I’m on the radio! Thanks to The AntipodeanSF Radio Show, you can now listen to my flash fiction story “Shy” just by clicking on this link. It’s the first story on the show, so just listen from the beginning and you’ll soon hear Ion Newcombe introducing me – it’s a…
How can I describe what it’s been like the last few days – being surrounded by 250 friends and like-minded people? The 52nd Natcon / Conflux 9 was just that. The layout of Rydges Capital Hill, Canberra, meant I could walk into any room, linger in any corridor, and be…
Welcome to the second post in my series on short story editors. Recently an editor-friend of mine shared his editorial selection process on Facebook. Watching it was difficult at first because I hadn’t realised how emotionally draining the process of putting together a short story collection can be for editors…
Okay, so for those who don’t know me, I’m not the fainting type. I have a sturdy constitution, I never throw up. I’m rarely sick. I have a high pain threshold too – I break bones and don’t know it; I needed no drugs to give birth to either of…
Last week, I was wondering why I had such a methodical approach to reading short story anthologies. Having just read four anthologies back-to-back, I found myself adding up the number of stories I enjoyed, calculating what percentage that was of the whole, and the result reflected my reading enjoyment of…
A friend recently asked me to review a short story anthology. Never having done this before, I didn’t know how to start. So I got pen and paper ready, took notes. Having now read four anthologies back-to-back, I’ve discovered something about the way I read and enjoy them… For some…
Creating dreams, and pursuing them… Last Saturday at the 2011 NSW Writers’ Centre Speculative Fiction Festival, Pamela Freeman (Blood Ties, Deep Water and Full Circle) said that speculative fiction was: the kind of story that my mother would say weakens your hold on reality For me, this summarised the entire…
