A tight pair of shorts

I finished Hot Pursuit, and it weighed in a bit heavy for Infinitas (2000 words). It's a nice little sci-fi trip up the pacific highway to what used to be home.

I've also completed a dark flash (600 words) story, The Man Behind You. My crit group, the Prose Nest, thinks it'll fly so I'll see where I can send it.

Trouble is, it's now december and everyone's shutting down their submissions until Jan. I'll try and stock up for next year :-)

Outlaw Incasts

My in-laws are very excited that I'm going to be published in a book, Outcast (I've been published a few times already, but skip that for a moment), and they want to support me by getting a copy of it when it comes out.
That's very nice of them, but these are people who never read. Well, except for the odd local paper, seniors weekly and any women's magazine containing the words 'princess' and 'commemorative'. Next April they'll unwittingly step into cutting edge reality-bending australian speculative fiction.
I grew up on Australia's Nymboida river, famous for its white water rafting. On one rafting trip I went on, an older asian gentleman showed up in a suit. I don't know what he thought he'd paid for, but the reality was somewhat different and necessitated a dry cleaning bill. I expect it to be like that.

I'm kind of glad Shadow Box was an e-anthology.

Can-do

And I did- can the first chapter of Axes of Evil. I'm rewriting it from scratch.

I'm also halfway through a little short called Hot Pursuit that I'm thinking of submitting to the Infinitas newsletter.

mayday!

Put the first chapter of my comic high fantasy (tentatively titled Axes of Evil) up for critique and it was promptly shot down in flames. That's a good thing- it means our group isn't getting too soft on each other. I think I tried to hard to create a sympatheic character (a mistreated slave) and it either killed the humour or made it seem out of place. I think I'll rewrite it all so he's not so badly off.

I also submitted Touch Tone, my only mushy story, to the Writers Digest short story comp. Nothing to lose but the $US15 entry fee, and you still get a prize if you come twenty fifth!

Shadow Box released

Just got my copy of Shadow Box. The stories range from chilling to wierd to downright sick, and the quality of the production is awesome. It's produced by the same guys as Shadowed Realms, and they really, really know that a screen is not a page.

Plugging away

Finished the first chapter of my comic fantasy novel. It's a bit of a mess, but progressing.

Got a sneak peek at the cover art of the Outcast antho, by Les Petersen. It's a thing of beauty, and 'outcast' is what it brings to mind, along with some cool sci-fi design.

The 20 Outcasts

Just thought I'd say "Hey Ya" and point you to the list of stories for the Outcast Antho. I feel honoured to be there with the likes of Richard Harland, Cat Sparks, Martin Livings and Maxine McArthur. It's really shaping up to be.. uh.. accepted by everybody.

Triple whammy

"Save Galaxy Fast!" has been accepted for the CSFG's Outcast anthology! It'll be launched by Sean Williams at Conjure (the Australian National Science Convention) in Brisbane, Easter 2006!

Shadow Box is released sometime next week!

Daikaiju! 2 has also been upgraded (sidegraded?) from an e-antho to a full-fledged paper one!

Novel juggling

I've decided to write two novels concurrently: Ante Body and a comic fantasy I've been ruminating on for a while.
I'd abandoned it because I came across a published book by someone else that already used one of the central ideas. Plus I doubted the potential of comic fantasy. Now I've accepted that the genre is closer to my natural writing voice so I'll go with how I feel (cue stirring, tacky 80's synth music). Plus, .Richard Harland is kicking butt with comic fantasy, so it can even be done in Australia.
I've found a way to toss the used idea and run with others. I'm now deep in world building, sketching out races, places, customs, cities, history, etc etc

Back to comic HF

I've finished a comic high fantasy, Girl Power, and put it up for critique. I started it about a year ago but ran into writers block and left it sitting for a long time.
Also finished a piddly SF of 400 words, Weeding. I think it needs a lot of work before anyone can see it. It's far too short, too. I need to learn to waffle.
Shadow Box comes out at the end of the month, and (in theory) I find out any day now if I made the cut for Outcast.

I also submitted a little story to Specusphere.

Accepted to AntipodeanSF

My flash fiction Spin Doctor has been accepted by AntipodeanSF! It'll appear in Issue 94, in March next year.

Take Two

I added a post the other day, but the blogger server was having a bad day.

Saturday before last I went to a book launch for the first time. It was the Year's best Sci-Fi and SF launch at Infinitas, parramatta. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet some well known names in the Aust spec fic scene, including Bill Congreve (who recognised my name!), Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti and Ben Peek. Also got to see Chuck Mackenzie before he moved down to Melbourne.

We had the writers group meeting afterwards, where the first chapter of Ante Body was critiqued. The consensus was that it succeeded in grabbing the reader and dragging them along with the fast-moving story, but the minimalist approach I'd used to maintain the pace left a little out (scene details, more depth on the protag's thoughts). Good stuff, I tightened it up.

On a whim, I've also written a sentimental 1000 worder called Touch Tone. It's unlike anything I've written before and I'm unsure what to do with it. Perhaps it could find a home in a women's magazine.

Tis only a flesh wound!

It's taken a lot of submissions, but I finally got an out-and-out rejection (from Infinitas re: my story A kinder world). Not to their taste, and they're looking for something more Aussie. I'll touch it up a bit before sending it out again.

Chapter 3 of Ante Body plods along. Chapter 2 received some good crit and I've changed it quite a lot.

STILL shaking off that awful bug.

Bio warfare

I'm still shrugging off this bug. It comes and goes. Ness and poor little Matt are currently in its worst phase. To hear a 13-week old give a sore throat cry really breaks your heart.

Crit from Reboot showed that I was misleading the reader, so I adjusted the ending. Because it no longer featured boots, I had to rename the title to A kinder world. I've submitted it to Infinitas.

Sent chapter 2 of Ante Body to The Prose Nest for critique.

Started chapter 3. It's very research heavy, but almost all the info I need is freely googleable. Ever wanted to take a virtual tour around Ljubljana airport? That's the capital of Slovenia, in case you didn't know.

Nose clog, no blog

Our entire family of 4 is now sick. Rumour has it that it's one of those ones that drag on, too.
Reboot needed some work- the crit brought to light that I gave the readers the wrong idea.
A short chapter 2 of Ante Body is now finished (first draft).
Blgeh.

Warning! Warning 47!

I've set myself an acheivable goal of 400 words a day, aiming to get a first draft of Ante Body complete in six months. I've been able to keep it the last few days, and even though it's short (1k words), Chapter 2 is done! Now I have to keep up. I feel a little like Garratty in Bachman (Stephen King)'s chilling story The Long Walk. Can't lag behind...

My arms are healing nicely, so I'll be able to write more.

Using my pocket PC, I've also put together a 500 word sf story to submit to Infinitas, that I've called Reboot. I tried to create a dystopian future too terrible to comprehend. In a manner of speaking. Once I sync my PCs tonight I'll get it critiqued and sent.

My brother (whose birthday was yesterday) got around to reading Moving Dad. He said it was "Good. Wierd, but good". He's the only other person capable of seeing my Dad in it, and he certainly did.

My good friend Christian Girard has started writing again. We co wrote some just-for-fun fantasy fic in the early 90's, and it's great to see him putting words down again.

Listful linking

Chris Hore (uni friend, chaotic roleplayer, systems developer and alpaca owner at http://www.royalla.net/main.asp) suggested that maybe a list of links to my published fiction would be useful to visitors.
After the idea that this blog would HAVE visitors was accepted, I used my sik code skilz to add the "published stories" and "coming soon" links on the left.

Chapter 1 of "Ante Body" (working title) received a positive response, using a sample size of one (so far). Now all I have to do is hold the readers attention for another 65,000 words or so. Perhaps SEX I SEX should SEX think SEX of SEX lateral SEX ways SEX to SEX do SEX that.

Chapter 1 of 1st novel complete.

...for sufficiently small values of "complete". A first cut is done and sent to my critique group, but it'll change quite a bit. Still, I feel like I've pushed off from the shore.

My award certificate (and cheque) for "Moving Dad" turned up in the mail today. My wife made sure it went "straight to the pool room". It's on our wall next to Ben's finger painting.

Left foot, right foot...

My novel is dolly-stepping along. I'm at 1500 words and not too far from the end of chapter one. Yay. The journey of a thousand miles begins with realising it's one hell of a long way.

LitHaven.com reviewed "Moving Dad" (http://www.lithaven.com/main/index.php) . Beware of story SPOILERS:

Steven Cavanagh’s “Moving Dad” was another favorite of mine. The main character packs up his car and drives his father to what we first assume to be a nursing home. The reader also assumes that the father has Alzheimer’s, but you quickly realize that instead he is taking him to a resting place for the dead. Corpses inexplicably have started to keep their souls, so now our character is in this alien place filled with the dead, and he must part with a father he’s always admired and loved. Using a magic-realism style, Cavanagh manages to capture a strange sense of grief and remorse, and it transfers through to the reader.

Glad to hear that. I put a lot into that story: my step-grandfather dying the day he was to go into the nursing home, the angst of a close friend as his father went into a home, and of course watching my immortal, indestructible dad getting older and not being able to run the farm anymore. It's the first time I've poured something of myself onto the page.

Writing unplugged.

Just got my Pocket PC on ebay, an HP Jornada somethingorother that I've called Jordy. My wife thinks a notepad and diary is cheaper, but a) I won't have to write everthing twice, and b) a diary doesn't yell at you when you forget something. I'll now be able to convert commuting time to writing time. Yay!

I also got the contract today for "Cream of the Cop", my story in Daikaiju!2: Giant Monster e-Tales. Feels so good to make another sale.

I'll never talk! Never!

The tendonitis in my arms has flared up badly (work + big baby = overload) and I'm in almost constant pain, so writing is limited to a paragraph or 2 per day. At this rate my present day thriller will be an historical drama by the time it's finished.
Aurealis have acknowledged receipt of my submission, at least. They didn't reject it outright, that's something :)

Inside the box, I'm thinking

The Shadow Box anthology just accepted my story! http://www.shadowedrealms.com.au/shadowbox/

An e-anthology of macabre flash fiction lashed together with dark art - designed, edited, and crafted by Shane Jiraiya Cummings and Angela Challis.
The majority of profits from Shadow Box will be donated to Mission Australia to help continue their selfless work assisting the drug dependent, the marginalised and the homeless. A donation will also be made to the Australian Horror Writers Association to further the craft of dark fiction in Australia

The antho had a 120 word limit! My story, from a nightmare I had a few years back, weighed in at 107 words. This makes it my first story able to be enjoyed by goldfish!

Outcast accepted

(Love that irony).

Got an email today to say that my comic sci-fi short "Save Galaxy Fast!" has been shortlisted for the CSFG's upcoming Outcast anthology! http://www.csfg.org.au/publishing/anthologies/the_outcast

I've been shortlisted before and haven't made it, but at the very least it's a vote of confidence in the quality of the work. It took a lot of revision and rewriting, so I'll be very happy if it finds a home there.

Writing success so far

To fill you in (who are you, anyway? It's not as if anyone else will read this.
Ah, it's me. In the future. With Alzheimer's):

My first short story, "Elf Esteem", sold in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue #13(http://www.andromedaspaceways.com/issue13.htm).
TangentOnline.com's review said:
Steven Cavanagh is one of those new names I expect to see appearing a lot more in print. His "Elf Esteem" is a delightfully written quest tale with quite a twist. There are elves, orcs, and dragons in this story of someone trying to retrieve an important artifact, but not quite the way one expects to see them. Especially from the point-of-view of . . . no, I won't even give that much away. But the end has quite a kick!
And it was called a "promising first sale" by Asimov's!

My second short, "One for the Robed" was sold to Infinitas and appeared in their March 2005 newsletter. It can be read at http://www.infinitas.com.au/.

My flash fiction "Predisposed" won a commendation in the NSW Writers Center's 2005 flash fiction competition. http://www.nswwriterscentre.org.au/

My flash fiction "Moving Dad" came 2nd in the Australian Horror Writers Association's 2005 flash fiction competition, and was published in Shadowed Realms issue 6: http://www.shadowedrealms.com.au/main.htm
The Judges said:
Moving Dad presents a clever parody of life after death. This story was highly original, and while not out and out scary, the horror here came from the inevitable reality we are all faced with; we are going to die one day, and there can be no escape from such a future… Moving Dad has strong central characters that express real emotions, and we are able to feel for them because they are so lifelike.

I currently have:
-One short story slated for publication in Agog! press's upcoming Daikaiju 2! e-anthology.
-A short story submitted to the Canberra Spec Fiction Guild's Outcast anthology.
-A short story submitted to Aurealis.
-A 107 word entry in the Shadow Box anthology (120 word limit-love it!).

I'm also working on my first novel, a thriller.

You're up to speed.

All Systems Kinda

Hello? (tap tap) is this thing on?
The instructions say to "record now", but shouldn't there be a little blinking light?