I have a few stories nearing completion, and one submitted today to a New Zealand print magazine. I am writing furiously at the moment, energised and enthusiastic. I have my YA novel draft ready on the desk to start working on, and looking forwards to the next tutoring deadline, just two weeks off.
Author: Sean Monaghan
Writer. Voracious reader.
Robot
Brain in slow meltdown, with nothing to report. Here’s a robot I doodled which shows the quality of my thinking right now. So much for a book review today.
Fluid Radio – taster
I often sing the praises of Fluid Radio – an eclectic internet radio station from Experimedia in the UK with a couple of varied channels. Usually I listen to their mixes more than the radio stream – it’s cool having artists I recognise bringing some of their favourite tracks, whether their own or those of others, together in a honed set.
Something I’ve been listening to lately is the Taster – a mix of tracks from forthcoming projects on Fluid Audio. Best, I think, for listening to with the lights low, perhaps only with the light from your screen.
2010 Taster |Fluid Radio:
Sensor Pattern – new gallery of images on Flickr
I’ve completed a new set of related images called Sensor Pattern, available as a gallery on Flickr. Sensor Pattern is a journey through a semi-artificial world, viewed through a lens, but is the lens magnifying or just otherwise distorting?
Flickr’s transitions work well so running the pieces as a slideshow works well – almost like a kind of screensaver.
Sand under my toes, Dust in my hair – new 8min Venus Vulture track available on Reverbnation
My latest ambient excursion, and longest for a while, is now available for free download or streaming on theVenus Vulture page at Reverbnation. “Sand under my toes, Dust in my hair” goes through a number of changes. Really it’s an attempt at narrative through sound. The track begins with a walk along a beach at sunset, then the wind cools and picks up and we hurry along almost lost until finally descending into a cave in the cliff, just lit by the sliver of crescent moon. Well, that was the mood I was looking for. Perhaps you’ll hear something different.
Daniel Pecqueur – Golden City
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Golden City, a series of graphic novels in French by Daniel Pecqueur. First admission – I don’t understand French, just the occasional word: certainly not enough to follow the dialogue or prompts. The art, however, is extraordinary and very sci-fi, so it’s suiting me and where I’m at. I’m finding that I’m doing a lot of science fiction world building in my writing of late and these kinds of illustrations of unusual planes and boats, of underwater suits and giant cities, are all stimulating my imagination. These are the kinds of pictures I’d love to do of the worlds I’m imagining, if only I could draw even fractionally as well. In some ways the pictures remind me of a cleaner, crisper version of Moebius from the eighties. Pecqueur’s action and sense of composition is wonderful – even understanding hardly a word of it, I’m thoroughly engrossed and entertained.
Two new Fibonacci Sequence Poems
Two of my untitled “Fibs” have just come out. One [Childless Couple] in issue #6 of Muse Pie Press’s journal The Fib Review, and the other [Thin] on the Undead Poets site.
A Fibonacci poem is based on the Fibonacci sequence, with lines of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 syllables. The main page of the Fib Review explains it much better than I can. The device makes for some neat poems, and some of the other wonderful poets in the current Fib Review are doing some mind-bending stuff with it – check out Horns by Mark Arvid White – extraordinary.
The Servants of Darkness go for Pizza – new story on Static Movement
My offbeat, even humourous, flash horror story The Servants of Darkness go for Pizza appears in the May issue of Static Movement. There’s a good lineup of stories again this month, with some names familiar to readers of online flash – Oonah V. Joslin, Joshua Scribner and co. Chris Bartholemew, the editor, has put together another great issue.
Courtney, Reanimated – new story on MicroHorror
My flash story Courtney, Reanimated has just been published on the MicroHorror site. Striving for a mix of atmosphere and action here, with a little bit of character as well. I hope it succeeds.
Iron Man 2
I went to see Iron Man 2 last night and I would say that it’s mixed and fragmented. Some moments are superb, others lackluster. The action didn’t live up to my expectations, there were too many baddies and the story seemed to drift around without real urgency (perhaps a bit too much set up for an Avengers movie?). I guess I like my action flicks simple – one big threat, escalating danger and lots of stuff blowing up. When I start noticing continuity glitches (the angle of the box of strawberries on the table) then I know I’m not fully engaged.
The highlights, however, were anytime Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow were on screen together – the dialogue is busy and natural, their characters so real and fluid: those scenes alone made the movie worth seeing.
Certainly some of the effects are extraordinary, but given that just about anything can be done digitally now I guess I’m getting harder to amaze. I went with a mate, who loved it, says it’s better than the first, so it’s all just opinion anyway.
Sean Monaghan - Writer 