Russell Crowe's UFO song

Russell Crowe recently saw a UFO and put footage of it on YouTube.
I imagine this is how it went down:

(To the tune of "Stars" from Les Miserables).

There
Out in the darkness
A pink light that's floating
must be from space...
must be from space.
Quick, get my camera!
The spacemen are here
yes, they've come to my place
now they've come to my place

I see the lights in the dark
Dude, I've totally scored.
Those who post UFOs onto YouTube
get reviews by the bored.
and if they fall for it, click on it- hell,
publicity reward!

Stars
With flying dudes.
To think I doubted
Then, in the darkness
was glowing pink light
without a decibel
it flew in my field
field of vision tonight
field of vision tonight

It came right out of the sky
it held its course and its aim
Surely subscribers return and return,
and they won't think it's lame.
UFO proof that can't be dispelled!
To me, acclaim!

And so it will be, it will be written
on the YouTube and Twitter sites.
I'll get subscribers and my career
will reach new heights!

Aliens! Film them!
That all may see them.
Look, here they are!
You'll be impressed
You will
This I swear
This I swear by the stars!

Aliens Canon: Fitting the jigsaw together

It's currently cool to hate Aliens: Colonial Marines. Every blogger out there has taken out their knives, sharp sticks. Sure, it may have not been quite what we saw in the demo, and the textures and AI could have been a little better, but is it FUN?  I'd have to say YES! Fighting through the actual locations of the film, untarnished by Predators, has been exhilirating.

Warning- Spoilers ahead!

The icing on the cake has been that the story is officially Aliens canon, picking up soon after Alien 3. You're not just walking around game levels here, what's going on is actually going down in the Aliens universe.

That's where some fans get even more rabid. Corporal Hicks, the badass survivor of Aliens who was stupidly killed off in Alien 3, has been resurrected (well, shown not to have died) and a lot of gamers have been left with questions, the main ones being:

1. How did Hadley's Hope survive the thermonuclear explosion of the reactor?
2. What's the Sulaco doing back at LV-426?
3. The queen was killed in Aliens and Ripley sacrificed herself to make sure the company wouldn't get another specimen, so how come there are aliens running all over the Sulaco and LV-426?
4. How and why did Weyland-Yutani (WY) exchange another body for Hicks?

At first glance this list, coupled with the need to resurrect Hicks, looks like an insurmountable jumble of jigsaw pieces. How can we get a clear story out of this?

Hell, I'll even throw in the one we used to rant about on the net before it turned into the web:

    5. How the hell did eggs get on the Sulaco?

Total mess, right? I don't think so. In the absence of an official timeline, I think we can don the writer's hat and examine the motivations of the various parties (most notably the ruthless and well-resourced WY), and piece together a sequence of events that, given the premise, falls within the bounds of credibility. Let's pick it up with Ripley in the queen's chamber, surrounded by eggs:

The story

• Ripley torches the Queen's egg chamber with her flamethrower. The Queen calls all her children to her. Two facehuggers survive the incineration and cling to the queen, guards come running and are shot down.

• Ripley boards the dropship. The Queen hangs from it as it flies from the atmosphere processor.

• The underground fusion reactor detonates. The atmosphere processor and the surrounding mile in diameter is vapourised into a Nebraska-sized cloud. The colony half a mile away, partially protected by geography and built to withstand the extreme conditions of LV-426, nevertheless sustains heavy damage. Much of the structure is left standing similar to some buildings at Hiroshima's ground zero.

• Dropship 02 boards the SULACO. The two facehuggers detach from the queen and scuttle through the ship in search of prey.

• Ripley fights the queen and expels her from the SULACO's airlock.

• Cpl Hicks issues a transmission describing the facility as destroyed and the marines KIA. They enter hypersleep.

• Not finding any signs of life aboard the ship, the facehuggers excrete a hibernation shell of resin (similar to a small egg) in a corner and wait.

• Weyland-Yutani intercept the transmission and watch an acid-burned Hicks explain the situation. They realise that they have lost the facility, that Ellen Ripley's report about the valuable bio-weapon is true, and that they are responsible for the deaths of the colonists and marines.

• Weyland-Yutani has assets closer to the SULACO's flight path than the USCM does. They opt for a covert approach. 

• WY mercenaries intercept the SULACO over Fury 161. They download information from Bishop  and take who they believe is the only combatant to have faced the creatures, Cpl Hicks. In its place they leave the acid-burned body of one of their enemies, to prevent or delay the USCM from discovering the crime. They depart.

• The boarding of the ship puts the SULACO in alert and rouses the two facehuggers. Following scent and heat, they find the cryo-tubes.

• The SULACO ejects the tubes in the EEV over Fury 161 and holds orbit.

• WY torture Hicks, who only gives the information already contained in Ripley's report.

• WY receives information about the aliens on Fury 161. They arrive in time to see Ripley sacrifice herself to prevent them getting a specimen.

• WY abandons their covert approach. They return to the SULACO to find evidence of the creatures, brazenly steal the ship and turn it around, and take it back to LV-426.

• Using Carter Burke's coordinates, they discover the derelict spacecraft. They deploy shake-n-bake buildings to set up laboratories and other resources. They bring in prisoners and other disposables, gestate a queen and study the creatures. They work fast, intending to get their specimens onto the SULACO and leave before the USCM arrives.

• The SEPHORA arrives before this transfer is complete. It hails the SULACO but receives no response from the WY team aboard.

• Marines from SEPHORA board the SULACO. When it is clear that they outmatch the WY security forces, WY scientists release the captive xenos and quarantine themselves in the bridge and command sections of the SULACO.

• When it is apparent that the USCM marines (led by Winter) are breaking through the xenos, WY turns the SULACO's weapons on the SEPHORA. Both ships go down.

• Winter and the USCM marines fight their way through the xenos, disrupt and destroy the research facilities, rescue Hicks and escape in the other WY FTL vessel.

That's how I see the pieces naturally falling together. Hopefully we'll get an official timeline soon, to tell me "F@#$ A" or "Bad call".

Harry Harrison, RIP

One of the greats, Harry Harrison, has left us. I grew up reading the Stainless Steel Rat and Bill the Galactic Hero books, and they shaped my writing. Anyone familiar with Harry's work should easily be able to spot his influence in my stories (e.g. "Save Galaxy Fast" or "Elf Esteem"). His takes on bureaucracy, the military (in which he served) and other groups of people that generate their own idiocy were wonderous to behold.

Slippery Jim DiGriz has shed the cover identity of Harry Harrison and left the planet- nobody can catch him now. We'd give two left arms to have him back, but all we can do is raise our plate of okra and salute him.

Consolidating at Goodreads

I've registered myself as an author at Goodreads, tracked down most of the books I'm in and linked it all up.
It not only gathers my works together, but allows you, the prospective reader, to see that well-paid lackeys think the books are awesome. It also provides one more place for me to have to upload a photo when I get around to it.

My author page also shows the feed from this blog, so you can keep clicking forever! Check it out!

New Light Fantasy/Sci Fi Antho released!

Plate Armor and Spacesuits Both Hold Farts is now up at Smashwords! The fruit of my blood, sweat and chyle is now available for you completely FREE, in the hope a small percentage of you will favourably review it.

These quirky tales of sci-fi and fantasy will take you to realms where lightspeed meets light-hearted and you can't say awkward without orc. From the perils of being a dragon's beauty consultant to hidden benefits of software in whiteware, S J Cavanagh shows that he's outstanding in left field. Includes "Elf Esteem", which made ASIM's Best of Fantasy Vol 1. 

Waddaya waiting for sweethearts, breakfast in bed? Go get it!

New antho coming soon!

With Axefall Echoes taking the world by.. uh.. light breeze, I'm also compiling some of my comic sci-fi and fantasy into a new anthology!

This anthology will be FREE and is entitled Plate Armor and Spacesuits Both Hold Farts. It includes Girl Power and Elf Esteem, short and flash fiction, the high fantasy to the lowbrow (but you already knew that).
Watch this space!

" " <-- and this one. Really.

Axefall Echoes is out!

Axefall Echoes, an antho collecting seven of my horror stories, is out now on Amazon and Smashwords. Inspiration for the stories came from all over; my life growing up on the farm, commuting in the city, how a relative was treated when they got old, etc. Below are some things people have said about the stories so far:

Finding the words

Easily the most powerful piece in issue 11 of Shadowed Realms. While technically horror, it’s a touching story of a man laying his daughter to rest. Cavanagh’s style is fluid and uses sense imagery to ground the reader in reality. It’s touching and it's tender and it's heartfelt, something I’m not used to seeing in horror.
-TangentOnline.com

a great story that really rounds out #11 well, and is a worthy winner of the 2006 AHWA Flash Fiction competition...a tale of parent-child tragedy, a topic that almost approaches taboo status to some authors and readers.
Mr.Cavanagh handles the subject deftly and with the greatest of sensitivity. This isn't really a scary story, just a very emotional and heart breaking one where we hear and feel every gust of wind, every rattle of a branch, every flutter of the narrators heart and, in the end, I shed his tears too.
-HorrorScope

Steven Cavanagh paints a heart-breaking portrait of a father’s loss
-Dark Scribe Magazine

I don’t recall having read anything by author Steven Cavanagh before, but I shall certainly be searching out his work in future. This story is an absolute gem.
-Chuck McKenzie

Finding the Words is a very innovative tale which explores the emotional power of loss (specifically the death of a child) under the guide of a horror tale. It is a superb and creative use of a genre tale to explore personal emotional pain.-Robert Black

Street Smarts

good thought for detail and a sensation of realism to it.-Flames Rising

Starting [the anthology] off on a good foot. Keen-esque.-Skullring.org

The book starts off strong with “Street Smarts”.-monsterlibrarian.com

World of Hurt

A rivetting piece of flash fiction.-Sue Crawford

It's a well structured narrative with some original humour and is sharply written, especially towards the end.
-Prof Jane Goodall

Moving Dad

Moving Dad presents a clever parody of life after death. This story was highly original… Moving Dad has strong central characters that express real emotions, and we are able to feel for them because they are so lifelike.
-Shadowed Realms.

Steven Cavanagh’s “Moving Dad” was another favorite of mine... Using a magic-realism style, Cavanagh manages to capture a strange sense of grief and remorse, and it transfers through to the reader.-LitHaven.com
Cavanagh writes in a deliberately matter-of-fact style regarding a situation that is anything but and this, for me, is one of the highlights of the story

Beginning with whimsical familiarity, moving to poignancy. A lovely slow reveal, blurring the line between the infirmity of advanced age, and the shambling corruption of undeath. An exploration of a universal horror – the realisation of the mortality of the father – I won’t spoil the ending, but Cavanagh kicks off beautifully into an even deeper horror in the last line. Fantastic dialogue in this one too.
-Australian Specfic In Focus

Well, what are you waiting for? Go check it out!

I'm awake!

It's been a lot longer than I expected, but I'm out of hypersleep. It's really just blind luck that a deep salvage team found me when they did, I could have been drifting out there forever, not writing.

But even in hypersleep, I haven't been able to stop creating. My writing has been on hold for so long because I've been forging a weapon. This weapon will be wielded by those who suffer food allergies and intolerances, and used to fight against the lack of awareness most people have about their situation. It finds the food they can eat and (just as importantly) allows their friends and family to find food they can eat. It's called WotUEat, and now that it's out of the code-cutting stage I'm hoping to get back to writing. 

Oh, I'm also finishing up an Android game that has involved some tight fiction writing, but nobody knows about that yet. Ssshhh.

Another Best Of!

In spite of me not being able to write for months, my work is still moving on without me!

Girl Power has been selected to appear in Arcane Whispers 2: The Best of Sorcerous Signals 2008!

Oh, I also got a commendation in the last AHWA short fic competition with The Biting of Nails. Still haven't found a market for it though.

On Hold

I have stacks of short stories half written. I've planned out a novel and was gonna rip into it in NaNoWriMo, but now I've been hit with crippling arm pain. I'm talking can't lift a chocolate bar or use my left arm kind of pain.

Factor in that I've got a full time job that's the only income for my family of five, then factor in that I have three small boys.

Writing is, by neccessity, on hold. And I've already heard of voice recognition software, okay? I just don't write that way, though if this persists I'll be forced to try.

Vote for Girl Power!

Sorcerous Signals has a voting page where you can vote for Girl Power. It already seems to have eight votes, so if everyone who reads this blog goes there and votes for it too, it might even reach double digits!

PMCT Conclusion Published.

Part 5 of Pardon Me, Coming Through has now been released to the wild by Infinitas. After a tantalising five months, I hope the ending has the punch to meet your expectations.

I origially envisioned the story as the start to a novel, but I'm so busy with the three other novels I'm chipping away at (and the tyranny of Normal Life) that it'll never happen. Maybe a novella sometime...

AHWA Commendation

The Australian Horror Writers Association has just judged their 2008 Flash & Short fiction competition, and my Pacific Highway themed story The Biting of Nails came up for a commendation! I didn't think it had the layers or resonation to win, so I didn't have high hopes for it. This is a pleasant surprise.

I should also point out that fellow writer Christian Girard came up with an er.. killer title for the story: Speed Demon, but I moved this title into the story instead, for two reasons. One, the story starts out realistic and then punches into speculative, and the title would have clued the reader in, and two, it made the protag's final revelations that much stronger.

While it was great getting a commendation (ie being in the top 5 out of 100 or so), it means that the story hasn't actually been accepted for publication, and now I have to send it out. Psst! Wanna buy a story?

Girl Power (finally) published!

Well, it's been a long road but my comic fantasy Girl Power finally found its way into a publication at Sorcerous Signals.

The story of the story:

I wrote it.
It was critiqued by my colleagues in the Prose Nest at AuthorsByDesign.com.
Then I submitted it.
Then it was rejected.
Then I submitted it.
Then it was rejected again.
Then I submitted it.
Then it was accepted by ShadowSword Magazine!
Then months went by (which is normal, to inform non-writers)
Then a notice appeared on the ShadowSword Magazine web site that they'd gone out of business.
Then I submitted it.
Then it was rejected again.
Then it appeared on an honourable mentions list in Allegory Magazine (who had rejected it. WTF?)
Then I submitted it.
Then it was rejected again.
Then the rejection was rejected- they'd made a mistake!
Then came the usual rewrites, etc.
Then TODAY it's finally been published!

So after a lead up like that, what are you waiting for? Click on the pic of Noelene and Shaz, and go read it!

PMCT part 4 Published

Part 4 of Pardon Me, Coming Through is now online at the Infinitas site.

PMCT Part 3 Published

Part 3 of Pardon Me, Coming Through is now online at the Infinitas site.

You finally get to see the other side of the dimensional membrane for the first time. Where/When/What could it be?

Comp entry

Well, the Australian Horror Writers Association has their competition on again this year. I came second in the 2005 flash comp, won the 2006 flash comp, then didn't enter in 2007, so I thought I'd better do something this year.

I've written a story about deaths on the Pacific Highway, set at a particular point on it that I saw a lot growing up. If you click here you can see a bridge to the left with a sharp bend on the left side of it, on the Old Pacific Highway. The reason that section is now the old Pacific Highway is that it was a nasty black spot. A family friend's brother died there when his tractor went into the river, and they get a mention.

I'm not sure the story has the legs to win a comp, but you'll never, never winnit if you never, never submit.

No fate but what we make.

I've discovered something interesting about having a serial piece published.

See, it's kinda hard to get good feedback about a story. If you show it to your friends and family, they will ALWAYS say the same three words, without variation (do I even need to say what they are?).

The stories might get reviewed, but reviewers (for the most part) are pushing an agenda: This story rocks/sucks because it's new wierd/flash fiction/humour/australian/insert flavour of bigotry here.

Critique groups are the best for useful feedback, but they take up a lot of time and it's hard to find one that a)has writers experienced enough to tell you something helpful, b)Has the courage to tell you what sucks and not just stroke your ego, and c)has the courage to tell you what really works well, and not just feel good about themselves because they can criticise others.

You want to know so many things. Are the characters believable? Did the setting serve the story or was it distracting? Was the pacing just right? And the holy of holies:

Was tension maintained?

Eloquent prose and slick science and funny gags are ALL subservient to keeping the reader moving along and wondering ANOTHER three words.

Which brings me back to serials, because I've received those sweet three words over and over with Pardon Me, Coming Through: What happens next?

When that happens it's great, but the responsibility then rests on the writer to deliver a payoff/ending that justifies that tension. Even more so in this case, because you the reader are waiting a month for every installment. Pearson, mate, your fate had better be worth it. Both our necks are on the line here.

PMCT Part 2 Published

Part 2 (of 5) of Pardon Me, Coming Through is now downloadable in PDF format in the May 2008 Infinitas Newsletter.

I've read it so many times while writing and proofreading, and only just realised the freudian name I gave the protagonist. It should become apparent to you this episode.

I'm writing again! For the last couple of weeks I've been chipping away at a horror that is going to end up between 4000 and 5000 words. That's pretty long for me. It's about a black spot on the Pacific Highway.
I still need a title, and will consider all suggestions.

PMCT Pt 1 Published

That was quick! Part 1 (of 5) of Pardon Me, Coming Through is now downloadable in PDF format in the April 2008 Infinitas Newsletter. Let me know what you think.

Another sale!

The Sorcerous Signal has just accepted my story Girl Power! It's one of the ones I've had the most fun writing, a fairy tale that's been given a shake up, a twist and a squeeze of lemon.

A Serial Sale!

I've just sold my first ever serialised fiction!
Pardon Me, Coming Through will be appearing in five successive issues of Infinitas. It took me a long time to write and included quite a bit of research, we'll see how it goes.

There, I got through that post without some lame breakfast cereal joke :)

Words still being found

Well I can't find any gaps in my life to find some words yet, but my story "Finding the words" is still going strong.

The Year's Best Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror 2007 Edition has just been reviewed over at Horrorscope. Reviewer Chuck McKenzie said:

‘Finding the Words’ is an emotionally upsetting piece dealing with the death of a child. I don’t recall having read anything by author Steven Cavanagh before, but I shall certainly be searching out his work in future. This story is an absolute gem.

I really respect Chuck McKenzie. We have a couple of things in common (he's one of the few of us who love to write humour, he's had to throttle back on writing because of family), however I don't look like that guy from doug anthony all-stars.

Then reviewer Robert Black also chimed in on Horrorscope, saying:

Finding the Words is a very innovative tale which explores the emotional power of loss (specifically the death of a child) under the guide of a horror tale. It is a superb and creative use of a genre tale to explore personal emotional pain.

I think Finding The Words is now a benchmark for my writing. Not so much that I feel a need to win comps and awards with every story, but when I wrote this one I was really in the zone (feeling stupid and wierded out because tears were running down my cheeks), and it showed in the writing. I'd like to find that magic point every time I write.

ADFH 2007

Just got my contributor copy of Brimstone Press' AUSTRALIAN DARK FANTASY & HORROR 2007 edition, featuring my award winning "Finding the Words". Brimstone always do a great job on their books, the quality is top-notch. Some big Aussie names in this one, too. I'm about a third of the way through reading it, and I'm being pulled in by each and every story.

???

Double release!

Quite a weekend!

Daikaiju! 3 has been released at long last, at the Conflux con in Canberra.

Undead 3: Flesh Feast has hit the shelves- you can get it from Amazon. There's already a review of it up, which gives a bittersweet mention of "street smarts".

I lost my writing steam when a cheap flash drive flash-fried a few stories. Gotta get back on the horse...

Big stompy things!

Let me tell you a story.

A few years ago, after my first story had been published, I figured I'd better join a writers group, so I found a local one attached to the Infinitas Bookshop.
Once I was on their email list, I found that everyone was talking about writing "their daikaiju story". Sounded like fun, so I looked up the word (giant monsters, like Kong or Godzilla) and knocked one up.
Then I found out there was a point to it: somebody was putting together an anthology of giant monsters stories. So I sent in my little tale, and was juuuuuust rejected (there were two editors, one loved it and one didn't). But there were so many high-quality stories that they decided to make more anthos, using the same pool of stories.

After a couple of years I kinda forgot about it, but at long long last, Daikaiju!3: Giant Monsters Versus the World is starting to loom, featuring my story Cream of the Cop.

No more details apart from that yet, but it's being put togther by Rob Hood, who is a man obsessed with all things big and stompy, and promises to have killer art like the last two.

Read "World of Hurt" for free online!

World of Hurt, the story that took out third place in the New Writers Group's Zine 2007 awards at the HomeWord Festival, has just been put up at the NWG site.

Writing is on hold pending some semblance of a normal life. Since the arrival of my third son two weeks ago, time has blurred and redshifted. Or maybe that's just my bloodshot eyes.

Flesh Feast Pre-released

Satisfy your hunger for zombies in
the third installment of the popular Undead series, The
Undead: Flesh Feast. A new recruit must face the grotesque realities behind
the zombie war. An ancient, tentacled horror commands
the walking dead. A green mold creeps across an uncharted island, driving its
mysterious inhabitants insane. A lone survivor of the zombie apocalypse wants
only one thing... to be bitten. The Reaper struggles to claim the souls of the
deceased that won't stay dead. And in the featured novella, "The Legend of
Black Betty," a small town in the Old West rots with a plague wreaked by an
evil prostitute. These stories and more from:



Tim Curran • Andre Duza • Ryan C. Thomas • David
Dunwoody • Steven Cavanagh • Matthew Masucci • Michael Stone • Richard Moore • Matthew Bey • A.C. Wise • David Bain • Eric
Turowski
• Kevin Boon • Scott Standridge • Kriscinda
Meadows

Pre-Order
today from Bloodletting Books for $14.95 with free shipping!  No
payment until the book is released!

"Fantastic stories! The zombies are fresh...well, er, they're actually moldy, festering wrecks...but these
stories are great takes on the zombie genre. You're gonna
like The Undead: Flesh Feast...just
make sure you have a toothpick handy."
--Joe
McKinney, author of Dead City
and Murders Squad



"From in-edible humans to a zombie Santa Clause to undead flat fish, this
collection has everything that a connoisseur of fine zombie literature could
want. A must read!"
--Taylor
Kent, host of Snark Infested Waters podcast



"With The Undead: Flesh Feast
Permuted Press prove that the first anthology was no fluke. Once again they
have collected stories by writers, some of which you will know, some will be
new to readers, all however contribute good quality stories about our beloved walking
corpses. A joy to read!"
--Jude "Pain"
Felton, All Things Zombie.com

Third at Word, ASIM Best of released.

At the HomeWord Festival, World of Hurt won third prize! The reading was a lot of fun, and the audience reacted to me the whole way through, not just polite applause at the end. I was a little nervous because it was an arty crowd and the protag was (my attempt at being) arty.

And my firstborn son has returned! Elf Esteem was my first published story back in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 13. It's just been reprinted in ASIM's Best of Fantasy Anthology! A plethora of the best that ASIM has produced, and it's only ten pacific pesos ($AUS)!

HomeWord festival reading

If you're in Sydney, feel free to come along to the 2007 HomeWord festival. The festival kicks off this Sunday the 10th of June at Parramatta Riverside Theatres.

The opening events include the launch of the ZineWest anthology, which features my story World of Hurt. I'll be reading my story at the launch- look for a guy who looks like a bad zombie movie reject with red spots all over his face like this guy (for the same reason).

Almost famous

Among my wannabe accomplishments lately:

My story Girl Power has been rejected again. You know the one. It took ages to sell it, and when I did sell it the publisher went out of business? Not only has it been rejected again (making me think it's just not good enough to sell), but it also popped up in an honourable mentions list on Allegory magazine (scroll to the bottom) as "worthy of being published, just not here".

Apparently I have brought honour to the line of my fathers. My fictional footling and flubbling has earned me a mention in the noteworthy people of the line of Cavanagh. Here I was thinking I'd have to prove my worthiness on the field of battle first. Phew!

Esteem Esteemed

How do you top inclusion in a Year's Best?

With an inclusion in a Best Of!

And the icing on the cake is that it's my first paid publication!
Elf Esteem is going to be re-published in the Andromeda Spaceways Best of Fantasy anthology!

It'll get the usual caning by the toffee noses. It's written to entertain, after all, and who wants to read that? One review even said that it was written "largely for its punchline". Well guess what? I wrote the bloody thing, and I didn't think of the last line until I was at -wait for it- the last line.

I have a soft spot for Elf Esteem. It's a skewed James Bond, a fact overlooked by most reviewers in spite of the riffs on Aston Martins, Moonraker, "Goodbye, Mr Bond" and a few others. It also has a pinch of Stainless Steel Rat, mainly in the style.

It's about elves and other fantasy tropes, which people see as a downside. Back then I didn't know it was a no-no to "the scene". I just wrote a story I thought would be fun. Many thanks to ASIM for including it, I'm humbled and honoured.

ASIM is producing three best of anthologies (go on, guess what the other two are). They'll be available on CD at Convergence, and will be downloaded from the ASIM site thereafter.

ZineWest finalist

I've just been notified that my story World of Hurt is in ZineWest! That means it's in the top 30 of 140 entries, will be published in the magazine (launched at the HomeWord festival) and is in the running for the cash and prizes.

By the way, I've been net dead for a couple of weeks because I've been starting my new job in Parramatta. I think I've ironed out some of the wrinkles in my life now.

Double sale!

So Miss Apostrophication herself mentioned to me that Farthing magazine was in search of a good drabble.

I greeted this news just like I did when informed of the Daikaiju anthology. Smiled and nodded knowingly, and then went and found out what the word meant. Turns out a drabble is a story of exactly 100 words (Daikaiju is a giant monster, a la Kong of Godzilla). So I wrote one, wasn't entirely happy with it, wrote another, sent them in and sold them BOTH! They'll be in Farthing issue #6.

Year's Best!!

Since people are starting to mention it, I thought I'd throw in that I'm in the year's best 'dark fiction omnibus', Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror 2007 by Brimstone Press!

The story is Finding the Words. I'm sure getting some mileage out of it. A year's best! Wow!

Dit Dit Dit Dash Dash Dash Dit Dit Dit

The Ditmar Awards are coming up. For those who came in late, there are two types of Awards in Aussie Spec Fic. The Aurealis Awards are judged by the genre In Crowd, and therefore showcase the works that have the greatest literary merit. The Ditmars are determined by readers, thus highlighting stories that lots of people seem to like.

I've never thought of either as particularly relevant to my writing. I don't reach for literary greatness (that would involve knowing what it is), and I'm not popular in the writing scene. I can't afford to go to conventions and the job and kids keep me too busy to even do the literary recluse thing.

But then, over at the blog of Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Shane has recommended to his readers that they vote for Finding the Words for best short story, and for me as best new talent! Shane *is* a well known, finger-on-the-pulse guy. He also writes some slick horror and is a badass real-not-just-the-gym Ninjutsu artist, so why argue with the guy? Go and get yourself a nomination form, and you can transform me into something I've never been before... a guy who got one nomination in the Ditmars.

Okay, time for a story. Last night my wife (in second trimester of pregnancy) couldn't sleep. She tried a hot milo. She tried sleeping on the lounge. She tried having something to eat. She turned on the air con. At last she read a little of Matthew Reilly's Area 7. Zzzzzzzz....

Nothing like gunfire and explosions to relax one.

Shot anyone lately?

I'm currently reading the thriller Remote Control by Andy McNab. He's ex-SAS, and writes from experience. All the little matter-of fact details really make it, the things you'd only know to write because you've been there and done that.
Brilliant stuff, but a little discouraging. How can an Australian ex-cattle farming computer programmer hope to ever compete with a guy who really has done black ops around the world?

My other blog

Just thought I'd mention the launch of Cute, Comic, Crazy (http://awsocute.blogspot.com/). I've seen so many cute and funny things from my own kids and others, I thought I'd start writing them down. Check it out for a corker that occurred recently at the house of a close relative.

Book of Shadows

I received my contributor copy of the Book of Shadows Volume 1 yesterday. Dang, it's good.

You know it's not your usual Aussie Spec Fic Ghetto piece before you even open the package. It's the right frigging size. I'm sure there are some good reasons for the small press to print books in the bigger size (cost being a major one, I imagine), and the quality of many of those works is still top-notch, but nothing screams SMALL PRESS like that bigger size of book. This baby presents itself with the best (well, paperback anyway). The cover art is appropriately ominous, and not distinct. It just gives you a feeling, not an object to focus on. That works for me. I'm the type of guy that reads through an antho wondering which story includes that chainsaw wielding cow I saw on the cover.

The stories? Well, you read Shadowed Realms don't you? Almost all of the stories are taken from SR's first year(it includes my little story Moving Dad from SR #6). The difference here is that you can read them all in one sitting, and what amazed me was that no recurring themes or styles came up. No editorial obsession with one topic, no underlying "If it ain't new wierd, it ain't fiction" bigotry, just damned good stories. Some are creepy some are poignant, all are dark.

The future is looking good for Aussie Dark Fic. Onward and upward, Brimstone.

ptang!

For the last week or so I've been writing every day! Okay, so it's only been a couple of hundred words or so, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a drop in the bucket, or something.

What I've written is utter crap, but I've given myself permission to write an awful first draft (thus, hopefully, enabling it to actually happen).

I'm writing my thriller, Ante Body, and I'm up to my very first gun fight! The protag, a mystery man and a host of unknown bad guys are exchanging steel jackety death in a shopping mall. Just for fun I might go Matthew Reilly on them, where the bad guy is right there and things just miss and action happens in italics!

Oh yeah, and I got another rejection from a professional market. Oh well, out it goes again.

Hoooowwwl

So I thought I'd have a look at how some of my upcoming publications were progressing. I went to the Coyote Moon Publications web site to see how ShadowSword mag was getting along- and I found a note to say the publisher has folded! They cancelled publishing my story (and all others, obviously) and didn't tell me.

It also had this note:
Additional apologies to anyone who has not received a personal e-mail from me about this matter. Some of the addresses I had on file were apparently out of date or non-responsive, and my ongoing troubles have included internet connectivity problems.

The contact addy I gave them has been in use for a good 10 years, and is still my main one. I wonder how long it's been cancelled for.

So now I have to find another market for Girl Power. Which isn't easy, as it's humour. That means most of the Aussie SF community, for example, write it off a priori as having 'nothing to offer the reader' (apart from ASIM, of course, who accepted it into their round 3 but it wasn't picked up by an editor).

Anyone know any good humor markets?

Yes, it's been a while. My work has moved from Parramatta to the city, taking a large chunk out of my day in travel time (I hope to convert this to writing time, but it's hard to write a novel with a stylus). The new work environment is trendy, corporate, and cold. Not in the temperature sense, either. I can't write in lunchtimes any more. Or critique. Or anything except listen to the trendy Nova radio station play their eight frigging songs over and over.

What else has happened/is happening? Let's see:
-I turned 35. That's about halfway to death, best case. It also isn't anywhere near as old as it was when I was in my mid 20's. In fact, the younger ages just appear to be much younger.
-We're expecting our third child, due in July. No it wasn't a bloody accident, thanks for asking.
-Ben is about to turn four. He's maturing by the day. One minute he'll surprise me with his selflessness and servitude, the next by his ability to lie.
-Matty (1 1/2) is becoming a mischievous little prankster. It's so hard to keep a straight face when he comes running up to you, does something he knows is wrong and runs off cackling insanely.
-The Aurealis Award shortlist has been released. I found it a bit of a yawner, with all the usual suspects. The exception is Steph Campisi with her great story Why The Balloon Man Floats Away (heh heh- eat over-capitalisation!).

Who knows when I'll be able to post again? Maybe when I get another job.

Wow! TangentOnline.com has reviewed Shadowed Realms Issue 11 and this is how they described my story:

Steven Cavanagh's “Finding the Words” took first place in the 2006 Australian Horror Writer Association's Flash Fiction Competition and is easily the most powerful piece in issue 11 of Shadowed Realms. While technically horror, it’s a touching story of a man laying his daughter to rest. Cavanagh’s style is fluid and uses sense imagery to ground the reader in reality. It’s touching and it's tender and it's heartfelt, something I’m not used to seeing in horror.

This should get my motivation back. Something a writer MUST do is disconnect themselves from reviews of their work, but I have a lot of trouble with it.

Zombies multiply

Permuted Press has made the official announcement that they will be releasing BOTH and Undead 2 and Undead 3 anthology (have these guys been chatting to Robert Hood?)

While this is exciting news for undead fic fans, my story has been moved to book 3, tentatively entitled Flesh Feast. Being in a book 3 doesn't look quite as good on a biblio, IMHO, but they're publishing my story so no complaints :)

Hit the announcement link for squishy, runny cover art and a full list of contributors.

Finding the Words is Published

After an extended delay, the overworked folks at Brimstone Press have released the special double issue of Shadowed Relams, featuring my award winning story Finding the Words!

BTW, Brimstone have updated their site and included sub guidelines for Black Box! I'm already in it, having won Shane Jiraiya Cummings' Snakes on a Plane comp (see last post). It's only 120 words, so I don't want to hear your lame excuse for not finding the time to write. Send your creepy, lice-infested words to Shane now!

(now for my lame excuse for not finding the time to write)
I haven't written for weeks, due to that danged Real Life (and that pesky motivation leech, the Terrible Review). I *will* write today, even if it's utter crap and only a sentence.
I *will* write tomorrow, too. And the day after that...

Oh, and if you haven't read Nicole's RSI-inducing Australian Speculative Fiction Carnival, go have a look. Our community is vibrant, wise, bitchy, insightful and a whole host of adjectives I don't understand but am willing to learn.

Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror 2006 edition and Book of Shadows volume one are now available for pre-order at Brimstone Press! The latter includes my story from Shadowed Realms issue 6, Moving Dad (second place winner in the 2005 AHWA flash fiction competition).

Speaking of pre-orders, someone contacted the Infinitas Bookshop recently, asking for a copy of my novel.

Trouble is, I don't have one!

They'd read one of the stories I'd written for the Infinitas newsletter, By the Numbers, and assumed it was extracted from a novel.
I've been asked a few times if I'm going to extend or serialise that story. Maybe I should find out what happens next.
Still, that's what I call a pre-order :)

Snuck onto the plane.

Cool! As Steph added in the comments below, I won the Snakes on a Plane comp!

That's the third writing competition I've won this year!

I'm slooowly creeping along on my novel. I'm currently working out how to blow the windows out of a shopping center in Seattle and jump onto the monorail roof.

Hmm, I wonder if that last sentence will register me in some kind of homeland security database.

Worms on a Helicopter!

Over at the blog of Shane Jiraiya Cummings, he's put up a simple writing comp. The winner will be published in Black Box, the sequel to Shadow Box.

120 word horror story, with the theme of the tackiest movie title of all time: "Snakes on a Plane". Check out my entry while you're there. I tried to get some depth of character in, and snuck in references to Samuel L MoFoJackson, Black Box itself, and what I hope is an innovative take on the snakes.

Still Moving

Another review of Moving Dad just popped up at Australian Specfic In Focus (scroll down to it), by Talie Helene. She writes:

“Moving Dad” is Steven Cavanagh’s Second Place winning story – beginning with whimsical familiarity, moving to poignancy. A lovely slow reveal, blurring the line between the infirmity of advanced age, and the shambling corruption of undeath. An exploration of a universal horror – the realisation of the mortality of the father – I won’t spoil the ending, but Cavanagh kicks off beautifully into an even deeper horror in the last line. Fantastic dialogue in this one too.

It's good to see someone who really got the central concept (the similarity between how we treat the old and how we treat the dead). Very nice of Talie to say such kind words. Poignant? Hell, wait till she sees Finding The Words! Pop them tear ducts right open, it will.

Hmm, speaking like Yoda, I was.
Digressing, I am.

Fastest rejection in the west

I got word of new market Clarkesworld Magazine from the Horrorscope Blog, and thought I'd send 'em a story.
A rejection was back in my Inbox, with quotations and detailed reasons for the rejection within an hour! For those who read this and don't write, the normal procedure is to wait a year and then nag them.

The rejection was polite, professional, and made me feel like I'm a kindergarten kid going for the Pulitzer. The further I go as a writer, the further I have to go.

Just got an interior art sample for Street Smarts. The artist wanted to know what I thought, and some pointers on fitting the characters with how I pictured them. This is the second time an artist has brought my characters to live, and it's such a buzz. It's great art, too.

Things to do before I die: con someone into making a movie of something I've written. Even if it involves a Jedi, a Sith and a forest.

By the Numbers published.

The August Infinitas newsletter has just been released. It includes my story By the Numbers. Click here for a free read!

Well, I'm Staggered

Soooooooold!

Permuted Press has just picked up my zombie story Street Smarts for the sequel to their much loved Undead Anthology.

For this one I set myself a challenge. Could I write a short story for the zombie genre (a genre that's been gnawed to the bone) and still make it original enough to get paid for it? Wait, let's make it harder. What about a classic zombie, streets-full-of-staggering-dead story?

I guess I could. I'm assuming that the market isn't awash with publishers who'd buy anything, but Permuted Press certainly know what they're doing and the first antho got some great reviews.
When it comes out it'll be available on Amazon, I'll let you know.

Eek!

A couple of previous posts in this blog were kindly offered some drinks, fell asleep and woke up far out to see as members of Her Majesty's Navy.
In other words, I made it into this month's Australian Speculative Fiction Carnival!
It no doubt has some good points. I've said something that someone thinks someone else might want to see. Or laugh at. It might lead someone to think "hey, that's the guy that wrote Save Galaxy Fast/Elf Esteem/Moving Dad/etc etc", and they'll remember it in 2023 when my first novel comes out. Maybe making the Carnival is on an obscure list of things to do before you die, I don't know.
What I do know is that I've been writing comments on here thinking that about four people read them, two of those being personalities of my own. I feel like a ton of guests have burst into my house and I have underwear lying all over the floor.

So, you're all welcome to stay, just sit down on the (brush brush) lounge, mind the mess and I'll... uh.. clean up.

Little story lost

I've written a horror short called I Saw (it has four meanings, not that the reader will get that). It's extremely Australian, and features a lot of detail about the bush where I grew up.
I don't know where to send it.

-I could send it to Dark Animus, but they're a few centuries behind on their slush.
-I could send it to Aurealis, but although their site adds news, nobody seems to know if the market is alive.
-I don't think I could send it overseas, it's too Australian.
-It's too long for Shadowed Realms.

Perhaps I should hold onto it for a little bit. Brimstone Press seem to be starting new projects all the time.
Any ideas?

Submitted Home Cooking to the Macabre anthology. I think it has what it takes, but may be a little short for what they're looking for. Kidneys crossed.

I look like a writer.

Hell, I even look like a successful writer. Okay, so I've had a handful of publications in small press stuff and anthologies that appear spine-out in four bookshops across the country. But that's okay because this arrived in the mail.

<--
The first prize for the Australian Horror Writers Association's 2006 Flash Fiction Competition!

It's quite an honour, the AHWA are a great bunch of guys who do an awful lot for dark fic in Oz. Needless to say, it went straight to the pool room. Or would have, if our tiny house was big enough for something posh like a pool room. Actually, it went on the wall of our kitchen/dining area/computer desk area/main thoroughfare, where we stick little Ben's works of fine art. It's between a doctor's stethoscope (milk bottle lids, straws and a bit of egg carton) and a cellophane/paper plate jellyfish.

So I look like a real writer now, right? Is that what one looks like?

So you can behold Cat Sparks' seven Ditmars, or ogle Richard Harland's Golden Aurealis, but if you really want to feast your eyes, look at my wall.
It has a cellophane jellyfish. Bloody good one, too.

Random happenings

1) Always nice when you walk into a bookshop and the owner says "hey, I heard you won the competition at Conflux!"- and he was told by a publisher.

2) Sold a little story to said bookshop, By the numbers.

3) Currently having critted a story called Home Cooking which I plan to submit to the Macabre Anthology. I didn't think I'd have a story ready, but one leaped into my head last weekend. The market closes reaaaly soon. Crit, my Prose Nest friends! Crit like the wind!

4) I'd submitted a zombie story to an antho a while back, and just got a reply. Now as any writer will tell you, a market replies with either
A: Yes, or
B: No.
But these guys said
C: Make changes X, Y and Z with more emphasis on Q, and then send it to us again. That doesn't mean we'll take it.

First time for everything I guess. But their suggestions were all good and hey, they're the customer.

Looks like I found the words

My story Finding the Words Won the Australian Horror Writers Association's 2006 Flash Fiction comp! I came second last year.

Special thanks to my critique group The Prose Nest, who put on white gloves and ran their fingers over the mantlepiece, and made it a stronger story.

Interestingly enough, there were fewer entries this year. I thought aussie dark fiction was a boom genre??

Back in yer box

While I haven't been visited by the Black Dog of Depression for quite a few years now, the Purple Puppy of Self-Doubt is an irregular visitor. The little mongrel tends to run away with my writing motivation, and tugs at it like buggery when I attempt to take it back.

But yesterday I was handed that holy talisman sought after by all newbie writers, the Rolled Up Newspaper of Affirmation.

-Girl Power finally sold, to ShadowSword Magazine. They said it was 'well done and amusing'. Good to find another market that doesn't sneer down its literary nose at humour (well, humor actually. It's also my first international sale).

-I'm on the short list (ie top 4) for the Australian Horror Writers Association's 2006 Flash Fiction comp! That's the comp in which I came second last year. This year they're only awarding a first prize and four commendations, so I've already equalled last year's effort, using Kenobi's Certain Point of View (patent pending).
My story is Finding the Words. That's the one where, for the first time, I cried while writing. As opposed to crying before re-submitting :)
I received an invitation to go to Conflux, but unfortunately there's been a death in my wife's family and the funeral is on that weekend. My story takes place just after a funeral, which is kinda wierd.

Oh, and the Outcast has been reviewed over at the Horrorscope blog. Save Galaxy Fast! gets one of those reviews that merely describe some of the story and don't really pass judgement on it, apart from saying that one concept is 'cute'. It doesn't list it among the weak stories, so I guess I'm happy with that.

I haven't written a word for weeks. This is for three reasons:
1) Insert standard western society 'really busy' blurb here.
2) I've been researching and planning for a new YA sci-fi novel.
3) A run of rejections and a couple of negative reviews have sapped my motivation. Yes I know they shouldn't and all the reasons why, but when you try really hard only to be dismissed as making a 'slight effort', it does make you question your ability.
So it was good to get two positive signs today. One was an email by a new writer saying how I'd made my mark on the australian horror scene, the other was a little fact I stumbled across: I'm on the 2005 'Year's Best' recommended reading list!

So if I can just remember to bring my danged flash drive to work, I think I'll try to write in lunch breaks again. Maybe some of my critique group remember who I am...

The Long Dry

Well, I knew the bubble would burst some day, and it has. I've just had yet another in a long stream of rejections. At the beginning it seemed like everything I submitted was snapped up instantly.
Have statistics caught up with me? Has my writing turned to crap? Motivation is plummeting.

Still, my original plan when I started all this was:
1) See if I can write a story that someone would want to read (tick)
2) See if I can write a story that someone would pay me for (tick)
3) Do that a couple of times, to make sure it wasn't a fluke (tick)
4) See if I can get anywhere in a writing comp (tick tick)
5) Have a go at a novel.

So, I guess it's time to turn my attention to reeeeeallly long stories. I find this very hard to do because I can't waffle, I only get teeny bits of time to write, and I don't want to wait a year or more to find out if it was all a waste of time. However, this is the next logical step in stretching myself as a writer.

I've already tried twice to write a novel. Both times, my crit group thought the first two chapters were excellent and the third one sucked. This made me give up until I got another bright idea for a novel.

Teeny voice from shoulder: "Stop being such a WUSS! Believe in yourself!"
Teeny voice from other shoulder: "Listen to that Disney-philosophy dork! Ha! As if you could do as good a job as (successful author/acclaimed author/the spec fic clique)".

If only those voices would shut up so I could write.

Told ya. ASIM just gave me a "just not by us" for Hot Discs.

I've written a little 750 worder, critted it at my online crit group, and sent it to the Andromeda Spaceways 3 month critique system. It's a mechanism whereby they take a couple of days to tell you "your story is publishable", and 3 months to tell you "just not by us" :)

Weeding has just been published in the Infinitas newsletter. Good to have my name out there as a comp winner, and it's a timely plug for Outcast.

Girl Power was rejected again. I thought it was one of my best, dagnabit! The first editor didn't even read past the first page, because it had a dragon in it. Funny thing about turning a trope on its head: you have to actually mention it first!

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.

Finally got around to using my 133t programming Skilz to sex up some of my sites. The header, Story button and the fiction list header were all hand crafted while staying back at work waiting for a slow chugging process to finish.

I just counted the submissions I have out there. There are 6! That's either a sign that I'm getting more productive, or editors are getting slower.

The other day I was at the Infinitas Writers Group. We'd critted a story and nobody else had brought one. I said "that's okay, I have my flash drive with everything I've ever written! I'll just print one from that", and produced a ribbon from around my neck... with nothing on the end of it.

Everything I've written. Gone.

...luckily I'd backed everything up less than a week before, and new crits are always with my group at Authors By Design. Still, somebody out there has all my stories and a few photos of my kids.

Strange comin's and goin's

Since my last post I have:

-Submitted Hot Discs (formerly Hot Pursuit) to ASIM . It's already gone through reading rounds one and two (they have a GREAT slush system) and it's waiting to be picked up by an editor!

-Submitted Girl Power to Strange Horizons Not sure if it's their cup of tea, but we'll see.

-Submitted Street Smarts to an american Undead anthology (the sequel to the one shown on their site).

-Completed the rewriting of Weeding, my entry in this year's flash fic contest at the NSW Writers Centre.

-Finished chapter 1 of the novel (again!)

-Created a flash trailer (movie style) for Outcast, that will appear on the CSFG web site soon. You can see a cut-down version HERE.

In other news:

-It looks like Christian Girard will unsheath his pen for the NSWWC flash fic comp!
-Outcast is now available for pre-order!

Outcast cover

I've been allowed to show you the cover to the Outcast antho.
I love it (especially the full version, with more of the plain)- it conveys a sense of loneliness while obviously implying spec fic. Tell me what you think.

Seedy Rom

I thought I'd tinker with something different so I've just finished Street Smarts, a 1500 word Romero Zombie number. It's very hard to write a Rom Zom and get it fresh enough to be accepted anywhere, so I saw it as a bit of a challenge. I haven't read much of the genre so anything I come up with has probably been done to death, but I'll see. I've just put it up for crit.

I'm also getting things moving on my novel again. The planets realigned and it's moving.

It's now submission season again. I have at least 4 stories ready to go out. Fly, my pretties!

Ups and doubts

Pardon Me, Coming Through was just rejected. They said it was well written, but thought it was an alternate history! This in spite of so many words about parallel dimensions. Oh well, I'll try and beat the reader over the head a little more.

I'm also getting frustrated with writing humour. It's far more subjective than say, drama. What leaves one person rolling on the floor merely raises the nose of another. If your work goes through one crit group, then another, then a slush reader, then an editor, then their assistant, and EVERY ONE of them gives you a kill list of the jokes they don't like, what's gonna be left at the end? How on earth did The Colour of Magic ever get published?

Things are also hotting up with Outcast. They just requested my bio, contracts will follow soon and in a week or so they'll be unleashing the awesome cover artwork. I'll add it here as soon as I'm allowed.

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!