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* * *
Given that it's Women in Horror month, I thought I'd post some old adverts that, as a woman, I find utterly horrifying.

Behold.

















Here's the source.
Current Mood:
blah blah
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AHWA NEWS DIGEST [18.01.10-31.01.10]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Blood, Boggarts and Battlestars: An Introduction to Speculative Fiction with Margo Lanagan
Come to the New South Wales Writers Centre, and dig around in the three genres that make up spec fic today: science fiction, fantasy and horror. Tutor Margo Lanagan is passionate about genre fiction, and keen to impart this love of the fabulous to her students. Lanagan explains how she has crafted a hands-on course to get students writing in genre right away. "This workshop will be a learn-by-doing experience. There won’t be a lot of theory; instead I’ll send you off into space, or the dark forest, or into the murderer’s arms, to see what you encounter, to see what you find and bring back." New South Wales Writers Centre, Saturday 6 March, 10am – 4pm.

Writing Imaginary Worlds with Richard Harland
Do you have ideas for invented worlds and alternative realms? Perhaps you should be writing in the imaginative genres of speculative fiction. The New South Wales Writers' Centre has just the course for you! Fantasy, science fiction and horror not only demand more imagination than other genres but also a high level of narrative technique. This workshop shows how to turn your imaginative ideas into a fully fleshed-out story – strategies for involving the reader in another world, conveying foreground and background at the same time, ‘defining’ a mystery, building to a climax … and not forgetting the very important art of pitching to a publisher! New South Wales Writers Centre, Sunday 9 May, 10am – 4pm.

Eclecticism #11
Eclecticism #11 is up and running, and ready to download for free from the website. Issue #11 features the haunting theme 'Ghost Story' and the work of: Keith Nunes, Myra King, Mark Smith-Briggs , Trost, Lynley Stace, Nicholas Deigman, Allan Wilson, E. Armanious, Chantel Schott, and featured artist Katie Ryan.

Aurealis Awards Winners
The Aurealis Award winners for 2009 were announced at the thirteenth annual Aurealis Awards ceremony at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane on Saturday 24 January 2010. Click through to view a complete list of winners in all categories, and links to down-loadable Judges Reports.

Continuum 6 - Future Tense
The killer robots are beating down the front door while the mutant hordes gather at the back; your emotional inhibitor is on the fritz again and your computer has started calling you "Dave"; the world outside is a burning wasteland, but that's OK, there's an ice age right around the corner; so climb into your nutrient tank and get comfy - it's going to be a lovely apocalypse. This year’s guests of honour include: futurist writer and virtual reality pioneer Mark Pesce (Hyperpeople, ABC’s New Inventors) and Aurealis-award winning author Kim Westwood (The Oracle, The Daughters of Moab). Panel discussions, workshops, readings and more. Continuum 6 are host to the awards night for the Chronos Awards for excellence in Victorian science fiction, fantasy and horror in 2009. ether Convention Space, 26-28 February.

Victorian Writers Centre Upcoming Events & Year-Long Programs
The Victorian Writers Centre are offering a range of professional development and creative writing courses and workshops. Select highlights include Hook a Publisher with a Great Proposal Masterclass with Sheila Hollingworth; Inside Publishing & Editing – A Head Start weekend workshop with Christine Nagel; Year of SF & Fantasy with Paul Collins; Year of the Novel – Advanced with Andrea Goldsmith. For the full program, see www.vwc.org.au.

JUMP National Mentoring Program for Young and Emerging Artists
Are you a creative, young Australian on the cusp of a great artistic career? You’ve got the talent, the vision and the drive it’s going to take – but do you have the professional skill set, one on one support and national network to match? JUMP can make sure that you do. Applications to be a mentee or mentor in the inaugural JUMP program in 2010 must be submitted to Youth Arts Queensland by 5pm (Brisbane time), Friday 26 February.

Hugo Awards Nominations
The Hugo Awards are awards for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy. They were first awarded in 1953, and have been awarded every year since 1955. The 2010 Hugo Awards will be presented in Melbourne, Australia during Aussiecon 4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention. Members of Aussiecon 4 who joined before February 1, and members of Anticipation, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention, are eligible to nominate people or works from 2009 in various categories. Nominations for the 2010 Hugo Awards will close 13 March.

Submitting News


If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the
AHWA MySpace page, and Southern Horror; hosted at the social networking sites Darklands and A Writer Goes On A Journey; and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds: Horror's Last Colonial Outpost).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website,
contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.
Tags:
Current Mood:
calm calm
* * *
You can get the full scoop on this insanity here.

Whilst I regard Celebrity Fix as a dubious resource (and thus I'm tempted to take their claims with a grain of salt), just the photo of this young child dressed as some sort of hooker-Minnie-Mouse was enough to make me lose my shit.  Then there's her dressed as Dominatrix Barbie.  And let's not forget the photo of this little girl and several of her closest little girl friends clustered beaming around a pole-dancing pole with a smiling stripper adult...I dunno...supervising? Your guess is as good as mine.  Finally, there's little Noah with infant being groomed for paedophilia her best friend Emily grace, teetering on high heels and looking like Girls of the Hi 5 Playboy Mansion. 

What the fuck is wrong with Noah's parents?! I'm not so much worried about Billy Ray Cyrus' achey breaky heart as I am about his pervy broken brain.

Emily Grace is "working" with Noah Cyrus on the kiddyporn lingerie range:-

"The company's website describes The Emily Grace Collection as having a “trendy, sweet, yet edgy feel, reminiscent of Emily’s true personality. She is collaborating with Ooh! La, La! Couture designers to create versatile styles that can be worn with sweet ballerina slippers, funky sneakers or paired with lace stockings and boots for more of a rock and roll look. Emily’s collection will appeal not just to little girls - the line also has an exclusive Teen Collection available to a size 14."

Um.

It's hard to choose where to begin with why this is frightening, sickening, infuriating, and wrong.

Even if it wasn't a lingerie range but a seemingly harmless line of generic garments, using expressions like "ooh la la" to refer to the appearance of little girls is gross.  It's sexual innuendo.  They may as well call the line "nice tits".

And since when do little girls need to be "edgy"?

There are some sick, sick, sick fuckers out there.  And they're programming our girl-children for compliance with misogyny practically from the womb.
Current Mood:
nauseated nauseated
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So I'd heard from various sources that every year there's some sort of AAs stoush on the intermanets.  Someone is always unhappy about something to do with some aspect of the AAs, I was told.  I waited and waited this year to see evidence of this, and...none came.  Egads, thought I, could the planets have aligned? Could there be no loud voices of dissent? Could the Aussie SF community truly be grooving along in relative harmony?

Nahhhhh.

The stoush has started today on the Southern Horror Yahoo Group.  I personally am very uncomfortable with this, largely because certain allegations and comments are being made about people who are not part of the SHYG and therefore have no knowledge of what's being said about them and thus no chance to defend themselves.  I find this distasteful.  Hence, this post.

Without naming names or going into too many specifics, some of the assertions made have included:-
  • the background of the judges (i.e. not writers) makes them potentially unable to perform adequately in their role as judges
  • lots of the judges are from QLD so their choices are biased towards QLDers
  • the horror judges don't understand horror and thus their choices are not acceptable representations of horror works
To me, all the above points are...silly.  I know how hard the judges have worked and they seem perfectly capable to me.  I don't see the alleged QLD bias.  I don't see any inadequacies in the judges' backgrounds or their performance.  I didn't see any issues with the horror choices (though I was one of them, so have a clear bias of my own there) and anyway, awards are subjective things by definition.  One person's definition of horror may differ wildly from another's.

I honestly don't understand the outcry.

I also find it pretty offensive to suggest the judges may be deliberately biased or hopelessly incompetent, and that, subsequently, the works shortlisted and/or the winning works were unworthy.  Hell, I got my arse handed to me in my category, not once, but twice over.  You don't see me here sniping about Paul winning the short horror award only because the judges didn't understand true horror (they don't appreciate my genius! WHY DON'T THEY LOVE ME?!), or because they like ex Kiwis, or whatever.  All the winners won because the (perfectly competent) judges believed those works were the best.  And that is 100% ok with me.

Perhaps I'm just excruciatingly naive, blindingly biased, both, or some other heady combo of factors is affecting my 20/20 vision.

What do you think?
Current Mood:
annoyed annoyed
* * *
Ok, livejournal, let's you and me do some journalling.  Er, live.

So I'm having this recurring dream.  It's not all that complex, and I think I understand where it's coming from, but I want to work through it systematically, and I want a record of it.  Thus, this entry.

The Dream

My mother* isn't dead.  I've spent the past few years thinking she was.  I am, of course, relieved and delighted to discover this isn't the case.  Oh good, I think.  I can communicate with her all the time, and everything will be different, and ok.  But then...time slides by...and I just...don't.  Days, weeks, perhaps months evaporate, and I don't speak to my mother at all.  I often think about contacting her - I desperately want to, and I'm very anxious about not doing so - but it's like I just...can't.  Can't get to her, can't stop time sliding past me, can't make myself do what I want.  At the back of my mind is the knowledge that she will die (again? - sometimes in the dream she has died and come back to life, other times she's never died at all) very soon, and that I will never succeed in contacting her before she does.

And that's it.  I wake up.

After giving it some thought, there's a few things I get as possible interpretations of this dream. 

First option is the obvious one: I'm very guilty about my mother's death, I feel responsible, and I'm reliving my perceived fatal neglect of my mother in my dreams.  Over, and over, and over again.

Second option is slightly more complex: it's my subconscious playing out the thought that even if things had been different in regard to my relationship with my mother and her death...nothing would have been different.  That what happened, happened, and would have happened no matter what.  Eventually.  That neither I nor my mother could have behaved any differently to the way we did.  That, given the chance for a do-over, it would all be done-over just as it's already happened.

Maybe this option also means it's not my fault.  Or that it very much is my fault.  I don't know.

Third option: I want my mum back.  I can never have my mum back.  This is horrific beyond belief to me and is haunting my dreams.

That's all I've come up with so far.  If anyone else has any insight to offer I'd love to hear it.

*My mother died in 2002, when I was 22.  We had a very intense relationship and at the time of her death I had just begun speaking to her again after almost one year of silence.  She died suddenly and strangely (alone in her house of untreated bronchial pneumonia) and I've always felt responsible.  I can only assume she was very lonely and depressed and that she sort of...let herself die as a result.  And I miss her more than anything.
Current Mood:
contemplative contemplative
* * *
Over here.  And here's my bit(s):-

Felicity Dowker, 'Jesse's Gift', Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40

‘Jesse’s Gift’ is a very disturbing story. The image of the Ice Cream Man is nightmarish and vivid, using the awful tension of a horror character in a child’s world. The relationship between the two children is very believable, bringing a strong sense of poignancy and fatalism to the horror.

Conclusion

The entries that made both the novel and short story lists of finalists distinguished themselves. The panel was pleased to see entries that departed from the current craze of vampire stories, and those that were ‘blood-sucking’ at least adding some original elements. The finalists are unafraid to explore a genre that has been misunderstood and neglected, but is becoming a growing power in Australian speculative literature. They evoked powerful and uncomfortable imagery without resorting to 'shock tactics'. The stories were unsettling, frightening and occasionally disturbing, but all with a purpose.
 

Current Mood:
tired tired
* * *
I couldn't make it to the awards ceremony, so it was most gratifying to find myself in the midst of an impromptu Twitter AAs party instead.  Thanks to everyone involved for making it such fun, especially Margo and [info]cassiphone  for the toasts, cupcakes and general merriment, and thanks to whoever ran the @aurealisawards Twitter account for your constant updates throughout the event.  Special thanks go to Donna Hanson for her super speedy ceremony updates and to Scott Westerfeld for going the extra mile and describing what everyone was wearing.

Ok, so with no further ado, here are the worthy winners!

best science fiction novel

Andrew McGahan, Wonders of a Godless World, Allen & Unwin
 

best science fiction short story

Peter M. Ball, ‘Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens’, Apex Magazine May 2009

best fantasy novel

Trudi Canavan, Magician's Apprentice, Orbit

best fantasy short story - Joint winners

Christopher Green, ‘Father’s Kill’, Beneath Ceaseless Skies #24

Ian McHugh, 'Once a Month, On a Sunday’, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd

best horror novel

Honey Brown, Red Queen, Penguin Australia

best horror short story - Joint winners

Paul Haines, 'Wives', X6, Coeur de Lion Publishing

Paul Haines, 'Slice of Life - A Spot of Liver', Slice of Life, The Mayne Press

best anthology

Jonathan Strahan (editor), Eclipse 3, Night Shade Books

best collection

Greg Egan, Oceanic, Gollancz

best illustated book/graphic novel

Nathan Jurevicius, Scarygirl, Allen & Unwin

best young adult novel

Scott Westerfeld, Leviathan Trilogy: Book One, Penguin

best young adult short story

Cat Sparks, ‘Seventeen’, Masques, CSFG

best children’s (8-12 years) novel

Gabrielle Wang, A Ghost in My Suitcase, Puffin Books

best children’s (8-12 years)
short fiction/illustrated work/picture book

Pamela Freeman (author), Kim Gamble (illustrator), Victor's Challenge, Walker Books Australia


Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!
Current Mood:
contemplative contemplative
* * *
Please, for the love of all that you hold dear and sacred, please, please, please, refrain from brushing your hair and clipping or filing your nails on public transport.

It.  Is.  Disgusting.

If I am sitting near you and you whip out a brush or comb and have at yourself, you immediately shower me with your head detritus, including but not limited to strands of your hair and flaky dead pieces of your scalp.  This may come as a great shock to you, but I don't enjoy this experience.  It makes me vomit in my mouth and leads me to homicidal thoughts.

Similarly, if I am sitting anywhere in your general vicinity and you produce a nail clipper or nail file and commence making parts of your nails disappear, guess what? Those disappearing parts go somewhere - yes, that's right, all over me! Your impromptu manicure causes great chunks of severed fingernail to fly madly about, hitting all in their path, and a thick cloud of filed nail dust to descend like the poisonous gas it is.

Next you'll be crapping on the seat and flinging that at my head.

There's this thing in your house (presumably) called a bathroom.  Use that to conduct matters of personal hygiene in, and spare your fellow travellers on the number 57 West Maribyrnong tram* the most basic of common courtesies in so doing.

In all seriousness, I am repeatedly driven to energetically wonder...what the fuck is wrong with you?

* not my actual tram line...perhaps I don't even catch a tram...I'm not telling you either way, in case you try to travel with me whilst pooing on my head.
Current Mood:
nauseated nauseated
* * *

So I've given in and decided that I am going to Continuum.  Hope to see you there!


Current Mood:
excited excited
* * *
AHWA NEWS DIGEST [02.01.10-17.01.10]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Popcorn Taxi presents The Wolfman
Popcorn Taxi is proud to present a very special screening of The Wolfman, an exciting resurrection of a cinematic horror icon. Featuring the talents of Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and our own Hugo Weaving – The Wolfman is an exciting and gothic horror/thriller that takes state-of-the-art special effects and make-up techniques from legendary effects guru Rick Baker alongside our very own Oscar nominated creature and make-up effects maestro David Elsey – who will also be taking part in a live Q&A after the film.

Theatre Of Blood Season One Finale!

If you were thinking of catching Season I of The Theatre of Blood, better clear the night of Friday the 22nd, and get along to the Newtown Theatre. Better yet, book your tickets now!

Terra Incognita Podcast 015
Terra Incognita SF podcast #015 is now available for streaming and download at www.tisf.com.au, or on itunes! This episode features Marianne De Pierres reading In The Bookshadow and  Keith Stevenson reviewing Greig Beck's Beneath The Dark Ice.

Australian Studies in Weird Fiction seek review material
Australian Studies in Weird Fiction (Equilibrium Books) is now publishing reviews. The bi-annual critical journal devoted to Australian horror, Gothic and dark fantasy writing, are seeking review copies of locally-published or written works; horror short story collections, and novels by Australian writers. Review copies may be sent in book form, or as PDF. Click through for contact details.

Tasmaniac Publications to publish Tom Piccirilli's The Last Deep Breath
Set for an August release and now up for pre-order is Tom Piccirilli's THE LAST DEEP BREATH, his second 'noirella' with Tasmaniac Publications that will blow you away! Click through for the thrilling blurb and cover sneak-peak!

The 2009 Genre Bookselling Year in Review
From the blog of Horrorscope reviewer Chuck McKenzie, offering an Australian bookseller's perspective on the year that was; includes lists of bestselling genre series, individual titles, media tie-ins, and Australian authors. Venture yonder to ponder those market trends! 

Submitting News


If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the
AHWA MySpace page, and Southern Horror; hosted at the social networking sites Darklands and A Writer Goes On A Journey; and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds: Horror's Last Colonial Outpost).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website,
contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.
Tags:
* * *
Read about it here.

Basically, a woman who the Hospital has decided is 12 days "overdue" to pop her baby out chose not to attend an induction appointment made for her by the Hospital (because she didn't want to be induced, as she saw no medical reason to do so - regular testing and the Hospital themselves had repeatedly shown her that she and her baby were doing just fine) and so the Hospital sent the police to her door.

The police

Because a pregnant woman made the foolish error of believing she had any right to bodily integrity and choice about the safety of her and her unborn child.

I'm not at all surprised, because I personally know of other homebirthing women who have had the exact same thing happen to them.  (And then they got a DOCS visit after the baby was safely born, just to put the icing on the cake.)  And I myself have experienced the bullying-to-induce that goes on every day in Hospitals around Australia (which, for me, culminated in a sneering, lying, domineering female Obstetrician shoving her hand inside me and ramming her fingers into my cervix, causing great pain and bleeding, just so I'd be a good girl and birth on her timetable.  I, too, had an unwanted induction appointment foisted on me for the following day, but luckily, my body "behaved" itself and spat my baby out before the appointment).  But my disgust and outrage never lessens.

The Hospital is now trying to spin their shock and awe tactics as "concern for the woman's welfare" because she didn't show for her (unwanted) induction appointment.  I'm just wondering if they normally send police to, say, chemotherapy patients who don't show up for an appointment? Or perhaps for someone due for a bloodtest who doesn't show? Or even someone due for an operation who doesn't show up? No.  Of course they don't.  They might make a phone call querying where the no-show individual was, and they may even follow that up with another phone call, and maybe even another, and then perhaps a letter.  But the police? Oh, no.  That's reserved for silly little women with buns in the oven.  Human incubators who can't be trusted to make their own choices and who need a jolly good scare to keep them in line.

The woman in question went on to birth her healthy baby safely at home with the care of her midwives.  Good for her.

Fuck you, Bathurst Hospital, you repulsive ignorant pathetic little bullies.
Tags:
Current Mood:
angry angry
* * *
I'm on it, in Best Fan Writer (for my reviews on the Specusphere) and Best Achievement (for the special AHWA Halloween chat with Clive Barker which I organised and moderated). In the Best Achievement category, it's a tough decision between voting for me or voting for no award. I do hope I'm preferable to no award, but time will tell! Congratulations to all shortlisted (especially Sean McMullen who appears to have swallowed the Best Short Fiction category whole), as follows:-

Best Long Fiction

Morgassa's Folly, Danny Willis and Paul Collins (The Five Mile Press)
Slice of Life, Paul Haines (The Mayne Press)
No Award

Best Short Fiction

Gamer's Quest, George Ivanoff (Ford Street Publishing)
The Sudden Storm, Paul Collins (Picture This #2)
Mother of Champions, Sean McMullen (Interzone #222)
The Spiral Briar, Sean McMullen (Fantasy and Science Fiction April/May 2009)
The Art of the Dragon, Sean McMullen (Fantasy and Science Fiction Aug/Sept 2009)
No Award

Best Artwork

Morgassa's Folly, Danny Willis (The Five Mile Press)
My Extraordinary Life and Death, Grant Gittus (Fort Street Publishing)
No Award

Best Fan Writer

Bruce Gillespie
Felicity Dowker
No Award

Best Fan Artist

Ditmar Jenssen
No Award

Best Fan Publication

Ethel the Aardvark, edited by Murray and Natalie MacLachlan, Sam Rooney (Melbourne Science Fiction Club)
No Award

Best Achievement

The Halloween Clive Barker Chat, Felicity Dowker (AHWA)
No Award

Awards Not Presented

The awards for Best Fan Written Work and Best Fan Artwork are not being presented due to insufficient nominations being received.


Information on how to vote (by the cut off date of 19th February) can be found here. Even if you're not going to Continuum, you can get a voting membership for a mere $5. G'arn - support Continuum, this new award (this is only the Chronos Awards' second year), and Victorian writers, artists, and fans.
Current Mood:
pleased pleased
* * *
Sale: Alan Baxter and crew over at Blade Red Press have bought my story Nepenthe for their debut anthology, Dark Pages Volume 1, edited by the lovely Brenton Tomlinson.

Song: I just have to post the lyrics and video for Hilltop Hoods' Fifty in Five.  I'm really digging it.  In fact, I'd say it's my favourite song of 2009.  Read the lyrics, but be sure to listen to get the full impact (it's pretty much on permanent repeat on my iPod):-

Terror cleared the skyline and anger clouded judgement,
So they spent a thousand nighttimes in the desert fighting something,
That they couldnt find, that made it something that they couldnt fight,
Left us all lamenting all the wrongs that they couldnt right,
This is for the second time, we've been here before,
From Vietnam to Saddam, we always needing a war,
Neo-conservatives rose up like Viet Cong,
Their fingers on the trigger we won't be here for long,
They killed MLK and they named a day after him,
They killed JFK and named an airport after him,
Some guy shot a monster called Reagan so he could bone,
A girl named Jodie Foster, if only he'd known,
We tested nukes in the atmosphere, the sea and dirt,
And they tested all these missiles just to see if they worked,
Now France got 'em, Russia got 'em, India and Pakistan,
Korea want 'em, states want 'em pointed at the Taliban,
Iran and Afghanistan, sands of the Arab lands,
Order from portable commands in armoured caravans, internet, 3g cellular phones,
Serial killers built in mini-cells in their homes,
And we had Manson, Bundy, Gacy, Son of Sam,
Macarena, Superman, chicken dance, running man,
Generation X and generation Y,
And the generation next will degenerate and die,
Cause we got holes in the ozone that we put there ourselves,
Now the poles are a no-go, earths cooking itself,
And we cant look at ourselves so we got saline, botox, eighteen, fake tits, ninteen detox,
Don't stop, get it, get it, can't afford it get it credit,
Buy it, spend it, try it, getting fat? then you better shed it,
Ab-swing, blue blocker, Tupac or Biggy,
East coast, west coast, Fat Joe or fifty,
Thatcher the shifty iron lady, Tony Blair,
A princess died, some say cause she got Dodi there,
Whitlam, Keating, Hawke and a promise,
Of no children in poverty, wish that could have been honest,
We got Abbott and Costello, right wing overlords,
Promises and children, they threw 'em both overboard,
Overwrought refugees thrown into a group home,
Or jailed for the crime of looking for a new home,
Elvis died, Hendrix died, Lennon died
Genocide, in Africa, Serbia, Cambodia, pesticides, bio-toxins, chemical warfare,
All's fair in love and war, more work for the pallbearer,
More terror, more unjust search and seizures,
A tidal wave came and claimed the coast of Indonesia,
Quakes in Iran, Japan and California,
Greenhouse gas turned the world into a sauna,
The trauma of mortars, martyrs, slaughters,
Of partners, mourners, fathers and daughters,
They chassed us, caught us, numbered us to sort us,
Raped us, scorned us, to break us they bought us,
Third world kidneys for captains of industry,
Uprising in the street, corruption in the ministry,
A blowjob brought about the fall of a dynasty,
And MP3s saw the fall of an industry,
Doubled population, halved accommodation,
Carved up resources and we starved the poorer nations, Beirut, Chechnya, all hell,
Broke loose, Berlin, ninteen eighty nine man, the wall fell,
Cold war ended but that didn't stop more shells,
Waco lit up the sky like burning oil wells,
A world laid waste to addiction,
Tell Orwell truth's always stranger then fiction,
Big brother's on closed circuit TV and on cable,
Reality's now scripted, celebrity's for sale, jeopary and jail, seized, depossessed,
Remedies and penalties for failed CEO's,
We had the Enron collapse, and white-collar crime,
Investors they were taxed, a dollar for a dime,
The blue chip companies and blue-sky mines,
We no longer choose sides we choose sidelines,
Rich bleeding the kind, blind leading the blind,
And history repeats, no competing with time,
Gasses eating the minds of the vets that they bing home,
The plague of agent orange, gulf war syndrome,
Soldiers sent home, posttraumatic stress leave,
STDs cause a sleeve aint sexy,
AIDS shook the eighties, grim reaper with a bowling ball,
Metallica, kill em all, let god scold em all,
The Guildford four, chicago seven,
Mumia, mandela, oceans eleven,
Half past twelve on friday the thirteenth,
Dawn of the dead, a nightmare on elm street,
Weapons free environment, war zone, phone home,
Melanoma grow as we soak in the ozone,
Home-grown, hydro, cocaine, nitro,
Werewolf in london, american physco,
Cyclones, bushfires, bush firing scuds,
Baby boomers, woodstock what happened to the love?
What happened to the cubs? they threw em to the wolves,
Set a trial for pedophiles, they let em in the schools,
Set em on the students, turned em on the kids,
And everyone responsible should burn for what they did,
And if they try to deny then an eye for an eye,
The government and church on which we try to rely,
Both rob us till it hurts chasing lie after lie,
Like astronauts chasing a pie in the sky,
They landed on the moon but can't seem to return there,
Makes some question if they ever really were there,
And if they were there now and they looked back,
Would we look them in the eye, could we look back?
Cause when we look back at what we have done,
Can you believe what we have become?
As we walk into the sun,
Can you believe what we have become?
As we walk into the sun.



Story: thanks to [info]jasonfischer , I checked for myself on Google Books, and found this - my firstborn's birth story, complete with gory, exhausted photos and mentions of nipple tweaking and mucous.  Don't get me wrong, I love giving birth and I love talking and reading and writing and thinking about birth.  The story doesn't bother meI love it.  But I thought it might horrify some people, so it seemed apt to post it here on my blog, being that I'm, y'know, a horror writer and all.

This post has been brought to you by the letter Sauvignon Blanc.

And in an hour, Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes will be on TV.  I missed last week (dammit, it was Crouch End too, one of my faves from the book) but this week, I'm there, baby.
Current Mood:
relaxed relaxed
* * *
Nominations for the Chronos Awards close today. Have you made your picks yet? If not, more info here.

I haven't been blogging much, I know.  Haven't really been doing much of anything in particular lately. There have been health issues, work issues, writing issues, me issues...you get the idea.  2009 was a year I was happy to kick the rear end of as it skulked off into the distance.

Still, there were positives. I don't want to do a formal year-that-was type post, but some highlights for me were my communications with Clive Barker and subsequently moderating an AHWA Halloween chat at which Clive was the special guest, winning the Ditmar for Best New Talent, being nominated for an Aurealis Award, attending Conflux, starting my novel (which has ground to a halt at 25,000 words, but I plan on completing it by mid this year), working hard at improving my writing, continuing to score some more story sales I'm proud of, and, just as importantly, some personal rejections I'm proud of too. The speed of my writing has reduced dramatically, but I think (I hope) that the quality has increased significantly. I have also narrowed down the markets I'm targeting to almost exclusively pro, with a few semi pro mixed in, and subsequently my acceptance ratio has reduced noticeably too - but the personal rejections and "you were very close, please send more"s keep getting better, so I figure I'm onto something that might eventually prove good, regardless.

My goal for this year?

Write.

Just write.

I'm going to leave it at that.

Couple of sales recently: Bread and Circuses to Ticonderoga's Scary Kisses paranormal romance anthology, and Charlie to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. I've got a bunch of reviews to write for the next issue of the Specusphere, and I really need to get my butt into gear with ASIM #44, which I'm editing, and which will feature a kick arse cover by Marc McBride, not to mention the fabulous stories hiding behind aforementioned cover.  It's going to be a busy few months.

This is also the year I turn 30, and stereotypically, I've had a wee personal crisis and made some big decisions about my life, which I can't reveal yet because you just never know who reads your blog.  On that annoying note, I promise to reveal the Big Decisions eventually.

Well, that breaketh the blogging drought, anyway.  It's nice to be back.
Current Mood:
contemplative contemplative
* * *

Nominations for the 2009 Chronos Awards are now open. The Chronos Awards recognise Victorian writers and fans, with the awards to be presented at Continuum 6: Future Tense. Full details of categories and how to nominate can be found here and/or here. Anyone can nominate, you don't have to be a Victorian writer or fan yourself to do so.

I'm eligible for nomination as follows:-

Best Short Fiction

Recruitment (Malpractice anthology, Stygian Publications, 2009)
Ill Conceived (The Black Garden anthology, Corpulent Insanity Press, 2009)
Phantasy Moste Grotesk (limited edition standalone chapbook, Corpulent Insanity Press, 2009)
Dirty Paper Wings (Borderlands #11, Borderlands Publications Inc, 2009)
The Emancipated Dance (Midnight Echo #2, AHWA, 2009)
Jesse's Gift (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40, ASIM Publishing Co-Op, 2009)
The Knotting (Leaves of Blood anthology, Altair Australia Books, 2009)
Celebrity Skin (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #42, 2009)
The Bearded Ones (Festive Fear anthology, Tasmaniac Publications, 2009)

Best Fan Writer

For my reviews on the Specusphere, of which I've had twenty or so published this year - here's one of my reviews from the current issue

There's also a category for Best Achievement, and I'm unclear as to what exactly qualifies for that one...I wonder if the Clive Barker chat I organised and ran for the AHWA counts? Probably not. But it was cool, huh?

If you haven't read any of my above works and would like to (and of course, you shouldn't nominate anything you haven't actually read!), contact me.

Good luck, fellow Victorian writers and fans!
Current Mood:
accomplished accomplished
* * *
My short horror piece The Homeless Situation has just gone live at 52 Stitches. Read, enjoy, or...not. Kinda timely little story for the "giving" season.
Current Mood:
content content
* * *

At first I was afraid, I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live without felicitydowker by my side.

Which song was this lyric from?

Get your own lyrics:
Tags:
Current Mood:
silly silly
* * *
AHWA NEWS DIGEST [01.11.09-10.12.09]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Aurealis Awards finalists
The finalists for the 2009 Aurealis Awards have been announced! The Aurealis Awards celebrate the best of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror publications. Winners will be announced at the Aurealis Awards ceremony at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane on Saturday 23 January 2010. Click through to view the finalists!

'100 Lightnings' anthology seeks submissions
100 Lightnings is a new anthology edited by Stephen Studach, to be published by iconic cult publishers Paroxysm Press; this will be a one hundred work anthology, featuring some of the best new flash fiction from Australia and around the world. Please see the publisher website for MS format guidelines.

Your Big Break film competition
Screenwriters take note! Tourism New Zealand is offering aspiring filmmakers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get their work in front of director, producer, and screenwriter Peter Jackson. The short film competition 100% Pure New Zealand Presents Your Big Break will give the top five entrants time working with the Academy Award-winning team responsible for the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Click through for details.

Dymocks Southland Bestselling Horror Titles for November ‘09
Dymocks Southland is general bookshop in Cheltenham, Victoria, boasting a great range of speculative fiction. Click through for the Top 10 bestselling horror titles for November 2009.

Brimstone Press horror film special offer
Brimstone Press is running an amazing deal for lovers of horror. The next 15 Australian customers who order a Brimstone Press book through the publisher's website will receive FREE double passes to see two of the hottest horror films of the year: Paranormal Activity and Zombieland (value $64).

Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror Volume 4 available for pre-order
Angela Challis, editor of the Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror series of 'year's best' anthologies, has announced the line-up for Volume 4. Featured writers include Peter M. Ball, Lee Battersby, John Birmingham, Stephen Dedman, Paul Haines, Richard Harland, Robert Hood, Pete Kempshall, Kirstyn McDermott, Jason Nahrung, and Miranda Siemienowicz. Click through to preview the fabulous contents! ADFH Vol 4 will go on sale nationally in March 2010, but can be pre-ordered immediately from the Brimstone Press website.

Australian Shadows Award entry deadline reminder
The deadline for entering work into the Australian Shadows Award is drawing near (December 31). The Australian Shadows Award is coordinated by the Australian Horror Writers Association and is the peak award for horror fiction in Australia. Full details on the award can be found here.

Midnight Echo #3
Assembled by guest editor Stephen Studach and his talented crew, in these hallowed pages you will find a slew of stories, a devil's clawful of poetry, a clutch of dark and macabre art, and an exclusive interview by Lucy Sussex with Barbara Baynton - her first since her death in 1929! Obtain your copy at the Midnight Echo website. AHWA members receive a PDF version of the magazine free!

World Fantasy Award Winners 2009
The 2009 World Fantasy Awards were presented at the World Fantasy Convention held in San Jose, California in November. Two Australians were honoured with awards; Margo Lanagan in the category Best Novel (tied result), and Shaun Tan in the category of Best Artist.


Submitting News


If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the
AHWA MySpace page, and Southern Horror; hosted at the social networking sites Darklands and A Writer Goes On A Journey; and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds: Horror's Last Colonial Outpost).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website,
contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.
Tags:
Current Mood:
tired tired
* * *

I didn't expect to attend the Aurealis Awards ceremony, but for obvious reasons, I'm now seriously considering it.

On top of last minute flights (which seem readily available, although I'm kicking myself for not being psychic and therefore not being able to book them earlier), I need to figure out possible accomodation. I'd only be staying the one night (Saturday 23rd Jan) and want something cheap but cockroachless and within reasonable distance of the Awards venue if at all possible ("reasonable distance" doesn't have to be walking distance, but preferably with the applicable cab fare coming in under $10,000).

I don't know the first thing about Brisbane or the AA's venue, so...help?!

Current Mood:
contemplative contemplative
* * *
...have been posted here, and keen observers will note that my short story Jesse's Gift from Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40 has been shortlisted in the Best Horror Short Story category. Ahem. W00t. If we were placing bets on the outcome of that category, my money would be firmly on [info]paulhaines for the already notorious and disgustingly brilliant Wives from the X6 novellanthology, but we're not betting, so I'll hang onto my cash and just be smug when I'm proved right. Except no doubt you agree with me. So let's be smug together.

Congratulations to all the finalists! And thank you to the judges who have read entries until their brains dripped from their nostrils.
Current Mood:
excited excited
* * *

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