I missed out on Sunday Youtubing on the weekend, so here's something special.
Stanley Unwin.
Remarkibold. Goodlilode. Deep joy. :)
Sydney Festival - Rogue's Gallery
1 week ago
Thursday, February 04, 2010
ROUNDING UP
MIDNIGHT ECHO
Well, (claps hands) that’s that.
All the submissions have been read, all the rejections have been sent, and now that the dust has cleared, I’m left with the 12 stories and 3 poems that make up the contents of Midnight Echo #4. Assuming nothing falls over between now and April, it’ll be my delight to present you with stories from the likes of Aurealis Award winners Chris Green and Geoffrey Maloney and international man about town Dan Braum, as well as the first poem penned by the lovely Jenny Blackford in many a long year.
I’ve received well over 200 submissions from all corners of the globe (quite literally!), and it’s a good feeling to be able to look at the final list and be satisfied that the works I’ve chosen are an accurate reflection of my views towards the art of horror writing, as well as damn good pieces in their own right. Will you enjoy them? It is to be hoped. But for now, I can move on to the second-stage editorial work--- writing the editorial, shaping and editing submissions, discussing art and contracts with the appropriate AHWA Kahunas--- and start to mold the final shape of the issue.
Stay tuned, and as soon as I get the all-clear from Midnight Echo Big Banana Marty Young I’ll give you the final Table of Contents.
A QUICK GLANCE INTO A NEARBY BUCKET
With the time-intensive scutwork of submissions editing out of the way, I can finally indulge myself once more with thoughts of my own work. The Battersby Art machine has been quiet of late, and there’s a lot of product to be fed into the business end. To whit:
SO IT BEGINS….
It began in a dream.
It has taken me a million years to leave my father’s embrace, and now I am falling. I am supposed to fall forever. I am never to touch the ground again.
Eight minutes after my fall commences, I start to burn.
Those are the opening words of the Father Muerte novel.
A QUICK WORD ABOUT PEOPLE TALLER THAN ME
He likes his privacy, so at his request I don’t make mention of him too much on this blog, but I’m breaking that rule because Aiden turned 17 a couple of days ago, and you need to know just how proud I am of the young man he’s become.
I simply couldn’t wish for a more intelligent, funnier, more capable, caring (as anyone who’s seen him with Connor can testify) and just generally excellent Bonus Son, and I’m excited by the thought of what’s coming to him in the years ahead as he navigates his final year of high school and heads on to University and the world beyond.
As soon as he acknowledges that System of a Down suck the devil’s dangly bits he’ll be perfect…..
Well, (claps hands) that’s that.
All the submissions have been read, all the rejections have been sent, and now that the dust has cleared, I’m left with the 12 stories and 3 poems that make up the contents of Midnight Echo #4. Assuming nothing falls over between now and April, it’ll be my delight to present you with stories from the likes of Aurealis Award winners Chris Green and Geoffrey Maloney and international man about town Dan Braum, as well as the first poem penned by the lovely Jenny Blackford in many a long year.
I’ve received well over 200 submissions from all corners of the globe (quite literally!), and it’s a good feeling to be able to look at the final list and be satisfied that the works I’ve chosen are an accurate reflection of my views towards the art of horror writing, as well as damn good pieces in their own right. Will you enjoy them? It is to be hoped. But for now, I can move on to the second-stage editorial work--- writing the editorial, shaping and editing submissions, discussing art and contracts with the appropriate AHWA Kahunas--- and start to mold the final shape of the issue.
Stay tuned, and as soon as I get the all-clear from Midnight Echo Big Banana Marty Young I’ll give you the final Table of Contents.
A QUICK GLANCE INTO A NEARBY BUCKET
With the time-intensive scutwork of submissions editing out of the way, I can finally indulge myself once more with thoughts of my own work. The Battersby Art machine has been quiet of late, and there’s a lot of product to be fed into the business end. To whit:
- 2 novels need editing: Napoleone’s Land and Corpse-Rat King
- 3 stories are currently away in the world, and I have 2 more, The Possession of Mister Snopes and C to finish and send. The goal is to have completed and sent 15 by the end of the year, 12 from the partially completed work I have on hand, and 3 completely new pieces.
- 3 poems: Hart Crane, Treading Water; Wish Fulfillment; and Like A Leaf Falling need final polishes and sending out
- 3 cartoons are finished, I’ve 2 more that have been inked but not shaded, and I need at least 1 more completed after that to constitute a complete batch. The goal is to have 24 (or at least 4 batches) in circulation by the end of the year.
- And I promised myself that I’d complete a new novel by the end of the year, so I really need to get started on that as well. Still, on this score at least, you may be pleased by the following…..
SO IT BEGINS….
It began in a dream.
It has taken me a million years to leave my father’s embrace, and now I am falling. I am supposed to fall forever. I am never to touch the ground again.
Eight minutes after my fall commences, I start to burn.
Those are the opening words of the Father Muerte novel.
A QUICK WORD ABOUT PEOPLE TALLER THAN ME
He likes his privacy, so at his request I don’t make mention of him too much on this blog, but I’m breaking that rule because Aiden turned 17 a couple of days ago, and you need to know just how proud I am of the young man he’s become.
I simply couldn’t wish for a more intelligent, funnier, more capable, caring (as anyone who’s seen him with Connor can testify) and just generally excellent Bonus Son, and I’m excited by the thought of what’s coming to him in the years ahead as he navigates his final year of high school and heads on to University and the world beyond.
As soon as he acknowledges that System of a Down suck the devil’s dangly bits he’ll be perfect…..
Sunday, January 10, 2010
SUNDAY YOUTUBERY
To finish the week, a spot of self-indulgence on my behalf. My very very favourite Monkees song.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
A WEEKEND MOST PRODUCTIVE
It started out well: Lyn rang me on Friday afternoon to tell me she was picking me up a couple of train stops early, because she was at our friend Tehani's place and they'd decided to stay for dinner. And a fab evening it was, too: I committed Australian Man Adultery (cooked on another man's barbecue without his consent), we sat and chatted far past the kids' bedtimes, and Tehani let me borrow her copy of X6, Coeur de Lion's collection of novellas by 6 Australian authors. I'd forgotten just how much I love sitting around and jawing about writing and writers. Part of the reason I've yet to really find a village for myself in the writing world-- I'm a writing geek, not an SF geek, when it all comes down to it.
And much satisfaction there has been this weekend. I've completed another 2 cartoons, and sent out another two short stories, as well as inputting line edits for half of a third (dinner calls me, or I'd be finished that one too). I've finally finished chopping down a diseased hedge that's been spoiling our front yard, spent an enjoyable afternoon drawing with the kids, and even managed to fit in a couple of good exercise sessions with the Wii Fit Plus-- love that rhythm karate, folks! Luscious and I even found the time to watch a DVD together without the kids-- looxury, bloody looxury.
The new week starts tomorrow: I intend to lose another 500g, finish another couple of cartoons, and start wading my way through the first round of Corpse-Rat King edits, as well as send out the remaining shorts in my 'In Progress' folder. But for now, it's dinner, relaxing with a nice glass of Myalup Vines Wineries port (okay, my second glass...) and resting my bones before heading into the new week.
Slainte!
And much satisfaction there has been this weekend. I've completed another 2 cartoons, and sent out another two short stories, as well as inputting line edits for half of a third (dinner calls me, or I'd be finished that one too). I've finally finished chopping down a diseased hedge that's been spoiling our front yard, spent an enjoyable afternoon drawing with the kids, and even managed to fit in a couple of good exercise sessions with the Wii Fit Plus-- love that rhythm karate, folks! Luscious and I even found the time to watch a DVD together without the kids-- looxury, bloody looxury.
The new week starts tomorrow: I intend to lose another 500g, finish another couple of cartoons, and start wading my way through the first round of Corpse-Rat King edits, as well as send out the remaining shorts in my 'In Progress' folder. But for now, it's dinner, relaxing with a nice glass of Myalup Vines Wineries port (okay, my second glass...) and resting my bones before heading into the new week.
Slainte!
Saturday, January 09, 2010
HITTING THE GROUND
It's been a good start to the year.
Not bad so far. There's a lot of year left, and some big goals to achieve (2 novels to edit and submit, ya know?). But I'm on the way...
- I've lost just over a kilogram in weight. I set myself a loss of 12 kilos for the year, so this represents a good beginning.
- I've completed and submitted Plot or Pants?, an article on novel planning to WQ, the monthly magazine of the Queensland Writer's Centre
- I've line-edited the five stories currently in my 'In Progress' folder and submitted the first of them. My plan is to have all five out in the world by the end of next week. Not a big goal, perhaps, but I only saw print twice last year, while I was focussing on Corpse-Rat King, and that's just not up to my usual standards.
- I'm up to date with reading for Midnight Echo #4, and about to start filtering the stories I kept for a second stage of reading. If you were thinking of submitting but haven't got around to it, might I suggest you do so soon? I've received 157 submission so far, of which 33 have made it to a second reading. Submissions close 31st of the month.
- I've completed 2 cartoons of the 24 (minimum) that I plan to complete and submit.
Not bad so far. There's a lot of year left, and some big goals to achieve (2 novels to edit and submit, ya know?). But I'm on the way...
SHIVERS ALL UP AND DOWN MY ARMS
The only known footage of Anne Frank, watching from a window as a wedding procession begins in the summer of 1941. I found it via an article on The Smart Set, which sums it up far more articulately than I am capable of. Much more can be found at the Anne Frank House Museum Amsterdam.
What's always been the defining nature of the tragedy of the Franks, for me, was the ordinary nature of the family: these weren't war heroes or spies or members of the Resistance fighting the brave struggle. They were simple people just trying to keep their heads down and survive an onslaught that was beyond their understanding-- in short, they were me if the same thing happened to my world. Watching this very ordinary footage, with its very ordinary teenager doing what any young girl would do with such an event happening under her window, amplifies that.
Knowing what happens such a short time after this footage was recorded makes it tragic beyond words.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
TODAY AT THE FOOD HALL
Waiting for Lyn to come back from getting her lunch.
Erin: I spy with my little eye, something beginning with B.
Lee: (makes lots of guesses. Gives up)
Erin: Don't you know the word?
Lee: No.
Erin: Daddy. Everybody knows the bird is the word.
Weird fucking daughter I'm raising.
Erin: I spy with my little eye, something beginning with B.
Lee: (makes lots of guesses. Gives up)
Erin: Don't you know the word?
Lee: No.
Erin: Daddy. Everybody knows the bird is the word.
Weird fucking daughter I'm raising.
2009 YOUTUBERY
A final tubery for the old year, the two songs of my year.
No fillum clip can I find for this one, but someone was nice enough to post the song with an image of the album cover:
And the greatest rock band in the world in all their glory:
No fillum clip can I find for this one, but someone was nice enough to post the song with an image of the album cover:
And the greatest rock band in the world in all their glory:
TWTYTW
So that was 2009.
Hmm.
Actually, as years go, 2009 was a pretty good one, a feeling prompted in large part by a massive sea change halfway through the year. 2010 will be the year of completing that sea change, all things being equal, so by the time I turn 40 in November I hope to be facing the last half of my life from a pretty damn good vantage point. However, it being the turn-over of calendars and all that, the Year In Review questionnaire must by needs be posted, so see if you can spot the hidden theme within (hint: it starts with 'Mandurah'....)
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? Moved to Mandurah; bought a 2-story house
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I have goals, rather than resolutions. I set myself half a dozen goals at year’s start and I achieved four of them, so I’m pleased with that. My big goal for the upcoming year is to lose weight—I’ve got to the stage now where it’s really beginning to affect my ability to do family activities, especially with the kids, and that’s just not good enough.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Right at the end of the year, my good friends Sean & Terri welcomed their new daughter Asha into the world, their fifth consecutive daughter proving once again that Sean has the most feminine sperm in the Universe :)
4. Did anyone close to you die? Nope.
5. What countries did you visit? The country of the blind, where I was proclaimed King, until they realised I wasn’t one-eyed, just short-sighted, so they made me Minister Without Portfolio and set me loose.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Breakout success.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? May, when we moved from Clarkson to Mandurah. What started out as a decision to escape a suburb that was deteriorating before our eyes has turned into a sea change of life-altering proportions. Everything has been for the better. 14th December, when we learned the depths to which my brother has fallen.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Finishing Corpse-Rat King.
9. What was your biggest failure? My weight.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Stayed injury-free this year, which was a relief after last year’s run.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Our new house.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? My family, for grasping the opportunity afforded by our big move and pushing ahead with their own lives so beautifully. Mandurah City Council, for beginning a domestic green waste recycling program that is simple and workable enough that it should be picked up permanently and should make a big difference to our waste programs.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? My brother, whose behaviour slid from being simply selfish and amoral right into the truly criminal, and whom I now have to cut loose. He’s simply run out of chances, and I cannot expose my family to him any more.
14. Where did most of your money go? The new house.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The move to Mandurah.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Oh, Hark by Lisa Mitchell. Amazing stuff. Also Baba O’Riley by The Who, a rediscovery that kicked Lyn off onto a big Who jag that shows no sign of ending.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:i. happier or sadder? ii. thinner or fatter? iii. richer or poorer? Happier, fatter, and, if not richer, then at least our poverty is more organised :)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Progressing my work circumstances towards where I want to be, rather than where I need to be just to get by. Put simply, I wish I'd realised sooner that my work no longer fits my life.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Waiting.
20. How did you spend Christmas? Spent it alone with Lyn, while the kids were at relatives’ houses. We all got back together on Boxing Day and did things at our own speed.
21. Who did you meet for the first time? Several new work acquaintances. Big deal.
22. Did you fall in love in 2009? Well, does my new suburb count? Parrots in the backyard, kangaroos hopping down the street at dusk, long sculptued lawns and garden beds I mean, come on!
23. What was your favourite TV program? QI; Dexter season 3; BSG seasons 3 & 4; Serial Killer Sunday; Moral Orel; and bizarrely, televised poker, which we started watching late one night as a laugh and became sadly addicted to for most of the year.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No, although I do hate what my brother has become.
25. What was the best book you read? Actually, I can’t think of a *really* good book I read in 2009. Most of the books I read by my favourite authors weren’t quite up to their best—I read Snuff & Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk, for example, but neither was as good as Rant; John Cornwell’s Hitler’s Scientists isn’t as good as Hitler’s Pope; it was that kind of year. perhaps the best was Necropolis, by Catharine Arnold- a history of London's cemeteries and funerary practices that suffered from referencing too few sources too repetitively, but at least had a fascinationg central subject.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Lisa Mitchell- an amazing talent for someone so young.
27. What was your favourite film of this year? Where The Wild Things Are; Up; Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs; Battlestar Galactica: The Plan; In Bruges; District Nine. Word to Terminator: Salvation for the Golden Compass Memorial Biggest Piece of Shit of the Year Award.
28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 39, and it passed by without a blip.
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Money in volumes I could swim through.
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Fat Guy Casual.
31. What kept you sane? I am sane. It’s the rest of you that are mad. (They think I am crazy, but is it I who am crazy.....)
32. What political issue stirred you the most? I was fairly politics-free this year. My focus was largely on domestica.
33. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. Mandurah kicks Clarkson’s arse.
34. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Though my life was in a rut
‘Til I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" he said
"Grab your things I've come to take you home."
--Solisbury Hill, Peter Gabriel
Hmm.
Actually, as years go, 2009 was a pretty good one, a feeling prompted in large part by a massive sea change halfway through the year. 2010 will be the year of completing that sea change, all things being equal, so by the time I turn 40 in November I hope to be facing the last half of my life from a pretty damn good vantage point. However, it being the turn-over of calendars and all that, the Year In Review questionnaire must by needs be posted, so see if you can spot the hidden theme within (hint: it starts with 'Mandurah'....)
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? Moved to Mandurah; bought a 2-story house
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I have goals, rather than resolutions. I set myself half a dozen goals at year’s start and I achieved four of them, so I’m pleased with that. My big goal for the upcoming year is to lose weight—I’ve got to the stage now where it’s really beginning to affect my ability to do family activities, especially with the kids, and that’s just not good enough.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Right at the end of the year, my good friends Sean & Terri welcomed their new daughter Asha into the world, their fifth consecutive daughter proving once again that Sean has the most feminine sperm in the Universe :)
4. Did anyone close to you die? Nope.
5. What countries did you visit? The country of the blind, where I was proclaimed King, until they realised I wasn’t one-eyed, just short-sighted, so they made me Minister Without Portfolio and set me loose.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Breakout success.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? May, when we moved from Clarkson to Mandurah. What started out as a decision to escape a suburb that was deteriorating before our eyes has turned into a sea change of life-altering proportions. Everything has been for the better. 14th December, when we learned the depths to which my brother has fallen.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Finishing Corpse-Rat King.
9. What was your biggest failure? My weight.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Stayed injury-free this year, which was a relief after last year’s run.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Our new house.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? My family, for grasping the opportunity afforded by our big move and pushing ahead with their own lives so beautifully. Mandurah City Council, for beginning a domestic green waste recycling program that is simple and workable enough that it should be picked up permanently and should make a big difference to our waste programs.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? My brother, whose behaviour slid from being simply selfish and amoral right into the truly criminal, and whom I now have to cut loose. He’s simply run out of chances, and I cannot expose my family to him any more.
14. Where did most of your money go? The new house.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The move to Mandurah.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Oh, Hark by Lisa Mitchell. Amazing stuff. Also Baba O’Riley by The Who, a rediscovery that kicked Lyn off onto a big Who jag that shows no sign of ending.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:i. happier or sadder? ii. thinner or fatter? iii. richer or poorer? Happier, fatter, and, if not richer, then at least our poverty is more organised :)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Progressing my work circumstances towards where I want to be, rather than where I need to be just to get by. Put simply, I wish I'd realised sooner that my work no longer fits my life.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Waiting.
20. How did you spend Christmas? Spent it alone with Lyn, while the kids were at relatives’ houses. We all got back together on Boxing Day and did things at our own speed.
21. Who did you meet for the first time? Several new work acquaintances. Big deal.
22. Did you fall in love in 2009? Well, does my new suburb count? Parrots in the backyard, kangaroos hopping down the street at dusk, long sculptued lawns and garden beds I mean, come on!
23. What was your favourite TV program? QI; Dexter season 3; BSG seasons 3 & 4; Serial Killer Sunday; Moral Orel; and bizarrely, televised poker, which we started watching late one night as a laugh and became sadly addicted to for most of the year.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No, although I do hate what my brother has become.
25. What was the best book you read? Actually, I can’t think of a *really* good book I read in 2009. Most of the books I read by my favourite authors weren’t quite up to their best—I read Snuff & Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk, for example, but neither was as good as Rant; John Cornwell’s Hitler’s Scientists isn’t as good as Hitler’s Pope; it was that kind of year. perhaps the best was Necropolis, by Catharine Arnold- a history of London's cemeteries and funerary practices that suffered from referencing too few sources too repetitively, but at least had a fascinationg central subject.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Lisa Mitchell- an amazing talent for someone so young.
27. What was your favourite film of this year? Where The Wild Things Are; Up; Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs; Battlestar Galactica: The Plan; In Bruges; District Nine. Word to Terminator: Salvation for the Golden Compass Memorial Biggest Piece of Shit of the Year Award.
28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 39, and it passed by without a blip.
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Money in volumes I could swim through.
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Fat Guy Casual.
31. What kept you sane? I am sane. It’s the rest of you that are mad. (They think I am crazy, but is it I who am crazy.....)
32. What political issue stirred you the most? I was fairly politics-free this year. My focus was largely on domestica.
33. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. Mandurah kicks Clarkson’s arse.
34. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Though my life was in a rut
‘Til I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" he said
"Grab your things I've come to take you home."
--Solisbury Hill, Peter Gabriel
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
WHAT WILL I DO ON THE TRAIN TOMORROW MORNING?
1133 words this morning.
102 735 in total.
Corpse-Rat King is finished.
102 735 in total.
Corpse-Rat King is finished.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
SUNDAY YOUTUBERY
Just a little bit of genius from the immortal Joe Strummer to get us all through a stinking hot Sunday morning:
Sunday, December 06, 2009
SUNDAY YOUTUBERY
In honour of my wonderful childerbugs' birthdays, their favourite Punk-litery to twitch your 80s bop-memory.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
TO WHIT: UMMM
And just in case you thought this blog was about to fall permanently into mush and emotional blether, I give you this, without a word of explanation.
EIGHT ME ALIVE
Erin is 8 today.
It is too easy to lapse into hyperbole when talking about your loved ones. But it is nothing more than unvarnished truth to say that, without Erin, I would not be alive. The story of why belongs in the past, but at the time, she was the rope I clung to in order to climb back to the world. Without her, I would not have met Luscious. Without her, I would not have found a new family. Without her, I would not have seen the life I have seen over these last 8 years. She carries within her the part of me that I lost, and could only regain through her.
She is a child of caring and delight, who thinks Captain Sensible is marginally better than Pink; who sees no problem in growing up to be an artist, dancer, teacher, and nurse all at the same time, as long as she can still play basketball; who will thank a friend for coming to play by making her a set of earrings; who can make horns with her lower lip and turn her tongue upside down; and I cannot look at her without a blinding pride.
Happy birthday, my most beautiful daughter.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
HIGH FIVE!
5 years of my wondrous, joyous, wildly brilliant boy.
He can’t decide whether he’s going to be an astronaut or the Stig when he grows up, so he plans to be both. He knows that his secret Santa is Santa, and is the terror of face-painting ladies everywhere with demands to be made up as The Hulk or Four-Arms or (on one memorable occasion), two dragons fighting. When he hugs he does it with his entire body—arms, legs, and head—and he is the inventor and proud copyright owner of the noggin bonk kiss. He will be the first man to set foot on Mars, and while he’s there he’ll probably wee-write his name in the sand for a laugh.
He is unutterably, indisputably, and infinitely precious to me. I would burn the world rather than see him suffer a single moment of pain or misery.
Happy birthday, my beautiful little boy.
NATE OF THE STATION
Bear with me, folks. It’s been an odd period, these six months since we moved here to Paradise-By-Sea. Somehow, this shift in location has turned into the sea change I’ve been searching for over the last five years or so. It’s prompted changes at every level, from simple matters like the change of phone number through to re-evaluations of the way I conduct my life, my aims, my behaviours…. all in all, it’s keeping me busy.
Several friends have fallen by the wayside, either because of the increase in distance between us or the final stages of the natural atrophy that the relationships have been experiencing lately. Others have become more prominent. We’ve altered our finances. Our work situations have undergone drastic and fundamental change. We’re a family in evolution, and in many ways, I also am evolving into a different beast than the one who started the year.
Much of that evolution is artistic. Nanowrimo has proven to be a bust—I’ve managed 13000 words of the Cirque project, but my heart’s not been in it, and in the end it was too easy to put it down and not pick it up again. Perhaps in the New Year I’ll revisit it—it’s a decent enough idea, and I know where the story goes. But setting aside Corpse-Rat King to do it was a bad idea, especially with the first draft of that novel being so close to completion, and I’ve taken up the cudgels again with an aim to completing it by the end of the year.
I’ve rediscovered my interest in cartooning, and have filled a small bunch of notebooks with thumbnails and sketches that Luscious is currently prodding me to complete properly. I’m still reading for Midnight Echo #4, and looking forward to making some final decisions early in the New Year—if you’ve been meaning to submit, do so before you run out of time-- the sub period finishes January 31st, but if I wasn’t a patient man I could probably be thinking about filling the magazine now. And there are more novel projects planned, but none so close to the Oz SF heartland that I expect to be flogging them off at a Swancon near you.
2009 has been a very quiet year for me, artistically speaking. I’m still popping up here and there—you can read a brand new story, , Rabbit, Run over at Dark Recesses this month (if you really want to drive an editor barmy, start your story's title with a comma....) and The Claws of Native Ghosts has been chosen for the upcoming Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror Volume 4. Last weekend I joined the Queensland Writer’s Centre as a guest for their regular weekly writing race. I’ve also accepted a commission to provide the Centre with an article entitled Plot or Pants? on the differences between tight plotting and my own aimless methods. Compared to my relatively high profile in Australian small press SF circles over the past few years, however, I’ve been almost invisible, and things are likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. My literary interests are moving further and further away from the things I have produced in the past. Frankly, I like the distance, and I have aims and desires that are not simpatico with the Australian SF small press, so there’s no need to be in quite so severe a proximity.
By this time next year I’ll be 40, and if half the birthday cards at the newsagent are to be believed, I’ll have just started my life. So perhaps it’s just a mid-life crisis, or perhaps I’m just cleaning out my closet, but one phase of my life has most definitely ended, and the one that is beginning has different colours.
So bear with me while all this stuff gets flung about in the washing machine of my life. I’ll undoubtedly emerge one sock short, with a shirt that wasn’t the colour it was when it went in, but I’ll be clean and smelling slightly of lemon, and that won’t be a bad thing.
Several friends have fallen by the wayside, either because of the increase in distance between us or the final stages of the natural atrophy that the relationships have been experiencing lately. Others have become more prominent. We’ve altered our finances. Our work situations have undergone drastic and fundamental change. We’re a family in evolution, and in many ways, I also am evolving into a different beast than the one who started the year.
Much of that evolution is artistic. Nanowrimo has proven to be a bust—I’ve managed 13000 words of the Cirque project, but my heart’s not been in it, and in the end it was too easy to put it down and not pick it up again. Perhaps in the New Year I’ll revisit it—it’s a decent enough idea, and I know where the story goes. But setting aside Corpse-Rat King to do it was a bad idea, especially with the first draft of that novel being so close to completion, and I’ve taken up the cudgels again with an aim to completing it by the end of the year.
I’ve rediscovered my interest in cartooning, and have filled a small bunch of notebooks with thumbnails and sketches that Luscious is currently prodding me to complete properly. I’m still reading for Midnight Echo #4, and looking forward to making some final decisions early in the New Year—if you’ve been meaning to submit, do so before you run out of time-- the sub period finishes January 31st, but if I wasn’t a patient man I could probably be thinking about filling the magazine now. And there are more novel projects planned, but none so close to the Oz SF heartland that I expect to be flogging them off at a Swancon near you.
2009 has been a very quiet year for me, artistically speaking. I’m still popping up here and there—you can read a brand new story, , Rabbit, Run over at Dark Recesses this month (if you really want to drive an editor barmy, start your story's title with a comma....) and The Claws of Native Ghosts has been chosen for the upcoming Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror Volume 4. Last weekend I joined the Queensland Writer’s Centre as a guest for their regular weekly writing race. I’ve also accepted a commission to provide the Centre with an article entitled Plot or Pants? on the differences between tight plotting and my own aimless methods. Compared to my relatively high profile in Australian small press SF circles over the past few years, however, I’ve been almost invisible, and things are likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. My literary interests are moving further and further away from the things I have produced in the past. Frankly, I like the distance, and I have aims and desires that are not simpatico with the Australian SF small press, so there’s no need to be in quite so severe a proximity.
By this time next year I’ll be 40, and if half the birthday cards at the newsagent are to be believed, I’ll have just started my life. So perhaps it’s just a mid-life crisis, or perhaps I’m just cleaning out my closet, but one phase of my life has most definitely ended, and the one that is beginning has different colours.
So bear with me while all this stuff gets flung about in the washing machine of my life. I’ll undoubtedly emerge one sock short, with a shirt that wasn’t the colour it was when it went in, but I’ll be clean and smelling slightly of lemon, and that won’t be a bad thing.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
NANO PROGRESS
11 times 1667 equals 18 337.
Which is rather more than the 13 717 words I've completed so far this month. I've had a couple of days away from the computer here and there, so my targets are down, but I've always been quicker towards the end of a project than I am at the start, so I'm not that worried. Nano is, of course, just a guide as far as I'm concerned. My object is to complete a saleable novel, not to complete 50000 words. But it is a good way of getting your arse applied to the seat, and I'm in dire need of that.
I had 5 goals at the start of the year. Losing weight to 95 kilograms isn't going to happen, but completing Corpse-Rat King and starting a second novel will be achieved, and a month ago I would not have said it was likely. It's likely, in fact, that I'll have completed Corpse-Rat King and completed a second novel.
And for that, you can colour me pleased.
Which is rather more than the 13 717 words I've completed so far this month. I've had a couple of days away from the computer here and there, so my targets are down, but I've always been quicker towards the end of a project than I am at the start, so I'm not that worried. Nano is, of course, just a guide as far as I'm concerned. My object is to complete a saleable novel, not to complete 50000 words. But it is a good way of getting your arse applied to the seat, and I'm in dire need of that.
I had 5 goals at the start of the year. Losing weight to 95 kilograms isn't going to happen, but completing Corpse-Rat King and starting a second novel will be achieved, and a month ago I would not have said it was likely. It's likely, in fact, that I'll have completed Corpse-Rat King and completed a second novel.
And for that, you can colour me pleased.
ONE FOR THE FLIP SIDE
Now, I know I've been rabbiting on about how brilliant life is in Mandurah, about the wonder of the foreshore, and the delights of seeing wild emus and kangaroos from the train on the way home, and the relaxed and happy lifestyle we've created for ourselves and the kids. So it's perhaps only fair that I present an anecdote to prove that all is not perfect in this Paradise by the southern beaches.
Sunday night at the Silver Sands hotel drive through. The Liquorland down the road from us is closed.
No beers on display in the tiny, pokey, bottleshop.
Only a "staff only" sign on the freezer room door to indicate the presence of any beer in the building.
The following conversation ensues:
SALES BLOKE: Yeah, mate?
LEE: I'm after some beer.
SB: Yeah?
LEE: Have you got anything a bit out of the ordinary? I'm in the mood for something a bit different, you know? A bit exotic.
Long pause while shoppie stares off into the distance, no doubt mentally trawling through the miles of freezer rooms shelves weighted down with beers from every corner of the globe, searching his prodigious memory for the perfect bottle of the most exotic brew available to man. After several seconds of contemplation--
SB: Carlton Cold?
One six pack of Heineken later.........
Sunday night at the Silver Sands hotel drive through. The Liquorland down the road from us is closed.
No beers on display in the tiny, pokey, bottleshop.
Only a "staff only" sign on the freezer room door to indicate the presence of any beer in the building.
The following conversation ensues:
SALES BLOKE: Yeah, mate?
LEE: I'm after some beer.
SB: Yeah?
LEE: Have you got anything a bit out of the ordinary? I'm in the mood for something a bit different, you know? A bit exotic.
Long pause while shoppie stares off into the distance, no doubt mentally trawling through the miles of freezer rooms shelves weighted down with beers from every corner of the globe, searching his prodigious memory for the perfect bottle of the most exotic brew available to man. After several seconds of contemplation--
SB: Carlton Cold?
One six pack of Heineken later.........
THIRTEEN LOTS OF THREE
I'm 39 today.
We've kept it low-key this year. Lyn's faith is such that she's uncomfortable with making a fuss about birthdays, and whilst I take up the baton and organise the kid birthdays (My Facebook friends can tell you about how sweary I became recently whilst organising Connor's McDonald's party last week...) for myself, I'm not so fussed. I picked out my own present a month or so ago-- massive gag cartoon collections from Punch and The New Yorker-- and a certain level of skintness has meant that, rather than head out to dinner as is our normal wont, I'm about to be fed a massive plate of home-made butter chicken, crack open a beer (in honour of the way I generally feel these days, we're trying out something called 'Fat Yak' ale), and then trough my way past a bowl of amazing slow-cooked peach & apple cake with custard.
Yum :)
However, one tradition remains untouched, and that's my moment of birthday morbidity. To whit, my annual list of far more famous and talented people who I have outlived. This year's offering involves pirates, porn stars, junkies and suicides, which should tell you the sort of company I'm keeping these days :)
Ta, as they say in the classics, da:
We've kept it low-key this year. Lyn's faith is such that she's uncomfortable with making a fuss about birthdays, and whilst I take up the baton and organise the kid birthdays (My Facebook friends can tell you about how sweary I became recently whilst organising Connor's McDonald's party last week...) for myself, I'm not so fussed. I picked out my own present a month or so ago-- massive gag cartoon collections from Punch and The New Yorker-- and a certain level of skintness has meant that, rather than head out to dinner as is our normal wont, I'm about to be fed a massive plate of home-made butter chicken, crack open a beer (in honour of the way I generally feel these days, we're trying out something called 'Fat Yak' ale), and then trough my way past a bowl of amazing slow-cooked peach & apple cake with custard.
Yum :)
However, one tradition remains untouched, and that's my moment of birthday morbidity. To whit, my annual list of far more famous and talented people who I have outlived. This year's offering involves pirates, porn stars, junkies and suicides, which should tell you the sort of company I'm keeping these days :)
Ta, as they say in the classics, da:
- Blackbeard
- Charlotte Bronte
- Harry Chapin
- Dimebag Darryl
- Ted Demme
- Lolo Ferrari
- George Gershwin
- Florence Griffith Joyner
- John-John Kennedy
- Sam Kinnison
- Mario Lanza
- Sonny Liston
- Louis XVI
- Anna Malle
- Marie Prevost
- David Rappaport
- Charles Kingsford Smith
- Johnny Thunders
Sunday, November 01, 2009
SCENES FROM A MALL..... OR FROM A WRITING DAY, TAKE YOUR PICK
The problem with being part of the internet generation: it makes the whole "You hang up, no you hang up..." part of the conversation look ludicrous! 
And they were never seen again: Four children who have never watched Blood Beach wander away to play while we work.
Biffie! Pip! The view is over here, guys! 
No, really, I mean it. You hang up!NANOWRIMO DAY ONE
Day one of Nano completed, and a couple of hours down the foreshore with Lyn, her best friend Terri, and the sort of view out the cafe window that people in ludicrously large sunglasses who call themselves names like 'Pip' and 'Biffie' spend millions trying to find, and.... well, it's a start anyway. After over a year working on Corpse-Rat King, especially when I'm so close to the end, shifting gears to starting a fresh work that's so completely different is a wrench and a half, but I churned out some wordage, and, well, weeeeeeee.
November's a birthday-heavy month and the desire of my workplace to fuck me over at any available opportunity is going to present some challenges, but all things being equal (excepting, of course, odd numbers), I may have 2 completed novels by the end of the year.
Which will be nice.
And so to the word meters--
1754 / 50000
3.51%
MOVING ALONG
Fine, thanks. How are you?
Corpse-Rat King is lurching towards a conclusion. I've completed 95 000 words and have one longish section towards the end to knit togvether and the first draft will be completed. Say another 2 or 3 thousand words tops, and then I can let it stew until January before I go back and begin carving it up into tiny little pieces and painting them different colours.
Oh, and I've joined Nanowrimo again this year. The project this time round is a novelisation of my TV script Cirque, which garnered some positive comments from last year's WA Film Corporation script competition without managing to win. If you're of a mind to join the program (or already have) and want to buddy up, I'm entered under the name leebattersby, and my page is here.
Elsewhere, domesticity reigns. Mandurah in spring is a groovelicious thing: we pressed the nostalgia buttion big time the other weekend by packing the kids up and catching the ferry over to Penguin Island, prompting me to tell anyone who'd listen about how the last time I'd gone over, back in 1990 when I was still living in Rockingham, I'd walked across on the sandbar; how there were no boardwalks and we could clamber over all the rock faces that are now sealed off for the bird sanctuary; how I'd stayed at the camp buildings that stood where the penguin feeding area stands now; how we'd sat under the caves that are now sealed off beause of the falling risk.... in between my old man stories we spent a gorgeous afternoon beachcombing for shells, sharing lunch with the enormous skinks that invaded the picnic area, and embarking on the glass-bottom boat tour to Seal Island to watch seals play in the surf and a solitary dolphin bully a stingray out of its meal.
Idyllic? Bloody paradise, mate.
Lyn and the kids find the perfect spot to start building a hut, whilst I go looking for coconuts with which to start building a radio.
Hello, laaaaaaaaaaaadies.
The side of human/animal interactions that PETA doesn't tell you about-- a skink with a shoe fetish. Tragic, just tragic.
Minemineminemineminemineminemineminemine....
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTISTS AS A FOUR YEAR OLD BUTT
Question: What do you get if you give the kids the camera to amuse themselves while you’re sitting in the car waiting for their Mum to come out of the house?
Answer: This. Lots and lots of this.
RAMSEY CAMPBELL TO JUDGE THE NAMELESS COMPETITION
The AHWA and 'Nameless' competition director Stephen Studach are thrilled to announce that the ‘Nameless’ competition will be judged by multi-award winning master of dark fiction Ramsey Campbell.
In honour of Mr. Campbell’s involvement, the competition’s deadline has been extended to the 13th of March, 2010.
Read the story here. Come up with a conclusion and a title! Make your $10 donation and enter the competition here.
Competition prizes include a $500 winner’s cheque, and a prize pool of horror goodies:
The six best endings will be featured at HorrorScope - The Australian Dark Fiction Weblog.
All proceeds from this competition go to award-winning author Paul Haines, to assist Paul and the Haines family, while Paul undergoes treatment for cancer.
In honour of Mr. Campbell’s involvement, the competition’s deadline has been extended to the 13th of March, 2010.
Read the story here. Come up with a conclusion and a title! Make your $10 donation and enter the competition here.
Competition prizes include a $500 winner’s cheque, and a prize pool of horror goodies:
• A manuscript version of the story signed by as many of the writers involved as can be tracked down.
• A copy of The Australian Writer’s Marketplace 2009/2010.
• A copy of The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror 19th annual collection (edited by Datlow, Link & Grant.)
• Free 1-year membership, or 12-month renewal, to the Australian Horror Writers Association.
• Books: Signed limited editions – Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge; Wild Things by Douglas Clegg; Prodigal Blues by Gary A. Braunbeck.
• A boost to any personal horror library – Development Hell by Mick Garris; Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill; Infected by Scott Sigler; The Nature of Balance by Tim Lebbon; The Dark Descent edited by David G. Hartwell; a pre-loved copy of The Books of Blood (vols 1-3) from Marty Young’s own collection.
• A first edition of The Last Days of Kali Yuga, Paul Haines’ forthcoming collection of stories; published to impeccable standards by Brimstone Press, and slated for release in December 2009.
The six best endings will be featured at HorrorScope - The Australian Dark Fiction Weblog.
All proceeds from this competition go to award-winning author Paul Haines, to assist Paul and the Haines family, while Paul undergoes treatment for cancer.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
SO VERY CLOSE YET SO VERY VERY FAR.....
Outside the Bunbury art gallery there's a seating area, covered by a pergola whose roof is slanted at something like 60 degrees. I point at it as we cruise past.
ME: Check it out. Rodin's "Ski-jump"
AIDEN: (Deadly serious) Why would he need a ski jump? He's got wings.
I swear, I had to pull the car over so we didn't crash.
ME: Check it out. Rodin's "Ski-jump"
AIDEN: (Deadly serious) Why would he need a ski jump? He's got wings.
I swear, I had to pull the car over so we didn't crash.
Merde, I have dropped mah beret!
Sunday, October 04, 2009
IN NEWS ABOUT ACTUAL WRITERS
Ellen Datlow has posted the Table of Contents for her upcoming The Year's Best Horror Volume 1. I'm pleased to cop a couple of mentions in the Honourable Mentions list, and over the moon to see Lyn's name there as well amongst pals like Chris Green, Geoff Maloney and Michael Greenhut. And high fives all round for my buddies Paul Haines, Richard Harland (Told you, Richard!) and Ian McHugh for placing within the book itself-- three reasons why this is likely to be about the only spec fic book I buy next year.
Check out the full list here.
Check out the full list here.
DEAR MR KING, THANK YOU FOR SUBMITTING....
If you've been watching the net over the last week or so, you may be aware of the rather large shitstorm that's sprung up around the wretched and twisted form of one Richard Ridyard, a filthy little plagiarist of the first water. if you haven't, here's a good place to start.
I've had the pleasure of reading no less than three of Mister Ridyard's efforts during my editorship of Midnight Echo #4, and rejected each one of them before knowing of the dirty trick this little weasel was perpetrating, although I had the even greater pleasure of writing to him again once the news of his plagiarism broke and giving him a second, more creatively worded, assessment of his talents (It also means that, basically, I rejected a Stephen King story at first sight. Snurk.)
Anybody so low as to rip wholsesale from other writers is a worthless little turd-- it's not like 98% are getting paid living wages for what we do. Anybody inbreddumbfuckstupid enough to steal from the likes of King deserves to have their gonads squelched to stop them breeding.
And as this little tosspot has so quickly removed himself from consideration of the normal decencies, feel free to email him here and pass on your appreciation. If you'd like to read more on how the writing sphere has taken this carefree little moppet to their hearts, Angel Zapata has come up with a pretty decent list of blog posts. You'll be amazed at how he's gotten around: here's the post.
I've had the pleasure of reading no less than three of Mister Ridyard's efforts during my editorship of Midnight Echo #4, and rejected each one of them before knowing of the dirty trick this little weasel was perpetrating, although I had the even greater pleasure of writing to him again once the news of his plagiarism broke and giving him a second, more creatively worded, assessment of his talents (It also means that, basically, I rejected a Stephen King story at first sight. Snurk.)
Anybody so low as to rip wholsesale from other writers is a worthless little turd-- it's not like 98% are getting paid living wages for what we do. Anybody inbreddumbfuckstupid enough to steal from the likes of King deserves to have their gonads squelched to stop them breeding.
And as this little tosspot has so quickly removed himself from consideration of the normal decencies, feel free to email him here and pass on your appreciation. If you'd like to read more on how the writing sphere has taken this carefree little moppet to their hearts, Angel Zapata has come up with a pretty decent list of blog posts. You'll be amazed at how he's gotten around: here's the post.
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