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.