Swancon Panel: Writing: The Lifestyle

Today, I was on a panel at Swancon about the writing lifestyle. Which, for me as a long short story writer, largely relates to holidays and early morning rises before work. The other panelists were Isobelle Carmody, Anne Bishop, David Luckett, and Cat Sparks.

Being relatively new to the craft,  I felt a little like a minnow in the room beforehand (as I work and don't make a sole living out of stories) but that feeling dissipated quickly due to the friendly, welcoming, and respectful nature of the panelists.

As for habits of the panel: some of us write at cafes (I often do),while others have a strict home routine (which I do too on holidays). What seems important to most is trying to maintain life balance. Writing is, after all, a solitary and consuming and hence, potentially dangerous craft.

Isobelle Carmody has a zest for living and writing. She prefers to write in cafes as the buzz of people makes the craft a little more social. She's quite similar to me in that if she takes herself to a cafe, she knows that she's there for a specific reason and can't fall asleep or be distracted by life or other responsibilities. Before workdays, I also often go for a morning ride and a quick write at a cafe to keep in practice.  I work in a more disciplined fashion during my time off work.

When writing at home and it's fair weather out, Isobelle plays soundtracks of actual rain to keep her in that Gothic writing groove. 

I met Cat Sparks for the first time at the Aurealis Awards in Sydney a couple of years ago and we had a great time, so it felt like a brief reunion of sorts. I felt that Cat, a multiple award winning short story writer, was far too severe on herself during the panel with regards to not having written a completed novel. I think we all need to celebrate every writing achievement and Cat Sparks has achieved plenty in the world of speculative short fiction. We all have goals and ambitions but Cat has been a stalwart over a vast period of time and that's something to rejoice in. 

David Luckett was both dour and philosophical and also quite entertaining as he challenged the whole notion of lifestyle.

Anne Bishop appeared to have great balance within her own life and strongly suggested to all that it wasn't always the case. I admired her open way with the audience. Anne is a disciplined 'home' writer by day. And her healthy lifestyle seems to have helped her in terms of both her writing and life in general.

All panelists were genuine and warm. All love the craft, although David's love was more veiled. I hope the audience got something out of it as I certainly did. 

Book Buying: I bought copious amounts of books (as usual) from Ticonderoga Press and Twelfth Planet Press tables and also the Ann & Jeff VanderMeer anthology of time travel stories: The Time Traveler's Almanac. I have bibliophilic issues...

Currently Reading: Dangerous Women ed George RR Martin & Gardner Dozois, Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey, which will be followed by The Pure Gold Baby by Margaret Drabble and an expository text about Neanderthals: The Neanderthals Rediscovered by Dimitra Papagianni & Michael A. Morse.

Happy reading and writing!
 

  

Overland Literary Journal 214, Autumn and my latest story "Submerging"

My latest story "Submerging" will be in the pages of Overland Literary Journal 214, Autumn. It'll be launched this evening in Melbourne at what looks like a fab event 'Journal-Palooza 2014'.

There's free wine, hundreds attending and I'd imagine lots of fun to be had. As a Perthite, it's the usual problem of distance but I hope those present have a wonderful time. Don't think you can go wrong with free wine in a great venue. So eat, drink and have a listen to what I'm sure will be some engaging speakers and readers.

If you're a Melbournite or in Melbourne or want to travel to Melbourne or... then here's the link below (hope it works. I'm too young to be a Luddite.):

 https://www.facebook.com/events/1463717933857213/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Just in case it doesn't, here's some of the details: 

• 9 April at 18:30–22:00

• Wide Open Road 274 Barkly Street, Brunswick, Victoria 3056

Join us on Wednesday April 9th as four of Australia’s premier literary journals - Kill Your Darlings, Meanjin Quarterly, The Lifted Brow and Overland Literary Journal - launch together for 2014!

I'm proud of "Submerging" and I'm not a writer who normally confesses that. Without giving too much away, I think, or at least hope, that you'll find it highly topical. It's also my shortest story at only 2400 words.

To have a second story in Overland within the space of a few years is a dream for any writer - it's simply a journal flooded with superb material. I look forward to reading not only the other stories by Ben Walter and Kate Hall but also a story inspired from Overland 32 by Roma O'Brien (1965): a 'fancy cut' piece by the wonderful, Josephine Rowe,  And then there's all the usual insightful, courageous and thought provoking articles that make up the literary, political and socio-cultural juggernaut that is Overland.


 

Writers [on Writing]: Ed McBain

Like a jazz piano player, a good writer of short crime fiction didn't think he knew his job unless he could improvise on all twelve keys. Ringing variations on the theme was what made it such fun.

Ed McBain "She Was Blond. She Was in Trouble. And She Paid 3 Cents a Word"

Writers [On Writing]: David Mamet

The purpose of literature is to Delight. To create or endorse the scholastic is a craven desire.

David Mamet, The Humble Genre Novel, Sometimes Full of Genius

David Mamet's essay is a celebration of genre novels (Patrick O'Brien in particularly) and what they offer the reading community. And, part of me, the part that writes genre, agrees with Mamet's above statement, trumpet blazing away: 'Hey, listen all. Genre is the real deal!' After all, literature of the past and present has so many lasting and memorable novels that fall into the 'genre' category. Concentrating on speculative fiction alone, (which nowadays refers to anything that touches on the unreal), a few obvious examples from the Victorian era that remain in our literary canon include The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein and Dracula; and from the present, the much lauded collections of contemporary writers Micahel Chabon and Karen Russell are just a starting point.

Yet, another side of me, and it's not the 'realist' writer, steams over Mamet's comment.  A comment that reeks of intolerance. A comment which has the same stench of prejudice that fuels my anger when realist readers dismiss the genre world. 

There is no doubting that to 'Delight' or 'Entertain' is the crucial element of any narrative but to belittle any kind of text, 'scholastic' or otherwise, due to one's personal taste is both demeaning and narrow minded in itself. It's a notion that bears resemblance to the tyrannical: What the King thinks is law. After all, what delights me differs from others and others delight differs from others in turn. To dismiss the 'scholastic' novel is therefore as narrow minded as those who dismiss the 'genre'  world. After all, is there anything more subjective than reading?

Juicy narratives entertain me. I'll admit it.  I'm a sucker for a great spec-fic tale, fantastic worlds like those of George RR Martin and JRR Tolkien, and the wonderful storytelling that accompanies them, but I also enjoy writing for other reasons. I'm held willing hostage, for instance, by the prose of Angela Carter, even more so, perhaps, than her narratives - I'm stimulated, bewildered, and of course, delighted, by Carter's command of syntax. I also revel in the ostentatious or fresh voices used by writers like Will Self or Junot Diaz. And then again, there are those writers whose prose impresses me with its pared back and contained style: Cormac McArthy's The Road and Neil Gaiman's recent Ocean at the End of the Lane (although both are also rhythmical), being fine examples of this. 

The whole notion of completely separating the scholastic from genre is ridiculous in itself. Huxley's Brave New World is a fine example. Although not personally my favourite work (I still admire it),  the richness of the text clearly comes from Huxley's scholastic interest in the future and his scholarly investigation of both the sciences and the humanities, as much as the genre world, in which it is set. In fact, there are a vast number of genre novels in the 'spec-fic' field that explore the 'scholastic'.

At a fundamental level, 'Delight' in a fictional text comes through a variety of means: through prose, through intellectual exploration or simply through an intriguing entertaining narrative. To deny one form of delight is to be as intolerant and fearful as those who deny the others. Read for delight by all means, but don't try to deny that literature delights readers in different ways.

I think that the pigeon holers, from both sides of the field, need to reign themselves in... or even better: remain locked-up in their birdcages. 

Aurealis Awards

Great to see Dreaming of Djinn ed. Liz Grzyb as a finalist for the best anthology. A huge huzzah to all the writers, publishers and editors involved with any of the listed finalists.  What a wealth of talent!

http://aurealisawards.com/Media%20Release%20-%20Finalists%20Feb%202014.pdf

Reading and Writing Review, 2013

Books Read in 2013

The 25 books I read in 2013 are listed below:

Levant: Splendour and Castastrophe in the Mediterranean Philip Mansel(History)                                                           
Collected Stories Richard Yates                                            
Liars in Love Richard Yates                                                   
Selected Stories Alice Munro                                                
Burial Rites Hannah Kent                                                      
Sea Hearts Margo Lanagan                                                   
Bad Power Deborah Biancotti                                                 
The Ocean at the End of the Lane Neil Gaiman (YA)            
Dreaming of Djinn Ed. Liz Gryzb                                          
Siren Beat Tansy Rayner Roberts (novella)                          
The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror, 2011 Ed. Liz Gryzb & Talie Helene
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer    
Dancing with Bears Michael Swanwick                               
The Comedians Graham Greene                                            
Roadkill Robert Shearman (novella)                                     
Homer & Langley E. L Doctorow
The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern
Teatime for the Traditionally Built  Alexander McAll Smith
Queenpin Megan Abbott                                                       
The Sword of the Lictor Gene Wolfe                                      
Steampunk’d ed. Jean Rabe & Marin H. Greenberg                 
Granta 117 Horror  
Religion for Atheists Alain De Botton (Expository)                                                                     Strange Objects Gary Crew                                                   
All That I Am Anna Funder

Currently Reading

I’m currently reading Vampires in the Lemon Grove by the exceptional Karen Russell and Eclipse Four ed Jonathan Strahan. Reading Strahan’s Locus Awards anthology led me to appreciate long speculative fiction and its vast potential in the literary world. Since then I’ve bought most of his many anthologies, so it’s time I got around to reading them. I’ll comment on both of these works in next year’s review.  

I’m also reading Junot Diaz’ The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao, which has impressed me, particularly in terms of wit and fresh narrative voice. For those of us outside of the Hispanic World, a glossary of Spanish terms could have come in handy. Nevertheless, I think it deserved its awarded Pulitzer.

And finally, Dinosaurs, A Very Short Introduction by the palaeobiologist, David Norman. Robert Bakker’s innovative work rejuvenated my interest in the ‘adult’ world of dinosaurs and Norman writes along those lines (without being quite so provocative – Bakker covered a lot of that ground) so I’m savouring it. A recent visit to the marvellous Natural History Museum of London was the catalyst for the read.

THE BEST READS:

History

Levant: Splendour and Castastrophe in the Mediterranean by Philip Mansel (History)
                                                           
My Pappou grew up in Alexandria and was born in the town of Levisi, a now empty Greek town in modern day Turkey (Lycia), so this was a fascinating and almost personal read for me. I’ve also spent around six months in Thessaloniki (a city Mansel also delves into) when I was 24-25. Mansel is an extraordinary historian who is able to combine sophisticated language, anecdotes and primary sources in a style which is still quite intimate.  This is a must read for any history buff – or anyone interested in the Levant and its peoples (chiefly Arabs, Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Jews, French, Italians and Bulgarians). There is an in-depth coverage of Alexandria, Beirut, Smyrna/ Izmir and Thessaloniki/ Salonika. I consider myself well read on the topic but Mansel unearthed more than a few marvels for me in this excellent history.

Anthologies and Collections

It would be inappropriate to comment here on the two that I have stories in (Dreaming of Djinn and The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror, 2011). 

Richard Yates’ Liars in Love and his Collected Stories are simply superb. In my opinion he deserved so much more recognition for his rendering of the world of the everyday man in such a sardonic, colourful and often poignant manner. I regularly reflect on his stories well after reading them. Yates’ short fiction is easily some of the best that I’ve read. 




Selected Stories by Alice Munro, this year’s Nobel Laureate, is a collection that I’ve been dipping in and out of for the last couple of years. Munro is a modern day artist who breaks boundaries by venturing down different angles and paths in a rich descriptive tapestry, which often culminate in pensive open-endings. Although the collection is outstanding, I’d recommend that you read The Progress of Love or The Beggar’s Maid  (or both) as the stories from these collections stood out as being especially great. 

And finally, for the fans of speculative fiction, Bad Power by Deborah Biancotti was a well-paced and well-written collection that kept me utterly absorbed. It was a pleasure discovering another Australian talent this year. 

Novels

Two Australian writers stole the ‘reading show’ for me this year: Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites was my favourite with Margo Lanagan’s Sea Hearts just a smidgen away from it. Both are set on cold, windy isles. Kent’s is an historical story set in Iceland and Lanagan’s is on a fictional ‘selkie’ island that sounds like it’s off the coast of the British Isles.

 I also found Neil Gaiman’s YA novel (a genre I don’t typically warm to) The Ocean at the End of the Lane a very good read.

Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites left me wondering at first. There are a few places where the writing could have been stronger - her overt use of ‘pause’ in one or two places in her dialogue could have been handled with more subtlety (the word itself in dialogue is usually superfluous if the punctuation is there) and there were some other areas that in a basic technical sense jarred. But there are also so many strengths here. Kent places the reader into an Iceland of yesteryear in a brilliantly effective fashion, working with sensory imagery that has you living and breathing the very land.  I was consumed by the smells and workings of the hearth; the cold nipped at and bit at my skin. And then there is the constant unveiling, which invites the reader to plunge into the icy story and consume it greedily. This is not only a special debut novel, it is a special novel. Kudos to Kent. It will most likely be made into an award winning film. The atmosphere and tension that Kent has masterfully created have all the makings.

Margo Lanagan’s Sea Hearts is a novel that I’ve commented on before but do read this non–linear novel. You’ll feel as though you’re on some wind-swept, cold Celtic island being buffeted about (yes, both sun-struck Australians' works: Kent's and Lanagan's, share strong atmospheric similarities). The characters are particularly well-drawn and Lanagan writes this in her typically strong voiced folksy manner. There’s plenty of rhythm in the prose and although it may feel fairly simple, there are the usual ‘Lanagan layers’ that warrant a much closer look. Sea Hearts deserves the praise and many awards it’s received. Awards for Lanagan have become ubiquitous in speculative fiction, and why not? Lanagan is certainly a praise-worthy writer.

Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane utilises language appropriate for younger readers. It’s written in an honest and ‘pure’ style and doesn’t seem to overextend for anything more. Oceans at the End of the Lane is a reflective novel delving into the protagonist’s childhood. It examines fantasy and memory and the life-changing moments of one’s life. I always enjoy Gaiman but for me this had something special and the book club conversation with Tara and Colleen only confirmed that. There are a couple of ways that you could examine this novel and its use of fantasy. What’s real and what isn’t? The mundane vs the fantastic vs the combination of both. It’s Gaiman’s ‘coming-of-age’ work, although I’m not entirely sure that the younger target audience will appreciate it as much as older readers. Its reflective voice is sincere and honest and ultimately it’s this pared back ‘purity’ that makes the story all the more powerful.

Disappointment

Hate to say it but Anna Funder’s All That I Am.

I missed something here. I wanted to love it. It examines some potentially interesting characters during the latter days of the Weimar Republic and then the resistance against the Nazis afterwards. What shouldn't there be to like? But it fell flat with me. It wasn’t terrible but it certainly didn’t live up to the hype surrounding it. Then again, reading is such a subjective pastime.

WRITING 

I have only written a couple of stories each year of late due to work commitments, so having two more published in 2013 was very rewarding. It was nice to have a ‘lit’ story in Meanjin as well as an historical-fantasy in the anthology Dreaming of Djinn.

With regards to the story from that anthology, it was a thrill to see it reviewed so nicely by Rich Horton in the pages of the world’s leading speculative fiction magazine Locus Magazine. 

I’ve finished my first draft of a novel too.

So the goals for 2013 are:

1.     Write two or three ‘long’ short stories.

2.     Have a story published in 2014 (my goal is always at least one per year).  This goal has come to fruition already. 

As for blogging, possibly one post a month. I don’t put my personal world out there, which makes this a very ‘bookish’ blog. I’m not a blogger by nature, so expect fewer of these unpolished posts. I wrote far fewer this year too. It’s just not a world that I’m crazy about. Although I will confess to following quite a few blogs of others… 

WRITING NEWS

Once again, it’s been nice to have a foot in both camps: the ‘realist’ world and the ‘spec-fic’ world. I’ve two stories coming out soon: my shortest story ever at only 2300 words, “Submerging” will be in Overland Literary Journal #214. It’s my second story in what’s my favourite literary journal, and I’m also ecstatic that “The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople” will be in the Ticonderoga anthology Kisses by Clockwork ed. Liz Grzyb. 

The latter story is much longer at almost 7000 words. It’s the second time that I’ve purposefully written for an anthology (Dreaming of Djinn was the first). It’s an interesting process. You’re compelled to write something that at least squeezes into a theme and therefore it encourages ‘forced creativity’. And let’s not forget a much shorter timeline. It enables you, as a writer, to also test your boundaries, writing for a theme that you may not have naturally written about beforehand. The story, a fairly dark one, is my first venture into the realm of ‘steampunk’. Don’t read my story for the romance though – there’s not a Hell of a lot there. 

SHORT STORIES

I’ve read 106 stories and anally recorded them. My usual list of the 25 best reads of 2013 will be posted soon.

NEW YEAR

Just wanted to wish you all the best for 2014. Hope that you get to read a few books, watch a few films, go for a few walks, sing a few songs, and let those close to you know that you care. 

25 Recommended Stories from my 2013 Reading

In 2013, I read 106 'long' short stories. Finalising a list of 25 highly recommended stories is never easy but these were my favourites:

“A Private Posession” Richard Yates (Uncollected Stories in Collected Stories)     

“Fits” Alice Munro Munro (Selected Stories: originally in The Progress of Love)  

“Saying Goodbye to Sally” Richard Yates (Liars in Love)                                      

“Dulse” Alice Munro (Selected Stories: Originally in The Moons of Jupiter)          

“Evening on the Cote d’Azur” Richard Yates (Uncollected Stories in Collected Stories)                                                                                                                       

“The Turkey Season” Alice Munro (Selected Stories: Originally in The Moons of Jupiter)                                                                                                                           

“Forever, Miss Tapekwa County” Lisa L. Hannett (The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror, 2011)                                                                                         

“Reeling for the Empire” Karen Russell (Vampires in the Lemon Grove originally in Tin House)                                                                                                                  

“The Comptroller and the Wild Wind”  Richard Yates (Uncollected Stories in Collected Stories)                                                                                                        

“Regards at Home” Richard Yates (Liars in Love)                                                      

“The Oblivion Box” Faith Mudge (Dreaming of Djinn)                                            

“Palming the Lady” Deborah Biancotti (Bad Power)                                                  

“Liars in Love” Richard Yates (Liars in Love)                                                          

“A Clinical Romance” Richard Yates (Uncollected Stories in Collected Stories)     

“A Compassionate Leave” Richard Yates (Liars in Love)                                         

“Silver, Sharp as Silk” Dan Rabarts (Dreaming of Djinn)                                         

“Lichen” Alice Munro (Selected Stories: originally in The Progress of Love)         

“Web of Lies”  Deborah Biancotti (Bad Power)                                                       

“Berries and Incense” Felicity Dowker (The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror, 2011)                                                                                                     

“The Beggar Maid” Alice Munro (Selected Stories)                                                 

“The Quiet Realm of the Dark Queen” Jenny Blackford (Dreaming of Djinn)       

“This is my Living Room” Tom Mcafee (Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories ed. James Moffett & Kenneth R. McElheny originally in Poems and Stories by Tom Mcafee)                                                                                                              

“A Convalescent Ego” Richard Yates (Uncollected Stories in Collected Stories)    

“Vampires in the Lemon Grove” Karen Russell (Vampires in the Lemon Grove originally in Zoetrope:All Story                                                                                  

“Cross that Bridge” Deborah Biancotti (Bad Power)                                                

Year in Review to Come and Latest Publication News

In the UK on holidays, so I'll post my usual year in review regarding reading and writing when I'm back in Australia. It'll include the usual list of my favourite 25 stories from the year's reading.



In the meanwhile, 2014 is looking great. Before the end of 2013, I heard news that I'll have two stories out in the earlier part of 2014: "Submerging" in Overland 214, which is my second story in that fantastic journal, and the other is "The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople", which I'd written for the Ticonderoga anthology Kisses by Clockwork. 




Kisses by Clockwork edited by Liz Grzyb, will be published in April. The launch will be even more special as it's happening in my home city of Perth!


Contributing to its 105,000 words are some very fine spec-fic writers:

• Marilag Angway, "Smuggler's Deal"
• Cherith Baldry, "The Venetian Cat"
• Gio Clairval, "The Writing Cembalo"
• M L D Curelas, "Ironclad"
• Ray Dean, "Practically Perfect"
• Stephanie Gunn, "Escapement"
• Richard Harland, "The Kiss of Reba Maul"
• Rebecca Harwell, "Love in the Time of Clockwork Horses"
• Faith Mudge, "Descension"
• Nicole Murphy, "The Wild Colonial Clockwork Boy"
• Katrina Nicholson, "Lady Presto Magnifico and the Disappearing Glass Ceiling"
• Anthony Panegyres, "The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople"
• Amanda Pillar, "A Clockwork Heart"
• Angela Rega, "The Law of Love"
• Carol Ryles, "Siri and the Chaos-Maker"
• DC White, "South, to Glory"

"Submerging" is a metaphorical story set on a fictitious Polynesian island and "The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople" is my first foray into the steampunk realm.



More news to come but for now I hope that you have a wonderful 2014!

Writers [on Writing]: David Leavitt

That creativity lies on the other side of madness is commonplace, though popularly the madness with which art is associated is of the delusional variety, marked by visions and demons.

David Leavitt, Comforting Lessons in Arranging Life's Details

Overland Subscriberthon

Overland Literary Journal is having its annual Subscriberthon.

For me, it’s not about the gifts and packages Overland is offering (although Christmas is around the corner), I’m a subscriber as I believe in what they offer to the community: a willingness to engage in socialist discourse – and serve up a polemic when required too.  

The fact of the matter is that you can read the journal for free online. So, in effect, subscribing is similar to donating to the journal. A journal, mind you, that has been steadfastly at the forefront of socio-cultural and political discussion since it began in 1954.

 Overland encourages an open-minded liberal debate. And, what’s more, as a subscriber you’ll be supporting writers who earn the professional standards of pay that Overland provide, which is a rarity in the world of modern literary journals.

As a short story writer, I’m a keen reader of Overland's prose (another reason to subscribe as fiction resonates far better for me in print). Under the previous fiction-editor, Jane Gleeson-White, and the current fiction-editor, Jennifer Mills, the selection of stories has been impressive, a mixture of new and established writers who merit praise. Let’s not forget that Overland unearth new names (and hopefully future stars of Australian literature) as well as publish established authors, including Peter Carey, Patrick White, Thea Astley, Christos Tsiolkas, Sophie Cunningham, Charlotte Wood, Margo Lanagan and many, many more.

Despite their free option, or as a result of it, under the guidance of the mercurial Jeff Sparrow, Overland is growing in terms of both readership and subscribers (both at a 30 year high). They are also closing in on 5500 followers on Facebook. Overland's recent growth is integral to the left having an impact. Its many voices are being heard. 

If you’re interested in the arts, literature, politics, as well as cultural and social issues, then Overland could well be the journal for you.

I’ve attached the contents page of the latest edition. Take a look for yourself:

http://overland.org.au/previous-issues/issue-212/

Writers [on Writing]: Hans Koning

Serious writing is not better; it has a different origin. It is writing what you have to write, what you hear in your mind.
        You don't inquire what is selling those days. You don't worry about what editors or reviewers may like or not like. 

                                  

Hans Koning, Summoning the Mystery and Tragedy, but in a Subterranean Way

Writers [on Writing]: Barbara Kingslover

Writers [on Writing]: Barbara Kingslover

In actual word count, if the literary novels in my bookcase accurately represent human experience, it looks as if people spend roughly half their time in intelligent dialogue about the meaning of their lives, and 1 percent of it practicing or contemplating coition.
         Excuse me, but I don't think so.
         Why should literary authors shy away from something so important?

Barbara Kingslover, A Forbidden Territory to All

 

A Few Years Ago: Reading Alice Munro

A Few Years Ago

A few years ago I despairingly forced myself to read Munro. I couldn't appreciate her style at all: overly descriptive, overly wordy and overly subtle plots. 'Littish wank.'

Yet now I keenly observe everything she does. Her generally subtle plots are wonderful flavours imbuing her work; her significant details enable us to view humanity under a microscope; she evokes relationships with elegant descriptive brushstrokes. Her structure is also unique and effective, almost like biographical or autobiographical snapshots (sometimes a series of snapshots).

I suppose what Munro has taught me is that the more you read and write the more you appreciate different aspects of narrative mastery. The irony is that a few years ago I would have told friends to avoid her, unless they liked wading through a turgid mire.

A few years later and I'm a Munro evangelist: 'Read Munro!'

Review of Dreaming of Djinn in Locus Magazine, Michael Swanwick's Blog, Current Reads and Latest Publication News

Locus Magazine Review of "Oleander: An Ottoman Tale" from Rich Horton

The end of Rich Horton's Short Fiction Review in Locus Magazine (October) included a nice review of my story "Oleander: an Ottoman Tale" in Dreaming of Djinn.

As short fiction reviewers for speculative fiction's most celebrated review magazine, Rich Horton and Gardner Dozois are two editors that read as much short spec-fic as anyone in the game. They additionally compile and edit 'Best ofs', along with Jonathan Strahan (based here in Perth), Ellen Datlow (Horror) and Paula Guran (Dark Fantasy and Horror) - apologies if I've missed anyone out.

So it's flattering to be mentioned in Locus Magazine at all, let alone by a specialist in the field. In the story, as Horton mentions below, I intended to combine many elements and, while maintaining drama and tension was important, I wanted the ending to be a more pensive, thought provoking one, rather than the overly dramatic kind.
 

I'd like to thank the editor of Dreaming of Dinn, Liz Gryzb for sending the following through to me with a sweet congratulatory message.

Short Fiction: Rich Horton p. 17

Finally, a brief mention of a nice story from an Australian anthology of fantasies on Middle-Eastern themes, Dreaming of Djinn: ‘‘Oleander: An Ottoman Tale’’, by Anthony Panegyres, about the daughter of a failing merchant who wants her to marry an Arabic man to restore the family fortunes. She is interested in a soldier who sometimes rides by her window. Intertwined with that story is a djinn who seems to visit at night, and also the fate of her brother, taken to be a Janissary, and of a little boy she encounters in the market. A lot of elements combine in a story ultimately quieter, and less dramatic, than one might expect, but quite nicely done.


Michael Swanwick

And the link below is a bit on Michael Swanwick's blog. I don't quite agree with Swanwick on this one but I loved his reply to some haphazard comments I made. His blog 'Flogging Babel' is well worth following as he's a frequent blogger who's personal, witty, humorous and sharp (I hardly blog - Swanwick manages it all). His blog aside, Swanwick's fiction is worthwhile reading and much of it groundbreaking.

I have waxed lyrical in the past about Swanwick on this blog but I've also been mildly critical of some of his work. After reading his post, I'm beginning to wonder whether it was the right thing to do...but then again.

http://floggingbabel.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/jehovah-and-critic.html

Currently Reading: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Finishing off Richard Yates' Collected Stories (surely he deserved a Pulitzer for his short fiction alone) and Alice Munro's Selected Stories (went off and bought The Beggar Maid and Progress in Love to read more of her work - the stories from those two titles stood out for me the most).

And ironically, I just finished Dancing with Bears by Michael Swanwick. Although lighter fare than his earlier novels it still abounds with symbolic meaning. It also displays Swanwick's deep understanding of Moscow and Russian history, albeit through a clever, farcical 'steampunk' adventure, starring those two likeable rogues, Darger and Surplus. 

Latest Publication News

Proud to have stories being released soon in two of our leading literary journals, Meanjin and Overland. 

I've been extremely fortunate since I began submitting a few years ago - it's been a dream run: nine publications since 2011, including literary journals I thought untouchable; an Aurealis Finalist last year for Best Fantasy Short Story; and a story in The Year's Best of Australian Fantasy & Horror. The publications have challenged my previously misguided belief that the big journals just published name authors. I now believe, perhaps wrongly of course, that writing of quality is generally rewarded - this sounds conceited and it's not my intention here, what I essentially mean to convey is that at least in Australian circles, the 'big' journals with limited space and often renown names, appear to be selecting on a merit basis. Fortunately, I live in Perth and have no contact whatsoever with the Eastern States editors before selection, which means it's entirely based on the work itself rather than the personality behind it (an exception to meeting editors  is Perthite, Liz Gryzb, who I'd met at a convention but she'd  read my story "Reading Coffee" for The Year's Best beforehand. Since then we've met up on several occasions). 

The part I've enjoyed the most so far is that there haven't been any boundaries or issues in having both 'realist' and 'spec-fic' published simultaneously. After all, I have a passion for reading and writing in both genre.

My latest story (a homage) is in the deservedly lauded Meanjin and the next story out "Submerging"will be in Overland 214. This is my second story to appear in the pages of that courageous, thought-provoking journal. It's a different fiction editor who's working there now, author Jennifer Mills. Both Mills and the former fiction editor, Jane Gleeson-White write extraordinarily well (fiction and non-fiction respectively).

My two most recent stories are 'realist', although "Submerging" is also a metaphorical work. After the Locus Review, however, I feel encouraged to 'spe-fic-it-up' again soon!

Political Gripe: The mad right wingers having a mad-hatters tea party in Congress.

Allow for Serendipity: Murdering themes or preconceived ideas.

Allow for Serendipity: Murdering themes or preconceived ideas.

Writers are told all manner of 'rules': don't pull the readers out of the story; start late finish early; show don't tell. The list is endless. These rules are well-meaning but good writers are criminals who break the rules, or at least shift them, whenever it suits. But what about planning a story? What about the before work?

There is no doubt that a plan can aid a writer. This doesn't necessarily mean a formal plan, it may mean that a writer has pondered over the strength of the idea, its potential pitfalls and its many possibilities before putting pen to paper.

But there is also an inherent danger with planning, or to be more precise, it's often perilous to insist on sticking to the initial plan. Not one of my stories has panned out exactly as intended and that's a great thing to say. It's the most wondrous part of the narrative craft, the ability to be flexible, cull parts that you originally desired but don't quite fit the mould as the work evolves. Writers benefit from allowing for that evolution. Their revising and chiseling away allows for something richer than the original 'primitive' being.

What does this mean for a writer? It means discovering those emerging threads and elements in their piece, and nourishing them.

From my own observations of others, sticking to a slanted theme, which a writer hangs preciously on to, can be the most hazardous approach. I've read some drafts from writers whereby the original aim of the work is actually the sole thing holding back a piece. Furthermore, the clinging necessity for that original idea to be conveyed is harming rather than enhancing the story. It's a hard thing to acknowledge: that the very essence of what a writer initially intends to do actually requires a new perspective or viewpoint or approach taken to a theme.

So it's not about murdering your darlings sometimes, it's also being able to murder the perspective or angle taken relating to your original theme and re-visualising it according to the strength of the work itself.

Serendipity is a magical thing and once unearthed, nurture it. Don’t let the chains of your primary vision shackle its evolution.