To open Dreaming Of Djinn is to open a jewel encrusted box full of exquisite and mouthwatering delicacies.

This sensuous and truly mouthwatering collection melding the modern and the ancient with the strangeness of speculative fiction, is a treasure trove of originality and exotic magic.

It will ravish your senses as it transports you to a world of flying carpets, powerful ifrits, exotic foods and above all, dancing as deadly as it is beautiful.

Sounds pretty sweet, right? It features my story, On a Crooked Leg Lightly. I would highly recommend this book, and not only because I’m in it. There are 18 stories in all, from a wide variety of authors:

18 stories by:

• Marilag Angway “Shadow Dancer”
• Cherith Baldry “The Green Rose”
• Alan Baxter “On A Crooked Leg Lightly”
• Jenny Blackford “The Quiet Realm of the Dark Queen”
• Jetse de Vries “Djinni Djinni Dream Dream”
• Thoraiya Dyer “The Saint George Hotel”
• Joshua Gage “The Dancer of Smoke”
• Richard Harland “The Tale of the Arrow Girl”
• Faith Mudge “The Oblivion Box”
• Havva Murat “Harmony Thicket and the Persian Shoes”
• Charlotte Nash “Parvaz”
• Anthony Panegyres “Oleander: An Ottoman Tale”
• Dan Rabarts “Silver, Sharp as Silk”
• Angela Rega “The Belly Dancing Crimes of Ms Sahara Desserts”
• Jenny Schwartz “The Pearl Flower Harvest”
• Barb Siples “The Sultan’s Debt”
• Pia Van Ravestein “Street Dancer”
• DC White “A Dash of Djinn and Tonic”

Go get some!

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In some ways, last night might have been called the Margealis Awards, as it was a bumper night for the wonderful Margo Lanagan. But no one could be more deserving and no could be nicer and more humble while desperately trying to claw her way out from under a pile of awards as big as the Rydges Hotel. She took home no less than four Aurealis Awards last night to add to all the others she’s won this year. And she deserves them all. She also offered some very sound advice, drawn from the success of Sea Hearts: Don’t marry a seal, as it will only end badly. And be nice to all the witches in your community.

Let’s be honest, that’s sound advice we can all take on board.

Kaaron Warren also had a great night, taking the Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story for Sky, which means she’s won the Ditmar, Australian Shadows and Aurealis Awards this year, all for the same story. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that’s ever happened before.

Both Kaaron and Margo are studies in stupendous talent being justly rewarded, while remaining about the nicest people you could imagine.

I also learned last night that event MC Scott Westerfeld’s name is WesterFELD when I would have bet money before that it was Westerfield. Colour me surprised.

I also learned that Nick Stathopoulos is the new Ray Harryhausen, thanks to the screening of his short film, It Grows. If you get a chance to see that, you must!

I learned that Cat Sparks can’t pronounce the name of her publisher, but there’s every chance that was wine induced momentary tongue-tiedness.

Scott WesterFELD also made a great speech pointing out that spec fic rules about every form of media out there, and Kate Eltham, utterly worthy recipient of the Peter Mac Award, pointed out that Aussie spec fic is a tribe of the greatest kind. But those last two things we already know.

I’m so proud to be a part of this tribe and inspired by the talents of all the lovely people who make it what it is.

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners. Here they are, with the winners in bold:

2012 Aurealis Award Winners

FANTASY NOVEL

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (Random House Australia)

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff (Tor UK)

Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)

Flame of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier (PanMacmillan Australia)

Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier (HarperVoyager)

FANTASY SHORT STORY

“Sanaa’s Army” by Joanne Anderton (Bloodstones, Ticonderoga Publications)

“The Stone Witch” by Isobelle Carmody (Under My Hat, RandomHouse)

“First They Came” by Deborah Kalin (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 55)

“Bajazzle” by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)

“The Isles of the Sun” by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Suited by Jo Anderton (Angry Robot)

The Last City by Nina D’Aleo (Momentum)

And All The Stars by Andrea K Host (self-published)

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina (Walker Books)

Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)

The Rook by Daniel O’Malle y(HarperCollins)

SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

“Visitors” by James Bradley (Review of Australian Fiction)

“Significant Dust” by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)

“Beyond Winter’s Shadow” by Greg Mellor (Wild Chrome, Ticonderoga Publications)

“The Trouble with Memes” by Greg Mellor (WildChrome, Ticonderoga Publications)

“The Lighthouse Keepers’ Club” by Kaaron Warren (Exotic Gothic 4, PS Publishing)

HORROR NOVEL

Bloody Waters by Jason Franks (Possible Press)

Perfections by Kirstyn McDermott (Xoum)

Blood and Dust by Jason Nahrung (Xoum)

Salvage by Jason Nahrung (Twelfth Planet Press)

HORROR SHORT STORY

“Sanaa’s Army” by Joanne Anderton (Bloodstones, Ticonderoga Publications)

“Elyora” by Jodi Cleghorn (Rabbit Hole Special Issue, Review of Australian Fiction)

“To Wish Upon a Clockwork Heart” by Felicity Dowker (Bread and Circuses, Ticonderoga Publications)

“Escenade un Asesinato” by Robert Hood (Exotic Gothic 4, PS Publishing)

“Sky” by Kaaron Warren (Through Splintered Walls, Twelfth Planet Press)

YOUNG ADULT NOVEL – JOINT WINNERS!

Dead, Actually by Kaz Delaney (Allen & Unwin)

And All The Stars by Andrea K. Host (self-published)

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Amberlin Kwaymullina (Walker Books)

Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)

Into That Forest by Louis Nowra (Allen & Unwin)

YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

“Stilled Lifes x11” by Justin D’Ath (Trust Me Too, Ford Street Publishing)

“The Wisdom of the Ants” by Thoraiya Dyer (Clarkesworld)

“Rats” by Jack Heath (Trust Me Too, Ford Street Publishing)

“The Statues of Melbourne” by Jack Nicholls (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 56)

“The Worry Man” by Adrienne Tam (self-published)

CHILDREN’S FICTION (told primarily through words)

Brotherband: The Hunters by John Flanagan (Random House Australia)

Princess Betony and the Unicorn by Pamela Freeman (Walker Books)

The Silver Door by Emily Rodda (Scholastic)

Irina the Wolf Queen by Leah Swann (Xoum Publishing)

CHILDREN’S FICTION (told primarily through pictures)

Little Elephants by Graeme Base (author and illustrator) (Viking Penguin)

The Boy Who Grew Into a Tree by Gary Crew (author) and Ross Watkins (illustrator) (Penguin Group Australia)

In the Beech Forest by Gary Crew (author) and Den Scheer (illustrator) (Ford Street Publishing)

Inside the World of Tom Roberts by Mark Wilson (author and illustrator) (Lothian Children’s Books)

ILLUSTRATED BOOK / GRAPHIC NOVEL

Blue by Pat Grant (author and illustrator) (Top Shelf Comix)

It Shines and Shakes and Laughs by Tim Molloy (author and illustrator) (Milk Shadow Books)

Changing Ways #2 by Justin Randall (author and illustrator) (Gestalt Publishing)

ANTHOLOGY

The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2011 edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications)

Bloodstones edited by Amanda Pillar (Ticonderoga Publications)

The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume 6 edited by Jonathan Strahan (NightShade Books)

Under My Hat edited by Jonathan Strahan (Random House)

Edge of Infinity edited by Jonathan Strahan (Solaris Books)

COLLECTION

That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote by K.J. Bishop (self‐published)

Metro Winds by Isobelle Carmody (Allen & Unwin)

Midnight and Moonshine by Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter (Ticonderoga Publications)

Living With the Dead by Martin Livings (Dark Prints Press)

Through Splintered Walls by Kaaron Warren (Twelfth Planet Press)

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I remember getting in trouble at school once because I was reading before the start of class. I even remember the book – it was, appropriately enough, Stephen King’s “It”. I was a teenager, technically sitting in a classroom in my high school in Camberley in the south of England, but I was actually miles away in Maine. Slowly, pushing through the story, I became aware of the sound of my name. Then again. And again. I was so near the end of this great book and someone kept calling my name. So rude! Eventually I looked up with a terse, “WHAT!?”

It was my teacher, trying to get my attention because the bell had rung, she had arrived, everyone else had their work books out, and I was still in Stephen King’s head. The whole class laughed at me, the teacher scowled at me and I spent the next few hours until lunch with a burning pain in my chest because I needed to finish that freaking book!

I tell this story to illustrate what I think it’s like for most writers. Of course, it’s like that for all those other voracious readers out there who don’t have the accompanying and equally powerful need to write. But for writers, I think it’s essential. Readers don’t have to write, but writers have to read. Reading, man, it’s the dog’s absolute bollocks. Best thing out there. Nothing like a good book.

When it comes to being a writer, the other thing about reading is that we should read as widely as possible. It’s important to read outside the genre we write in too, just to experience all those other styles and storytelling techniques. I do read mostly in the genre I write, but I try to stretch out as much as possible. Reading every kind of fiction and non-fiction, even newspapers and magazines, it’s all good for the wordy parts of your brainmeats.

Which brings me to this. Check out those three sweet books I picked up in a thrift shop today. They’re hardback western novellas/short novels and were only $5 each. Bargain! I love a good western. I finally turned my hand to the genre with my western ghost story, which I’m very pleased to have sold to Beneath Ceaseless Skies. The story is called Not the Worst of Sins – I’ll be sure to let you all know when it’s published later this year. For that I read a lot of western fiction and developed a new found taste for it. I’d read it a lot when I was younger, but had fallen out of the habit.

When I saw this stack of books in the thrift shop, I had to get some. There were a dozen or more, all $5 each, and I managed to resist the temptation to buy them all. Mainly because I couldn’t afford them all. So I decided I’d treat myself to three. Then I had the brain tease of picking which three. It all came down to the titles. So it’s worth bearing in mind that titles really are strong selling points for books. I’ve been paying much more attention to titles these days – even if I choose a single word title for a work, it has to be exactly the right word.

So out of that stack of books I chose these three purely based on cool titles: War at Wind River sounds exciting, and I want to know why a river is named Wind. Five Guns South sounds like a posse tale, with five gunslingers heading south for some reason, maybe on the trail of a bad guy or gang. And Red Silver! because it’s a contradiction of sorts and it has an exclamation mark! I’m guessing maybe a massacre of some sort, maybe in a town called Silver. Bear in mind that I deliberately didn’t read the back cover blurb on any of these. I picked titles that excited me and I’m looking forward to being surprised by them. Hopefully pleasantly surprised.

So the message today for all you word-wranglers out there is read voraciously, read widely and pick your titles with as much care and consideration as you give to all the other words in your work, if not more!

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First, I saw this on Chuck Wendig’s blog (click the pic to make it bigger):

And I saw this doing the rounds on Tumblr:

“It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.”

— Hugh Laurie

So I repeat my own adage in relation to these:

Put your arse in the chair and your fingers on the keyboard and WRITE!

Nothing else matters without this. Do that first and you’ve got a start and something to work with. No fear, no doubt, dive in, motherfucker, and write. Let all the other stuff come later, and we have ways to deal with that (friends and family, trusted beta readers, alcohol, etc.)

Off you go.

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I also want to tie up a whole bunch of things, to weave my exciting narratives into a coherent whole greater than the sum of its parts. Even seemingly small or passing events in books one and two are actually serious catalysts to the events in the whole arc of the story. As that entire arc will only become apparent in book three, so will the small and seemingly irrelevant occurrences along the way. Plus, I’ve been having ideas of new things I want to fit in, because they’re cool ideas and I want to get the bastards into the narrative one way or another.

But all of this together means I feel like I’m mentally juggling balls of flaming jelly with turds inside. It’ll be seriously messy and potentially quite dangerous if I fuck up and drop one. And there are slippery eels of ideas swimming through the air between my flaming jelly turd balls. Told you it was messy. Those eel-like ideas keep coming and going and when I think of one part of the story, an earlier eel slips away. So I grab it and that later idea starts to roam off looking for wood elves to eat or something. Such is the nature of trying to manage a whole story in one lump of brain meat that is barely up to the task.

So I need me some space, to let the story marinate in the old brain gravy. Life is a very distracting thing at the best of times. I’ve got a kung fu academy to run, with all the associated paraphernalia of a small business. I’ve got a wife and family and friends to think of and, of course, there’s Twitter. Basically, life is a massive, swirling array of distractions and that’s the same for everyone. But we writers need clear thinking space. Often I’ll be sitting on the couch, supposedly watching a movie or something, but actually staring at the wall and muttering to myself. My wife has grown used to this – she knows it’s a story forming from the bubbling mess of my depleted mind and she rightly ignores it. But we often need proper space, truly uncluttered, no distractions thinking space.

Different writers have different methods for finding that space. Some go for long walks, some go for a swim, some do the vacuuming and so on. It basically boils down to getting thoroughly involved in something menial and often physical, so we are occupied but our brains are free to roam. Those kind of tasks mean we get to avoid distraction, and the old story can percolate away and ideas swim to the surface and gasp for air. Where we grab them and pin them into a note book for later use.

My favourite method of providing that space in my brainmeats is going out for a motorcycle ride. The process of riding, of concentrating on the road and enjoying the wide open spaces and the wind in my face, is something that occupies my hindbrain thoroughly, while leaving my forebrain and subconscious free to do the dance of creation. That’s when I can do that mental juggling and let the ideas solidify, the various plot threads tie together, the characters to reveal their true needs and motivations. And that’s what I need now with this third book of a trilogy.

Thankfully, it’s a beautiful, sunny autumn day out there, so I’m off. If I don;t get it all thunk out today, I’ll just have to go out for another ride another day. Shut up, I’m working.

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You’ve heard the old adage, I’m sure. Write what you know. That’s all very well, but it’s actually a terrible piece of advice. After all, we all know some stuff, but not much in the grand scheme of things. And if we only write what we know, we’ll soon run out of things to write about. Besides that, one of the things I enjoy most about writing is the excuse it gives me to learn new stuff. For example, I’ve never been in a cult, but when I was writing MageSign I needed to understand how cults work as they were integral to the novel’s plot. So I went off to study all about them and learned a lot. Having a psychiatrist for a mother-in-law is generally about as much fun as it sounds, but in this instance it proved invaluable…

Read the rest at the SAWC Blog here.

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Much time was spent in the bar with friends old and new, drinking too much and talking shit. Which is, after all, one of the main purposes of a con. I have a few highlights persisting through the alcoholic haze. If this con had a theme beyond the official one, it was book launches. So many amazing books were thrust out into the world at Conflux 9.

Cat Sparks’ new collection, The Bride Price, was launched and sold out. Highlights there included Cat drinking champagne from a mug (classy lady, is Cat Sparks) and telling people during her little speech to “Now go and buy my fucking book!” This was particularly entertaining as she was standing three feet from Thoraiya Dyer’s four year old daughter at the time. I don’t know why, I just find that stuff hilarious. Especially when Thoraiya stepped up to buy a book and said to Cat, “Thanks for swearing in front of my kid.” Ah, I laughed.

Rob Hood also launched his amazing novel, Fragments of a Broken Land, which also sold out. And seriously, go and buy that book, folks, because it’s brilliant. Something actually different and dark and bloody good. And Jo Anderton sold out at the launch of her new collection, The Bone Chime Song & Other Stories, which is also dark and different and also fucking brilliant. Such talented writers making work in Australia.

I enjoyed the panels I was on too. Talking horror with Kaaron Warren, Kirstyn McDermott, Jason Nahrung and Terry Dowling was probably my favourite panel of the con. I also really enjoyed talking about authors and social media with Alex Adsett, Abigail Nathan, Zena Shapter and Russell B Farr. The best bit about that panel was that we got the panel trending on Twitter while it happened. Fuck yeah, social media masters at work!

Another highlight, as it always is at the NatCon, was the Ditmar Award ceremony. Loads of lovely people being justly rewarded for their fantastic work. Deb Biancotti did a great job of hosting and the thing even ran to time. There was a live Twitter screen by the stage, too. Look at Conflux all up in the future. And a particular highlight there was Russell B Farr getting the A Bertram Chandler Award for his services to SF. Russ has been an amazing advocate of Australian specfic since around 1996 and his press, Ticonderoga Publications, puts out seriously brilliant books. He really deserved that award and I’m glad he got it. I’m also glad because it made him generous with the whisky in the bar afterwards. Russell, and his partner in crime, life and publishing, Liz Grzyb, have been kind enough to publish several of my stories over the years and I hope they continue to do so. I’m very proud to be a small part of the Ticonderoga legacy.

I also sold all bar one copy of Dark Rite that I took to the con with me, so that’s another highlight. I must thank profusely the CSFG for letting me have my books for sale on their table in the dealer room.

I’m sure there was a lot more I should be talking about, and I apologise for anything I’ve missed that really needs a mention, but it’s all blended into that delicious post-con haze of friendship and inspiration. So I’m off to write now, and see if I can’t try to be even a fraction as talented as some of my wonderful friends. If you’d like a pictorial idea of what happened, check out Cat Sparks’ Flickr stream here, with loads of pics from throughout the con.

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Firstly, the very cool Damien Smith wrote us this review for Thirteen O’Clock, where he says: “a rollercoaster ride that kept me turning the pages until I was almost late for work” among other nice things.

And US author Terry Ervin II had this to say:

“Unraveling the mystery of his dad’s death turns into a nightmare as Grant finds himself mired in a dark cult’s secret that long ago engulfed a small town, and threatens Cassie, a girl he’s fallen for. Grant knows he’s doomed, but that doesn’t mean the demon worshipers have to win.

As the plot began to unfold, I found myself unwilling to put the book aside until I reached the end.”

–Terry W. Ervin II, author of Blood Sword

Bloody lovely. But for now, a snoozzzzzzzz…

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It’s a great podcast and we had a good laugh with hosts Justin Macumber and Paul Elard Cooley. The episode is up and available already, so go here to have a listen.

On that front, I was very happy today to see that Dark Rite is at number 42 in Horror Hot New Releases on Amazon, and number 17 in Occult Horror Hot New Releases. Thanks to everyone who had bought a copy – you people rock.

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I’ve been banging on about Dark Rite the last week or so, as that book has just been published. I won’t say more on that for now, other than to mention that at the time of writing it’s sitting at #39 in bestsellers for horror on Amazon. That’s great news, so thanks to all who bought a copy.

I’ve also had some excellent news in other areas too. In order of happenings, I’ve sold my contemporary fantasy story, Roll The Bones, to Crowded Magazine. Crowded is a new pro-paying magazine in Australia with a very funky idea on crowdsourcing its content. Do check it out whether you’re a reader (as it has some excellent content!) or a writer (pro rates!) That should be out around the middle of the year.

Secondly, I’ve sold my wild west ghost story, Not The Worst Of Sins, to Beneath Ceaseless Skies, due out around the northern autumn. I’m very excited about this one, as BCS is one of my favourite pro-zines and I’m really happy to get published there.

And, as if all that wasn’t enough, I can announce today that my story, Tiny Lives, originally published at the end of last year in Daily Science Fiction, has made the cut to be reprinted in the Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror 2012, due out soon from Ticonderoga Publications.

See what I mean about a flood? It’s a flood of fucking awesome, is what it is. These are the times you have to remember when the slog is getting you down and the rejections are threatening to drown you. Hard work and perseverance pays off, as long as you have the pig-headed determination to never give up and to always work on improving your craft.

I’m sharing some amazing company in the 2012 Year’s Best. Here’s the full ToC:

• Joanne Anderton, “Tied To The Waste”, Tales Of Talisman
• R.J. Astruc, “The Cook of Pearl House, A Malay Sailor by the Name of Maurice”, Dark Edifice 2
• Lee Battersby, “Comfort Ghost”, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 56
• Alan Baxter, “Tiny Lives”, Daily Science Fiction
• Jenny Blackford, “A Moveable Feast”, Bloodstones
• Eddy Burger, “The Witch’s Wardrobe”, Dark Edifice 3
• Isobelle Carmody, “The Stone Witch”, Under My Hat
• Jay Caselberg, “Beautiful”, The Washington Pastime
• Stephen Dedman, “The Fall”, Exotic Gothic 4, Postscripts
• Felicity Dowker, “To Wish On A Clockwork Heart”, Bread And Circuses
• Terry Dowling, “Nightside Eye”, Cemetary Dance
• Tom Dullemond, “Population Management”, Danse Macabre
• Thoraiya Dyer, “Sleeping Beauty”, Epilogue
• Will Elliot, “Hungry Man”, The Apex Book Of World SF
• Jason Fischer, “Pigroot Flat”, Midnight Echo 8
• Dirk Flinthart, “The Bull In Winter”, Bloodstones
• Lisa L. Hannett, “Sweet Subtleties”, Clarkesworld
• Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter, “Bella Beaufort Goes To War”, Midnight And Moonshine
• Narrelle M. Harris, “Stalemate”, Showtime
• Kathleen Jennings, “Kindling”, Light Touch Paper, Stand Clear
• Gary Kemble, “Saturday Night at the Milkbar”, Midnight Echo 7
• Margo Lanagan, “Crow And Caper, Caper And Crow”, Under My Hat
• Martin Livings, “You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet”, Living With The Dead
• Penelope Love, “A Small Bad Thing”, Bloodstones
• Andrew J. McKiernan, “Torch Song”, From Stage Door Shadows
• Karen Maric, “Anvil Of The Sun”, Aurealis
• Faith Mudge, “Oracle’s Tower”, To Spin A Darker Stair
• Nicole Murphy, “The Black Star Killer”, Damnation And Dames
• Jason Nahrung, “The Last Boat To Eden”, Surviving The End
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, “What Books Survive”, Epilogue
• Angela Slatter, “Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean”, This Is Horror Webzine
• Anna Tambour, “The Dog Who Wished He’d Never Heard Of Lovecraft”, Lovecraft Zine
• Kyla Ward, “The Loquacious Cadaver”, The Lion And The Aardvark: Aesop’s Modern Fables
• Kaaron Warren, “River Of Memory”, Zombies Vs. Robots

And look at that fantastic cover art! You can pre-order your copy of the Year’s Best here. In addition to the above incredible tales, the volume will include a review of 2012 and a list of highly recommended stories.

I’ll be sure to let you know when these publications come out.

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