The latest news regarding my writing, work with the Australian Writer’s Marketplace, and any upcoming events or workshops I’m involved in.
Sorry folks, I’m off to Sydney this week to run this piece of business:
which promises to be wild and crazy and just a little exhausting, but also kinda time consuming. If you’re in Sydney over the weekend and interested in genre writing, come along and say hi.
If you haven’t heard from me by this time next week, odds are I’ve either been torn apart by wild genre writers or my flight home from Sydney has been delayed.
Hola! It’s the Brisbane Writers Festival this weekend – the final festival on the packed schedule of festivals and travel that have kept me away from the blog – which means it’s a little over a fortnight before I resume regular postings. In the meantime, I’m going to interrupt this period of non-posting with a handful of announcements that may interest you.
ONE
I’ve got a non-fiction piece in the latest Apex Magazine that distills writing advice from the rants of professional wrestler Al Snow. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Apex editor Lynne M. Thomas came across a blog post I did on the topic a few months ago and asked me to expand it into a full-fledged article.
Being the type who is fond of getting paid to write things and the type who likes watching shoot interviews with pro-wrestlers, I immediately agreed and went into research mode. Now I just need to find someone who’ll pay me to write a series of essays titled “What Writers Can Learn From Watching Trashy Tuesday Movies” and my work here will be done.
TWO
Melinda Moore is one of those people who I’ve known online for years and one of the earliest people to become a regular poster here on petermball.com. She’s also had her first-ever short story published and kicked off her own website, Enchanted Spark, to celebrate. I recommend checking out both.
THREE
The Untitled Emergency Project I was writing a few weeks back? It’s now got a title – Tithes – and a spot in Jennifer Brozeck’s upcoming Coins of Chaos project for EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. I don’t think the anthology is out until late next year, but since we’re clear to mention it early.
FOUR
The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2011 was released in the last week or so. It includes my story Briar Day and a bunch of other cool stories from other Australian writers. Available in trade paperback and hardcover.
FIVE
I have a cold. This displeases me.
Just a short drive-by post to engage in some blatant acts of self promotion.
1) Emerging Writers Series on Radio National this Saturday
A few months ago I did a reading at Avid Reader that was recorded for ABC Radio National as part of their Emerging Writers series. Last week’s show played the recording of one of my co-readers, the inimitable Angela Slatter, reading from one of her up-coming stories and you can still download the recording from their webpage.
My reading, an excerpt from Horn, is scheduled for this Saturday’s broadcast of Books Plus, at about 9.15 PM.
To forestall the inevitable question: no, I did not read that excerpt from Horn. I read one of the other bits.
2) The Book of Apex: Volume 3 is Out Now
The third of Apex Magazine’s yearly collections, compiling all the material that appeared in Apex during Catherynne Valente’s editorial run on the magazine. It includes my story L’esprit de L’escalier, which is easily the story that I’ve been emailed about more often than anything else I’ve ever written, the emails usually starting with so where can I get a copy of your story, so it’s handy that the anthology is out now in both print and digital formats.
I’m three-for-three with the Books of Apex thus far. Three volumes released, and I’ve had a story in each, largely ’cause they kept saying yes when I submitted them stuff. Hopefully, one of these weeks, I’ll start writing short stories again so I can send them some new stuff.