I Win!!

Boy, what a couple of weeks. Spin Doctor is published in AntipodeanSF, Save Galaxy Fast! is born unto the world in Outcast (okay, it hasn't been officially released yet, but people are buying it), and (drum roll please):

I just won the Magic Casements festival writing comp!

My story Weeding took it out, from 150 entries! On Saturday I attended the festival (thanks to the hard work of my supportive wife), met lots of people like Richard Harland, Chris Barnes, Robert Hood and Robert Hoge, chatted to lots of people I'd met the previous week like Cat Sparks, Gillian Pollack, Kaaron Warren and Nicole Murphy, then got up in front of them all (eek!) and read my little 500 words. Felt a little like getting up at the ARIAs and singing a Play School song, but a few of them (Chris, Cat, Robert H) took the time to catch me afterward and tell me how much they liked it. It's not very often I'm a winner at something (I can't remember the last time, actually), so it was good to have a moment that can shut my self-esteem voices up for a while.
The festival was great, I picked up a couple of pointers and found out a couple of unexpected things. For example, I've caused more real-life death and witnessed infinitely more blood and guts than some of the best horror writers in the country. The joys of growing up on a farm.
This should lift my writing out of the doldrums. Onward!

Spin Doctor has just had a favourable review over at the HorrorScope blog.

They said:

“Spin Doctor” by Steven Cavanaugh is a charming little story with an interesting premise. See if you can read this and not smile next time you go to do your laundry.

Gotta be happy with that.
I'm starting to realise another reason why authors use pen names. If your name is hard to spell, it can make it hard for people to find your stuff.

Laughs at Pre-Launch Launch Lunch

Saturday morning I got up to catch the train to Canberra, the sound of flatulent sparrows in my ears. When I reached Strathfield, the Canberra train was 3/4 of an hour late. This was just enough time to completely negate seeing Chris, Christy and Alex in Canberra- I had to call them and tell them not to worry about it :(

So after some neck-wrenching sleep I found myself in our nation's capital and caught a cab over to the launch. I met Nicole Murphy, Kaaron Warren, Cat Sparks, Donna Maree Hanson, Ross Hamilton, Mik Bennett, Kylie Seluka, Lily Chrywenstrom, Gillian Pollack and a large side order of CSFG. The food was great, the atmosphere was warm and breathable, and the artwork was bloody awesome. Had a good chat to the artist, Brian Smith.

Several of us went out to dinner that night. I was struck by the community feel of the CSFG, they really believe in giving each other a leg up.

And I got my hands on the anthology! It's a beautiful thing, and I couldn't stop reading it. The stories are all so different. It's like riding a roller coaster in the dark, you don't know where you'll be pulled next. There's something for everyone, from the surreal to the thought-provoking to the primal to the just plain FUN. Thought I await the reviews with some nerves, I know everyone will love it.

It's been a dry time writing of late. That pesky real world keeps intruding. I need a plan to eradicate the danged thing once and for all.

Spin Doctor has just been published at AntipodeanSF. Not a stellar piece, I just played with some character interaction.

The day after tomorrow I go to the Outcast party, and meet my friend Chris Hore's 5 month old. I'm not sure if those two events are combining. I think if little Alex gives a review of Outcast it would be "yum!"

Just got a rejection. It was done tactfully, and it was from the surreal-or-the-highway crowd which isn't me anyway, but it hit me at a bad time. This story has been rejected twice now, and I thought it was a cracker :-(
That was followed up by stumbling across a negative review of my first story, Elf Esteem. The reviewer thought it had been written only for the punch line- I didn't think of it until the end! She also threw in phrases like "tedious","go nowhere","very familiar ground","awkward" and "uninteresting". My current state of depression really needed that. Other reviewers loved the story so I shouldn't take it to heart I guess, but I'm not exactly bursting with motivation right now.

Two good things though:
-I can just afford to get down to Canberra for the Outcast pre-launch party.
-Someone emailed me to say they found my flash drive! I'd say it's Restored My Faith In Human Nature(tm), but if human nature was that good this wouldn't be a remarkable event, would it?

I've received a copy of the illustration for Save Galaxy Fast in Outcast. It's very cool, and really captures the personality of the protagonist. Amazing to see a character you've created brought to life in another medium. It must be so cool to have a movie made of your story.

It's almost time to launch Outcast. Circumstances have conspired against me making it to the official launch at Conjure.
-We've ordered some new lounges and don't have as long to pay them off as we first thought.
-Then some new neighbors moved in and demanded a new fence (which we were obliged to go halves in). Half a grandish bye-bye.
-Then some of the local little darlings took some time out from tagging walls to put a rock through our loungeroom window. Three hundred bucks to fix (and before you ask, it would have cost us three hundred bucks via insurance).
-Then the kids got sick. As any parent knows, you open your wallet to the chemist and tell him to help himself (after revolving door doctor visits).
-Then part of my tooth fell off.
Will bark like a dog for food.

The pre-launch launch party in canberra is only a couple of weeks away! Maybe I can make it to that, if I can afford to put my family up in canberra overnight. The last few experiences we've had with canberra hotels have NOT been pleasant.