LIMBO

So again, I've let the blog slide. After one post every day, you think it would get easier. But I'm in limbo. Unfortunately, not this sort of limbo:

...but rather waiting for the edits to come back on my manuscript. I haven't done any serious writing since my 48 Hours/48 Stories thingo, and I can feel that creativity sapping away. So I'll endeavour to write some more stories (one, I know for sure, involves a meteor), and maybe put a few more thoughts up on the blog.

But that's not to say my fiction hasn't been busy without me. My story, In The Oldest Way, which you may remember from blog posts such as these, appears in a newer, much better form in the latest issue of The Lifted Brow. You can buy a copy at their Electric Palace at The Zoo on Thursday August 13, or at Avid Reader Bookshop on Friday August 14, where there will be readings/games with string, featuring readings and scientific presentations by Tom Guerney, Antonia Strakosch, Krissy Kneen, Leesa Wockner and my good self. You can read a lovely review of the new Brow (and my story) at the excellent talking-about-books-behind-their-backs blog 3000 BOOKS.

I was also very pleased to let some of my stories into the tender care of Chris Flynn, who recently read a few stories from my 48 Hours/48 Stories thingo as part of the launch of Josephine Rowe's wonderful new book How a Moth Becomes a Boat. You can read a great review of the night here (in which my misspelt alter-ego is accused of being a "nutcase").

And, finally, one of my favourite stories, Strange Days in July has finally found a home (and a new title). It appears in a new form in the 7th edition of Ilura Press' journal Etchings (along with J M Coetzee!!!).

Anyhoo, I'd better get writing, so my stories can keep getting out there and having fun without me. I'll be here, waiting for edits, maybe looking into limbo dancing lessons.

DELAYS

Sorry it's been a while between posts, but I've been dealing with some pretty heavy stuff. No, only kidding, I've actually been signed to Text Publishing, who will be publishing my novel From the deep end table in the first half of next year. Even though I've told everyone already, I wanted to wait until I'd signed on the dotted line to, you know, make it official by, like, totally blogging it.

So now the hard work really starts, as I attempt to knock this dastardly narrative into shape. The story has been with me over five years, and I'm really looking forward to working on it with an editor or two. Hopefully an elegant, tense literary mystery will emerge! Anyway, more as I know more.

But just to say that Brisbane authors are totally, absolutely kicking arse this year. Long may they reign!

ARTIST'S IMPRESSION

Just recovering now from my trip on the weekend to the Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne. I just have to say a huge thank you to the organisers for inviting me down to speak, putting me up in a swish hotel (see below) and generally being awesome. I met some wonderful people, some I already knew, some I didn't, and was generally inspired by the whole weekend. Here is a photo montage of my time in Melbourne:

Yeah, so I cried a bit on the flight home but then the captain painted me so I totally looked like a wolf, so I stopped crying. Then I seized control of the plane, because, well, that's what wolfmen do.



One of Melbourne's hidden secrets. This alley contains 12 coffee shops, 34 bars and 29 restaurants. Can you spot them all?



Clearly a fan of Updike.



Book cover design at its very best.



Forget it, Chris...



It's Chinatown.