take my eye patch off’. Sharon said no. Then Hayley handed Sharon something and Sharon, thinking it was fairy floss, put it in her mouth – only to discover it was actually Hayley’s eye patch. Mum laughed so much she wet herself.

When Mum and Pete were living in Trangie, in western NSW, for a while they lived on a massive property. One night they were coming home from the pub and realized they’d forgot to leave a house light on. Driving into the property, they got off the beaten track and drove around in the pitch black for ages, trying to find their house. After about half an hour mum managed to spot the chook house and regained her bearings. 
On a more serious note, Mum was always there for us. Mum has always had faith in us. In fact, at times Mum has had more faith in me than I’ve had in myself.

Carol remembers when she was little she said she wanted to be a nurse when she grew up - Mum said "No, you want to be a Doctor". She said she wanted to be an air hostess - Mum said "No, you want to be a pilot". Mum believed us kids could do anything, but at the end of the day she just wanted us to be happy.

In recent years Mum really enjoyed her garden at the property at Gin Gin. She was so proud of the fruit and vegetables she grew there and took great pleasure in nurturing her crops.

Before Mum and Pete got the place at Gin Gin, Mum told Sharon: I want a humpy dumpy on a bit of land, with a verandah where I can sit in a rocking chair and shell peas. Pete bought her the rocking chair and the humpy dumpy – for her 60th birthday last year we bought the red colander to shell the peas in.

I know that people are going to say that Mum died too young. And, obviously, we all would have liked to have had her around for a few more years. But I think it’s important to remember that Mum really LIVED her life. She didn’t take a back seat and let life wash over her.

We wouldn’t wish for another week or month with Mum as she was. We would wish that she never got sick and she never had to suffer what she did.

I’d like to end with a quote that, I have to admit, I only found because I was searching for quotes. It’s by Grace Hansen, and it goes like this:

“Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.”

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Grant year, weeks 22 and 23: revising and research

2011-06-12T19:37:00.001+10:00

I'm still working through my 50 pages plus synopsis for Hachette. Each time I do a read through I find more things to fix or tweak. Each time I do a read through I find it harder to maintain focus. I think because it's such a short segment of text, after a while you start thinking, 'yeah, yeah, I've read this a thousand times'. But then when you really focus and think, does this really work? I know what it says, I know what it means, but will someone coming fresh to it understand? That's when I find new things to fix.

The research has been very low-key but also necessary and rewarding. It's the sort of thing I could have done before I started writing, but then again I had so much information buzzing around my head when I started writing, it probably wouldn't have sunk in. I've been looking at investigative journalism. I watched 'The Moonlight State' and I'm reading Phil Dickie's The Road to Fitzgerald.

Both look at corruption in Queensland in the 1970s and 80s. Dickie's book has been particularly useful from the point of view of seeing how small pieces of information are pulled together to reveal a bigger picture. Car rego numbers, lease information, information about companies and who owns them. Each piece of information, on its own, doesn't mean much. But put them all together and you can bring down a government.

The Road to Fitzgerald is a great read. Highly recommended.

And it's important for Skin Deep because in the first draft, Harry just sort of gets this information and doesn't really do much and then all of a sudden he's got this massive story. Part of his journey should be to rediscover his passion for journalism and to play a more active role in his own narrative. It sounds pretty obvious, right? But often these details can get lost in a first draft.

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For my colleagues...

2011-06-09T08:16:00.001+10:00

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Time travel question (aka I lost my wallet in the future)

2011-06-08T20:12:00.001+10:00

Okay, so I'm not talking multiverse because, let's face it, that's a cop-out.

And I'm not talking Back to the Future/Primer either because... well... physics isn't my strong point but you can't create matter, right? If the concepts of Primer worked, they could've just used the machine to duplicate bars of gold bullion, in the same way the machine duplicated people.

I travel two weeks into the future. So during that two weeks, I effectively disappear (think I just contradicted myself, but go with me, okay?). In the future, I drop my wallet in the lab.

I travel back in time, to just after the moment I left.

Is my wallet in the future? When that moment arrives, will my wallet reappear?

(Can someone lend me $50? I can pay you back in a fortnight)

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Grant year, week 21: editing, networking

2011-05-29T19:47:00.001+10:00

I'm still working on my first 50 pages plus synopsis. The way I tackle it is to do a run-through of the first 50 pages, then the synopsis, then go back to the first 50 pages. I find this gives me a 'mini-break' and I spot new things to fix each time.

I've also given the first 50 pages to a writer friend (in exchange for 50 pages of his novel) and we swapped critiques this week. It's really interesting seeing how other people interpret your work. Something that you intended a certain way can be read in an altogether different context. Critiquing other people's work is good also because through it you learn to read your own work in a more detached way. (That's the theory, anyway).

Caught up with another writing colleague this week and we swapped notes. It's good having that bit of extra time in the week to do things like this. There's this idea that writers are lonely beings who do it all by themselves. The reality is that, while no-one holds your hand while you write, it's important to have a network of other writers to talk to.

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New t-shirt: S.U.C.H.I.S.L.I.F.E.

2011-05-22T21:01:00.001+10:00

via redbubble.com

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Grant year, week 20: editing

2011-05-22T19:35:00.001+10:00

I'll keep this short, as I don't have much to report.

Still working on my first 50 pages + synopsis for Hachette MS Development.

Have been doing some critting for friends.

That's about it!

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Grant year, week 19: editing

2011-05-15T20:35:00.001+10:00

Have been playing around with Scrivener to output copies of my manuscript for the editor and my Mum. Mum's copy I was aiming to make it look like a book and it was pretty cool seeing my words in a book-ish font/layout. Hopefully Mum will be around for the proper book version, but that's not the most likely outcome, unfortunately.

I've started copy editing the first 50 pages for the Hachette Manuscript Development Program.

It has been a fairly quiet week, to be honest -- the calm before the storm, no doubt.

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Grant year, weeks 17 and 18: the end of the beginning

2011-05-10T08:42:00.001+10:00

Wow. Somehow I missed week 17's post entirely, and week 18's is a couple of days late.

Must've lost track of time in the race to the finish line.

Finished the first draft. Well, sort of. It's never really that easy, is it? As soon as I'd 'finished' I knew that there were at least two things that needed to be changed before I send it off for the structural edit. Both relate to tattoos. Specifically the first two tattoos (so of course references to them are littered throughout the MS!).

There was an African component to the first two tattoos, because initially I was going to feature the Kihebo massacre as one of the 'flashbacks'. But probably two-thirds of the way through the MS I realised that it was just going to complicate things, since the bulk of the back story relates to stuff that happened in Afghanistan.

So, I still have to go back and change some of that stuff, and then over to the editor it goes.

It's exciting. This is also a dangerous time for me. Well, not dangerous in the sense of the dangers that my protagonists face. You know, bullets, bashings, death. But there's a danger that I'll rest on my laurels and not keep the momentum going.

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Brimstone Press titles to be pulped on Saturday (updated)

2011-05-06T10:33:00.001+10:00

UPDATE: Seems there's a fair bit of confusion surrounding Angela's original email. So much so that she's sent out a clarification. In short, it's only her personal stock she's pulping, since there is no longer a Brimstone Press website and so no avenue for people to buy those titles. Macabre is still available at bookshops, as will be Paul Haines' collection, The Last Days of Kali Yuga. Other titles were being offered to contributors at the prices outlined below. Also, Angela says she's going to look into offering earlier Brimstone titles as ebooks/POD. But still, it's okay to rush out and secure your copy of Macabre! :)

It's with heavy heart that I pass on the following email from Angela Challis (Brimstone Press). I've worked with Angela several times, I was 'staff writer' for the well-received but short-lived BLACK magazine, and my stories have appeared in several Brimstone Press anthologies.

If I had the money, I'd buy up some of these titles just to stop them being pulped. Angela and Shane Jiraiya Cummings put so much work into them, they're beautiful books and -- in the case of Macabre -- culturally significant too. Unfortunately, I'm skint at the moment.

So please, if you want any of these books, get in quick...

Via Angela Challis, Brimstone Press:
This is a courtesy email to let you know that all stock of Brimstone Books will be pulped at the end of this week.

Should you be interested in additional copies of the title in which you appeared (or indeed, any other title listed below), I am happy to send them to you at the low costs listed below plus PPH ($10 for <500g parcel and $15 for <3kg parcel – more expensive for O/S postage).

Should you be interested in picking up any of these titles, please drop me an email (angela@achallis.com.au), and I’ll provide you with a precise amount due for postage before you make your decision (no polite conversation is required or expected)

Again, I will be pulping all my stock on Sat May 8 after which time the following titles will no longer be available ...

Shadow Box CD      $5
Black Box CD          $8
Book of Shadows    $5
ADFHv1 (2006)       $8
ADFHv2 (2007)     $13
ADFHv3 (2008)       $8
Macabre                 $25

Single Author Titles also available ...

Shards     $8    (this title will still be available as an ebook available through Amazon, Smashwords, etc – but due to the format, it does not contain the art work of Andrew McKiernan)
The Last Days of Kali Yuga $20     (this title will still be available at the Author’s Melbourne Launch to be held at Dymocks Southland on Sat July 2nd at 12 noon)

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Double rainbow!

2011-05-03T16:36:00.001+10:00

What does it mean?!

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My Little Pony

2011-05-02T19:46:00.001+10:00

via flickr.com

My 6yo took this photo. All I did was show him how to use the macro setting.

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John Birmingham vs the zombies

2011-04-28T21:54:00.001+10:00

(Hopefully by the end of this post I'll have done enough to justify the link bait)

I went to The Reader at State Library today -- an if:book Australia symposium on the future of writing, publishing, technology and readers.

There was a lot of food for thought, but Dale Spender's address 'New Reading, Same Heresies' really got me thinking, because it dovetailed nicely with something else I've been thinking about lately.

(Apologies for all the cliches -- brain is tired)

Dale talked about the history of reading, about how when the church controlled reading, it was a highly specialised thing. Only the select few could do it, it took 14 years to learn how to do it, and so on.

After Gutenberg, the church wasn't keen on everyone having access to books. Printing presses were smashed, books burnt.

Dale then went on to talk about how, at various times, reading has been portrayed as something that undermines society.

It got me thinking that that's not unlike how video games are percieved at the moment.

So, looking at books as a form of entertainment, and as a way of learning via something that is entertaining, why should reading be valued more highly than playing video games.

Take John Birmingham's Axis of Time trilogy and put it up against Left 4 Dead 2.

I'm sure that JB will tell you that Axis of Time is just an excuse to take bad-asses from the near-future and send them back to 1942 to blow shit up. But it also says a lot about how community standards have changed (for better and for worse) since the 40s.

Left 4 Dead 2. It's a video game, you take part in it. And yeah, it's mostly about taking to zombies with shotguns, pipe bombs and chainsaws. But if you play it right, it's a social game (it's designed to be played with friends). You learn about team-work, strategy, loyalty, betrayal and, if you're like me, how much you suck at it.

I value reading. I want my kids to read. Literacy is hugely important. But so are the things kids can learn from video games (not Left 4 Dead 2, but age-appropriate games). Technology is going to be even more important to our kids than it is for us. It's going to be an increasingly integral part of life.

What do you think? Is tech smarts as important as book smarts?

(PS: I thought about putting the zombies up against James Joyce, or Jack Kerouac ... is that a fairer comparison? What do we gain from ploughing through the classics -- that's the special bonus question)

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Grant year, week 16: slow progress

2011-04-24T19:10:00.001+10:00

I didn't get my word count this week. But I just checked my overall stats and I'm 15,000 words in the black so I'm not going to kick myself too hard. The thing is, I've plotted out (roughly) the final act, so I know what I need to write. Just having trouble getting there. My wife hypothesised that maybe I'm scared of finishing the first draft. And I think she's right. Because I know from past experience that that's where the hard graft really starts! How about you, anyone else out there scared of finishing first drafts.

I think I mentioned earlier that a friend/colleague has offered to do a structural edit. Which is great, but I've got to figure out the best way to spend my time while she's working on it. I don't want to spend time copy editing on chunks that may end up on the 'cutting room floor'. So, I think what I'll do is research to flesh out the description/characters in my second go-through. And also spend some time plotting the second book.

I'm going to pitch Skin Deep as the first book in a series, so I need to have the second book at least plotted out. I probably need to start writing it too. And I've got some ideas that I find as exciting as the premise behind Skin Deep. So I need to capitalise on that enthusiasm (you know, the enthusiasm for the next book, that you always get when you're mired in the current book!).

The other breakthrough that came this week was the name for my fictional outlaw bikie gang. I'm not going to lay it out there just yet because I want to think it through a bit more. But it's tough-sounding, it's not even an actual word, but it's based on a military word (which fits the bill, because a lot of the early bikie gangs were formed by veterans returning from WWII -- Hell's Angels is a classic example of this).

The name is important because the gang features in book two.

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'Feast or Famine' to feature in YB Australian Fantasy and Horror

2011-04-18T20:20:00.001+10:00

Ticonderoga Publications is walking on sunshine to announce the contents for its inaugural The Year's Best Australian Fantasy and Horror anthology.
Editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have produced a list of 33 excellent tales by some of Australia's biggest names as well as some emerging writers.
The anthology collects 150,000 words of the best stories published last year from the Antipodes.
"We're pleased with the number of fabulous stories that were published in 2010 that we had to choose from.", Liz Grzyb said.
"You could hold this anthology up against any international collection - Australians rock for diverse voices, imagination, and compelling writing," Talie Helene added.

via facebook.com

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Grant year, week 15: writing (just), thinking

2011-04-17T18:59:00.001+10:00

I went up to Gin Gin to help my Mum out early this week, and then on Friday I had to postpone my writing day because it was a pupil-free day for the kids.

My wife took the kids out this afternoon, so I just scraped through with my 5,000 target.

I didn't set the world on fire in terms of writing, but I did lots of thinking and planning this week about the 3rd act. I had a vague idea of what was going to happen but when confronted with the start of act three, I didn't know what to write!

I'm ahead on my word count so if I have time I might write a couple of alternative endings.

There are some interesting links in my delicious skindeep tag.

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Woohoo! Macabre wins Australian Shadows award

2011-04-16T08:18:00.001+10:00

Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears is an important book. Editors Angela Challis and Marty Young set themselves an interesting and uneasy task - to showcase Australia's long history of dark fiction publishing, contrasting that with new output from today's established and emerging writers from the horror genre. They succeeded by avoiding the risk of aiming for whatever might have been popular or attractive in horror's many sub-genre's at the time they selected the included works, while showing deep, nay loving, respect for truly Australian tales from our past.

via australianhorror.com

Big congratulations to Angela and Marty, and everyone who contributed!

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Cardivoodi?

2011-04-15T23:06:00.001+10:00

via redbubble.com

For my sisters!

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Alan Baxter's written fight tournament – Begin!

2011-04-15T21:27:00.001+10:00

My friend Gary Kemble came up with this idea and it’s a good one. Now that I’ve finally made my short ebook about writing fight scenes available, Gary suggested I run a written fight scene competition here on my blog. He actually said: “You should host a fight-writing kumite on your blog. Best 500-word fight scene wins… something? That’d be fun!”

I reckon that would be fun. So it begins here.

via alanbaxteronline.com

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Mum's dog Storm

2011-04-15T16:02:00.001+10:00

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Grant year, week 14: writing, planning, (unofficial) networking

2011-04-10T19:48:00.001+10:00

Steady with the word count this week. Almost at the end of the second act. I think my initial assessment about the first act being so long was incorrect. I think what I've done is missed the end of the first act. I thought it was in one place, but it turns out it is probably much earlier. If that's the case, then my novel is more likely to hit by 90k mark (it might be 10k or so over).

I've started thinking about how I'm going to use my downtime after I finish the first draft. I may have someone to do a structural edit for me. Even if I don't, I need to give the book a bit of time to 'breathe' before I look at it again. There are a number of things I want to do before I even attempt any editing. One is to re-read Stephen King's On Writing (even if it's just the practical bits). Another is to read or re-read all of Kim Wilkins' columns from Writing Queensland. I'm also going to read my first ebook purchase -- Alan Baxter's Write the Fight Right -- because my book has a couple of fight scenes in it. There's some more research I need to do. If I have time left after all that, I'm going to work on Metamorphosis (the last WIP).

Met up with a writing friend on Friday. We're going to meet regularly to critique each other's writing. I really want to get back into the habit of critiquing, because I think by looking at other people's writing, it makes it easier to look at your own writing in that same way.

I've had a few offers from friends/contacts to be beta readers for Skin Deep, which is exciting/frightening. I know this sounds cheesy but the idea of actually showing it to anyone at this point is terrifying. But I guess that's the point. Now is not the time to show it to anyone! At some point I will have to open the door.

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Grant year, week 13: writing under difficult circumstances

2011-04-03T18:43:00.001+10:00

This has been probably my worst week so far. The past fortnight actually. Even though I did a lot of words last week, it's the most detached I've felt from Skin Deep. And I think a lot of those words will be extensively rewritten.

My mum is sick. She was down in Brisbane for her radium and so I caught up with her on Friday (which is normally my writing day). We had a really good (emotionally draining) catch-up.

Some writers thrive on stress. Writing is where they go to escape. I'm not one of those writers. I find it really difficult to write when things are rocky on the home front.

I also tend to think 'why bother?'. It's even harder than usual to find the drive to write when, in reality, it's probably the least substantial thing I do. What I mean by that is, I could stop writing this novel right now and no-one would suffer. There's plenty of people writing novels.

However, mum (like a lot of mums, probably) is my number one fan (and not in that creepy Misery way). At many stages, she has had far more faith in me than I have had in myself. And she has said she wants to read Skin Deep. So I've got a bit of extra motivation to kick on and get this draft done. :)

And it hasn't been all gloom and doom this week. A friend and colleague of mine, who has completed the (by all accounts) fantastic WEP course out at UQ, has offered to do a structural edit on Skin Deep.

And I did still get my 5,000 this week, so I'm still ahead of the game.

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Bike riding

2011-04-03T16:48:00.001+10:00

03042011_001.mp4 Watch on Posterous

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Grant year, week 12: writing, writing, writing

2011-03-27T20:10:00.001+10:00

I hit 70,000 words this week. I'm about midway through the second act. So, my second act is looking kinda short. My first act is too long. Which may just mean that I need to move that first climax a bit earlier.

I've decided that I'm going to create a fictitious outlaw motorcycle club for the purposes of my story. One reason is that I don't particularly want Bandidos or Hell's Angels turning up on my doorstep saying I've misrepresented them. The second is that I'm planning on using the whole bikie thing in the second book (yes! There's a second book -- provided I can sell this one) so, again, misrepresenting an outlaw MC is not high on my 'Dumb things I gotta do today' list.

So anyway, it's funny, trying to come up with a name that isn't actually an existing motorcycle club, outlaw or otherwise. I was thinking Scurvy Dogs but, yep, there actually is a Scurvy Dogs MC. And speaking of cool MC names, how about the Pissed Off Bastards!

At the moment they're just referred to as TK -- the letters I use when I don't want to have to look something up immediately. (I do a search and replace for TK and then do the research). Maybe I should just leave it at that. :)

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Grant year, week 11: researching and writing

2011-03-20T18:58:00.001+10:00

I'm going to keep this brief because I want to try and knock over another thousand words tonight.

Had a more successful trip to State Library to check out Phil Dickie's The Road to Fitzgerald. It was so good I've decided to buy a copy! (Got it second hand, it's on its way to me now).

Have also been doing more reading on outlaw motorcycle clubs.

In The Brotherhoods, Arthur Veno has a totally different take on it to Steve Utah (Dead Man Running).

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Grant year, week ten: writing and researching

2011-03-13T20:04:00.001+10:00

Mostly writing. I had one-and-a-half 'writing days' this week, and I was meant to have one on Monday, so I was going to see if I could get to 60,000 words. It would have been the first time I'd written 10k in a week since before kids, when I was writing '4157'.

But because of the quake in Japan I've got to shift my writing day to Wednesday, so that's not going to happen. However, I have done 57,000 words so I'm happy with that. I might aim for 65k by the end of the week. What I definitely want to do is stay ahead on word count. So, regardless of how much I write per week, still aim for 5k each week, as a minimum.

Into the second act, I'm starting to face some hard decisions. And I'm starting to realise that there are things that don't work, that will affect the structure, that need to be changed. I'm not stressing because I can see the changes that need to be made. I have answers!

There are some other things that I've yet to decide on. For example, the order that the tattoos appear. At the moment, it's kinda chronological, which makes sense. But maybe it would make more sense for them to appear in reverse chronological order ('Memento'-style). But I can't really make those decisions until I've written the whole book, given it a little rest, then had another look at it.

Other things I'm starting to wonder about is the pros and cons of using real people in a fictional story. Not the main characters, of course, but the backdrop. Skin Deep has a political sub-plot, which involves the rise of a Labor star, following a long period of conservative rule. So, I can make up history, or I can make up people. I can make up a fictional conservative PM, or I can imagine a world where Peter Costello succeeded from John Howard and went on to win the 2007 election. But, I'm not trying to write alternative history! And if the book sells into the US and the UK, which I obviously hope it does, then the knowledge of local politics won't really matter.

The research this week has been mostly online, looking into the 2006 Black Hawk crash off Fiji, in which two men died. Have also been reviewing a couple of books I own about the SAS, and also reading a book I bought recently, about outlaw motorcycle gangs in Australia.

Have also taken some photos down the Gold Coast (see previous entry on that).

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Skin Deep: Gold Coast

2011-03-12T20:44:00.001+10:00

I've decided there may be a scene or two set on the Gold Coast, so I took the opportunity to get some photos. (You'll notice there's no 'sights' in there)

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Grant year: first act done!

2011-03-08T20:21:00.001+10:00

Just finished the first act. It's almost 50,000 words long. I read an article by Kim Wilkins that suggests the breakdown of a novel is 20-30 per cent for the first act, 50 per cent for the second act, then whatever's left over for the finale. She says it's not an exact science, but it could mean that my first draft is over 150,000 words long. Which would make it harder to sell.

Having said that, I'm determined to let this story unfold in a natural way. Given I've got the grant, I have the luxury of exploring various storylines even if I end up cutting them later on. The last novel I wrote, I allocated 5k per chapter, but each chapter was only vaguely defined in terms of scenes. So I ended up with many chapters where I was struggling to find the 5k. So I definitely don't want to do that with Skin Deep.

The other thing I'm starting to realise is that it's going to be too confusing to incorporate elements of the protagonist's service in Africa as well as his service in Afghanistan. I'm not making any hard decisions yet, but I'm getting a strong feeling that I'll end up dropping the Africa angle.

I think I might spend my writing day this week giving the word count a push. I'm on track, but if I end up writing a 150,000+ first draft, it's going to mean it will take longer to write and longer to edit. And if I decide to cut it back to 80-90k, that's going to take a lot of structural work.

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Grant year, week nine: writing and researching

2011-03-06T20:14:00.001+10:00

Had a fairly frustrating visit to State Library on Friday. All my fault -- nothing to do with State Library!

I think, in my head, I imagined a montage scene from a movie about an investigative journalist. Looking through books, newspaper clippings, finding out 'stuff'.

I thought I would just go to the library and find out 'stuff'.

The day got off to a bad start because it was raining and I had to walk from the far end of Southbank, because SLQ's car park is still being repaired after the floods. So, even though I had an umbrella, by the time I got there, my shoes were squelching.

Then I had problems connecting to the shared wifi using my Mac, even though I've used it previously at SLQ and it has worked fine.

I got on one of the SLQ computers and started searching. But my searches were so vague that I may as well have been searching from home. Which, as it turns out, would have been a perfectly viable option for most of what I wanted to do (except I needed to renew my library card).

The last time I did newspaper research for a book was when I was working on '4157'. That was when State Library was inbetween buildings, so I spent the day out at Camp Hill (or maybe it was Cannon Hill). That was a different situation because I had quite a narrow search. I wanted to look at newspapers from specific days so I could see what was in the news that day, and get a feel for the era.

Back to the present, I couldn't find any Brisbane-specific books about tattooing or outlaw motorcycle clubs. The one general book I found about outlaw motorcycle clubs wasn't on the shelf.

I did find a couple of juicy titbits looking through online newspaper archives. There was a big police operation targeting the Finks a while ago. The defence counsel described the MC club as "Rotary but with tattoos".

There was another brief about a bikie who, after getting busted, updated his MySpace status thus: 'Goin to jail... yawn'.

Yesterday, when my wife and I were cleaning out the study I found some Writing Queensland magazines that I've been meaning to get to. In one of them, Kim Wilkins has some advice about research. And one bit is kind of a no-brainer. Basically, it's know what you need to find out before trying to find it. So, I wish I'd read that a couple of months back!

So now I'm thinking, maybe I don't need to research now. Maybe I need to use my writing days to power through the word count, and make a list of all the specific details I need to research. And then, if something major comes up, I'll know it and I'll be able to tackle it if and when it comes up.

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New tshirt: Welcome to the party, pal!

2011-02-28T21:39:00.001+10:00

via redbubble.com

I often find myself thinking this when I hear about the trials and tribulations new parents are going through!

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Grant year, week eight: writing and planning

2011-02-27T20:02:00.001+10:00

I should probably just drop the 'writing' from my 'Grant year' titles -- it's pretty clear that every week is going to involve writing! Even if it's rewriting.

Okay, so it's been a quiet week. I still hit my target, in fact I'm ahead of my target. I'm not going gaga over that however because I think the first draft is going to be quite a bit longer than the 90k I'm aiming for. I'm currently at 42k and I'm just about to finish act one. So, the second act is usually longer than the first, and the third is usually shorter, but it could be 120k.

Which I'll still get done by the end of June, if I stay on track with my 5k/week word count.

Why does it matter how long it is? Technically, it doesn't. If you write a brilliant first novel, chances are that you'll find a publisher for it -- it just might be a bit harder. The Company of the Dead, by David Kowalski, springs to mind. But there's so many factors that come into play. Kowalski's book was kind of an alternative history thriller action romp (yes you can quote me on that). Multiple timelines. In structure similar to John Birmingham's blockbusters. There's an expectation that kind of book will be longer. The reality is that first-time novelists have better odds if their manuscript is about 80-90k.

Anyway -- getting a bit ahead of myself here, since I haven't even finished the first draft.

As well as the writing, I've been doing a bit of informal planning. And by informal planning I mean that I've been thinking about the problems with the book (the bits I haven't written yet) and how I can fix them. This week I finally figured out how two main characters are going to meet at the end of act one. I had a few ideas but they all seemed contrived. Finally settled on something this week. And even though it's vital these two characters meet at the end of of act one (it's the first major climax) I can change it later. In fact, if I was really struggling, I could leave the final chapter of act one and dive into act two.

The other problem that I've gone some way to resolving is how some of the sub-plots connect. In real life, not everything connects. Things just happen, right? Unfortunately, we don't give novelists the same leeway. People expect the details to mean something. So I'm starting to work out how the things that are happening in Harry's life now relate to things that happened to another character. I guess you could call him 'the ghost'.

I imagine what will happen is that some of these sub-plots will become integral to the story. Others not so much. Similarly, there are characters who I've breathed life into who I think may end up on the cutting room floor.

This week, I really need to get down to State Library. Act two is going to be much harder to write. It's where Harry starts unravelling the mystery. So I need to start ravelling it for him!

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Grant year, week seven: writing and networking

2011-02-20T19:34:00.001+10:00

I really caned the word count this week. So much so that I was able to work on a short story that I'm planning on sending off to an anthology this year. (More on this - hopefully - down the track).

I had originally planned to do some research at State Library. I've been behind the eight-ball on this count because of the flooding. It hasn't hurt too much, because I'm in the early stages of the book. But I'll probably go back and layer in some detail on the rewrite anyway. Although State Library was open, the car park wasn't. And I had the car, not the scooter, so I ended up driving around looking for somewhere to park, which was tricky because I didn't have any change.

This is a riveting story, isn't it! I decided to cut my losses and get in some writing at The Three Monkeys (which features in the book) and then realised that I had forgot to charge the Mac Book the night before and had very limited writing time. I managed to get a thousand words done in that session.

Then I decided to have another crack at State Library. I fluked an unmetered spot really close, and managed to charge the Mac and get another thousand words done.

At midday I met a writer friend of mine. I told her what I know about the grant application process, and she offered to be a 'beta reader' for Skin Deep, and also offered to put me in contact with her agent, which was very nice of her. So, it was a very worthwhile meeting.

I'm starting to feel that the opening act of Skin Deep is going to be a bit long, but that's okay. Once I know which are the important storylines, I can trip some of the others.

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The Grand Conversation on ebooks

2011-02-12T15:16:00.001+10:00

This is a really interesting time for the publishing industry, and it will be really interesting to see how Shane’s ebook experiment goes.

For mine, I don’t read ebooks. Even though I love technology and my work revolves around computers and social media, I’m not an early adopter. At the moment, an iPad or a Kindle would be nice (or even an iPhone), but I still have some concerns about the whole ebook thing.

via jiraiya.com.au

Shane kindly invited me to take part in his grand conversation on ebooks...

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Grant year, week six: writing and more 'location scouting'

2011-02-12T15:13:00.001+10:00

Regained a bit of momentum this week. I hit my 30,000-word target relatively easily. I still feel the urge to have a 'write club'-style grant day where I just go for maximum word count, so I can get a bit of a buffer. On the other hand, it's nice to work week to week because you often get little ideas that you can explore as the story develops.

A case in point -- Red Hill Skate Arena. I didn't think of this place at all when I was thinking up scene ideas last year. When we were living at Bardon I never really went past the place, so why would I even think about it? Since we've moved to The Gap, I pass by whenever I'm heading into the city or West End. It's quite a forlorn building. It burned down in 2002 and, for whatever reason, the building hasn't been demolished. So it just sits there, the charred bones of its roof timbers pointing up to the sky. It fits with a theme that's developing about the price of 'progress'.

Research-wise, I still haven't been able to get to State Library, which has been closed due to flooding. I'm still chasing some information about the tattooing scene in Brisbane in the 90s. And I'm still trying to have a yarn with a psychic to talk about readings. I don't urgently need this stuff. Down the track, I'm going to need to find out about how tattoos fare on dead bodies, do some reading up on graverobbing, and a whole host of other macabre stuff!

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Skin Deep: Paddington Chapel and surrounds

2011-02-11T21:27:00.001+10:00

via flickr.com

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Skin Deep: Red Hill Skate Arena

2011-02-11T21:25:00.001+10:00

via flickr.com

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Data visualisation of 'Bug Hunt'

2011-02-10T20:53:00.001+10:00

Have been playing around with Many Eyes...

(it should have embedded here, but didn't work, so here's the link to the site... http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/visualizations/bug-hunt-...

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Grant year, week five: research and writing

2011-02-06T20:03:00.001+10:00

Kind of hit the wall this week. Well, the first of the many walls 'Skin Deep' is likely to build for me to scale.

A range of factors, some positive and some negative.

The negative: kids not getting to bed 'on time' due mostly to the heat. It probably sounds like a cop-out, but the reality for me is that when the kids don't get off to sleep by 7.30pm or so, me having to go in and tell them to go to sleep, or stressing about when they are going to go to sleep, really drains me psychologically. And so I'm less likely to drag myself to the keyboard.

And the heat itself. I had headaches pretty much all week which, again, aren't conducive to good writing time!

The positive: I did two research sessions with tattooists this week. One with Davin at Brunswick Ink over at the Valley; the other with Matt Cunnington at Westside Tattoo at West End. I got to sit with both artists for over two hours and talk to them about what they do, how they do it, and why they do it. Which was invaluable. Much more valuable than reading about tattooing or watching TV shows about tattooing. It was also good to see both ends of the scale. Brunswick Ink is relatively new, whereas Westside Tattoo has been around for ages and has built a really strong reputation.

So, by Friday morning, I had zero words in the can. ZERO! I managed to get 1,500 done that morning before heading over to West End to meet Matt. I got another 1,500 done Friday evening. And then last night I was at my parents place with the kids. I didn't really expect to get any writing done. Then at about 10pm I opened the lappy. I surprised myself by hitting a really strong vein. After half an hour I had a thousand words. I felt like I was on a roll, so I kept going and by 11pm I had another thousand done.

Mission accomplished!

(By the way, I'm not trying to big-note myself regarding this 'feat'. This is very much a 'vomit draft' so will need a fair bit of work to get into shape. But for me, I need to get the words down. I need to feel some sort of progress happening to maintain morale!)

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Interesting interview with Will Elliott

2011-02-03T20:18:00.001+10:00

You've now published an acclaimed debut novel (The Pilo Family Circus), a very personal memoir (Strange Places), two books of the Pendulum fantasy series, and you have another novel, Nightfall, waiting in the wings. You've previously said you wouldn't describe it as a 'career', but where do you feel you're at in your journey as a writer?
I'll answer this one bluntly, if I may... I'm tired of doing this for less than half of minimum wage. Working on a book is an endeavour which takes over my life while it's in progress, especially in the rough draft phase. I obsess over it, stay up for long stretches, exclude most other aspects of normal life. It's not an option to do it part-time, especially with this poisonous brain medication I'm required to take. I have ample ideas and if it were feasible I could write 8-10 books over the next decade, maybe more. But circumstance is making it necessary to walk away and do something else. I won't shed too many tears either. Most of my last decade has been spent sitting before a PC screen in a room with no aircon, just chump change to my name. Kind of loses its appeal. There will be booing and hissing from the sidelines for this attitude, I invite them to try it for a decade and see how romatic it feels, especially with brain meds thrown in.

Grant year, week four: writing, researching and planning

2011-01-30T12:23:00.001+10:00

Still going strong with the word count -- 20k so I'm managing to keep up with my 5k/week plan. There's a real temptation to just pound out the words on my writing day, but I'm trying to avoid that. Part of my grant pitch was talking about how I wanted time to do proper research and planning. As I've learnt from my reporting days, this can be a situation where you put in a lot of effort, chasing leads. It looks as though nothing is going to come of it, and then all of a sudden you're run off your feet.

And this is what has happened. I really wanted some firm background in tattooing, given that tattoos are such an important part of the book. So I've been chasing up various leads. And it seems like they're all coming to fruition at once. One of my Twitter friends, @blackvalo, put me onto Brunswick Ink Tattoo in the Valley. I'm going in tomorrow night to watch Davin do some tattooing. Earlier, I'd sent an email to Westside Tattoo over at West End, and they also got back to me this week. I'm going in on Friday to watch owner Matt do some tattooing. And an ABC colleague saw my tweeting and offered to share some of her insights. I gave her a call on Friday and we had a good chat, which was really helpful.

People have suggested that I get a tattoo and be done with it. It has crossed my mind. I've got a design in my head that I think would be rather cool, but I don't know if I've got enough of a canvas for them to work with. (People who know me will know what I mean). Also, there's the cash side of it. We're not flush at the moment so that puts me off a bit. Maybe I should make a commitment to get a tattoo when I sell the manuscript!

I've also been chasing some contacts to do some research on the SAS. Again, I want the segments involving the SAS to be as realistic as possible. I've read a few books about the SAS -- most recent SAS Sniper, by Rob Maylor (which is a great read, by the way). But I still have a few hypothetical situations that aren't covered in the books. Because my mind often drifts towards 'action', it would be handy having some solid military/special forces contacts. So I'm working to build some trust with people in the know.

The other really important thing I did this week was sort out a rough plan for the entire novel. Last year, even though I wasn't writing Skin Deep, I was thinking about it a lot. I'd think of cool scenes and jot them down in my Scrivener file. So I had a whole heap of scenes relating to Harry's working life, his relationship situation and tattoos, in no particular order. For some reason, I've been procrastinating about putting them in order. I think I was worried that when I actually sat down to plan the book out, I wouldn't be able to find a place for all these scenes. Which wasn't the case at all. There were only maybe three out of 30 that I think may get dropped. (That's not to say all will survive until final draft).

This is a big deal because I've managed to hit my word targets to date because over the past year I've done a lot of thinking about the opening scenes in the book. So I've been able to write this down so (relatively) easily. But to sustain this, I need to start thinking about the scenes coming up, so that when I sit down to write, I'm not going, 'Um, so what happens now'.

The other thing I've started to notice is the inner critic rearing his ugly face. I've been told that I 'write fast', meaning that I tend to race through the plot without giving a lot of thought to scenery, characters, what the characters are thinking etc. I think part of the reason I do this is that my inner critic convinces me that I'm boring the reader. So, I've told the inner critic to fuck off. I need to let Skin Deep unfold at its own pace. And if I get the pacing wrong in the first draft, I can always tweak it in the subsequent drafts. I would rather cut when I'm editing than write new material once I'm out of 'the zone'. So, for now, I'm exploring pretty much every avenue of thought, getting it down, and then I'll cut later.

Potentially, I could be a quarter of the way through my book. I've got a feeling thought that this first draft may be more like 100k than 80k.

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Writers on Rafts: win a short story critique or t-shirt!

2011-01-26T19:34:00.001+10:00

As you may already know, Queensland Writers Centre has launched Writers on Rafts to help raise money for those hit hard by the Queensland floods.

More than 150 Australian authors are offering everything from author visits to manuscript appraisals, book packs and the chance to have a character named after you in their next book!

To win, you choose which category you'd like to enter, and then if you win you get to choose your prize.

I'm pitching in by offering two prizes:

Short story critique: While I'm not as high profile as many of the editors and writers offering critiques, I have won One Book Many Brisbanes twice, have published over 20 short stories and also have a background in journalism, which means I'm really good with line editing.

T-shirt: As well as writing, I also design t-shirts. Check out my designs at RedBubble. My personal fave at the moment is 'Guns don't kill zombies, people kill zombies (with guns)'.

So please, head on over to Writers on Rafts and enter!

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Grant year, week three: writing, research, 'location scouting'

2011-01-21T14:44:00.001+10:00

[[posterous-content:pid___0]] Wrote 2,000 words this morning, over at Toowong Library.

Did a bit of research into the Kibeho Massacre, and the corageous efforts of ADF personnel to save people. Amazing stuff.

On the way home I took some photographs of the Paddington Water Tower, and surrounds. My protagonist lives on a street that leads up to the water tower. He moves in there after breaking up with his girlfriend.

So, I was walking down the street and, guess what? There's a house for rent down there which, in many respects, was how I imagined his house. It was a little bit spooky. (But then, I like spooking myself out).

Seeing the locations gave me a few ideas for scenes that wouldn't have occured to me otherwise.

I'm hoping to get another 1,000 words of actual writing done this afternoon. Possibly three between now and the end of the week.

Without the grant, this week would have been a blow-out, given the uncertainties with work (our building was flooding) and my wife being sick (possibly Ross River Fever). So, once again, it's amazing how much difference a 'writing day' can make, and again I thank the Australia Council for making it possible!

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Another day, another office

2011-01-20T09:05:00.001+10:00

New temporary accommodation for ABC News Online.

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Strange days

2011-01-17T08:47:00.001+10:00

The view from one of the three new homes of flood-displaced ABC News Online. Yep, it's a soccer club!

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Grant year, week two: thinking and reading

2011-01-16T21:13:00.001+10:00

This isn't officially week two. We were away on holidays and I was fairly confident I wouldn't get any actual writing done (although I did still pack the Mac, just in case) so I shifted my two 'grant days' to later in the year.

What I did do was a lot of thinking. I've fleshed out more of my protagonist's back story, and I started thinking about how tattooed I want my 'tattooed man' to be.

Saw plenty of tattoos on show at Noosa/Noosaville. I take a good look at every design I see now.

I also got some solid reading done. I finished fellow Brisbane author Trent Jamieson's Managing Death (part 2 of his 'Death Works' series - good read) and also Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars (which is the darkest set of stories he's written for quite some time).

And today my wife gave me a short break, so I managed to get a little bit of writing. Probably under a thousand words, but it takes my total count to close to 10,000, which is in the ballpark of the 5k a week that I'm hoping to get done. If I can hit that target I should have a first draft by the end of June, and that means I can spend the second half of the year knocking it into shape.

I also did a bit of a rewrite on 'Ashes to Ashes', which I'm hoping to submit to Ticonderoga Publications' Damnation and Dames anthology. This isn't technically part of my grant, but I would like to keep a bit of momentum going with the short stories.

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Please help Writers on Rafts

2011-01-16T20:46:00.001+10:00

Via Paul Landymore:

The Queensland Writer's Centre is looking for offers of good and services to auction for its Writer On Rafts Flood Appeal to raise money for the Queensland Premier's Flood Appeal.

Between Christmas and New Year plans where being drawn up for Writers On Rafts, to contribute funds to the Queensland Premier's Flood Appeal for those affected in north Queensland and upon return to work last week QWC staff were prepping plans to make this happen.

Due the events of this week and our having to evacuate our offices in the State Library this project has become even more important and pertinent. QWC has thousands of members throughout Queensland and many will be affected by the flooding.

Furious work is being done at the moment to finalise details with a dedicated website expected to go live Thursday 20th January with articles to appear in the press the following weekend. Brisbane author Rebecca Sparrow has been tirelessly garnering support from the writing community and the details so far of how this will operate are as follows:

1. Through the website there will be a number of prize categories available:

- Author visit (to your book club, writer's group, school etc.

- Writer Assistance (QWC workshop, MS critique etc.

- Character Name: Get a character named after you in your favourite author's next book.

- Book Pack.

Special Prize

- Ultimate Girly Morning Tea with Rebecca Sparrow, Jessica Rudd, Mia Freedman, Erica Bartle, Emily Jade O'Keefe and Francis Whiting.

In addition QWC will provide each category winner with a prize pack which consists of:

- Australian Market Writer's Place Online subscription.

- WQ electronic (PDF) subscription.

- QWC merchandise.

2. Those wanting to enter the drawer will go to the website and register their details for a cost of $5.00 for each prize they wish to win. If they wish to enter for the Special Prize the cost will be $20.00.

3. There will be a winner drawn for each category for each State so for example if you are the winner of an author visit and live in NSW you will have a choice of local authors.

4. Any prize books left over after the drawer will be donated to statewide libraries and schools affected by the floods.

5. We will be publishing a target of $10,000 to be raised.

6. All QWC staff, authors etc are giving their time free-of-charge to ensure the maximum amount of money reaches the Premier's Flood Appeal.

Please note, due to power loss the QWC server is down so please contact Paul Landymore, Operations and Development Manager at paul@landymore.net

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We're okay!

2011-01-14T08:13:00.001+10:00

Thanks to those who sent emails asking if we're okay. The answer is yes. We're actually on hols in Noosaville, so apologies for the delay. For once I'm away from my computer. (sending this from my phone) Our house should be okay because it's up high. Of course, there's plenty not so lucky. If you want to help out, please donate to the Premier's flood appeal.

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Grant year, week one: writing and researching

2011-01-08T07:21:00.001+10:00

Well, yesterday was my first official 'grant day' and, wow, what a difference a day makes.

I knocked over 3,000 words and got a lot of researching done, plus a little bit of planning.

You can keep track of my online research via my delicious links, with the skindeep'>http://www.delicious.com/garykemble/skindeep">skindeep tag.

I made a lot of decisions about one of the key characters. I've now got a much stronger grip on who he was and what he was doing to land himself in the predicament he ended up in.

I put out feelers for further, more hands-on research.

The rain scotched my original plan for yesterday, which was to head over to Paddington and take some photos, then head into State Library for some research, then maybe over to West End to talk to some real-life tattooists.

I want to take photos because I find that even though you can make stuff up, sometimes you miss the little details, and it's those details that make locations so real. Also, visiting the places you write about can spark ideas that you never would of thought of, sitting at your desk.

The State Library research is primarily for stuff I can't get online -- books and old newspapers. Because my book has an element of investigative journalism, I want to see how Phil Dickie unravelled his stories about corruption in the Bjelke-Petersen government.

And the visit to West End Tattoo. Well, that's kinda obvious. Tattooing is a major part of the story, and yet I've no experience with it, other than what I've seen on TV.

So, even though I got none of that done, it was still a very productive day. I've got close to 7,000 words down, which puts me on track to have a first draft done by the end of June.

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Anyone know what kind of snake this is?

2011-01-02T09:09:00.001+10:00

And if it's dangerous?

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Long time, no blog

2011-01-01T19:12:00.001+10:00

After WorldCon, I had planned to get my blog in order and try to use it more. My plan was to post something once a week.

Well, that clearly went out the window.

In my defence, I've had a lot on my plate of late. Just before Christmas we moved house. The whole process took a huge amount of resources - time as well as physical and mental energy.

Then Christmas.

On top of that, I've been trying to get some prep done for 'grant year', as well as get an entry together for One Book Many Brisbanes.

Now that grant year has begun, I'm planning to document the process to some extent. I think it will be useful to myself, and also will come in handy at the end of the year, when I've got an acquittal to hand in.

(For those who don't already know, I've received an Australia Council grant to help me work on Skin Deep, a paranormal thriller set in Brisbane)

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Is this warning really necessary?

2010-12-08T17:33:00.001+10:00

In my son's Iron Man mask.

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Feature: UQ Graduate Contact Magazine

2010-12-08T13:10:00.001+10:00

Like most horror fans, Gary Kemble remembers the exact moment he was truly scared by a book; it was while reading Stephen King’s The Shining in high school.

via uq.edu.au

Not sure about the headline... was the year of my graduation really so bad. :)

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New tshirt: Guns don't kill zombies...

2010-11-18T21:14:00.001+10:00

You can buy this tshirt at Red Bubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/garykemble/t-shirts/6298753-1-guns-dont-kill-...

Or, given the design is under a Creative Commons licence (Attribution-Share Alike) you can make your own t-shirt (download the jpg from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/garykemble/5187025370/)

The image in this design is also under a CC licence. You can view the original here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonov/1971164711/

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Review: Rare Exports (2010)

2010-11-16T21:33:00.001+10:00

In Australia, like in the UK and the US, Santa Claus is the jolly old elf who brings presents at Christmas-time.
But Christmas has a dark side.

via horrorscope.com.au

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Leopard print

2010-11-08T18:14:00.001+10:00

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Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T19:02:00.001+10:00

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Tape lovers mix it up, old-spool

2010-10-25T21:30:00.001+10:00

(Image: DG Jones, Flickr - CC-BY-NC)

Colleague Cassie White did this story today, about how while Sony has stopped production on the Walkman, tape-lovers live on.

This is my favourite bit, where Darren Pauli talks about his love of tape:

"I've got a whole series of tapes like this Metallica tape I had back in school that my mates recorded and we used to listen to on the bus," he said.

"I've had it in my car and listened to the same tape that's just kept going for 10, 12 years.

"All the way through it you can hear in various parts when mates I've lent it to have accidentally hit record when listening to it.

"It's got a whole conversation between one of my mates and his brother and it's hilarious.

"Right in the middle of a Metallica guitar solo it cuts to Gatecrasher, this electronic techno stuff, then goes back to it. It's something that's kind of personal with a hint of nostalgia.

"I'll put it on with mates and we'll laugh because it reminds you of the old days."

Got me reminiscing about my own experiences with tape:

When one of my mates did the Europe thing in the mid-90s, another friend and I made him a tape: Miserable Mother****ers. It consisted of 90 minutes of us speaking shit at coffee shops, going to gigs at The Zoo and other reputable establishments around Brisbane, speaking more shit at more coffee shops, that kinda thing. The idea was to reassure him that he wasn't missing anything. At some point, some excerpts of the tape got put online, but I'm pretty sure they're gone now.
When I went backpacking in the late 90s, I bought a new Walkman to take with me. I was trying to keep my luggage down so I took one tape with me. 90 minutes of music. 45 minutes of Counting Crows' August and Everything after (sad music) and 45 minutes of Ben Folds Fives' Whatever and Ever Amen (happy music). By the end of six weeks, I still wasn't sick of either side!
Just after my wife and I first met, she decided to go overseas (no, it wasn't because of me! She'd already booked the tickets). So we had a long-distance relationship for a while, and we used to send each other mixtapes. We've still got them, of course. I never did convert her to Billy Bragg, but she married me anyway!
I still own tapes of Triple J's retrospective on The Whitlams and Nirvana. I really enjoyed it and I listened to it over and over again. I never listen to tapes anymore, even though we still have a stereo with a tape player on it. But I keep the tapes. Because it's nice knowing they're there. It sounds old-fashioned, but these tapes are true artifacts, in the way a playlist on a hard drive can never be.
I've still got my Walkman somewhere. One day, I'm going to dig it out and show the kids. I'm sure they'll be amazing, and horrified, and embarrassed!

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Beating the Odds wins UN media award

2010-10-23T19:00:00.001+10:00

The ABC News Online Investigations team has been awarded the prestigious UN Media Peace Prize in Melbourne for Best Online report.

Woohoo! I did the social media strategy for this project. We had some fantastic input from readers - you can read them at the bottom of the page.

But obviously, the bulk of the credit goes to reporter Eleanor Bell and photographer Ed Giles, who uncovered some fantastic stories in Mt Druitt.

via abc.net.au

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Interview with Steve Austin on 612 Brisbane

2010-10-22T12:21:00.001+10:00

Stephen M Irwin and I were on ABC 612 Brisbane last night, talking about horror, Macabre, Brisbane ghosts and more.

You can check it out here: http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2010/10/writing-horror-gary-kemble-stephen-irwin.html?site=brisbane&program=612_evenings

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Brisbane Zombie Walk, this Sunday!

2010-10-22T08:28:00.001+10:00

I'm going to miss Brisbane Zombie Walk this year due to being double-booked. But if you're at a loose end, get down there.

Last year's was a hell of a lot of fun...

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Catty at work

2010-10-20T17:20:00.001+10:00

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Storify: your thoughts on Afghanistan

2010-10-19T10:32:00.001+10:00

At my day job - social media guy with the ABC - we've been experimenting with using Storify to collate viewer responses. Today, I've pulled together some content on the Afghanistan debate. Some great responses, and photos from isafmedia.

I was hoping the embed would work, but it doesn't. You can check it out here: http://storify.com/abcnews/should-australia-stay-in-afghanistan

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Movie Minutiae: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

2010-10-15T09:11:00.001+10:00

I was prompted to look into this after reading this story about a first edition of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, found in a charity bin in Wollongong.
It got me thinking about taking liberties, since even the best adaptations take liberties with the original material. They have to - they're movies, not books! And part of the charm of adaptations is seeing how the screenwriter goes about it.

via blogs.abc.net.au

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Like Inception? Try Ad Infinitum

2010-10-14T10:12:00.001+10:00

I finally got around to seeing Inception last night. I had to drive half an hour and go and see a late session, which I generally try and avoid on 'school nights', but I'm glad I made the effort.

I loved how Christopher Nolan has taken a well-worn genre - the heist movie - and put a whole new spin on it. I also loved how the film was like four movies in one - each one sitting inside the previous like Russian dolls.

(If you want to have a good old chat about Inception, head on over to 100 Days of Action)

It reminded me of a story I wrote a few years back 'Ad Infinitum', which also plays with the notion of 'what is real?'.

'Ad Infinitum' was the first story I ever sold. Shadowed Realms is now defunct, but the site has been partially preserved thanks to Pandora. If you'd like to read 'Ad Infinitum', go here, then click on 'current issue', then 'Ad Infinitum'.

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Stories tell of brown land's black heart

2010-10-07T21:27:00.001+10:00

The Westside News was kind enough to do a story about me and Stephen M Irwin's appearance in Macabre.

I took the photographer down into the creepy fire escape at work to replicate the setting of my story (a bunker in Afghanistan).

I wonder if he would've been so keen to follow me in there if he knew what happens to the photographer in my story!

via westside-news.whereilive.com.au

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Where do you draw the line?

2010-10-04T19:44:00.001+10:00

As a horror writer, where do you draw the line?

It's something I've been thinking about since AussieCon 4. I was on a panel with, among others, Paul Haines. I said that I'm interested in horror as escapism (eg zombies, giant cockroaches), and Paul said he's the exact opposite.

My story in 'Feast or Famine' in Macabre is kinda real-world. But editor Angela Challis pushed me on it. I regard it as the most disturbing story I've written, but it's not the most disturbing idea I've had.

I had this vision a few years back. I don't want to reveal it, for reasons that will soon become evident. The image was really strong, but I thought: "I can't write that". I filed it away.

After AussieCon 4 I read a few stories. 'A Positive' by Kaaron Warren (Macabre) and 'I've Seen the Man' by Paul Haines (Scenes From the Second Storey) are the two that jump out. They made me want to push myself, see how far I could go.

Then I was reminded of the call for stories for Ticonderoga's Red Dead Heart anthology. And the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

I got about four-fifths of the way through the story. Then I thought: "I can't write this". I took a break. I had some encouragement. Then I sat down and finished the story. I thought: "I don't have to send this anywhere". I can delete it if I want to!

I haven't re-read the story. It could be a pile of crap. I wrote it pretty quickly, so it probably is!

But I wanted to ask the horror writers out there -- where do you draw the line? Is there a line for you?

For horror readers -- have you ever thought, 'No, s/he's gone too far?'

(PS I'm not saying there's anything wrong with 'fun' stories, more that I'd Iike to extend my range)

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AussieCon 4 links... and then some!

2010-10-03T20:54:00.001+10:00

I know I said I was done with the AussieCon 4 posts, but Twitter friend @illegibscrib has sent me this EPIC collection of AussieCon 4 links. Thank you @illegibscrib - con-goers the world over salute you!

UPDATE 3/10: @illegibscrib has added another great stack of links... you'll find them down the end.

Aussiecon4
2010 Hugo Winners and Nominees (includes voting breakdowns)
Masquerade Competition Winners
All Aussiecon4 Convention Newsletters (The Echidna)

Kevin Standlee
Video: 2010 Hugo Awards Ceremony
Video: Worldcon Chairs Photo Session

Jo Walton
Ditmar Awards 2010

Cheryl Morgan
Video: Ditmar Awards 2010
Video: Aussiecon 4 Opening Ceremonies
Video: Aussiecon 4 Closing Ceremonies
Video: Aussiecon 4 Fan Guest of Honour Speech by Robin Johnson
Worldcon, Day 1
The Dead Critics Panel
Smoke Filled Rooms
My Terrorist Resume Expands

Voyager Books
Maria Quinn wins Norma K Hemming Award

Galactic Suburbia
Links to Aussiecon4 Podcasts

London in 2014
Aussiecon Update

Flickr
Photos from Aussiecon4 / Worldcon 68

Gary Kemble
In pictures: The Nightmare Ball
(panels and summaries)
The story behind Switzerland's first sf movie (Cargo)
Kim Stanley Robinson still betting on utopia
The future of short stories
Drinking the Kool Aid at WorldCon
Ebooks: the future is now
Finally, my AussieCon4 wrap
(audio)
Audio: Interview with Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Audio: Kim Stanley Robinson Guest of Honour speech
Audio: Charlie Stross on ebooks
Audio: ebooks and the publishing industry panel
Audio: Kim Stanley Robinson on climate change
Audio: Directions in Australian Horror
(author interviews)
Interview: Marianne de Pierres
Interview: Tim Holman
Interview: Angela Slatter
Interview: Rowena Cory Daniells
Interview: Trent Jamieson
Interview: Helen Stubbs (Winner of Aussiecon4 Short Story Competition)
Interview: Kaaron Warren
Interview: Graham Storrs
Interview: Cory Doctorow

John Scalzi
Tales from Melbourne
My Big News: I’m Toastmaster of Chicon 7, the 2012 Worldcon

Paul Cornell
How Australia Was

Seanan McGuire
Officially the Princess of the Kingdom of Poison and Flame

Gail Carriger
WorldCon AussieCon4 Day 1 Friday
WorldCon AussieCon4 Day 2 Saturday
WorldCon AussieCon4 Day 3 Sunday: Final Report
Quick Check In After WorldCon AussieCon4

Catherynne M Valente
Notes on Losing My First Hugo

Trudi Canavan
My AussieCon4 ‘Report’

Peter Watts
Worth the Price

Tansy Rayner Roberts
Feminist Fail and Win at Aussiecon 4
Thoughts from Worldcon
Yet Another Worldcon Post

Jennifer Fallon
Musing on the Panels Stuff-up at Worldcon

Helen Lowe
An Interview with Cheryl Morgan: Reprised for Worldcon
Worldcon: Two Days In
Worldcon: It’s All Over Now

Helen Lowe (Orbit Books)
UNconventional: Worldcon & Me

Nicola Pitt (Orbit Books)
Worldcon photos from last weekend!

Tracey O'Hara (HarperCollins)
Aussiecon4, or the 68^th Annual World Science Fiction Convention

Kathleen Jennings
Aussiecon4 / Worldcon Sketchbook

Kyla Ward (AHWA)
Congestion

Alan Baxter
Worldcon, the story so far
Worldcon wrap, part two
Worldcon panel – Novellas
Worldcon panel – The eternal border
Aussiecon4 photos – last post

David D Levine
The Days Are Just Packed - Aussiecon, days 1-2
The Days Are Just Packed - Aussiecon, days 3-4
The Days Are Just Packed - I've seen the Southern Cross for the first time

Graham Clements
My Writing Week 3 (35) - Aussiecon
My Writing Week 3 (36) - More on Aussiecon
Aussiecon 4 - Young Adult Panels

Foz Meadows
Worldcon Wrap

Stephen Dedman (and possibly others) – Talking Squid
Worldcon 2010 Observations

Deborah Biancotti
Oh, yeah, there was a WorldCon

Brian Thurogood
YA Speculative Fiction continues to gain readers and importance
AussieCon4 – a ‘science’ failure
Artists’ Paradox of “a knock at the door” at AussieCon4
The Eternal Border, a discussion on taboos at the 2010 WorldCon
The steampunk playground within speculative fiction
Pitching the novel – advice from AussieCon4
Cyberpunk and the City – the view from AussieCon4
Fantastic Females – writers discuss feminism at WorldCon
We’re all connected, all the time – blogs and social networking in the world of YA spec fic
Making a living – professional writing for speculative fiction authors

Australian Literature Review
(panels)

On ‘Anachronistic Attitudes: Writing thought and belief in historical fiction’
On ‘Destroying the Future to Save the Planet’
On ‘Nuts and Bolts: Editing YA Spec Fic’
On ‘Keeping Pace: Maintaining momentum in fiction’
On ‘Write What You Know’
On ‘In Conversation: Kim Stanley Robinson and Robert Silverberg’
On ‘Girl Meets Boy Meets Dragon: Romance in fantasy’
On ‘Steal the Past, Build the Future: New histories for fantasy fiction’
On ‘Thinking in Trilogies’
On ‘The Novella’
On ‘Kim Stanley Robinson – Guest of Honour Speech’
On ‘Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey’
On ‘Losing the Plot: Plotting in advance VS writing as you go’
On ‘Crowns and Swords: The intertwined worlds of fantasy and monarchy’
On ‘Hand-waving Rule Bending and Other Dirty Tricks of Hard SF’
On ‘The Race to the Red Planet’
(author interviews)
Mary Victoria – Author Interview
Fiona McIntosh – Author Interview
Ben Chandler – Author Interview
David D. Levine – Author Interview
Kim Stanley Robinson – Author Interview
Kate Forsyth – Author Interview
Zoe Walton – Publisher Interview

Rachel Hyland (Geek Speak Magazine)
Conventional Wisdom: A WorldCon Memoir
Living the Fairy Tale: an interview with Seanan McGuire

The Wheeler Centre, Melbourne
Melbourne Gets its Geek On

Parker Strahn
Aussiecon 4: Day One (Thursday)
Aussiecon 4: Day Two (Friday)
Aussiecon 4: Day Three (Saturday)
Aussiecon 4: Day Four (Sunday)
Aussiecon 4: Day Five (Monday)

Nicole Murphy
AussieCon - so far
AussieCon - going on
AussieCon - relaxacon
AussieCon 4 - the conclusion

Lord Mountain Goat
Video: GRRM, Bringing Game of Thrones to HBO (part 1 - spoilers!)
Video: GRRM, Bringing Game of Thrones to HBO (part 2 - spoilers!)
Video: GRRM, Bringing Game of Thrones to HBO (part 3 - spoilers!)
Video: GRRM Answers Fan Questions

Jake Stormoen
A Game of Thrones HBO Panel at AussieCon (Worldcon)

morningsword
A Game of Thrones HBO Panel at AussieCon (Worldcon)

James (WOTLuckers)
Worldcon Report (Including Kaffeklatsch with George R R Martin)

Aussie Chris
Meeting George R.R. Martin

Linda
World Con 2010 Day 1
World Con 2010 Days 2 and 3
World Con 2010 Day 4
World Con 2010 Day 5

Ameel Zia Khan
Aussiecon 4: Day 1
Aussiecon 4: Day 2
Aussiecon 4: Day 3
Aussiecon 4: Day 4
Aussiecon 4: Day 5

Kathryn Andersen
Worldcon 2010 - Day 1
Worldcon 2010 - Day 2
Worldcon 2010 - Day 3
Worldcon 2010 - Day 4
Worldcon 2010 - Day 5

Shane on the Go
Worldcon
Worldcon - day 2
Worldcon - day 2 - after lunch
Worldcon - Day 3 - Part 1
Worldcon - Day 3 - Part 2
Worldcon - Day 4 - Part 1
Worldcon - Day 4 - Part 2... and then it was over ...
Video: Robert Silverberg on Novellas: The Perfect Format
The Hugos

Soon Lee
Aussiecon: Day One
Aussiecon: Day Two
Aussiecon: Day Three
Aussiecon: Day Four
Aussiecon: Day Five
Hugos 2010 voting statistics: musings
Aussiecon 4: WTF moments. Picks for 2011

strangelove4sf
Day One: Environmental Politics in SFF
Day Two: Robinson and Silverberg in Conversation
More about Aussiecon 4

SuperDave
One con ends...another begins.
WorldCon Day 4
End of the WorldCon, and I feel fine

Megan Burke
Aussie Con 4 - My First Panel (inclusive of legs, nerds, boys and fruit)
Musings on a sense of community in Aussie Con 4 & MWF
Aussie Con 4 - Wrap Up

Patty Jansen
Write What You Know
The Next Step: Should We Go to Mars?

M A Miller
Promoting your book to the converted: AussieCon 4 from an author’s perspective

Celia Powell
AussieCon 4 Roundup

Tez Miller
AussieCon 4

Elfy
Aussiecon IV

Julia B
What I've learned from the Pros

Blindmouse
Thoughts Spurred by WorldCon (In Particular, "Characters Dress Themselves, A Mantra")

Satima Flavell
A worldcon is a wond'rous thing, God wot!

Con Reporter
Preliminary WSFS Business Meeting Report
Main WSFS Business Meeting Report
Sunday WSFS Business Meeting Report

Graham Clements

Aussiecon 4 - The Climate Change Panels (Part 1)

Aussiecon 4 - The Climate Change Panels (Part 2)

Patty Jansen

why you should read military SF

Aidan Doyle (second place in Aussiecon4 Short Story Competition)

WorldCon Report

Victorian Science Fiction Conventions Inc

The AntiFan Films

Leanne C Taylor

Unthinkable! Indescribable!

Keeping Pace: Maintaining Momentum in Fiction

In the Wake of the Sea People, in the Footsteps of Goliath: The Bar-Ilan and University of Melbourne Excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath

E.T. has a chainsaw: When science fiction and horror collide

Interlude : Pictures of no importance

Time and the Novel

To market: How to sell your short stories

The Future is Overtaking Us

Far future: Where fantasy meets SF

Editing the Novel

Writing Your First Novel

Anachronistic attitudes: Writing thought and belief in historical fiction

From Gilgamesh to Fallout 3: How new technologies bring new narrative techniques

Losing the Plot: Plotting in advance vs writing as you go

The Eternal Border

Whither the Republic: Forms of Government in Science Fiction

Alexandra Pierce

Aussiecon4: overall impressions

Mike Glyer

2020 Vision

Chicago in 2012 Confirmed in Early Returns

It’s Chicon 7

Further Down Underness

2010 Hugo Voting Statistics Posted

More Thoughts on the Fan Hugo Statistics

Taking Home Hugos, Then and Now

Best Fan Writer Hugo Final Exam

Start Thinking of 2011 TAFF Nominees

Tracey Lea

Magic Mean Streets: city as a fantasy location (panel 1)

Trans characters in YA spec fic (panel 2)

WorldCon 2010/AussieCon 4 – Daily Wrap (Day 1)

WorldCon 2010/AussieCon 4 – Daily Wrap (Day 2)

Australian horror writers Association – Nightmare Ball

Mapmaking For Fantasy Authors (panel 3)

So long and thanks for the fish…

Tarran Jones

World Con (AussieCon 4) Day 1

World Con (AussieCon 4) Day 2

World Con (AussieCon 4) Day 3

World Con (AussieCon 4) Day 4 & Day 5

Michael Neate

Aussiecon4 (Worldcon) Report - Day One

Aussiecon4 (Worldcon) Report - Day Two

Aussiecon4 (Worldcon) Report - Day Three

Aussiecon4 (Worldcon) Report - Day Four

James Shields, GUFF delegate

Brief summary of Aussiecon day 1

Exterminate!

The Hugos

Oops, I seem to have started another convention...

Laura Goodin

Back from AussieCon 4/WorldCon

Moderating Con Panels — an Introduction

Peter M Ball

Still at Aussiecon 4

Joffre Horlor

AussieCon4, World Science Fiction Convention, Melbourne, 2010

Jack Nicholls

Navigating AussieCon 4

Jennifer Brozek

WorldCon 2010 and 2011

John Hertz, DUFF delegate

What a Worldcon

Patrick J Jones

Aussiecon 4 / Worldcon 68

Frederik Pohl

Thank You, Fandom!

Rowena Cory Daniells

World Con Through the Eyes of the Uninitiated

Karen Healey

Karen reviews Worldcon

Dirk Flinthart (Launz Burch)

The Con

Tehani Croft Wessely

The Aussiecon 4 round up

monkeygod - Speculative Fiction Writers Of Singapore

First time at WorldCon

Duncan Lay

AussieCon update from Duncan Lay

Peter V Brett

Worldcon Teaser

Scott Edelman

Aussiecon4 "Vampire vs. Zombie Smackdown" Panel

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My grant application, behind the scenes: at ROR

2010-09-25T19:07:00.001+10:00

Vision member Gary Kemble announced this week that he had received an OZCo (Australian Literature Board) Grant. So I grabbed him and said, Gary, please tell us how you did it!

Read on...

via ripping-ozzie-reads.com

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Movie Minutiae: The Crow (1994)

2010-09-24T11:31:00.001+10:00

The Crow - based on a comic book about a man returning from the dead to avenge his girlfriend's rape and murder - is a tragic story, and there was another tragedy behind the scenes.

Read on at The Buzz...

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Audio: 612 Brisbane interview

2010-09-24T08:37:00.001+10:00

I was planning on tweeting just before we went to air, but was so nervous I forgot.

So, if you missed the interview, and would like to hear me, Stephen M Irwin and Will Elliott talking to Richard Fidler about Macabre, you can listen here: http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2010/09/macabre-anthology.html?site=brisbane&program=612_afternoons

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Australia Council grant

2010-09-22T20:07:00.001+10:00

I've been walking around like a... well, a zombie since Monday, when a letter turned up telling me that my Australia Council New Work grant application was successful.

I was so sure that I'd missed out that I read it as a rejection letter, then went back. Saw the words 'delighted to advise'... thought, that's a bit insensitive... went back, read it halfway through.

I realised that my grant application had been successful. Tweeted. Read the rest of the letter, which told me not to tell anyone until Wednesday. Deleted the tweet.

I still can't really believe it. There were 13 successful applications. My lucky number this year - I was on floor 13 at AussieCon 4.

The grant means I'm going to be able to take some time off work to do stuff that I can't do when I usually write (at night), namely interviews and research (library research).

The project is called 'Skin Deep' and is about tattoos, ghosts, Brisbane, corruption, politics.

So now I've got even more incentive to clear my plate by finishing the edit on 'Metamorphosis' before the end of the year!

I have to heartily thank Kate Eltham and the Queensland Writers Centre. Kate ran an excellent seminar on grant writing earlier this year. So far I'm two from two!

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AussieCon 4 links... and then some!

2010-09-22T19:53:00.001+10:00

Aussiecon4
2010 Hugo Winners and Nominees (includes voting breakdowns)
Masquerade Competition Winners
All Aussiecon4 Convention Newsletters (The Echidna)

Kevin Standlee
Video: 2010 Hugo Awards Ceremony
Video: Worldcon Chairs Photo Session

Jo Walton
Ditmar Awards 2010

Voyager Books
Maria Quinn wins Norma K Hemming Award

Galactic Suburbia
Links to Aussiecon4 Podcasts

London in 2014
Aussiecon Update

Flickr
Photos from Aussiecon4 / Worldcon 68

John Scalzi
Tales from Melbourne
My Big News: I’m Toastmaster of Chicon 7, the 2012 Worldcon

Paul Cornell
How Australia Was

Seanan McGuire
Officially the Princess of the Kingdom of Poison and Flame

Gail Carriger
WorldCon AussieCon4 Day 1 Friday
WorldCon AussieCon4 Day 2 Saturday
WorldCon AussieCon4 Day 3 Sunday: Final Report
Quick Check In After WorldCon AussieCon4

Catherynne M Valente
Notes on Losing My First Hugo

Trudi Canavan
My AussieCon4 ‘Report’

Peter Watts
Worth the Price

Tansy Rayner Roberts
Feminist Fail and Win at Aussiecon 4
Thoughts from Worldcon
Yet Another Worldcon Post

Jennifer Fallon
Musing on the Panels Stuff-up at Worldcon

Helen Lowe
An Interview with Cheryl Morgan: Reprised for Worldcon
Worldcon: Two Days In
Worldcon: It’s All Over Now

Helen Lowe (Orbit Books)
UNconventional: Worldcon & Me

Nicola Pitt (Orbit Books)
Worldcon photos from last weekend!

Tracey O'Hara (HarperCollins)
Aussiecon4, or the 68^th Annual World Science Fiction Convention

Kathleen Jennings
Aussiecon4 / Worldcon Sketchbook

Kyla Ward (AHWA)
Congestion

Alan Baxter
Worldcon, the story so far
Worldcon wrap, part two
Worldcon panel – Novellas
Worldcon panel – The eternal border
Aussiecon4 photos – last post

David D Levine
The Days Are Just Packed - Aussiecon, days 1-2
The Days Are Just Packed - Aussiecon, days 3-4
The Days Are Just Packed - I've seen the Southern Cross for the first time

Graham Clements
My Writing Week 3 (35) - Aussiecon
My Writing Week 3 (36) - More on Aussiecon
Aussiecon 4 - Young Adult Panels

Foz Meadows
Worldcon Wrap

Stephen Dedman (and possibly others) – Talking Squid
Worldcon 2010 Observations

Deborah Biancotti
Oh, yeah, there was a WorldCon

Australian Literature Review
(panels)

Rachel Hyland (Geek Speak Magazine)
Conventional Wisdom: A WorldCon Memoir
Living the Fairy Tale: an interview with Seanan McGuire

The Wheeler Centre, Melbourne
Melbourne Gets its Geek On

Parker Strahn
Aussiecon 4: Day One (Thursday)
Aussiecon 4: Day Two (Friday)
Aussiecon 4: Day Three (Saturday)
Aussiecon 4: Day Four (Sunday)
Aussiecon 4: Day Five (Monday)

Nicole Murphy
AussieCon - so far
AussieCon - going on
AussieCon - relaxacon
AussieCon 4 - the conclusion

Jake Stormoen
A Game of Thrones HBO Panel at AussieCon (Worldcon)

morningsword
A Game of Thrones HBO Panel at AussieCon (Worldcon)

James (WOTLuckers)
Worldcon Report (Including Kaffeklatsch with George R R Martin)

Aussie Chris
Meeting George R.R. Martin

Linda
World Con 2010 Day 1
World Con 2010 Days 2 and 3
World Con 2010 Day 4
World Con 2010 Day 5

Ameel Zia Khan
Aussiecon 4: Day 1
Aussiecon 4: Day 2
Aussiecon 4: Day 3
Aussiecon 4: Day 4
Aussiecon 4: Day 5

Kathryn Andersen
Worldcon 2010 - Day 1
Worldcon 2010 - Day 2
Worldcon 2010 - Day 3
Worldcon 2010 - Day 4
Worldcon 2010 - Day 5

Soon Lee
Aussiecon: Day One
Aussiecon: Day Two
Aussiecon: Day Three
Aussiecon: Day Four
Aussiecon: Day Five
Hugos 2010 voting statistics: musings
Aussiecon 4: WTF moments. Picks for 2011

strangelove4sf
Day One: Environmental Politics in SFF
Day Two: Robinson and Silverberg in Conversation
More about Aussiecon 4

SuperDave
One con ends...another begins.
WorldCon Day 4
End of the WorldCon, and I feel fine

Megan Burke
Aussie Con 4 - My First Panel (inclusive of legs, nerds, boys and fruit)
Musings on a sense of community in Aussie Con 4 & MWF
Aussie Con 4 - Wrap Up

Patty Jansen
Write What You Know
The Next Step: Should We Go to Mars?

M A Miller
Promoting your book to the converted: AussieCon 4 from an author’s perspective

Celia Powell
AussieCon 4 Roundup

Tez Miller
AussieCon 4

Elfy
Aussiecon IV

Julia B
What I've learned from the Pros

Blindmouse
Thoughts Spurred by WorldCon (In Particular, "Characters Dress Themselves, A Mantra")

Satima Flavell
A worldcon is a wond'rous thing, God wot!

Con Reporter
Preliminary WSFS Business Meeting Report
Main WSFS Business Meeting Report
Sunday WSFS Business Meeting Report

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Monster sunnies

2010-09-20T10:02:00.001+10:00

Yes, I'll take the pair the monster is wearing. I think they'll suit me. (pic by Amelia Kemble)

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Finally, my AussieCon4 wrap

2010-09-19T21:10:00.001+10:00

You would have thought that I'd written enough about AussieCon 4, but I wanted to blog about some of the personal highlights.

Kim Stanley Robinson talking about the importance of utopian science fiction. This really made me think about my own writing, because he's so right - writing about utopia is so much more of a challenge. I write a lot of dystopian stuff, although since having kids I generally aim for happy endings! It got me thinking about utopian stories. I don't have any, but at least it got me thinking about it!

Sitting on the panel next to Paul Haines, talking about why we're into horror when the real world is so awful (or words to that effect). I said that I generally enjoy reading and writing escapist fiction. Giant cockroaches, zombies, that kinda thing. But that's only partially true. Paul said that writing what he writes is a cathartic experience for him. For me, I can only write when I'm not down (or, I find it hard to write when I'm down). On the plane home I read three stories from Scenes From the Second Story, including Paul's "I've Seen The Man".

When I interviewed Ellen Datlow in 2006 she told me:

"When I read a half a dozen really excellent, very strong short stories one after another, it's exhausting. You can't just go straight from one story to another if the first one makes the impact it should. It's difficult to switch gears that quickly."

And that's exactly what it was like. I'm not going to go all 'lit' on yer ass or anything like that (well, maybe a little). I like writing over-the-top escapist stuff because it's fun. But reading those stories made me aspire to something else. I want to write stories where the reader needs to take a pause at the end, catch their breath, have a think.

(Kinda like how I was today, after reading Stephen Dedman's "Never Seen By Waking Eyes" in Macabre - an excellent example of taking a well-worn trope, giving it depth and making it genuinely creepy.)

The short story panel with Cory Doctorow and Stephen Dedman was good for me, because it reminded me about podcasting (which Doctorow suits today's commuting lifestyle). I've since subbed two stories to podcast markets. Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

As well as that, just meeting people! It was so good to catch up with Angela Challis and Shane Jiraiya Cummings from Brimstone Press. It was hard to believe I hadn't seen them IRL since 2006. When we were working on BLACK together it was almost as though the experience was so intense we were summoning each other, if that makes sense. It was great to see Kyla Ward again. And then there were a bunch of people from the horror scene I've had lots to do with, but never met IRL. eg Talie Helene, Marty Young -- I'm going to forget people here and get in trouble.

Then there were 'the next generation'. People who I've got to know on Twitter but never met. eg Alan Baxter, Felicity Dowker, and Helen Stubbs.

So, all in all, it was brilliant. And I really hope it's not another four years before I can get to my next con!

Last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank everyone who helped me with my grant application: Queensland Writers Centre CEO Kate Eltham, my boss at the ABC Stuart Watt, and Marty Young from the Australian Horror Writers Association. I'd also like to thank Kyla Ward for her efforts programming the horror stream, and honouring me by inviting me to sit on a couple of panels, and also Angela Challis for letting me read from 'Feast or Famine' at the Macabre launch.

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Minimalist cover for 'Bug Hunt'

2010-09-19T13:55:00.001+10:00

via flickr.com

If short stories had book covers, this is what the one for 'Bug Hunt' would look like! You can read 'Bug Hunt' for free, online. (PDF)

It was also an experiment in remixing CC content - inspired by the seminar I attended on Friday at The Edge.

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