News & Upcoming Events

I had this crazy idea in my head. I thought things would slow down, once GenreCon was over. Self, I said, if you get through this, it’s all unicorns and nachos. You can finish your writing project, bugger off to Melbourne for a holiday, get ready to kick off 2016 right, you know?

For the most part, that’s still happening: I’ve got a few days away from the office; I head off to Melbourne this time next week; I’m scribbling away on the laptop or a notebook most mornings. I’ve watched too many Jason Statham movies on Netflix, without really meaning too.

But the writer’s life, it’s all about the hustle, and 2015 still has a few things I should mention before it’s done.

THING THE FIRST: CREATING CHARACTERS WORKSHOP On DECEMBER 6

Should you have a burning desire to taught how to write by yours truly – and honestly, I cannot think of any reason why you wouldn’t – you might want to book into the Creating Compelling Character’s workshop I’m teaching for Queensland Writers Centre on December 6.

This is one of my favourite workshops to teach, since it gets right to the heart of stories and storytelling. The last time I ran it was back at the beginning of 2014 and it got perhaps the best response from anything I’ve taught in the last few years. It got me interested in writing the series of posts about what writers can learn from Die Hard (which I’ll now have to finish, I think, seeing as this is on the horizon)

Ostensibly, the workshop is everything I knew about creating characters packed into six hours. When we run out of things that I know about characters, I point folks towards the smart things other writers have said about writing, and keep moving forward.

THING THE SECOND: FLOTSAM LANDS ON NOVEMBER 18

The Omnibus edition of Flotsam lands on November 18, coming out in both ebook and a limited edition, pre-signed hardback. The Omnibus collects together all three novellas in the series, plus two additional stories set in the Flotsam universe.

That means a whole lot of occult assassins, apocalyptic threats, and Gold Coast Fimbulwinter.

It’s got a goddamn beautiful cover. Mark Ferrari totally killed it, putting the omnibus together, and I literally cannot wait to see his art wrapped around a hardcover volume.

THING THE THIRD: MELBURNIA

Melbourne peeps, I am coming to your city. Next Thursday, in fact. For about five days.

Mostly, it should be said, to hang with some old friends while playing board games, admiring their collection of Captain America shields, and giving their cat a high-give (it’s a very high-fiveable feline). Maybe coax Patrick O’Duffy into letting me sit in on one of his Annihilation sessions, since he seems to have packed them to the brim with former Brisbane gamers.

But if you are in Melbourne, and inclined to hang out for a stretch, hit me up via email or in the comments and we’ll see what can be lined up.

By the time you read this, you and I are living in different worlds. You are living in the real world, where real things happen. I have travelled to Conference Land, where my head disappears into spreadsheets and phone-calls and a couple of hundred people wanting things done all urgent-like. There is no downtime once you enter Conference Land. There are simply times when you are working on the con, and times where you are sitting quietly, not really doing anything, ready to leap into action the moment the next emergency lands.

GenreCon begins Friday.

One of those phrases that resonates through my consciousness with a big, earth-shattering KABOOM! And in the silent aftermath, amid the desolation where all thought is wiped away, I start thinking of random things I should be telling people about.

FIRST: LAMENT FOR THE AFTERLIFE, BRISBANE LAUNCH

If you’re in Brisbane for GenreCon and looking for something to do on Thursday night, might I suggest heading along to Avid Reader bookstore for the launch of Lisa L. Hannett’s novel, Lament for the Afterlife. I’ve been friends with Lisa since she came to Brisbane for Clarion South in 2009 and promptly became the second half of Angela Slatter’s brain, and she was already a fabulously talented writer back then. She’s only gotten better in the years since, and I am looking forward to this book so damn much.

Basically, my recovery plan for GenreCon is over basically consists of reading this book, going to Melbourne to play boardgames for a few days, then mainlining Jessica Jones the moment it goes live on Netflix. After which I will probably read this book again, ’cause I expect it to be that damn good.

SECOND: AND THEN, THE INDIGOGOING OF AN ANTHOLOGY

Back in January, Lindy Cameron of Clan Destine Press emailed about an anthology they were putting together. They were after old-fashioned, rip-snorting pulp stories featuring duel protagonists. “Think Holmes and Watson,” Lindy said. “Xena and Gabrielle; Butch and Sundance; John Steed and Emma Peel.”

“Sounds cool,” I said. “But I don’t really know. This year is really busy.”

“Turner and Hooch,” Lindy said.

God knows why that was the combination that convinced me, but it did the trick. I went and wrote a story about cryogenics and people who think they’re Kaiju and genetically engineered super-soldiers with a heart of gold, and a bunch of other people went and wrote stories featuring two dual protagonists, and suddenly they had a whole lot of stories and a really big book on their hands.

So it became two books. And, for various reasons relating to various writers writing really long stories,  an indiegogo (which is like Kickstarter, but far more awkward to verb).

THIRD: THE FLOTSAM OMNIBUS

I have, more than once this month, had conversations that ran a little like this. Someone says, “so you’ve got a book coming out soon, yeah?” and I look confused and say “no, why would you think– oh, shit, yes.”

The Flotsam Trilogy Omnibus comes out in November, which packs Exile, Frost, and Crusade into a single print volume, along with some extra stories set in the same universe. It features my favourite of the Mark Ferrari covers commissioned for the series:

Word from the Apocalypse Ink crew is that they’ll have copies of the print edition for sale at OryCon, so I would imagine they’re aimed at a Mid-to-Late November release.

I’ve got an email here from Heather Wood, the editor behind the Gods, Memes, and Monsters anthology, that the books is now out and available for sale at the book-purchasing options of your preference.

I’ve been looking forward to this one coming out. The brief, way back at the start of 2014 when Heather asked if I’d be interesting in taking part, was to create an entry for a 21st Century Bestiary that reinterpreted mythological beasts for the new millennium. And so I went off and wrote about the people who are looking for the Jinn, on the internet (’cause how else would you explain rule 34?), and had probably the most fun writing that out of anything I sat down and worked on last year.

And because I am terrible at email, this all came about the same point I heard from Sarah, the Shadow Minion of the Apocalypse (or, at least, of Apocalypse Ink, who has far better job titles than my workplace), that my guest post about the curse that lay on the Flotsam series is now live at M. Todd Gallowglas’ site.

The whole curse thing started as a joke, way back when I started putting the novellas together. It seemed a lot less funny by the end. I wasn’t really aware how many computers I went through, writing that series, until I sat down and started charting the destruction PC by PC.

And with that, I’m off to write things. Or quibble with co-workers about the final make-up of the GenreCon program, depending on which happens first.