Archive for September, 2006

If you thought that Mark Latham turned a good phrase of insult with things like “a conga line of suckholes”, then you’re going to like Amanda McKittrick Ros. However, while you may like her style of insult, you probably won’t like anything else she wrote. Ros was an Irish author who published her first...
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The former Opposition leader and all round bovver-boy Mark Latham has released another book. He proudly points out that this is his seventh book, which ranks him ninth according to the number of books Australian parliamentarians have produced. He must be so proud. Sadly, Latham has sunk to previously unplumbed depths of irrelevance these...
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I really can’t let this one go by, especially as it was originally brought up by a rather stridently vocal reader of The Word. I’m sure you’re all well aware of the Pope’s recent forays into the arena of public speaking. Benedict XVI gave a lecture at a German university recently and in his...
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Freedom of speech can be an issue in more ways than just being prevented from speaking your mind. Freedom of speech is not just about being able to say what you want, safe in the knowledge that anyone else can say what they want in return. It’s also about being able to access, unconditionally,...
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When it comes to using words in ways that seem to make the absurd an artform, there’s really no competition for politicians and religious leaders. There’s been an awful lot of rhetoric and word smithery going on over the last couple of days as people reflect on five years since the terrorist attacks on...
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I’m very proud to announce that my novel RealmShift has been nominated in both the horror and fantasy categories of this year’s Aurealis Awards. How exciting! To learn more about the awards, see the website by clicking here. My apologies for this piece of shameless self-promotion.
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Steve Irwin, Wildlife Warrior – 22/2/1962 to 4/9/2006 Warrior – (noun.) 1. One who is engaged in or experienced in battle.2. One who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause, or conflictAn absolute Aussie legend and a conservationist of epic proportions. He has left the world a better place. Rest in peace,...
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Chickenhawk – (slang) someone who avoids going to war or fighting in his lifetime, but still advocates that war is necessary.There was a significant victory for free speech in the US recently. Zachary Guiles, from Vermont, had a t-shirt that depicted George W Bush as a Chickenhawk and an alcohol and cocaine abuser. The...
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Guerilla Marketing – as described by Jay Conrad Levinson in his popular 1982 book Guerrilla Marketing, is an unconventional way of performing promotional activities on a very low budget. Guerilla Marketers Cafe is a website designed to use this method of marketing for authors and it’s somewhere that “Authors and readers mingle.” I’ve just...
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