TICONDEROGA ISSUE 2

Is up! Short stories by the altogether groovy Geoffrey Maloney and Trent Jamieson, interviews with fabbo Perth writer KA Bedford and Agog Press' Cat Sparks, book reviews, an editorial by yours truly, and more free items of gonzo goodness. Go see!

WHO IS NUMBER ONE?

Watched the 2nd DVD in The Prisoner series the other night, comprising episodes 5-8. I'm still loving it: I haven't been this excited about a TV show since I discovered Red Dwarf about 10 years ago, and I don't remember an SF movie or series this dense, intelligent, and enigmatic. Good pal Cheshire sent me a list showing various orders in which the episodes can be watched: Patrick McGoohan's order for the 'core' 7 episodes leads me to ponder the phrase "Movie Night"... :)

GROUPS, AND WRITING IN THEM

Attended the monthly KSP SF writing group today, and came away with mixed feelings. To my mind, the main function of a writing group is to write, and I'm bemused by a group that doesn't take the opportunity of being together to do just that. Being the obsessive writer-geek that I am, I'm aware that all I need to write is an excuse, but I've never been terribly interested in getting together and spending 3 or 4 hours critiquing everyone's work with nothing else involved. It's important to get another's view on your work, b ut it's not the only thing you can do with a dozen like-minded people in close proximity with the sole purpose of being SF writers.

It brings back to me very strongly the notion that it's important, if you're going to be part of a group, to be part of one that fits your needs. After all, it's voluntary, and any activity that doesn't involve writing is taking you away from the reason you're in it for the first place: the writing. I'm coming to the same conclusion with some of the mailing lists I'm on: a quick scan of the members shows that almost none of the big-name Oz SF writers are present, and it's impossible to escape the feeling that while the rest of us are gabbing, they're off somewhere else, writing. And I don't know anymore if I can afford the time...

Events in the real world over the past few weeks have left me pondering my approach to most of what I do, and it's beginning to feel like I need to turn that re-assessing eye onto my writing practices as well.