alan

Over at the Thirteen O’Clock website we’re giving away three copies of Season 2 of Haven. Here’s the blurb: Haven, Maine appears to be just another lively, New England seaside town, complete with quaint shops, scenic beaches and a busy harbor. But when FBI Agent Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) first arrived on a routine...
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Australian Spec Fic had its night of nights on Saturday, with the presentation of the 2011 Aurealis Awards at The Independent in North Sydney. As ever it was an excellent event – top marks to SpecFaction for putting on another flawless presentation. It’s always a great opportunity to hang out with old friends and...
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I want this so badly…
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Following the daft church sign posted previously, I thought I’d stick with religion after reading this today at Michael Fridman’s blog. Seriously, sometimes humanity makes me want to drown things… People Believe a LOT of Nonsense on Evolution, Creationism, Religion I’m not talking about creationists, that goes without saying. I’m talking about the fact...
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It’s been a while since I had a nonsensical church sign here, but this one amused me today. In fact, it really confused me – it doesn’t make any sense at all. It doesn’t even rhyme. Is it an oblique reference to accidental pregnancy? Because, let’s be honest, any of life’s blunders are rarely...
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I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again, but let me start out with a caveat: Yes, I am nominated for a Ditmar Award this year, in the Best New Talent category. Of course I would love your vote and, if you do vote for me, you’re a great person and...
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Tuesday Toot is a semi-regular feature here at The Word. An invite-only series of short posts where writers, editors, booksellers and other creatives have been asked to share their stuff and toot their own horn. It’s hard to be seen in the digital morass and hopefully this occasional segment will help some of the...
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I’ve been noticing that more and more people are reading e-books from tablets and fewer people are buying e-ink devices like the original Kindle. When I straw-polled this perception on Twitter, it seemed that I was right. While we are seeing more Kindles and Kobos than ever, the number of iPads and other tablet...
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Lookit! I got my contributor copy of Damnation & Dames in the post today. It features the story I co-wrote with Felicity Dowker (who you may remember from such posts as the one right before this one). Our story is called Burning, Always Burning and I’m very proud of it. It’s my first published...
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My good friend, occasional collaborator and all-round top wordsmith, Felicity Dowker, has her debut collection of short stories coming out soon from Ticonderoga Publications. It’s called Bread & Circuses and it’s brilliant. I know this for two reasons – 1. Felicity is an awesome writer, so all her stuff is brilliant; and 2. I’ve...
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I woke up this morning to discover that the 2012 Ditmar Award shortlist has been announced. Imagine my surprise when I saw my own name listed under the Best New Talent category. I knew I was eligible and had mentioned that fact here before, but it was still a very pleasant surprise to see...
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The Emerging Writers’ Festival is coming around again from May 24 – June 3. You may remember that I went up to Brisbane last year and took part. I’ll be involved again, this time in Melbourne. It’s a brilliant event and well worth your time whether you’re new and emerging or an old hand...
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I’ve got something a bit special for you all today. Emma Newman is a great new voice in speculative fiction, and she’s got an intriguing project on the go. If you think you recognise that name, you’re right. A year and a day ago (isn’t that a nicely fairy tale thing to say) I...
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You guys will remember the massive Australian vampire anthology from Ticonderoga Publications called Dead Red Heart. It featured my story, Punishment Of The Sun. My story got a place in Ellen Datlow’s Honorable Mentions for 2011, and will be listed in Best Horror Of The Year, Volume 4. As if that wasn’t happy-happy news...
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There’s been some interesting bits and pieces cropping up around the web just lately. First off, you may remember I was very pleased to discover that my story, Punishment Of The Sun, from the Dead Red Heart anthology is going to be included in Ellen Datlow’s Honorable Mentions that will be appearing in The...
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