Carnival

I'll be putting up the Australian Spec Fic carnival tomorrow (later today, technically, but after I've slept). I was going to do it today, but life intervened. This gives people a chance to suggest links for it.

Since no-one actually submitted any this month except Nyssa, if you want someone to read the brilliant post you wrote or read three weeks ago, I do suggest you let me know about it! You have twelve hours... and this is the last carnival before AussieCon.

Edited to add: Because this will be an AussieCon edition of the carnival and because NZ fiction and writers deserve their bit of sunshine, I would welcome any posts about or by any aspect of NZ spec fic.

It would greatly increase any post's chances of inclusion if they're substantive. I like my carnivals to not just repeat everyone else's announcements, so that's the kinds of carnival I put together. We're celebating writing, after all, not bulletin boards. (And that last moment was possibly evidence that I should stop work and get some sleep. Although if I do the next couple of tasks first I could turn sarcastic, which would be fun. I might even enjoy ironic dreams.)

Australian and NZ Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival - August 2010

Welcome to the slightly-late Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival. It was going to be the AussieCon edition, but no-one's writing about AussieCon, even though we all think about it and are preparing for it. Very odd.

This month I decided to open the doors to NZ writing as well as Australian. It's just as well I did for, as Simon Petrie kindly pointed out, NZ writers now have their own organisation: http://www.specficnz.org/ It would be a great pity if this important moment went unremarked! Its Australian twin organisation is about to happen, too

Special thanks to Mary Victoria and Jenny Blackford and Nyssa Pascoe for suggestions. Also to Simon Petrie.

I'm sorry in advance for not hiding the URLs and making the post prettier and less bulky. Beauty must sacrifice itself to convenience. I have so very much run out of time!

Australian and NZ spec fic - articles and crafted thoughts (also, thoughts on craft)

Let's start with theory of blogging, Fallon style. Jennifer Fallon warns us that not all writers should be blogging about all subjects while Alan Baxter lists some reasons not to be a writer at all.
On the state of Australian book retailing - some very thoughtful discussion by Chuck McKenzie: http://chuckmck1.livejournal.com/29505.html and http://chuckmck1.livejournal.com/29432.html
Glenda Larke on why 'chicklit' may not be the best way to describe a book: http://glendalarke.blogspot.com/2010/08/chick-lit-name-that-makes-me-gnash-my.html while Rowena Cory Daniells talks about what men want from their fiction: http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/2010/08/14/male-characters-and-male-readers-or-what-do-men-really-want-in-a-book/
A blog by Dave Freer and family, where they document their existence on a small island a very long way from where they began: http://flindersfreer.blogspot.com/ (they're acting more and more like Australians with each fish they catch and each barbie they attend - if I were Dave, I'd be very worried)
Tessa Kum (on Jeff VanderMeer's blog) on the complexity of people: http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2010/08/09/when-the-cover-doesnt-match-the-story/
Helen Lowe on the influence of landscape on story: http://helenlowe.info/blog/2010/07/19/influences-on-story-2/
Richard Harland on steampunk: http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/2010/07/29/more-thoughts-on-steampunk-alternate-history/
Mary Victoria on the writing journey: http://maryvictoria.livejournal.com/27131.html
and Nicole Murphy on writing that first published novel: http://voyagerblog.com.au/2010/08/04/ten-drafts-and-you-have-a-book-nicole-murphy-on-writing/
and on what happens when you run out of trilogy to work on: http://tillianion.livejournal.com/117819.html
Talie Helene is in the middle of an extraordinary and public voyage through some very big issues. She illustrates her voyage with her writing and with her life. Start http://taliehelene.livejournal.com/188174.html here for the poetry.
Nyssa Pascoe on interning at HarperVoyager: Day One, Day Two and Day Three.
Zombie haiku! http://jasonfischer.livejournal.com/294980.html
Editors and writers discussing electronic review copies of books: http://laurensb.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/the-world-of-%E2%80%9Ce%E2%80%9D/
Tansy Rayner Roberts on podcasts for writers: http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/2010/07/29/podcasts-for-writers/
Anna Tambour (a foodie post, of course): http://medlarcomfits.blogspot.com/2010/07/foodies-arise-for-luscious-fruits-youve.html
Kathleen Jennings' regular sketchbook update: http://tanaudel.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/sketchbook-update/
And Keith Stevenson does a wordle for Wives http://keithstevenson.com/CDLblog/2010/07/22/wives-wordle/

Interviews and meetings
This is the month of the interview. I ought to put up a youtube clip about "Everyone's doing it, doing it, doing it."
A chat with Kim Falconer http://www.falconastrology.com/FANGtastic_chat.html
Angela Slatter interviews a thousand writers. I'm just going to give you the http://angelaslatter.com/ overall URL. There are a lot of interviews (but none of me - I need to pout for a moment - just ignore it) and the easiest way to handle it is to go to her blog, start at the top, and work your way down. That way you get bonus cats.
Midnight Echo and interviews with horror writers http://www.horrorscope.com.au/2010/08/news-midnight-echo-online-interviews.html
Kaaron Warren interviews Monica Carroll: http://kaaronwarren.livejournal.com/125406.html
Sharyn Lilley interviews Jennifer Fallon: http://gillpolack.livejournal.com/678083.html (other Baggage-related interviews http://www.eneitpress.com/blog.php?journal=1 )
Looking back in wonder - Kim Wilkins ponders her first novel http://fantasticthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/the-infernal-thirteen-years-later/ (I shall not debase her interesting blogpost by admitting that I once wrote "Infernal Mail" on 200 pieces that had to go through Melbourne Uni's internal mail system.)
Russell Blackford on the work of the critic (discussing Terminator2, though, not Charles Dickens): http://metamagician3000.blogspot.com/2010/08/over-interpretation.html

Launches and releases in the near future or near past
Tymon's Flight by Mary Victoria http://voyagerblog.com.au/2010/08/16/the-launch-of-tymons-flight/
Baggage - first the food: http://www.eneitpress.com/blog.php?journal=2 and then the rest of the launch details: http://www.eneitpress.com/news.php?news=111
Secret Ones by Nicole Murphy - the video of the launch http://voyagerblog.com.au/2010/07/27/secret-ones-launch-video/
Grants Pass http://amandapillar.livejournal.com/131058.html
Glitter Rose, Marianne de Pierres: http://twelfthplanet.livejournal.com/12864.html

Miscellaneous stuff of exquisite interest
There will be a Nightmare Ball at AussieCon! (bookings necessary, I suspect) http://www.horrorscope.com.au/2010/08/news-nightmare-ball-tickets-selling.html http://ashamel.livejournal.com/393563.html
Mary Victoria meets Gollum and narrowly saves her book from being snatched by him and carried underground http://voyagerblog.com.au/2010/08/11/precioussssss/
How writers respond to Ditmar nominations - an unrepresentative sampling:
Ben Payne http://benpayne.livejournal.com/37653.html
Ian Mond http://mondyboy.livejournal.com/118977.html
Cat Sparks http://catsparx.livejournal.com/205119.html
Deborah Biancotti http://deborahb.livejournal.com/351430.html
Simon Petrie http://punktortoise.livejournal.com/53206.html

Announcements
Necroscope Subscription Drive (become a zombie subscriber and win zombie reading - what do zombies read? Follow the link http://www.horrorscope.com.au/2010/08/news-necroscope-subscription-drive.html (I'd say follow the yellow brick road, but I'm pretty sure that zombies can't be bothered with yellow brick roads.)
Red Blade Press is releasing a Bill Congreve anthology http://www.horrorscope.com.au/2010/08/news-souls-along-meridian-by-bill.html
Ticonderoga announces http://punkrocker1991.livejournal.com/257438.html Lucy Sussex and Felicity Dowker anthologies.
Also http://punkrocker1991.livejournal.com/257157.html Lezli Robyn.
Plus an extra story in http://punkrocker1991.livejournal.com/256904.html Dead Sea Fruit (Kaaron Warren).
Conflux Canberra 'Space' Tour - coming very soon, to a Canberra near you: http://gillpolack.livejournal.com/676117.html
Halloween Book Signing: http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/2010/07/30/halloween-horror-book-signing-dymocks-southland.html

Let me end with a small reflection. A few years ago, I could read back a month on most blogs handling Australian speculative fiction each month. The carnival could be a fairly accurate overview. These days, it can't be. I completely ran out of oomph at about the 75 blog mark. So I'm sorry if I missed you, but I tried very hard. If your name and blogpost isn't there and ought to be, please remember to suggest posts next time round, so that this won't happen twice!

See you next month on the Voyager blog!

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Sharyn Lilley and my mother have colluded and the sandwiches at the Baggage launch will be kosher vegetarian. This is in keeping with the theme. It also means I get to explain (for those to whom this means something) that the sambos will be mizrachi kosher, not glatt kosher. C.W.A. food, kosher sandwiches - we take this book very seriously!

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I completely forgot the Very Important Moment that prompted the recent menu change for the Baggage launch. We have copies!!! Mostly in Culcairn, but copies. The paper variety. And Andrew, the cover looks lovely. Understated and elegant and just beautiful.