HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANE MACGOWAN! “I believe in miracles,” Shane MacGowan said recently in response to a question about his religious beliefs … . “I’ve seen miracles happen in my life. It’s a miracle every morning when you wake up.” “I’m concentrating on my health at the minute,” … and to this end he has given up […]
History should not be rushed. It is important to take time to reflect, and to have access to all relevant materials before coming to judgment. And while all views may be subject to revision (just ask Stalin), I am fairly confident of our maturity in the cultural sphere, and so believe that this is one […]
I’m writing a story featuring a blind person, which led me by some circuitous and probably inappropriate path, to think that I should mention two of my stories that are available free for your listening pleasure, via podcast. First up is my first ever published story, “Good Boy”, no longer in print, but available in […]
… you know you want to! Christmas is coming, as I can tell from the 4.30pm sunset. O Southern Hemisphere, I miss you and your heatwave Christmas! A hot roast lunch with a side of cold prawns. Hot Christmas pudding, followed by pavlova with chilled fruit and cream. Everyone knows Jesus wasn’t born in winter […]
Great news – At the Edge, a wonderful anthology of speculative fiction by New Zealand (New Zealandian?) and Australian writers, won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collected Work. And you will immediately see my self interest at work when I congratulate editors Lee Murray and Dan Rabarts for their win, and thank them […]
Watched: The Dressmaker – how had I not seen it before? It was compulsory viewing for all Australians, but I must have been on shrimp-tossing duties that day. It made me want Kate Winslet to love me, the way she automatically and effortlessly fell in love with Liam Hemsworth. A bonus was that I have […]
Aurealis, a much loved and very entertaining science fiction and fantasy magazine that also happens to be Australian*, has released its 100th edition. In the world of genre periodicals, this is an excellent achievement. Congratulations to all involved, well played! *And just happened once upon a time, way back in edition #68, to include […]
Of course, anticipation is usually sweeter, but it remains that (not unexpectedly, but wouldn’t it have been noice, yes, noice!) “Eat, Pray, Wait” by yours truly shall not grace the pages of the next edition of Year’s Best Weird Fiction. However, it is available here for your reading pleasure, sandwiched with other morsels between the […]
Surprise Cancer too is a prize You don’t have to queue at the newsagent’s to buy a ticket They slip it in with the teddy bear, the beatrix potter china setting, the first photograph album, unnoticed. The final draw may be foreshadowed in the missed stitch in the booties grandma made put aside, only used […]
I dreamed of moneylenders slicing flesh from shinbones with machetes, and people being rolled up and crucified, so they would fit more readily on a wall. Couldn’t find the explanation in my dream book.
Nobody is looking 