36 Streets – available now
It’s done. Five years, working on this novel. Giving up on it, coming back to it, agonising, creating, drafting and re-drafting, and the bloody thing is done. Now – marketing BS aside – it’s out of my hands and up …
The Hugo Awards in China: half a loaf of bread, or none.
The decision to allow the Word Science Fiction Convention (commonly known as the Hugos) to be hosted in Chengdu has two major risks. Firstly, to launder the reputation of a barbaric dictatorship currently engaged in genocide against an ethnic and …
Praise for 36 Streets
Breaking out the begging bowl and approaching successful authors for a book quote was one of my least favourite parts of finalising 36 Streets. In fact I hated it. “Hey, you don’t really know me, but could I …
Your Debut Novel: From Acceptance to Publication Day
The space between selling your first novel, and publication day, is long and exhausting. For me, the gap was about 18 months. I’ve written this article throughout the process, while the experience is fresh. It is fair to say …
The Six Best Books I Read in 2021 (and seven honourable mentions)
I got through thirty-one books this year, not including those I read as judge in the Aurealis Awards. Still, less than I would have liked. I try – and usually succeed – to write every day. But as an author, …
The Ten Best Gambling and Poker Films
Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter came out earlier this year, which prompted me to reflect on one of my favourite sub-genres of film: the gambling flick. They are an obsession of mine, in part, because so many of these movies …
The Writer’s Training Regime (9): Remembering how to Write (some thoughts on staying creative)
Ideas had always come easy to me. So-called ‘blank page’ writer’s block had never been a problem I’d faced. The reason was, in part, because I started writing relatively later in life – in my mid-30s, and had a career …
The Writer’s Training Regime (8): Celebrate the Wins
To be a writer is to face perpetual defeat and lingering self-doubt. The default in this profession is failure. Rejections come (I’ve had around 300 for short stories and novels) and they don’t stop coming. Agents are indifferent, and the …
Award Eligibility – Ditmars
Ditmar voting is open. For the uninitiated, the Ditmars are the annual peer-voted awards for Science Fiction and Fantasy in Australia.
What does peer-voted mean? Well, that you are either attending the National Convention (this year it is Conflux – …
Angry Dad Cinema: An Appreciation
When Adam Liaw, an Australian celebrity chef (the only celebrity chef I know, I should add, and I have no idea what he cooks. I came across him because he is consistently funny and sensible on Twitter and perhaps the …