My story “The Vampire Gustav at the End of the Universe” has been selected as part of the Bewildering Stories Quarterly Best (fourth quarter, issues 355-365). I’m pretty honoured – especially since “Gustav” is one of my strangest tales (actually, that’s probably what makes it a good fit for Bewildering Stories).
deepspace ambient
By quirk of fate, Kim Wilkins’s (see previous post) husband Mirko is a an active creator of one of my other favourite pastimes – ambient music. His output as deepspace is remarkable – guided, abstract and considered. His albums include CDs and some downloadable/last.fm listenable works so there’s a chance to listen before you buy.
It’s kind of cool for me to be a fan of both Kim and Mirko, for different reasons.
Kim Wilkins at work on a new book, yay!
One of my favourite authors Kim Wilkins has taken herself and her family from Brisbane to England to research and write her new novel. I can’t wait to read it. I know she has been busy, but it’s been a while since her last adult fantasy – Rosa and The Veil of Gold (just The Veil of Gold in the US, I believe). While I’ve enjoyed her young adult books on a level, I couldn’t quite get into her “Kimberley Freeman” romances, so I’m excited that after some years we’ll be getting another thick and well-researched adult fantasy.
Kim was studying at the University of Queensland, ahead of me as I was beginning my masters. She had already published a couple of novels then and won the Aurealis Award in 1997 for The Infernal. My favourite of her novels is The Autumn Castle, which is a complex and dark almost Gothic romance with parallel worlds and devious, devilish plot twists. She’s published something like 20 books now.
Twig and Twine – new ambient album from The Green Kingdom
Following the wonderful eponymous album on SEM and delicious follow up “Laminae” on The Land Of, The Green Kingdom’s new album “Twig and Twine” is out now on Own Records.
Listeners familiar with Michael Cottone’s work, as The Green Kingdom, from his earlier albums are in for a treat. Twig and Twine is at once a progression from the earlier works but also a compliment to both. Using more complex arrangements and crisper instrumentation this new album highlights Cottone’s skill as a composer with a fine sense of sound and atmosphere. Part of the blurb on the Own Records site describes tracks that “blur the line between soundscape and structure”, and I second that. This is exactly the kind of engaging music that is precise enough to be both background and foreground. I found that listening to it immediately following his previous two albums, it really shines like a kind of capstone. And as a stand alone album, this is one of my highlights from the year.
The Stinger, by Asher Ellis on Flashes In The Dark
(If I’ve figured out how to stop trackbacks, finally, then this shouldn’t appear on the Flashes In The Dark site like this. If it does, I’ll have to come up with another way for posting links to blogs … )
Asher’s wicked flash horror story has just appeared on Flashes in the Dark. This is a very cool story, which reminded me of inadvertantly waiting until the end of the credits in Zombieland, just way creepier.
Asher builds the tension so well … you’ll just have to read it yourself
Marooned – Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror books on Mars
My story “The Stone Goddess” from Horror Through the Ages has a mention on the Marooned blog. Definitely check out Paul’s blog – regularly updated with lots of great Mars fiction info.
Nathan Rosen – I Know an Old Lady
Flicking through the web I stumbled on Nathan’s (editor of MicroHorror) story I Know an Old Lady in Apex Magazine from a couple of years back. I’ve seen some of Mr Rosen’s stories before and always been impressed – this particular one is just primo.
Another Fibonacci Sequence Poem
A quiet little publication here. My Fibonacci Sequence poem “Reanimated” has been published on the very cool AlienSkinMag Science Fiction site. The Fibs appear in the left-hand column, randomly, so it might take a little exploring before my poem shows, but the site has some great stuff to read anyway, so it’s fun to look.
Unexpectedly … suddenly
Just thinking a little more about my post about picking the right words and how the telephone might ring. Perhaps the writer just means that the phone rang “unexpectedly”. That makes sense to me, and I guess I’m being too pedantic.
The muse and the cheesecake
I talk her up a lot, so I guess I’m a fan, but Jodi MacArthur has penned a brilliant essay about the writing life. The article has been published on Flash Fiction Chronicles – My Muse Wants Cheesecake. Jodi talks about those inner and outer conflicts through which writing always emerges. Engaging, heartfelt and funny.
Sean Monaghan - Writer 