(no subject)

I'm torn between working and watching Alfred Hitchcock's "The Trouble with Harry." Hitchcock is winning by a country mile. I keep forgetting that Hitchcock made charming films. Everyone talks about him as the master of suspense, but so many of his movies have a nice feeling to the characters. Or at least, to the characters we're supposed to care about.

Does charming suspense work better than tough suspense?

(no subject)

I keep finding reasons to read fanzines. My latest (warning: it's a big file) is that someone who has impeccable taste (it must be impeccable, since it agrees with mine most of the time) has gone through a bunch of past Hugo winners and assessed them with the benefit of seeing them in sequence, over time. The comments are worth reading, but what I really loved were the old covers.

I'm not going to tell you which article was the one I agreed with most of the time. That would spoil half the fun of discovery! I'm perfectly happy to get into a discussion about past Hugo winners and which books never got quite as much attention as they deserved and which books have been hyped beyond logic and which books we love to hate.

Another bit of Baggage: Deborah Biancotti

I'm a good person - I make writers introduce themselves, as I did here.  It stretches their tolerances, but much less than if I had begun this interview with "Deborah Biancotti is known for her strong committment to murdering masses.  When not in church..." In fact, I have no idea if Deborah has even participated in a mass, much less murdered it, so it really is just as well I'm not introducing her.

What do readers most need to know about you?

I asked a few friends to help me answer this. A couple of ‘em played the ‘you ask your friends to help you answer difficult questions’ card. A few others complimented my prose or my quirk -- or my laugh! (All of which was quite cheering.) Someone recommended I put out an appeal for more purple potatoes (long story).

But my favourite answer was that readers don’t need to know anything. The stories will work or not work regardless of what you might know about the author!

Can you tell us something about the story you wrote for Baggage and the path you travelled in writing it?

I wanted to write a love story to Sydney, and I wanted to write something about my own sense of homelessness -- which I *think* comes from moving around too much as a kid. And, honestly, from the fact I’ve never really related to Australia (from the love of sports to the tall-poppy syndrome, for example). I don’t know what Australian culture is. Which I suspect is probably quite Australian of me!

So ‘home’ for me is just a decision I’ve made to adopt a place, it’s not a sense I grew up with.

I struggled with the theme & the word length, though. I had too much I wanted to say. So I drove myself a little crazy trying to achieve a story worthy of inclusion in this anthology.

How closely do you own your work, emotionally?

Pretty closely when I’m writing it, but after that I don’t give a damn. I barely remember my own titles, even though I can spend hours & days coming up with the things. Once a story is done I wipe the slate & start again.

What writers have most influenced you?  Can you tell us something of what their work has meant and why it’s important?

Tanith Lee, because she taught me I could write. I mean: because she wrote similar sorts of stories & themes to the ones I was *trying* to write when I first tried to write.

Ursula Le Guin, because she made me feel that, by comparison, I *couldn’t* write!

Gene Wolfe, because I’ve wanted to write worlds that are immersive, compelling and convincing.

Mary Gentle, because if there’s one book I wish I’d written, it would be ASH: A SECRET HISTORY.

Jim Lewis, because his books have broken my heart. Each time.

I find I also want to include Donna Tart, Carol Emshwiller, Cormac McCarthy, Walter Mosley, George R. R. Martin, Lee Child, Michael Marshall, Michael Chabon -- but I’m not sure if they’re influences or just great literary loves.

What other projects do you have on?  (include information about release dates etc, if you can, please)  Where is your writing currently taking you?

I’m writing more urban fantasy nowdays, which I’m really passionate about. I love ‘kitchen sink’ stories with a supernatural bite. So I’ve written a novella for Gilgamesh Press based in contemporary Sydney (part of the Ishtar anthology coming out for WorldCon). I have a short story in the Sprawl anthology from Twelfth Planet (another WorldCon release).

And I’m finishing my first novel, which features three cities in close relationship (only one of which is real).

Is there one style issue you’d love new writers to sort out before you read their work?

I better not say. There are some very successful writers with styles I find unbearable. Probably best not to take my advice on the matter.

What Australian writers do you think we should be reading now?

I spent an inspiring day at the Sydney Writers Festival recently, so I’d say you should be reading crime writer Michael Robotham, environmental writer Tim Flannery, and ‘digital detox’ proponent Susan Maushart (author of THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONNECT). I’d also say you should always read Australia’s best poet, Dorothy Porter.

Of your own work, what are your favourite pieces?  Why?

My favourite pieces are always the ones I’m writing RIGHT NOW, because as far as I know, I haven’t screwed them up yet. But I’m particularly proud of A BOOK OF ENDINGS (Twelfth Planet Press). That book was a team effort & a personal challenge. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so proud of anything.