James Stewart vs. Kubrik
Via the often excellent Grant Watson on Facebook: Honestly, this is the most interested I’ve ever been in Kubrick’s work.
Two Weekends, and the Reasons for my online absence
Two weekends back, we drove out to a rescue shelter a few hours out of Brisbane and adopted ourselves a cat. She’s going by the name Admiral Coco Marshmallow Flerkin-Wittingstall, and seems determined to win us over with the deployment of weaponised cuteness: The week that followed was a mad dash to make the cat […]
My Next Life As A Spaceship
Over the weekend, Matt Farrer (AKA the Shira Calpurnia scribe and general literary bad-ass) did a small thing on twitter where he’d write a description of a spaceship named after you. It roughly coincided with one of those rare moments when I scanned my carefully curated twitter lists, so naturally, I signed on. I am […]
Mystery and the Art of Author Events
Last Friday I ventured out into the chilly Brisbane night to attend the In Conversation event with Kate Forsyth at the Brisbane Square Library. There are certain writers that I’ll always make the effort to go see when they do events, because it’s basically a masterclass in how to manage the author/reader relationship. Kate Forsyth […]
Some Days You Want To Punch A Shark
Some days you want to punch a shark, but you don’t, because sharks are big and aquatic and in possession of teeth far sharper than yours. Some days you want to punch a shark, but you don’t have the bus fare to get the the aquarium. Some days you want to punch a shark, but […]
Pinch Hitter
I got called in to deliver a seminar presentation on short notice. Twenty-six hours from “yes, I’ll do it,” to being in the room talking submissions and the publishing industry and answering questions about how it all works. Building content off the powerpoint provided and trusting in experience and prior seminars to fill in the […]
Reminder for Brisbane Folk: Angela Slatter Launches a New Book on Friday
As long-time readers of this blog are largely aware, the inevitable Angela Slatter is my write-club buddy and overall font of good writing advice. She’s also launching the third book of her Verity Fassbinder series, Restoration, at a Brisbane Libraries event coming up on Friday night, 6:30 to 7:30pm, at the Brisbane Square Library. It’s […]
On GenreCon 2017 & Taking Off My Convener Hat For A While
ONE I usually roll in here the day after GenreCon and post my thoughts about the conference, but this year I’m caught between either saying too little or too much and so I’ve left it until after I chatted to my boss. GenreCon 2017 is my fourth go-around with the conference and it’s easily been […]
Things You Should Be Going To In April If You Are In Brisbane And Into Spec Fic
It’s rare that I leave the house for reasons that are not gaming, uni, or terrible movies, but next month I’ll be making the effort twice to support a couple of spec-fic-type happenings taking place in Brisbane. And since I don’t want to go to these places and hang around, all awkward and knowing no-one, here’s […]
PSA: How to Contact Peter About GenreCon
I spent today back in the QWC offices, annoying friends on Twitter by vague-tweeting about the behind-the-scenes GenreCon stuff that was coming together. I also spent today fielding a bunch of queries about the conference…some via official channels, and some via Facebook, personal email, and in-person queries. So, futile as it may be, I am […]
Crazy Thoughts
Tomorrow it will be eight weeks since I started on antidepressants. Since then I’ve cycled through three different types, found one that seems to have manageable side-effects, and stuck with it long enough that I’ve actually had to go back and refill a prescription. This is, apparently, a good thing in terms of seeing the […]
Technical Difficulties. Please Stand By.
I went to a con. My brain is not working. I have a presentation to the board of the Writers Centre tonight. I want to lie here and moan about sleep. I want to get up and write about the con. I want to finish a short story and go start rewriting my novel. I […]