Book Bites Announcement

Book Bites is currently on hiatus. You can still follow Book Bites on Facebook for snippets, links to giveaways, and book-related images and news. Book Bites may be updated periodically. Feel free to subscribe or follow Zja on social networking sites to see updates.

28 February 2011

Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival 0.2

I am taking over the reins of the Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival for March, run by the A Writer Goes On A Journey arm of the Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association.  From the 15th of February to the 15th of March I will be collecting all the snippets I can find regarding the Speculative Fiction world in Australia, with a focus on the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy genres (because, let’s face it, that is where my niche is these days). At the end I will be collating and summarising a final version for the blog carnival. I do have to warn you, I plan to extend this over to late March on my blog only, as the Australian Romance Reader’s Conference  is taking place on the 25th – 27th of March and that is big news in the Paranormal Romance and sexy Urban Fantasy calendars. These won't be included in the official summary for the blog carnival, as someone else will be taking care of March 16th and onwards, but I think, with the lead up to ARRC there will probably be a lot of news to share.

I will be finding a lot of these links, blog posts, news items, etc., on twitter,  so if you think I am missing something whilst in my little bubble world, please let me know! I will be updating this frequently, although I am not sure yet if I will post updates weekly or bi-weekly. A lot of these links (to competitions and signings, etc.) can be time sensitive which is why I have decided against posting them all at once in mid-March. Rather than listing the dates in the title, I will be including these as instalments. I'll be writing up one large post at the end of my share of the Blog Carnival to be submitted to the A Writer Goes On A Journey listing after the 15th of March.

You can follow these Blog Carnival posts using the “ASFFWA” tag below.


Blogs & Reviews
Booktopia: "Fiona McIntosh answers Five Facetious Questions" {link}
Alan Baxter: "The Borders and A&R collapse" {link}*
Galaxy Bookshop: "Special on Fantasy - ABC TV" {link}
ARRA: "Author spotlight: Tracey O’Hara" {link}
Horrorscope: "2010 Judge's Report: Stephanie Gunn" {link}
Ripping Ozzie Reads: "Is Fantasy a bit of a Boy’s Club?" {link}
Book Bites: "A guide to ebooks in Australia" {link}*

Events
24th Febuary, Keri Arthur, Library Lovers Lunch @ Belgrave Library {link}
1-31st March, Open Door Month @ Angry Robot Books**, accepting manuscripts from "unagented authors" {link}
2nd March, Fiona McIntosh, Galaxy Bookstore, Sydney {link 1}{link 2}{link 3}
5th March, Nicole Murphy, Infinitas Bookstore, Parramatta {link}
5th March, Nicole Murphy,  Galaxy Bookstore, Sydney {link}
9-10th April, Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival includes Sophie Masson & Ian Irvine {link}
19 March, Animania, Sydney {link}
21st March, Marianne de Pierres (aka Marianne Delacourt), Ultimo Library, Sydney {link}
23rd March, Marianne de Pierres (aka Marianne Delacourt), Galaxy Bookstore, Sydney {link}
24th March, Marianne de Pierres (aka Marianne Delacourt), Kinokuniya, Sydney {link}
25th February, 2010 Australian Shadows Awards finalists announced {link}
25-27th March, Australian Romance Readers Convention (with Paranormal Romance authors Erica Hayes, Karen Simpson Nikakis, Keri Arthur, Nalini Singh (NZ), Nicole R Murphy, Tracey O'Hara), Sydney {link}
31st March, Marianne de Pierres (aka Marianne Delacourt), Victoria Point Library, Brisbane {link}
27th March, Writing the Fantastical with Kate Forsyth, course {link}
6th April, Robin Hobb, Dendy Theatre, Sydney {link}
15th April, 2010 Australian Shadows Awards winners announced {link}
21st May, Aurealis Awards, Independent Theatre, Sydney {link 1}{link 2}
25th May, Leanne Hall & Cassandra Clare, Palace Westgarth Theatre, Melbourne {link}

Competitions
Win Above & Below by Stephanie Campisi & Ben Peek, closes 24th Febuary {link}
Win The Seventh Wave by Paul Garrety, closes 25 February {link}
Win The Company Articles of Edward Teach & The Angaelian Apocalypse by Thoraiya Dyer & Matthew Chrulew, closes 28th February {link}
Win Power Unbound by Nicole Murphy, closes 28 February {link}
Win the Kim Falconer book of your choice, closes 1 March {link}
Win The Sentinel Mage by Emily Gee, closes 6 March {link}

News*
Horrorscope: "2010 Australian Shadows Awards finalists"{link}
Bookseller+Publisher: "Dymocks attempts to woo A&R/Borders loyalty card holders" {link}
Note: I decided not to report any more on the REDgroup troubles. Sadly that is all that seems to be in the news at the moment. Please contact me if you have other news items I should be sharing!

Editorial*
n/a

Advice**
Stepcase Lifehack:10 Reasons You Should Write Something Each Day {link}
Patty Jansen: So you want to be a space farmer? {link}
Bothersome Words: How stories are distilled {link}
Erica Hayes: Chapter breaks and pacing {link}
Patty Jansen: How to punctuate dialogue {link}

*Reading culture. May not pertain to speculative fiction.
**May not be Australian, but may be of interest to unpublished Australian writers.

You can follow these Blog Carnival posts using the “ASFFWA” tag below.

24 February 2011

A guide to ebooks in Australia


Note: You can use this appended URL to share this guide http://tinyurl.com/OzEbookGuide

I bought my first ereader in November and have been trying to find my way around in the world of ebooks ever since. If you don’t live in America most resources are closed to you and as a lot of bloggers and tech blogs are based in America, these challenges are not addressed in such a way to be helpful to non-Americans. There are a number of ebook resources online but I was unable to find a comprehensive starter’s guide for Australian readers. For this reason I am writing my own guide, and I hope my research can help others who are new to the world of the ereader. First, before I even touch on topics like where to obtain ebooks, there are two major hurdles you will need to be aware of. The first is Digital Rights Management (DRM) and the second is geographical restrictions.

Terminology

The terminology used in this field of publishing changes depending on which publisher, electronic company, blogger, author or reader you talk to. As Kat from BookThingo pointed out to me some companies have terms under copyright, and so we should be careful which spelling we use regarding these. Nyssa from Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association has been talking to friends in publishing and said that after a recent discussion they are happy to refer to “ebooks” and “ereader” for the spelling. Some people and organisations in the industry use “e-book”, “eBook” or “digital/electronic book” and “e-reader”, “eReader” or “digital/electronic reader”, etc. However as the digital option becomes more and more entrenched in our reading culture, the spelling is becoming generalised to the simplistic spelling without capital letters or hyphens. Other friends on twitter and blogs have suggested the opposite, but I am most comfortable using “ebook” and “ereader” as my standard terms. The Oxford English Dictionary recognises “ebook” but currently still has ereader listed under “e-reader”. I suspect this will change as the dictionary catches up with the rest of society. It usually takes a while for colloquialisms and common spelling to work their way into institutions like the OED.

Digital Rights Management

Digital rights management is the term for copyright holders and publishing interests which lock down access and distribution capabilities of ebooks. This limits copying, printing and sharing of ebooks, and usually limits a file to a certain number of reading devices and computers. Different ereader manufacturers use different file types, and this limits where you can buy ebooks from. Most ereader companies now provide access to .epub and .pdf file extensions, but manufacturers still have special file extensions dedicated to their devices. Amazon still has cornered the market, limiting access to their ebooks to their Kindle device, but most stores sell multiple ebook extensions, and include .epub and .pdf options. If you do use ebooks, you should take the time to get an Adobe ID because you will sometimes be asked to verify your identity to access certain ebook files. I borrow temporary ebooks from a local library, and they have quite stringent DRM.

Geographical Restrictions

Geographical restrictions are restrictions to sell ebooks in only select regions of the world. It is easier to buy ebook titles if you live in America, Canada and the UK than it is for the rest of the world. Before you purchase a book from a website, always check their FAQs to see that they are available in your region. These restrictions evolved because authors traditionally had their publishing rights sold to different publishers in different parts of the world. Unfortunately this has not been resolved, and while you can order a paper book from overseas, you can not buy a geographically restricted ebook from overseas. There are some work around methods of procurement if you are knowledgeable (proxy servers, American address with a working credit card, etc.) but they almost seem too complicated to bother. This is something that only the more influential authors can have any control over. Most authors are not able to alter the clauses of their contracts. Please, if this frustrates you, please don’t harass the author in question, but contact their publishers. This is a matter of too much red tape, and hopefully one day the idiocy of geographical restrictions for internet ebook sales will disappear. Until then, read the FAQ and T&C of your chosen ebook store, and perhaps try downloading a free or inexpensive book from them first.

Formats

One of the biggest difficulties that ereaders have is the variety of file extensions used. Companies producing ereaders have cornered their markets (Amazon is the big bad at this) and not only block other readers from using their formats, but are not able to use the other ones available on the market. The only format that all/most ereaders use is .pdf, however this may be difficult for the reader, especially if they are formatted for an A4 page. You will need to zoom in and play with the font size, and this can be quite problematic. The format that is becoming universal is .epub. I currently buy all my books in .epub and it is so much more versatile than .pdf. I cannot comment on other formats, so you will need to research your ereader and its formats to see what is your best choice for downloading. Most stores will sell you .epub and .pdf and a number of other options, depending which market they cater for.

Buying an ereader

Really, I will leave this one up to you. I can’t make your mind up for you. Pay attention to extension file types. The most common ebooks are .epub and .pdf. .pdfs will display broken lines of text on your ereader if you zoom in. This can’t be helped, as they are meant to be displayed as a document, not text. .epub and other specialist ebook formats tend to be free flowing text, so you will not have this problem. Check to see what ebook stores that sell to Australians have the file type available of your prospective ereader. Don’t be fooled if they say they have their own dedicated ebook store, as that store may be an American only offering. Read the fine print! Nearly all ebook stores (except Amazon, because they like to play king of the castle) sell ebooks in either .epub or .pdf. What are your reading habits? Do you read outside? Read in the dark? Does it use eInk? Do you need a light weighing device or can it be heavier (I can’t hold the iPad for long – I need to set it on a desk or my lap)? What is the battery life of your reader? Do you have a computer with internet access or do you need a wifi enabled ereader? Can you use memory cards? What dictionary capabilities do you have? Is it a touch screen, and if so, how responsive is it? I suggest doing a lot of research before buying your ereader. Ask friends, ask followers on twitter, look at book blogs, tech blogs, read articles in tech zines and go into the store and test drive it before you buy. Research the hell out of it, unless you want it to go dusty on a back shelf from lack of use. I did my research, and I am extremely happy with my purchase.

Free Books

Before you go to pay for any classic literature, you should know that once it is out of copyright, websites like Project Gutenberg can distribute it for free. If a book is older than 50 or so years, I suggest checking the free sites to see if you can obtain it there. I downloaded a lot of classics from Project Gutenberg and then found out ebook stores were selling them for $7+, so it is worth checking first. Project Gutenberg does not have DRM or Geographical Restrictions, so Australians CAN access these books! They have a variety of formats and have even made their own java apps so you can download books to your smart phone! Also check out the regional Gutenberg sites.

Baen Library is a resource that the Baen publishing house has set up. It provides readers with a few free books for a large variety of authors. It doesn’t list their entire back catalogue of course, but it is a good selection for people who read fantasy and science fiction. I found some books on there that I loved as a teenager and others I had always wanted to try, so I am quite happy with their service. They also have a paid service on their website (link below).

Tor.com is a website affiliated with Tor Books (and Macmillan by default). It offers free short stories, novellas, and if you are really lucky, you may find an entire novel. Some authors are unknown, but some are big names you will definitely recognise. You may need to sign up to download these, although you can read them online (update: I think these are now a nominal $0.99 per story. I skimmed the email, so I need to check their website again).


Check your local and state libraries to see if they lend ebooks. A good tool to look for libraries that lend ebooks is Overdrive.

Follow all your favourite authors on twitter, facebook and blogs and you may be lucky! Sometimes they offer free short stories or novellas associated with their established series. It is also worth visiting author’s websites to see what free content they have available to their fans. You won’t be able to download all their books for free (understandably) but they may have Easter Eggs hidden for their fans! :D Oh, “Easter Eggs” is a gaming term – they may have bonus content tucked away on their websites or blogs. It really is worth checking!

Enter competitions! Lots and lots of competitions! You can enter for paper books and ebooks depending on the competition. You discover these by following blogs and people (authors, bloggers, publishers, etc.) on twitter. Good luck!

Join review sites such as NetGalley. You will need to follow their terms and review their books on your blog, as it is part of their PR campaign for new releases.


Purchasing Books

Note: You will need a credit or debit card. Some ebook stores seem to offer PayPal transactions, but not all. Most banks, credit unions and building societies will be able to provide you with a debit card if you don’t want to get into debt for the sake of buying (more) books. Some stores, despite offering the PayPal option, still require a credit card purchase if it is a secured format.

I will list some stores that I have found in my wanderings or my bookish twitter friends have recommended. I will try buying from all these stores eventually, and will put an asterisk beside them when I am successful. If you are an Aussie or a Kiwi and buy ebooks from a different store, can you please leave a comment below and I will update the list. My first recommendation, when you think you have found a site that you think will sell you an ebook is to find check the FAQ’s and help section to see if they say anything about geographical restrictions. If you think you are able to buy there, search for a free book or a very cheap book, sign up and see if you can download it. It really is a process of trial and error and if you have problems buying, downloading, syncing ebooks with your ereader it is best not to have spent a fortune on the ebook in question. Check to see if your ereader software links to a store (my Sony Reader has links to Borders and Angus and Robertson) and see if you can buy there.

Ebook Resources

The sites below with an asterisk are ones I have successfully used to obtain at least one book from using an Australian credit card (or PayPal) and an Australian address. I cannot guarantee they will work for you, but I can tell you that I have downloaded books from there successfully. I will be systematically going through these sites and purchasing books for my Sony Reader (.epub and .pdf files) and will update the list as needed. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know, either in the comments section or on twitter. Please use direct links, as I only access shortened links (tinyurl, etc.) if I know and trust a person.

This list will be constantly updated as I come across new resources (and check the bookmarks on my home computer) so it may be an idea to bookmark this page and refer back periodically. I’ll post a note on twitter when there have been updates to this list.


Free

Project Gutenberg* {link}
Project Gutenberg Affiliates and Resources* {link}
Project Gutenberg Australia* {link}
ManyBooks.net* {link}
Tor.com* {link}
Baen Library* {link}
Everyone's Reading* {link}
Bookyards {link}
Open Library {link}
Feed Books {link}
Complete published works of HP Lovecraft {link}

Borrow

Overdrive Library Search* {link}
Open Library {link}

Review

Net Galley {link}
Angry Robots {link}

Paid

Dymocks* {link}
Angus & Robertson {link}
Borders* {link}
Booku (Australian based store) {link}
Book Depository {link}
Books On Board* {link}
Diesel eBooks {link}
OmniLit * {link}
All Romance* {link}
Decadent Publishing* {link}
Ebooks.com {link}
Smash Words {link}
Read Without Paper {link}
WebSubscription Ebooks (Baen)* {link}
Twelfth Planet Press {link}
Amber Quill {link}
Total-e-bound {link}
Carina Press {link}
Amazon {link}
Samhain Publishing {link}
Bookstrand.com {link}
eReader.com {link}
Noble Romance Publishing {link}
New Concepts Publishing {link}

Please comment if you know of others!

Please note that this article is my current understanding of the ebook industry in Australia. I bought my ereader in November 2010 and started buying ebooks in December of the same year. I am by no means an expert, but on discovering the lack of information for new Australian ereader owners, I felt it was my duty to compile my research for others. I have not included hacks – you can search for them if you want. I wanted a place that shared with other Australians which stores they can access and to explain some of the lingo that is important to us. Most ereader blogs (bookbee.net, etc.) will be able to explain how to get around these limitations of not being American or British and I don’t feel qualified explaining them. They are out there if you do get fed up with the limitations of buying ebooks from Australian soil.

[Note: Updated 27/04/2011. This is a working article. I will be updating it as I come across new aspects of the epublishing world. Please let me know if you think there are other aspects I should cover in this article.]




22 February 2011

Teaser Tuesday: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers: 
He stood there for a moment looking around the silent room, shaking his head slowly. All these books, he thought, the residue of a planet's intellect, the scrapings of futile minds, the leftovers, the potpourri of artifacts that had no power to save men from perishing.
Page 68 of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

21 February 2011

Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival 0.1

I am taking over the reins of the Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival for March, run by the A Writer Goes On A Journey arm of the Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association.  From the 15th of February to the 15th of March I will be collecting all the snippets I can find regarding the Speculative Fiction world in Australia, with a focus on the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy genres (because, let’s face it, that is where my niche is these days). At the end I will be collating and summarising a final version for the blog carnival. I do have to warn you, I plan to extend this over to late March on my blog only, as the Australian Romance Reader’s Conference  is taking place on the 25th – 27th of March and that is big news in the Paranormal Romance and sexy Urban Fantasy calendars. These won't be included in the official summary for the blog carnival, as someone else will be taking care of March 16th and onwards, but I think, with the lead up to ARRC there will probably be a lot of news to share.

I will be finding a lot of these links, blog posts, news items, etc., on twitter,  so if you think I am missing something whilst in my little bubble world, please let me know! I will be updating this frequently, although I am not sure yet if I will post updates weekly or bi-weekly. A lot of these links (to competitions and signings, etc.) can be time sensitive which is why I have decided against posting them all at once in mid-March. Rather than listing the dates in the title, I will be including these as instalments. I'll be writing up one large post at the end of my share of the Blog Carnival to be submitted to the A Writer Goes On A Journey listing after the 15th of March.

You can follow these Blog Carnival posts using the “ASFFWA” tag below.


Blogs & Reviews
Bookin' It: "Full Moon Rising - One Of The Best Paranormal Romance Werewolf Books" {link}
Bookish Ardour: "Discovering Ebooks and The Sony eReader" {link}
Helen Lowe:  "Here It Is - the UK Cover for 'The Heir of Night'!" {link}
Mel's Random Reviews: "The Farseekers by Isobelle Carmody" {link}

Events
24th Febuary, Keri Arthur, Library Lovers Lunch @ Belgrave Library {link}
1-31st March, Open Door Month @ Angry Robot Books**, accepting manuscripts from "unagented authors" {link}
2nd March, Fiona McIntosh, Galaxy Bookstore, Sydney {link 1}{link 2}
5th March, Nicole Murphy, Infinitas Bookstore, Parramatta {link}
5th March, Nicole Murphy,  Galaxy Bookstore, Sydney {link}
9-10th April, Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival includes Sophie Masson & Ian Irvine {link}
21st March, Marianne de Pierres (aka Marianne Delacourt), Ultimo Library, Sydney {link}
23rd March, Marianne de Pierres (aka Marianne Delacourt), Galaxy Bookstore, Sydney {link}
24th March, Marianne de Pierres (aka Marianne Delacourt), Kinokuniya, Sydney {link}
25-27th March, Australian Romance Readers Convention (with Paranormal Romance authors Erica Hayes, Karen Simpson Nikakis, Keri Arthur, Nalini Singh (NZ), Nicole R Murphy, Tracey O'Hara), Sydney {link}
31st March, Marianne de Pierres (aka Marianne Delacourt), Victoria Point Library, Brisbane {link}

Competitions
Win Above & Below by Stephanie Campisi & Ben Peek, closes 24th Febuary {link}
Win The Seventh Wave by Paul Garrety, closes 25 February {link}
Win The Company Articles of Edward Teach & The Angaelian Apocalypse by Thoraiya Dyer & Matthew Chrulew, closes 28th February {link}
Win the Kim Falconer book of your choice, closes 1 March {link}

News*
Bookbee Ebooks - Further news regarding Borders US filing bankruptcy and how it effects the Australian Market {link}
SMH - REDgroup (Borders Au, Angus & Robertson and the Whitcoulls) goes into administration {link}
Bookseller+Publisher - Industry reacts to REDgroup news {link 1} {link 2}
Bookbee Ebooks -  Borders and A&R not honouring Gift Vouchers {link}
ABC News - Internet spells the death of bookstores {link}

Editorial*
Harper's Magazine - Staying awake: Notes on the alleged decline of reading by Ursula K. Le Guin {link}

Advice**
Avoiding the "hard sell" by Lillith Saintcrow {link}
‘Words’ a writer’s tools by Rowena Cory Daniells {link}


*Reading culture. May not pertain to speculative fiction.
**May not be Australian, but may be of interest to unpublished Australian writers.


18 February 2011

BTT: Romantic


Booking Through Thursdays asks:
What’s the most romantic book you’ve ever read? (Mind you, I don’t mean the hard-core stuff you hide in plain wrappers under your mattress. I mean True Love, Romance, deeply emotional, heart-tugging, and all that stuff.) And, secondly, did you like it? Is it your usual kind of reading, or did it take you by surprise?

So. BBT wants to know about our romantic books… I think I want to throw a curve ball! You all know that I read paranormal romance and the odd category, so you already know that I could write a lot about those. But truth to tell, some of those aren’t terribly romantic. But that is a story for another day. I should state that I don’t read romance because I am a romantic. I don’t believe in happy endings, but it is nice to read about them.

So here are some alternate suggestions:

I would actually say the The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is one of the most romantic AND tragic books I have read. Jurgis has a lovely little wife, and although they are poor and living in the slums of industrial Chicago, even though they are working in horrendous conditions, he is content with his life because of her. And then Ona dies and it all goes to shit. In every way imaginable! People die, waste away, turn to prostitution, turn to crime, turn to the road, turn to the worst jobs you can imagine. After Ona dies, there is no hope, no light, there is just survival in any way they can. What he goes through after her death just shows how much light she gave to his life. I know people will argue that this isn’t romantic, but think of it as Romeo and Juliet but Romeo lives.

Persuasion by Jane Austen. I know everyone always goes on about Pride and Prejudice, but I think this one is more romantic. It is circumstances keeping Wentworth and Anne apart, not their own conceit. The ending is quite sweet and not as trite as P&P.

Merlin’s Keep by Madeline Brent. Jani and Adam are very well matched. They meet when he is an officer and she is an orphaned girl in Mustang. He nurses her through diphtheria in the Himalayas and gets her to a hospital, and acquires passage and a place in a girl’s home for her. She doesn’t know his name, just calls him Mister in her funny second hand cockney accent. Pages turn, lives are lived, and then they meet again when she is in her twenties. He is blind and living in poverty, hiding from his former life, and she reunites him with his elderly parents. Their love is unrequited, each hiding from the other for their various reasons, until the other thread of the story intertwines theirs and the suspense kicks in. The scene where he rides up the hill to her like only Jani Burr, the hillsmen of Mustang or “Mister!” could? Believe me, that is totally sigh-worthy! Even a jaded individual would be swept away with the way those words are written on the page. The story isn’t just the story of Jani and Adam, but of the family she adopts when she leaves the orphanage, the occult, alchemy and the Buddhist world she grew up in. Merlin’s Keep is still one of my favourite books after all these years. I first read it when I was ten, and read it at least once a year. It is intertwined with mystery, the occult, alchemy, Buddhism, adventure, dread and love, all in a lovely antiquated Victorian wrapper.

I found it really interesting that I couldn’t think of any modern sweeping tales that were romantic. How about you? What non-romance romantic novels have you read and did you enjoy them.


16 February 2011

Teaser Tuesday: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers: 


You’ll hunt elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center, and dig clams next to the skeleton of the Space Needles leaning at a forty-five-degree angle. We’ll paint the sky scrappers with huge totem faces and goblin tikis, and every evening what’s left of mankind will retreat to empty zoos and lock itself in cages as protection against bears and big cats and wolves that pace and watch us from outside the cage bars at night.
Page 124 of Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

15 February 2011

Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival


Wow are you in for a treat! Or a spam-a-thon, which ever way you wish to view it… *snickers* I am taking over the reins of the Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival for March, run by the A Writer Goes On A Journey arm of the Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association.  From the 15th of February to the 15th of March I will be collecting all the snippets I can find regarding the Speculative Fiction world in Australia, with a focus on the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy genres (because, let’s face it, that is where my niche is these days). At the end I will be collating and summarising a final version for the blog carnival. I do have to warn you, I plan to extend this over to late March, as the Australian Romance Reader’s Conference  is taking place on the 25th – 27th of March and that is big news in the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy calendars. These won't be included in the official summary for the blog carnival, as someone else will be taking care of March 16th and onwards, but I think, with the lead up to ARRC there will probably be a lot of news to share.

I will be finding a lot of these links, blog posts, news items, etc., on twitter,  so if you think I am missing something whilst in my little bubble world, please let me know! I will be updating this frequently, although I am not sure yet if I will post updates weekly or bi-weekly. Please stick around and see. At the end of the month, I will be summarising it, and the summary will be posted on the ASFFWA website.

You can follow these Blog Carnival posts using the “ASFFWA” tag below.

I will be filing this under the following categories:
  • Blogs of Interest
  • Author Spotlight
  • Links of Interest
  • News Stories
  • Advice
  • Media
  • ARRC
  • Competitions 
  • Book Signings
  • Gossip


14 February 2011

BTT: Ground Floor

Booking Through Thursdays asks:
There’s something wonderful about getting in on the ground floor of an author’s career–about being one of the first people to read and admire them, before they became famous best-sellers. Which authors have you been lucky enough to discover at the very beginning of their careers? And, if you’ve never had that chance, which author do you WISH you’d been able to discover at the very beginning?

This one is so damn easy to answer! Peter V Brett! I received an ARC of The Painted Man through a book social networking site in Australia called Booktagger. I started reading it and I was immediately swept away by the characters and the plot. I used to read about 98% Epic Fantasy, but by the time I was 20 I was getting quite sick of the repetition – same characters, same plot, same feel to the world building. The Painted Man was so refreshing! It wasn’t a retelling of the classics, but something new. I received the ARC a long time before the book was released to the public, and then had to wait another year on top of that for The Desert Spear, but it was worth the wait! I still can’t afford to buy the novella Brayan’s Gold but I hope to soon. I love finding a promising author early. I love sharing the love. I passed it on to my brother, who has passed it on to his friend who passed it on to his girlfriend. It will be interesting to see how his career takes off. A lot of my friends have discovered him in the last year of so, and it is lovely when I meet other nerds and find out they have discovered his books and become fascinated with the demons rising from the core.

I met Peter at a signing at Galaxy last year and found out that apparently my ARC is quite rare and even he doesn't have a copy of it! It was printed locally in limited numbers or some such. Suffice to say, it now has a special place on my bookshelf  and I need to buy a new copy before I can justify reading it again!

I have been on the bandwagon early for other authors, but Peter V Brett is probably the earliest. Normally I discover an author after they have published a novel, not before it has been released! :D


08 February 2011

Teaser Tuesday: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers: 

His teeth grated together and a burst of rage filled him as he saw the station wagon lying on its side and saw them smashing the windshield with bricks and stones, tearing open the hood and smashing at the engine with insane club strokes, denting the frame with their frenzied blows. As he watched, fury poured though him like a current of hot acid and half-formed curses sounded in his throat while his hands clamped into great white fists at his sides.
Page 35 of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

07 February 2011

The Stand to be made into a movie

Stephen King's The Stand is being made into a movie! You can read more {here}. But to put it simply, Warner Bros and CBS Films will be making a motion picture based on King's novel.

I think it will be really interesting how they tackle this - it has a lot of themes that will resound for the modern viewer, and I have a feeling the virus that wipes out the majority of the population will be very politicised. I have to read it again as it has been about 10 years since I've read The Stand ;D

How do you think they will go reinterpreting it?

03 February 2011

How much do you remember of the books you read?


I am off to defend my title in the “Love Sux” quiz at my Galaxy Paranormal Romance Book Club tonight and it got me to thinking about how much we retain from what we read. I won last year (after a death match between Maria and myself) and I have to say I am not that confident about winning again this year. I think Maria is more likely to win. I haven’t slept for two nights because of this heat wave, so my normally scrambled brain is well and truly fried. Also, last year Sofia gave us a sheet of questions to think about, so at least I could scrub up on series I had never heard about before! I know I am going to loose… The prize is a $20 gift voucher, which would have been nice. The thing is, I never test well. It was a big downfall when I was at uni (give me essays any day of the week!) and it is becoming an issue at work. I just don’t retain anything over than a general feel for the book and random facts long after I have read a book. TV shows and movies are even worse, because I don’t have words to read. I remember panoramas from those, but not say, the name of Planet X in Star Wars or the name of the person who spied on the Firefly crew, even though I am obsessed with Star Wars and Firefly. I can’t remember even half the books I have read, nor the names of authors. I have no internal filing system in my memory, and I have problems retaining facts. But I love reading. I love getting lost in the story. And when I am reading, the rest of the world fades away. The problem is, when I finish a novel, it starts to dissipate into wispy threads of memory and nothing else.

So my question is, how well read do you think you are? In the realm of Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy, and in the wider realm of Speculative Fiction? How does that reflect on your conversations? Can people even guess that you are a long term reader of a genre, or do you have a blank look on your face when they ask you about a book you read six months or sixteen years ago? Can you sit down and discuss nuances of novels/series with other readers, or do you stick to wider themes in the genres? And if you entered a quiz or took part in a trivia night (tell me where I can sign up!), with no access to the internet or your books, could you answer the majority of questions right? I would love to hear what kind of knowledge everyone has about their genres! It doesn’t have to be the genres I mentioned above. Maybe you read crime fiction, classics or contemporary fiction? Does your feel for the plot, characters and secondary facts from a narrative last forever in your mind, or do you find they become elusive?


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