Sunday 23 December 2018

2018: A New Hope

Here we are.  The obligatory year in review blog.

2018 will go down in history as an awful year, a year where the American, UK and Australian governments moved even further to the right, made even more unconscionable decisions, and were responsible for even more suffering and deaths.  

Everyone who survived the year will take something different away from it.  For me - and I suspect a lot of us - the most enduring aspect of 2018 was the way that we responded.  The clearest example of this is the March For Our Lives movement, the massive nationwide protests demanding gun reform in America, inspired by yet another mass school shooting.  Unfortunately Trump's government didn't listen, and made no effort to make guns harder to get, so by the time the schools were out for winter, 113 people (mostly students between 6 and seventeen years old) had been killed or injured in 93 incidents of gun violence in American schools.  The survivors of those shootings, the hundreds of thousands of kids who took to the street honestly give me hope for America's future - hope that I hadn't had for the last twenty years.  



On a local level, without the threat of being murdered in their classrooms bringing them together, it was great to see the Australian school children also protest against the Morrison's government's inaction on climate change.

The overall feeling is that people are getting more politically active, and that our schoolchildren are more politically aware than they have been over the last twenty years.  That gives me hope.  

And personally it's been a year of unexpectedly positive results as well.  I mean, I'm still writing this blog.  This is number 21 for the year.  I like that I have begun reviewing Australian Speculative Fiction books on my blog, and am supporting the Australian Spec Fic community in that way, so you can expect more of that next year. 

I received my first acceptance of a piece into an anthology this year - 'Flash Fiction Addiction' by Zombie Pirate Publishing - which shall be published next year.  And through my involvement in the Australian Speculative Fiction group I've helped put together a collection of speculative fiction short stories, 'Beginnings' which I reviewed here, and which features my first ever published story, 'The Teacup' which I am still excited about.

At the start of the year, I wasn't sure if I'd keep at this whole writing and blogging thing.  And it's fair to say I surpassed my expectations.  My first ever short story has been accepted (after first being rejected for another anthology), and the third short story I ever wrote has already been published.  I'm excited to see what 2019 brings!

Thanks to everyone who has read, commented and shared my blog posts.  I hope I've kept you somewhat entertained, and I hope all make it through the holiday period!  See you next year.      

    





    

Saturday 15 December 2018

ASF Book Review #3 - 'Beginnings'

My last Australian Speculative Fiction book review of the year will be something a little different, for two reasons. Instead of a novel, the book is an anthology of short stories.  And it's an anthology that not only features one of my own short stories, but 'Beginnings: Australian Speculative Fiction Anthology Vol. 1' is something that I helped put together as well.

In the middle of 2018 there was a post in a Facebook writing group asking if other Australian authors who wrote speculative fiction would want to create their own group for supporting each other, for sharing writing advice. And so the Australian Speculative Fiction group was formed.  From there, it was only a short while before we had the idea to create our own anthology.  Six months later, we released 'Beginnings' - which makes it sound easy. It was not easy. But we did it. And here it is - isn't that cover amazing, by the way?


Firstly, what I love about this collection of short stories is the diversity.  While there may be a few sci-fi or fantasy stories, each is unique and takes you on a very different journey.  One of the benefits of this is that it exposes the reader to different genres than they would normally read - personally I've never been interested in the paranormal/supernatural genres (witches, werewolves and vampires), two of my favourite stories in 'Beginnings' are about witches - 'The Morrigan' by Maddie Jensen and 'Dealt in Sin' by Sasha Hanton.

Between stories set amongst the stars are tales set in our own backyard.  Stephen Herczeg's 'Bus Trip' is about a student taking the bus home from Canberra to Adelaide for the Christmas holidays. Belinda Brady's 'Break the Spell' gives me the familiar imagery of Melbourne's Royal Arcade. 'When the Lights Went Out' (Lachlan Walter) is an intriguing sci-fi piece set in the Victorian countryside, and Rebecca Dale's 'Bugles Bred & Bugles Born' centres around the unbelievable events at one of Sydney's Westfield shopping centres.  'Bugles Bred & Bugles Born' is one of the most unique stories in the anthology, and honestly I don't know how to define or describe it, but the ending still sends shivers up my spine it's that good.

The theme of 'Beginnings' is explored in a variety of ways, from starting life over in a new city ('The Teacup' - Austin P. Sheehan) from starting over alone on a brand new world ('Portals' - A. A. Warne) and from the transition from life to the afterlife ('Next Journey' by Chris Foley and 'The Beginning of the End' by Carolyn Young).

Amongst a collection so diverse, it should be hard to pick a favourite. But 'The Inheritance Experiment' by Kel E. Fox is an absolute standout. It's the story of an Austrian girl, stolen from her family home and subjected to horrible experiments, before being flung into the carnage of World War One. It's a compelling story, and - like every good short story should - it leaves the reader wanting more.

In conclusion, this is a thoroughly enjoyable collection of diverse short stories. There's something in there for everyone, and many of the stories are so good they're worth re-reading.

Here's a link to the Aussie Speculative Fiction website, for information about the group, where you can read more reviews of books by Australian Speculative Fiction authors, and see exclusive flash fiction pieces and author interviews.

Here's a link where you can buy the 'Beginnings' Anthology where it's currently being sold exclusively through Amazon.







Sunday 2 December 2018

An Investigation of Dragons

Back in August I wrote 'A Critique of Dragons' where - as part of my research into Dragons for my NaNoWriMo project 'Dragons of Bern' - I discussed the way dragons were presented in various works of literature; 'THE GREAT ZOO OF CHINA' by Matthew Reilly , 'DRAGON HEART' by Cecelia Holland, 'DRAGON KEEPER' by Robin Hobb and the 'EARTHSEA' cycle by Le Guin.

Continuing the exploration of the portrayal of dragons, I've since read 'TALON' by Julie Kagawa, 'TOOTH AND CLAW' by Jo Walton, 'SERAPHINA' by Rachel Hartman and McCaffrey's 'DRAGONFLIGHT' - some very wonderful and diverse books.  Of course, I am not reviewing the books themselves, just the dragons themselves.



Let's start with 'TALON' (by Julie Kagawa).  Shapeshifting dragons.  Dragons in human form, in our world, pretending to be human, living their whole lives out as human beings.  Being hunted down by an elite, top-secret military organisation - the Order of St. George.  Ember and Dante Hill are two hatchlings who - in human form - are sixteen-year-old siblings, being introduced into the human population for the first time. The existence of their dragon community is the greatest secret on the planet, and they must restrain their natural impulses, and never transform into their dragon selves under any circumstances.

There are some very clever things in this book, and I like the way that the protagonist Ember has two selves, her 'human' self and her 'dragon' self, which both have conflicting ideas about certain other humans and certain other dragons.  How were the dragons portrayed though?  They were a more instinctive, much larger and scarier version of the character's human selves.  The whole concept of shapeshifting from human form into dragon form is too much of a stretch for me, though.  There's just such a massive size discrepancy, where does all that mass come from/go when they transform?

Next is 'SERAPHINA' which is Rachel Hartman's debut novel.  It's an outstanding debut, and I really enjoyed it.  But we're here for the dragons.  This novel is set on a different world, in the Kingdom of Goredd, which it about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the truce between draonkind and their Kingdom. Seraphina, the protagonist, is the music mistress at the royal court, herself under the tutelage of Orma, who is a dragon in human form living amongst the human population.  Shapeshifting dragons again?  Yes indeed.  Disaster strikes the Kingdom when Prince Rufus is murdered prior to the arrival of the Ardmagar, the leader of the Dragons.

Despite the shapeshifting element of the dragons - again a stretch too far - the dragons in Hartman's novel are very interesting.  They are generally emotionless, supremely logical beings with their own political structures. Throughout the story it's shown that throughout their conflicts and wars with humanity, they've learned from us, and there's been a significant cultural change where instead of hoarding gold they now hoard other values like intelligence.  I especially like this because it brings them to life even more - ideas values, and ways of thinking do change over time, and it speaks of the depth and complexity of their species.

'TOOTH AND CLAW' by Jo Walton really took me by surprise.  I didn't know what to expect when I picked it up, but I fell in love with it really quickly.  It's a regency romance (think Pride and Prejudice) but all the characters are dragons.  Throughout the country, there live common servant dragons and dragons of noble rank, such as Exalted, August, Majestic, Illustrious, Dignified and Respected. This story focuses on the family of Dignified Bon Agornin, who begins the story on his deathbed, and what becomes of Respected Avan, Blessed Penn and the sisters Respected Selendra and Haner.  While they have titles, they have very little in terms of wealth and size. 

These dragons are portrayed so well; they sleep on beds of gold coins, the bigger and stronger can develop the ability to breathe fire, the Blessed (the priests) bind their wings and do not fly, the servants have their wings bound and are not permitted to fly.  The society is so well divided into the haves and have-nots, and as you may have suspected, a lot of the story revolves around finding acceptable partners of noble rank.  They're intelligent, they're all unique individuals with their own values - greed, love, equality, honour, for example.

And finally, 'DRAGONFLIGHT: THE FIRST CHRONICLE OF PERN' by Anne McCaffrey which some may say is an even more iconic Dragon series than Le Guin's 'Earthsea.'  Well, it's got a lot more dragons in it.  Pern is a planet, colonised by humans, and highly empathetic humans with an innate telepathic ability have the ability to bond with and fly the Dragons.  Over hundreds of years, the reason for the existence of these Dragonriders has been forgotten, and only one of their Weyrs remain inhabited. But soon they're going to be needed more than ever.

The dragons in this tale are certainly the more traditional type of dragon.  They are divided into classes by their colours, gold dragons are queens, the large brown dragons are the ones best suited for combat, and there are also smaller green dragons and so on.  It is only the queens, the golden dragons, that can lay eggs.  And a dragon will only bond with one human in it's lifetime.  It's a complicated system that works.  The dragons can communicate with each other telepathically, and with their bonded rider.  They have their own intelligence and wisdom - and this is the thing that irked me about the book, that the humans made all the decisions, all the plans without consulting their dragons.  Those dragons may have a wealth of helpful ideas and abilities that aren't being used because the humans are too pig-headed to ask.

So what is there to learn from these stories?  None of the dragons really came across as terrifying deadly monsters - the scariest were in 'Talon,' and given the protagonist is a dragon herself, it was kind of hard to be afraid of them.  A common theme amongst these four stories were the communities the dragons lived in, the way their societies were structured.  The dragons in 'Talon' were part of a secretive organisation, with clear ranks and roles assigned.  In 'Tooth and Claw' dragons had a complex system of nobility, birthright and marriage, as well as legal and political structures.  In 'Seraphina' the actual political system wasn't thoroughly explored, but they certainly had a complex society with a ruler, ambassadors to the human Kingdoms, as well as a rigid system of punishment for dragons who broke the law.  The Dragons of 'Pern' had a really interesting almost symbiotic relationship with their human riders, and the riders of the dragon queen and her mate were given the positions of the leaders of the Weyrs.  It was really interesting to explore these different political and social structures during the reading of these books.  I've learned that the old saying "no man is an island" applies equally to dragons.  They too have families, peers, leaders and social and political structures.   

Over the next few months I shall read Novik's 'HIS MAJESTY's DRAGON,' Goodman's 'EON,' Pratchett's 'GUARDS! GUARDS!' and 'THE DRAGON DIARY' by Steer. Of course, feel free to suggest your favourite dragon novels as well!




 



Saturday 17 November 2018

ASF Book Review #2 - 'What the Woods Keep'


Welcome to my second review of Australian Speculative Fiction novels. 

Today I'm reviewing What the Woods Keep, a spellbinding debut by Katya De Becerra. And here it it's gorgeous cover!





Katya has lived in and explored Russia, America and Peru before migrating to Australia and studying cultural anthropology. Her love of science and anthropological studies are apparent throughout this novel, which add a sense of realism to the piece. I also got the impression that the story combines the myths and folklore of her European roots with the locations she might have lived in or explored while in America.

The story focuses on Hayden, an eighteen year old girl whose life has only just started approaching normal after the loss of her mother near the woods of their Promise home ten years ago. On her eighteenth birthday the lawyer managing the estate of her mother calls her, there's something that her mother wanted her to have - the family home in Promise. And a handwritten card with a creepy message, for good measure. It turns out there a secrets her parents kept from her, questions that can only be answered about her family, and about herself, by returning to Promise.

But What the Woods Keep is about more than revealing a family's secrets, but about accepting yourself, accepting change, about reconciling the known and the unknowable, the mysteries of the universe. It's so good, and I really don't want to spoil it for anyone! The mysterious, eerie build-up is superb, and the last ten chapters are an intoxicating, unpredictable thrill-ride, and up 'til the end you won't know how it ends.

There's a lot that I love about What the Woods Keep. I love how dark and creepy it is, I love that it's about the friendship between Hayden and Delphine. I love the scientific angle the MC takes to rationalise unexplainable phenomena, to explain the complexities of life, it's all really cleverly done and engaging. One thing I really loved was the German / European mythology, with the Nibelungenlied a recurring theme. Another thing that was done well was the inclusion of documentation providing more background on what's happening - from Hayden's psychologist, her father's work journals, and her own diaries.

I've long thought that one of the marks of a good book is how long it stays with you after you've read it. And this book does that - it's been a week since finishing it, and I haven't been able to move on, I'm still thinking about the book and the questions it has left me with - about time travel, about Hayden's mother, about what has been left in the woods, but - most pressingly - if there might be a sequel!

Criticisms. It's a book that's hard to criticise, to be honest. It struck me as odd that in this book where Hayden's searching for her long-lost, long-dead mother, that it's her living father who is undoubtedly there that's strangely absent. The other thing was the secret research facility in Promise. I felt from the outset that they would be a key antagonist, that they'd capture Hayden and reveal their nefarious intent, or at least more actively oppose Hayden's actions, but... It could be a really clever red herring too - who wants really predictable books anyway?

Ultimately, What the Woods Keep is a really clever, really engaging read and I'm already looking forward to De Becerra's next book!

Here's a link to Katya's own blog where you can find out more about her and buy a copy of What the Woods Keep, though you'll likely find a copy in your nearest bookshop too!

Here's a link to a new Aussie Speculative Fiction website too!

Follow me or stay tuned fro more book reviews!

As for me, it's the middle of November and I'm about a third of the way into my NaNoWriMo project! The dragons are dragony, and the humans - well they're not turning out quite how I anticipated, which just adds to the fun! 


Wednesday 31 October 2018

NaNoWriMo 2018 - Here We Go



So November is upon us, bring with it the end of Spring, hot days and sweat-drenched nights. And the National Novel Writing Month. It's a special time of year for writers to be even more isolated, stressed and sleep deprived than usual, for a lot of us have challenged ourselves to write 50,000 words in thirty days. 

It's hectic. 

Last November I competed in NaNoWriMo for the very first time, after finishing the first draft of 'Emma and the Madhouse Kids' on the 28th of October, leaving me no time to prepare. I jumped right into it with a half-formed idea, based on a question about strange lights in the sky, and wrote 50k words towards a Sci-Fi story I've tentatively titled 'The Rings of the Earth'.

And you know what? I still don't know how that one's going to end, let alone if it'll ever see the light of day. I originally hoped to work on it again this November, but it's a rather complex story and will take an awful lot of editing and revising after the first draft is complete. When I started, I had no idea what I was getting into, and at least half of my writing time I was using to research NASA, JAXA, ESA and ROSCOM, as well as the ISS, details of existing space probes and a whole lot of other sciency stuff..

So as discussed in this blog post, I'm focusing on something simpler that I'll hopefully be able to self-publish within 12 months. It's something I've tentatively titled 'Dragons of Bern' and focuses on a family living in an alternate-history Germany, so the Kingdom of Bavaria, Prussia, Hessia etc. It's a YA story, featuring German mythological creatures including Dragons (the title should have given that away). And yes - I know Bern is in Switzerland, not Germany. Basically, I'm a lot better prepared this year than last year, I'm excited about this new novel, and can't wait to get started.   

But of course, November isn't just NaNo, I still have to go to my day job, be a husband and father of our Rescued Greyhounds, November also happens to be backed with work, family and social commitments, plus a book launch near the end of the month I'm going to be involved with. Finding time to write isn't going to be easy. I guess some of you are asking, "why do it if it's going to be so crazy? If it's going to cause extra stress and take up so much of your time?"

And you know what? I have an answer. Aside from the odd short story, I've literally done nothing but edit 'Emma and the Madhouse Kids' for almost a year now. I need a break from it. And without NaNo chances are I would just keep editing it for the next 12 to 48 months too. And as much as I love that story and those characters, I don't want to do that. I have other great stories bubbling away in my head that I want to write, and this is the perfect opportunity to start a new project.

Also, the writing community on both Twitter and Facebook are always great, always supportive, and that's taken up another notch for NaNo because we know how draining and exhausting it can be.

But it's also fun. We know it's mad, but we're writers. Mad is our normal.

Saturday 13 October 2018

ASF Book Review #1 - 'Eve of Eridu'

 
Welcome to my first book review!

At the moment, I'm all about celebrating Speculative Fiction written by Australian authors.  Speculative Fiction, of course, is an umbrella term covering the genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Dystopian, Utopian, Superhero, Supernatural etc.

And here's my first book, 'Eve of Eridu' by Alanah Andrews.



I'm going to let you all in on a secret first.  Alanah's actually from New Zealand.  But like Phar Lap, the Pavlova and Russell Crowe, we'll have to claim her as our own, this book was that good!

So, 'Eve of Eridu' is about a girl called Eve, who lives - wait for it - in Eridu.  Eve has lived her whole life committed to suppressing her emotions, just like everyone else in Eridu. She's been the perfect student, constantly at the top of the leaderboard, everything is as going as well as it can in her post-apocalyptic world. 

That is, of course, until her brother - like her an exceptional student at the top of his leaderboard - fails the harvest.  Instead of being assigned a role in the new world, he is culled. And Eve has to be content with that. To be content is to be free, says the Book of Eridu, which all citizens do their utmost to follow. After all it has been proven that emotions - love, greed, jealousy, anger and hate - had caused the wars of history and resulted in the destruction of the world. The scant thousands who lived underground in Eridu were all that was left of humanity, and they could not allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated. 

Eve struggles to be content with the sudden and unexpected loss of her brother, and to make things worse, there's a new kid, Sam,  who won't leaver her alone. Struggling to keep her monitor a calm blue, and with it her place on the leaderboard, Eve's emotions threaten to overwhelm her, threaten her chances of surviving the upcoming harvest. But not only does she have to pass the tests, she needs to uncover the secrets behind Sam's mysterious appearance, and confront the chilling truths of the world the founders of Eridu created. 

Andrews has crafted this dystopian post-apocalyptic society superbly, and it is sure to send chills down your spine. One of the remarkable components of this story is the Grid, which is in effect a digital afterlife, where the essences of Eridu's citizens are transferred to when they are culled or die. Eve is a compelling character, confronted with a staggering challenge and a mystery that might shake her to the core. The one criticism that I have is that it was too short, I would have enjoyed more exploration of the changing relationships Eve had with Sam, her colleagues, guardians and the overseers of Eridu.  But I say that about almost every book I read - I always want more! 

Ultimately it's an excellent story about a teen struggling to fit in, struggling to be the person everyone expects her to be.

For more, go to her website.  
Here's a link to the book on Amazon.

For now, I've got an edit of my own manuscript to complete and send to an editor, as well as completing three short stories before November arrives. November, of course, brings the madness of NaNoWriMo, where I will be diving into my Alternate-History Germany novel.  Yes, that's right.  The one with the dragons.

Keep tuned for more news and more reviews!

Monday 1 October 2018

He's Dropped the Easiest of Marks: The Trouble With Being Average.

In the recent AFL Grand Final, a player dropped a mark.  And the commentator announced "he's dropped the easiest of marks."  It's been bugging me ever since.

This is the Grand Final.  The Big Dance.  The culmination of a gruelling pre-season, a winter's worth of Home and Away games and an incredible month of finals football.  The entire year has been preparing for this game, and the chance to win a flag is something all players have dreamt of for decades.  Every kick, every mark, every handball will contribute to the outcome of the game, will decide if you'll leave elated or heartbroken.  With all that pressure, nothing is easy.  I probably couldn't have tied up my bootlaces without losing my breakfast.

People say writing is easy.  People say art is easy.  People say writing blogs is easy.  I think that saying something is easy is easy.

We don't know the struggles other people are going through.  We don't know how much they sacrificed and how much they struggled, getting through University, getting their work to a place that they're happy with, how scared they might be of sharing their work, let alone submitting it for fear of rejection or criticism.  Some people even struggle to get out of bed.

For me, even deciding to start writing was a hard one.  For twenty years I've been an avid reader, losing myself in the works of some of the greatest authors.  Like Le Guin whose words flow like poetry, simple and beautiful, yet cutting to the core of the deep questions.  Like Donaldson and Herbert, who built incredibly vivid worlds, inhabiting them with wondrous species with their own rich histories, mythologies, creeds and customs.  Like Dick and Burgess whose intellect, linguistic skills, creativity and imagination are out if this world.  How could I even try, with the benchmark so impossibly high?  How could I hope to write anything comparable to the works of those incredible gifted people?  I couldn't, so I didn't.

What I write is nothing like that of my literary idols.  I always wanted it to be, though.  I always wanted my writing to be as eloquent, as powerful, as funny and as beautiful as theirs.  But it isn't.  It's the story if my life, to some extent.  I've always wanted to be better-looking, to be stronger, to be better at sport, at art, at languages.  I never even liked my own name as a kid.  But as I've grown up I've started to appreciate myself more.  I even chose to keep Austin as my pen-name, when it would have been the easiest thing in the world to use something else.  And I've accepted that even though my writing isn't awe-inspiring like that of my heroes, that doesn't mean it's not good enough.

Thanks for reading,

Austin P. Sheehan.






Saturday 1 September 2018

Change. It's in the air. It's everywhere.

Change.

That's what it's all about.  Everything is in a constant state of change, that's true of our planet, ourselves, and our communities.  Is change always good?  No.  But neither is resisting every change, and spending your days longing for a return of "the good ol' days."


Before I continue, I have to let you know that while writing this piece about change, I am listening to 'Around the Fur' by Deftones, which has been one of my favourite albums since I first heard it in 1997.  And despite it still being an amazing album, the entire entertainment industry has changed since it's release.  Digital streaming of TV and music, the vinyl revival, e-readers and the ease of self-publishing your own books online, and the increasing influence of social media.

One of the biggest changes though is the diversity of the creators.  Of course, People of Colour have always been creating and contributing, but now they are no longer on the periphery.  Well not as far out as they used to be.  The success of Tomi Adeyemi's 'Children of Blood and Bone,' Kevin Kwan's 'Crazy Rich Asians,' Angie Thomas' 'The Hate U Give,' and N. K. Jesmin's  Hugo Award Winning 'The Broken Earth' series are each stunning examples of this.  And it's amazing and wonderful that this change is happening, that we can all enjoy these stories.  And I've got no way of knowing how it would feel for people of African or Asian heritage to have these books and movies where the characters they can identify with are the main characters, not just token, stereotypical side characters.  But that's got to be powerful.  That's got to be revolutionary.

Let's go back to 1987's 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' by R.E.M.  I once subscribed to a theory that with every second, with every breath, the world as we knew it ended. Every new piece of information that we received changed the world, or our perception or what we knew about it. Change on a much smaller scale. My own life has changed.  Three Septembers ago I got married to an amazing, funny, beautiful woman, and my life changed.  Two Septembers ago my wife and I had just brought a house.  And my life changed.  Last September I had almost finished writing my first novel, and this September the Aussie Speculative Fiction group, which I'm a part of, is getting ready to publish an anthology of short stories.  Submissions are still open, so if you're a Australian Speculative Fiction writer, feel free to go to the website and submit a short story (obviously check the guidelines first).

Despite the submissions still being open, the other panel members and I have announced our first successful submission.


Every book, every story, is about change. The characters change, and perhaps through their actions, they change the world.  Or the world changes, and the characters need to find their place in the new world.  The change in 'When The Lights Went Out' is subtle, unnerving, wonderfully thought out and executed.  It's a short story that keeps you guessing, and stays with you after you've finished reading it.  I am really excited about getting this anthology out there, and sharing a selection of wonderful stories with the world.

   

Tuesday 14 August 2018

A Critique of Dragons.

Dragons have been a consistent feature of European and Asian folklore for centuries.  Very few creatures - mythical or otherwise - can produce such awe, wonder and fear in us.  And as a result, many books are still written and movies made featuring these monsters.

I never set out to write a book about dragons.  Hell, I never had any ambitions to write at all until just recently.  But you may recall from this post that I have a project in the works about dragons in an alternate-history Germany.  Because of this, I have been researching dragons - by that, of course, I mean reading a whole bunch of books with dragons. 



In this post I will review not the books themselves, but the dragons they contain.

'THE GREAT ZOO OF CHINA' by Matthew Reilly gives us dragons in the modern world.  How?  Okay, they are actually several species of very territorial dinosaurs who laid their eggs in the same place under a massive zinc deposit, protecting them from the cataclysm that killed the rest of the dinosaurs.  What I liked about Reilly's dragons is his vivid detailed descriptions of what they look like, how their sensory organs are similar to other reptiles, and how they behave.

But the way they were named (a minor detail, sure) was wrong.  These dragons were part of a zoo that was to make China the cultural capital of the world.  But did they get Chinese names?  No, they were names after existing animals - the Eastern Grey, Red-Bellied Black and Yellowjackets for example.  They came in different sizes as well, Prince dragons (as big as a 4WD) King dragons (as big as a bus) and Emperor dragons (as big as a plane).  And only the biggest could breathe fire. Now that's all well and good for dragons, but these are meant to be dinosaurs, and there's no evidence whatsoever of dinosaur groups working like that.  Oh, also they could talk.  I mean, through a computer translator and earpiece thing, but yeah.

'DRAGON HEART' by Cecelia Holland was about a sea dragon in a rich fantasy world.  What was compelling about this story is the main character, a princess, was unable to talk to other humans.  She was smart, and could understand them, but when she spoke only unintellegible animal noises came out.  But after sinking the boat she was travelling on and killing the crew, when she was trapped by the dragon on an island she and the dragon could talk to each other.  The dragon wanted her to tell him stories.  Honestly, it's very weird.  Most of the time the dragon keeps to itself, hunting and resting, like your regular monster of the deep.  The folk on land don't even know that such a creature exists.  Yet it has the intelligence to speak to the princess, to understand the stories she weaves, and has an element of sexual attraction for her and even assaults her.  I know, right?  What's going on there?  Anyway after escaping the dragon and returning to her family's castle, which is under seige from a powerful army, she calls out to the dragon to rescue her and her family.  Which he does, and then the princess goes off with the dragon.

'DRAGON KEEPER' by Robin Hobb is something different again.  This book is set in a fantasy world, and for something different, has one of the novel's several points of view being that of a dragon.  This shows us not just what the dragon looks like and does, but also what it thinks, feels and remembers from it's past lives.  The dragons in this world have many points of difference, one being their life cycle.  The book starts with Sisarqua, a sea serpent, struggling up the river to their ancient cocooning grounds.  After, well frankly insufficient time in the cocoon, it hatches and the dragon Sintara emerges.  What is done really well is the dragons' memories of its past lives, when it emerges it expects itself to be fully formed, ready to hunt, ready to fly. So she is horrified to find that she - and the other hatchlings - are stunted, weak, and incomplete.  This gives us a great, yet heartbreaking glimpse of the majesty of what she should be compared to the disappointing reality of what she is.  Normally proud and peerless in the air, on land and underwater, the hatchlings who remain misshapen and incapable of flight become a burden on the human community that supports them.  The humans re-assess their perception of dragons, and the dragons struggle to accept their dependence on humans.  The dragons can understand human speech, but not all humans can understand dragon speech, in an interesting twist.

And now the 'EARTHSEA' cycle by Le Guin.  These are the dragons that first come to my mind. They are an ancient, integral and magical part of the world.  I won't spoil the amazing 'THE OTHER WIND' - the last book in the series - but it's a must-read.  It's hard to talk about *just* the dragons here, because to understand them, you need to know that the whole magic system is based upon knowing the true names of things, the Old Language which was used in the making.  Magicians spend decades learning this ancient lost language, and know only fragments. But dragons, they know the Language of the Making inherently.  They are old, wise, and neither good nor evil by human standards, they are true to themselves and are very dangerous. 

So what have we leaned from these books? Most of them deal with the typical dragon or wyvern, four legs, wings, and the ability to breathe fire, with the exception of 'DRAGON HEART' which deals with a wingless sea dragon.  Regardless, they are all extremely dangerous, act act upon their own wild impulses.  That's not to say they aren't intelligent, there are instances where they communicate with humans in every book.

Next time, I will summarise the dragons from 'SERAPHINA' 'TOOTH AND CLAW' 'PERN' and 'THE DRAGON DIARY'.  Feel free to suggest other dragon novels I should grab as well!






Sunday 22 July 2018

The Reality of Being an Australian Writer #1



As a writer, we want our books, our stories, our worlds to have some kind of impact or influence on our readers. We want readers to be moved or inspired by our characters. As a rule, if a person decides to become a writer, one can assume that they've read something that has changed their life.

And that's true for me. I can think of several books that have had a profound affect on me. But today I'm writing about something that has perhaps a greater impact on my life, and as a consequence, the books I write and the worlds I create. That is Australia, our Great Southern Land.

As an Australian writer, Identity is important. The English-speaking world is dominated by American and English cultures, which don't always resonate strongly with Australians. For example, when I was twelve I remember lying amongst a grove of gum trees near a creek in my home town, considering the story of Saint George slaying the dragon, and asking myself what that had to do with me, how can that be relevant or part of my culture or identity as an Australian, millennia away from knights or dragons. And to this day I still shudder whenever I read the Americanised "mom" in any novel.

I knew that the story of St George was part of the folklore of England, where my father is from. You could say I went through a process of assessing these elements of foreign cultures and dismissing the ones that were too far removed from the world that I had grown up in. And I think it's fair to say that everyone does that to some extent, and continues doing that throughout their lives. But the more isolated you are, the greater the disparity becomes with your reality and that of the stories.

But there's much more to living in Australia than distance and isolation. The natural beauty of it's coasts and mountains, it's deserts and rain-forests, it's rivers and stone formations all mask it's harshness, it's underlying menace. If I'm ever asked "what books best sum up Australia?" I would say 'Wake in Fright' (Cook, 1961) 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' (Lindsay 1967) 'Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence' (Pilkington 1996) 'He Died With a Felafel in His Hand' (Birmingham 2000).

'Wake in Fright' is a wonderful yet terrifying tale, about the divide between city and country, about the harsh nature of life in these remote towns, presenting not only the country itself but those who live in it as menacing. 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' is a wonderful mystery set in rural Victoria, which I discussed in this list of books and movies that I love. It's sinister, it's brooding and it captures rural Australia so well. 'Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence' shows us one of the many horrors of Australia's colonisation, the forced removal of First Australian children from their families. The argument here is that the darkness and cruelty of Australia lays within the culture of it's white colonisers, and is hard to refute. 'He Died With a Felafel in his Hand' is a more comedic look at the country through stories of living in shared houses. As funny as it is, it's still grim.

Many great Australian writers have written Speculative Fiction; Isobelle Carmody, John Marsden, Sara Douglass and Garth Nix just to name a few. Personally, I don't read books just because the author is Australian. I often look into who they are a bit more if their books particularly grab me. But every now and then when reading a book, a uniquely Australian landmark will appear, or an Aussie slang expression or turn of phrase will be used, and then you just know the author is Australian. I am not going to go out and say that the best Speculative Fiction Writers are Australian, but I will say that we have an advantage. It's easy for us to write about post-apocalyptic wastelands or desolate alien planets, barren environments and the types of people who thrive amongst the hardships and the types of people who succumb to the horror of it all, because that is our reality.




Saturday 7 July 2018

The Twenty Best Books I Read in 2017 (Part 2 - The Top 10)


In my first blog Evidently I'm Going to Regret This I mentioned reading 52 books in 2017 as part of the Popsugar Reading Challenge. In a year where I also wrote an 80,000 word novel while working full-time, by my standards that's a bit of an achievement.

Anyway I thought I could share with the world the twenty books I enjoyed the most from last year, and started last week with Part One. So without further ado, here are four more books I rated as 4 out of 5,

THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND - Endō (1964).
Wow. This is a really sad yet beautiful novel. A salesman (Yoshioka) seduces then abandons Mitsu, a sweet and honest village girl, who he considered beneath him. It's set in post-war Japan, and the characters are strong and thoughtfully put together, and you get a really good insight into life in Tokyo in those days. Throughout the novel you get the story from both character's perspectives, and see how the betrayal of Mitsu effects both their lives as the years pass. I really loved this book, and if any that I gave a 4 to probably should have been a five, this is the one.

THE LITTLE PRINCE - Saint-Exupéry (1943).
What can one say about The Little Prince? One of the sweetest stories ever, adorably illustrated, and full of heart. It's one of those children's books that contains profound meaning and insight that can stay with someone all of their lives.

ANNA KARENINA - Tolstoy (1877).
This novel, a literary classic, is approaching it's 150th birthday. I'm not a history fanatic by any means, but I really appreciate books like this which are basically time capsules from the time they were written (mind you, Verne's 'Around the World in Eighty Days was also written in the 1870's, which I also read last year, has aged so badly it was a struggle to read). The Russia that Tolstoy so vividly described was swept away in the 1917 Revolution, and there are too few accounts of what life was like in those days. It's about Countess Anna Arkadyevna Karenina, who, despite being married, is seduced by Count Alexei Vronsky. It's about Princess Ekaterina "Kitty" Shcherbatskaya, who was counting on an engagement to Vronsky. It's about Konstantin "Kostya" Dmitrievich Lëvin, a friend of Anna's husband and a suitor to Princess Shcherbatskaya. It's a wonderfully detailed and complex novel, which I highly recommend.

THE CHILDREN OF MEN - James (1992).
This is a dystopian novel, similar to that of Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' as both are set in the near future under totalitarian governments after massive infertility epidemics. The people of James' world have about given up on the survival of humanity, as no cure to the epidemic has been found, and no child has been born for over 20 years. The protagonist is contacted by a local resistance group, who have become aware of some of the crimes the government has been hiding. It's a really clever story, but does lack the intensity of the 2006 movie adaptation.


Ok. Now are the books that I rates as 5 out of 5. With the previous fourteen, I've pretty much listed them in the order I read them, but the following five I am going to list in order of my preference.

#6 THE REAL STORY - Donaldson (1991).
I gave this book 5 out of 5 because it is the absolute best set-up story for a series I have ever read. Is 'The Real Story' (Book one of 'The Gap Cycle') we are introduced to Captain Angus Thermopyle, an absolute brute of a space-pirate, the lowest of the low, who is the sole crew of his ship, Bright Beauty. Nick Succorso is the opposite of Angus, a clean, handsome, and seemingly honourable captain of Captain's Fancy. And appearing with Angus at one of the scummiest bars on Com-Mine Station is ensign Morn Hyland, a beautiful young woman who works for the United Mining Companies Police. From the outset everyone know's something's up, and everyone has a plan for getting what they want. Donaldson has put this together so cleverly, every chapter there's a new critical piece of information that's revealed, or a new perspective that's provided that changes everything. If you like sci-fi, read it. But be warned, It's not for the squeamish.

#5 DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? - Dick (1968).
Oh, the humanity! That's what it comes down to, for me. It's probably no secret to you that Philip Kindred Dick is one of my favourite authors. What he does so well is write the stories of regular people; people with issues at work, people with not-so perfect relationships, people with drug issues, and put them in mind-bending sci-fi settings. So he wrote a lot about what it means to be human, and that doesn't change whether it's a story set in the 60's, or on a post-apocalyptic Earth, or on Ganymede, or on 'The World Jones Made'. And here he's writing about a bounty hunter trying to eliminate androids that are so well made that he has to determine their humanity, in a world where real animals are almost extinct and imitations are everywhere. He's writing about 'specials' - people impacted by the radiation and their humanity. Where does one draw the line? And by the way, I prefer the book.

#4 A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA - Le Guin (1968).
From a book that has amazing movie adaptions to a book whose adaptions completely suck. I did mention my love of the Earthsea cycle in this earlier blog Books and Movies that I Love. It's often overlooked, but the protagonist is a Person of Colour, who through trials and struggles becomes the greatest Archmage of the islands. It's amazing because Le Guin's magic system and dragons are the best that I've read, and the prose is so deep, simple and profound that I have no words. It's a simple story, but it stays with you. It's quite simply perfect.

# 3 A SCANNER DARKLY - Dick (1977).
Yes. I know. Philip K. Dick again. A Scanner Darkly is a semi-autobiographical book, focusing on the lives of a group of drug users, with the protagonist (Robert Arctor) an undercover narcotics officer, who is given the job of spying on himself. The police are trying to discover the source of the deadly Substance D, Arctor's drug of choice. Over time, the drug starts to impact on Arctor, and he becomes more and more unstable, and is forced to go to a rehab clinic. Was he a pawn in the hands of the police, who knew his addiction and impossible task would lead him there? Was it worth it? Do the ends ever justify the means? At the end, Dick dedicates this book to the friends he had lost or who were permanently damaged due to the drugs they took, which I found really touching.

#2 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE - Burgess (1962).
Another book mentioned in this Blog, A Clockwork Orange is one of my all-time favourites. Why it's so great is the creative use of language, the devotchkas, the tolchocks, the droogs, and all the ultra-violence. Very horrorshow. The author created a new language 'Nadsat' which is borrows heavily from Russian for this novel, and while it may take a while to get used to, there's usually enough context provided to understand the words. So as a reader and someone interested in languages, I just love it. It's so creative and brilliant and just gets in your head like nothing else. But Burgess' linguistic skills aside, the novel itself, the story it tells, is just great. Put simply, the message from this book is that children will always rebel. No matter what the schools or parents or police do, the kids will always do their own things, and discover who they are in their own way. But they will not stay miscreants and hooligans forever, they will grow up and grow out of the madness of their teenage years.

#1 ALONE IN BERLIN - Fallada (1947).
This is not a fun read. It was one of the first anti-Nazi novel to be published by a German after World War II. 'Alone in Berlin' (or 'Every Man Dies Alone') tells the story of a middle aged working-class husband and wife who, after receiving word that their son had died serving their country, join the resistance. This is based on a true story, the couple wrote messages denouncing Hitler and the Reich, (“Hitler’s war is the worker’s death” for example) and dropped them throughout Berlin. They knew this was a capital crime, and should they be caught, would be executed. So it's the story of ordinary heroes against impossible odds. But it's also the story of the ordinary Berliner during the war years, the menacing and dangerous times they faced, especially those who disagreed with Hitler's policies and just wanted the war to end. And that's one of the reasons that I've given this book the Number 1 position, because my mother's family were Berliners, and they hated Hitler. It gave me an insight into what they endured, and then - after surviving the war and Nazi rule, they suddenly found themselves citizens of The Soviet DDR (German Democratic Republic).


So that's my list. Go ahead and let me know your favourite books that you read last year. One of the telling things is that very few recent books made the top 20 - 'The King's Justice' and 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' - so one may ask, out of the 52 novels I read last year, what else was published since 2010? I read 'The Long Earth' (Pratchett & Baxter) 3 Stars. 'Here I Am' (Safran Foer) 2 Stars - absolutely awful. 'The Lords of Salem' (Zombie) 3 Stars. 'The Martian' (Weir) 3 Stars - good, funny, engaging but zero character development. 'Ready Player One' (Cline) 2 Stars. I guess for what's left of 2018 I'm going to try to read a lot more recent books! A already have 'Children of Blood and Bone' 'The Fifth Season' and 'The Astonishing Colour of After' on by TBR pile, feel free to suggest any other recent must-reads!






Sunday 1 July 2018

The 20 Best Books I Read in 2017 (Part One).


In my first blog Evidently I'm Going to Regret This I said that I'd read 52 books in 2017 as part of the Popsugar Reading Challenge.  I honestly surprised myself by reaching that goal. 

Anyway now's as good a time as any to share my favourite books from last year.  I say 'from last year' but honestly I read more books that are 10 to 50 years old than books read the year they're published.  Anyway, here are ten of the books I gave 4 stars to (in the order that I read them).

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN  - Lindqvist (2004). 
From the start, I am not a fan of Vampires.  But I'd seen the movies (and probably don't need to say that the original is better than the remake) and really enjoyed them, so I thought I'd give it a go.  and it was great.  Really dark and creepy, almost Lolita levels of creepy, basically.  What was great about it was how it was not the usual vampire story.  The protagonist was a boy in Sweden who was bullied at school and befriends a young girl in their apartment complex.  Who turns out to be a vampire.  There is a lot of killings and brutality, and at the centre of it all are these sweet kids who help each other out of nothing but friendship.  It's tense, it gritty, it's written really well. 

THE COLLECTOR - Fowles (1963).
This was a really clever book set in England about a socially awkward clerk who comes into a large sum of money and his plans to win the affections of Miranda, a middle-class Art student he has long admired.  He eventually convinces himself to kidnap her, and win her affection by being nothing but a gentleman to her.  But he didn't think his plan through, nor count on the intelligence and desperation of his prey.  The second part of the novel is told from Miranda's POV and is entirely compelling.  It it well written, it gives one the chills, and leaves you breathless.  Highly recommended.

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN - Riggs (2011).
Miss Peregrine's is a really fun YA novel, where Jacob finds there might be some truth to his grandfather's crazy stories shortly after his disturbing death.  When he has an opportunity to go to a place that was special to his grandfather with his dad, he jumps at the chance, and starts putting together pieces to a mystery lost in time.
It's a different take on the standard YA fantasy, it's engaging, and feels quite familiar all the way through.  Meeting the 'Peculiar' children (and Miss Peregrine, of course) is a delight, however the further you go, the darker and scarier it gets.

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK - Lindsay (1967).
The very first few pages absolutely transported me to my youth, growing up in country Victoria, the sights, the sounds, the scents are exactly as Lindsay described.  This novel actually featured in a recent blog post of mine, Books and Movies that I Love.  Basically Picnic at Hanging Rock is a superb mystery full of eerie events, curious characters and sinister undertones. 

LAVINIA - Le Guin (2008).
Ursula K. Le Guin, one of my all-time favourite authors, wrote Lavinia in 2008.  It is an unusual book in a sense, as the titular character is a character in Virgil's Aeneid.  A significant character, too - the wife of the hero Aeneas, yet in the Aeneid she was not given a line.  Le Guin gave her a voice, and made her real - but not only that, but brought her family and community of Laurentum to life, and describe's not only Lavinia's conflict with her family marvellously, but also the war between Laurentum and her neighbours and the invading Trojans, lead by Aeneas. 

RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA - Clarke (1973). 
This was a childhood favourite of mine, I am not ashamed to admit.  The imagination that Clarke had, the skills to bring such wonders to life, absolutely phenomenal.  Anyway, Rendezvous With Rama  tells the classic sci-fi story of first contact with alien intelligence.  An unidentified object - a massive cylinder - enteres out Solar System and slows down, and a crew of astronauts is dispatched to investigate it.  The tale of the crew and their exploration of the cylinder is so clever, and the ending is just so perfect, that I can't say a bad word about it.

PERFUME:  THE STORY OF A MURDERER - Suskind (1985).
Another novel that I had read after seeing the movie.  This is an original story though, in that it tells the tale of a man whose sense of smell is so powerful that his perspective of the world is unique.  He becomes a perfumer, one who creates perfumes, and becomes obsessed with capturing all the scents and creating perfumes to make people see him as angelic or god-like.  Unfortunately, some of the scents he must capture and use he can only obtain my murder.  The whole thing is very clever and really well-written.

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - Adams (1979).
I have to say that I used this book for the 'about an immigrant or refugee' prompt.  I don't think there's much for me to say about this one.  There's no dispute it's hilarious and an absolute sci-fi comedy classic. 

THE KING'S JUSTICE - Donaldson (2016).
This was a very interesting fantasy story.  A man rides into a town in the Kingdom attempting to solve a disturbing murder, which soon turn into a series of murders.  The characters are great, the story is captivating and complex with many twists and turns, and Donaldson has created another amazing fantasy world with a brilliant system of magic.

MARTIAN TIME-SLIP - Dick (1964).
I have to say Philip K. Dick is one of my favourite authors.  I have read most of his 44 novels and 120 short stories, and this is one of the ones that I think is the most under-rated.  What Dick does so well is really get right into the day-to-day life and concerns of the average person in whatever insane world he comes up with.  In Martian Time-Slip, the protagonist Bohlen is a repairman on a struggling colony on Mars.  His relationship with his wife is on a downward spiral, his employer is taking advantage of him, but what can he do?  Just get through as best he can and try keep his schizophrenic episodes at bay.  When Bohlen's path crosses with Arnie Kott's, the leader of the Water Worker's Union, his life gets turned upside down.  The most outstanding yet terrifying part of this book is Dick's description of what Manfred Steiner, an autistic child who becomes one of Arnie Kott's many pawns perceives. 


So that's the first ten books of my top twenty.
Next week I'll summarise the top ten, and share which six books I gave 5 star reviews to.

Please comment on whether you agree or disagree with my reviews, or the best books that you read last year!



Saturday 9 June 2018

The Excitement of a New Beginning



As I may have mentioned, my novel with the working title of 'Emma and the Madhouse Kids' is currently being beta read. So what am I doing in the meantime?

Well, I've been doing the usual nose to the grindstone, 9-5 day work. I've even come up with a fun game to play, and you can play it too! Just count the number of times you say "for fucks sake" while doing your job. Whoever says it the most wins. Or loses. But the big news is that I've started a new novel!

It's exciting. Anything is possible in my new world. Dragons? Why not. Mysterious Druids? Have a bunch! Mythical creatures? Of course!

Who are the main characters? Who better than a family who love hiking in the Bavarian alps? A mum, a dad, 16 year old son, 11 year old daughter. Maybe they harbour a terrible secret? Maybe the marriage is falling apart?

So it's set in Germany then? Yes. Well no. But still maybe yes? We are talking Alternative History, folks! In this book, Germany was never unified, and we have Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, etc as separate Republics, Monarchies or Kingdoms. Honestly that's the part I am the most excited about. Like I mentioned in this post my wife and I have travelled in Europe a fair bit, and what always strikes me is the distinct history and culture of each main city and state. So one of my goals is to try and incorporate that into my book.

Um. Ok. Are you serious about the Dragons though?  Yes. I mean, I know they're a bit cliché. And I've never written anything 'fantasy' before. I mean, this time last year I hadn't even thought about writing anything before, so not knowing what I'm doing is kind of business as usual. But they fit. Dragons are part of the folklore of Germany, and I can really see them working in this story. I want to pay homage to Le Guin's Dragons from Earthsea as well. If you have any suggestions of other books or series to read that feature dragons, feel free to suggest them!

What should I call it? I am unfortunately 200 kilometres shy of being able to call it 'Dragons of Bern' but l am sure a good title will come to me soon. And I am sure an amazing title will come to me after I have published it. In my earlier post An error occurred while trying to save or publish your post. Please try again. I mentioned I wanted to self-publish a novel before trying to get Emma and the Madhouse Kids traditionally published, and this is the one I'm going to self-publish. That itself is exciting, so not only do I have lots of dragon lore and history and geography to study, but I also have to figure out the best way to self-publish as well.

So yeah. Time to stop blogging and get back to writing.

Say true, people. And please do the needful.







    

Monday 28 May 2018

Just some Book and Movies that I Freaking Love. No Big Deal.

Hello, thanks for tuning in.

My last blog post was about some of my Unpopular Opinions so to balance the scale, here  is a bit of a list of books and movies that I really love.

Let's start with books.  I'm a writer, this is in some weird kind of way a writing blog, so I expect some of my readers will also be writers.  So what are my all time desert island top five favourite books?

THE EARTHSEA CYCLE by Ursula Le Guin.  It's just a masterpiece, no question.  The words flow like poetry off the page, so simple yet so deep and profound.  Le Guin's magic system and dragons are the best that I've read, especially how the magic, legends and dragons of Earthsea are so interconnected.  Another reason this series resonates with me is that I read it soon after learning about Taoism, and the Earthsea cycle is certainly rooted in the Taoist message, living in balance with nature and with ourselves.

Even though A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is not Anthony Burgess' best book (in my opinion Earthly Powers is) it is certainly one of my favourites. The main drawcard is the Nadsat language Burgess created (or at least borrowed from the Russian tongue). Here's an example "I do not wish to describe, brothers, what other horrible veshches I was like forced to viddy that afternoon. The like minds of this Dr. Brodsky and Dr. Branom and the others in white coats, and remember there was this devotchka twiddling with the knobs and watching the meters, they must have been more cally and filthy than any prestoopnick in the Staja itself."  The linguistic style of this whole novel is amazing, and as a writer and lover of languages, it absolutely fascinates me.  But the other reason this book is so great and enduring is the message that the kids will always rebel.  No-one can stop this, it is an enduring aspect of our society.

I've already mentioned one fantasy series, but absolutely must include THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT by Stephen Donaldson.  This is the ultimate anti-hero story, and as far as taking the reader on an emotional journey and exploring the depths of human frailty, this Epic Fantasy series stands head and shoulders above everything else.  Because of the sheer unlikeability of the protagonist and the crimes he commits, I get that a lot of people struggle with this book.  And that's OK.  A lot of the supporting characters more than make up for the cruelty of the protagonist.  I'm not going to say that I identify with Thomas Covenant, but flawed characters, characters that fail and characters seeking redemption are so much more interesting and relatable than the 'perfect hero' - the Supermans, the Harry Potters, the Sparhawks.

I have two choices left.  I need to include something by P. K. Dick, but what?  So many to choose from.  I guess it has to be V.A.L.I.S - the greatest example of a literary mindfuck I've ever read.  I chose this one because it's just so weird.  It's based on Dick's own experience of a psychotic episode, and is a bizarre story of fragmented realities and worlds breaking down, with a strong spiritual understanding.  There really is nothing else quite like it.

Okay.  The last book.  It's PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK by Joan Lindsay.  It's a rare book that can transport you somewhere, and this book, with Lindsay's vivid descriptions of the Australian bush; the sights, sounds and smells that she captures so well takes my back home every time.  So there's that, but it's also a superb mystery full of eerie events, curious characters and sinister undertones.  Like Kenneth Cook's 'Wake in Fright' this book talks about the danger and darkness at the heart of Australia which will not be tamed.  Cook portrayed that darkness in the souls of the Australians themselves, but this mystery questions whether the darkness perhaps comes from the deep depths of the country itself.

Honourable mentions go to A SCANNER DARKLY (Dick), OBERNEWTYN (Carmody), THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS (Le Guin), STEPPENWOLF (Hesse), ALONE IN BERLIN (Fallada) and AMERICAN GODS (Gaiman).

Movies.  Here are my top five.
Firstly though, does anyone else remember when DVDs came out?  I told myself that I'd only ever buy a movie on DVD if it was one that you'd want to keep watching over and over again.  And the first DVD I brought was BEING JOHN MALKOVICH.  Cameron Diaz, John Cusack, and John Malkovich were all amazing in this mind-blowing Spike Jonze film.  Cusack's character finds some tunnel in his office building taking him briefly inside John Malkovich's head.  There's love, there's betrayal, and some truly surreal moments (including a monkey's flashback to it's own childhood) and a lot of really funny moments.

I love Sci-Fi.  And I love Horror.  So it's not going to be a surprise that EVENT HORIZON is next.  Sam Neil joins the crew of the Lewis and Clark after the beacon of the experimental ship he helped design, the 'Event Horizon' reappears in the solar system after disappearing for a long period.  They board the ship and soon find the crew is dead.  Where had the ship been?  What happened to it?  And (of course) what had it brought back?  There's a lot of psychology in this story as well, which I really appreciste.  The acting is good, the characters are good, and when it gets dark, it gets REALLY dark.  Certainly worthy of a remake.

Next, NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND.  While I prefer anti-hero stories, Miyazaki's hero, Nausicaa, is just so perfect.  A anime sci-fi post - apocalyptic movie with humanity on the brink of survival, who could ask for more?  This movie was created with such love that we can still feel it, some 30 years later.  It still gives me all the feels.

So far, the films I have listed have definitely shown my age.  So this underappreciated film is a modern masterpiece, and in my mind the best movie of the last decade.  I am talking about CABIN IN THE WOODS, the genre-defying horror-comedy produced by Joss Whedon (and frankly the best thing he's been involved in since Firefly).  It is hilarious, it is scary, it is deviously clever and frankly a work of genius.

Another all-time favourite is STARDUST, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman.  A beautiful, captivating story about a young man who promises to bring back a fallen star to win the heart of a young woman.  Only problem is, the star fell on the other side of The Wall, where the rules are a bit different.  It's magical and full of brilliant acting, of course everyone points out Robert De Niro, Claire Daines and Sienna Miller (who were great) but the actors who really stole the show for me were Mark Heap and Julian Rhind-Tutt.  All things considered, there are only two grievances one can have with this movie; Ricky Gervais and how the ending is a bit different to the novel.  Don't tell anyone, but I prefer this ending!

Honourable mentions go to RED STATE, GALAXY QUEST, ZOOLANDER, DOGMA, and EDGE OF TOMORROW.

So that's it for me now.  I'm off to write some dystopian stories.  If you want to comment on any of my choices or leave your own top-five lists, go right ahead!


Stay Awesome!




















Sunday 20 May 2018

Unpopular Opinions. You will probably hate me forever now.



Just for fun, here is a list of my Unpopular Opinions.

I don't even know why I am doing this, because I can pretty much guarantee that you will strongly oppose at least one of these opinions. Quite possibly enough to make you never want to read anything else I write ever. Which - as I actually want to publish some books soon, and have you buy them and read them - is something I should be trying to avoid! I can see this ending in disaster. Yay! This is going to be great!


So if Unpopular Opinions were an Olympic event, I would have all the medals.

I can out-Unpopular Opinion anyone.


Come at me.


So, with the recent release of 'Deadpool 2' and 'Avengers: Infinity War' in the cinemas, here are my Superhero-related Unpopular Opinions:


#1 'MYSTERY MEN' IS THE BEST SUPERHERO MOVIE EVER. Look. I know what you're going to say. "It can't be a good movie and have Ben Stiller in it." And usually I'd agree with you. But there are like three movies where he doesn't make you want to rip your eyes out, and this, as well as 'Zoolander' are two of them. Anyway it also had Geoffrey Rush and Janeane Garofalo who are two of my favourite actors. "Ok. Whatever." You say, shaking your head. "But what makes it the best superhero movie?" Get this. Not one member of this mysterious band of superheroes actually have superheroes. Well maybe one does. And that makes these guys and girls one thousand times more relateable and likeable than any actual superhero. Ok. That was an easy one. Brace yourself though, coz shit's going to get real very fast.


#2 I JUST CAN'T BE ARSED WITH SUPERHEROES, HONESTLY. Ok. I bet that got your attention. This is a double pronged one. As I touched on before, I don't find superheroes relateable. Like I don't get how someone can identify with an alien from another planet whose only weakness is Kryptonite. Show of hands, guys. Who here can fly, stop trains, shift the entire orbit/rotation of Planet Earth? "Okay, but how about a human who becomes a superhero?" I could probably relate to an alien better than I could relate to a billionaire, frankly.


But the lack of relatability is only minor. What's more important to me is that sometimes I think that the whole superhero culture is dangerous. We need to be telling kids that they can change the world. They don't have to be super strong aliens or billionaires or get bit my radioactive spiders. They are enough just as they are. When it comes down to it, we are going to need to save ourselves. If we keep waiting for a superhero to do it we're doomed.


So anyone still reading, make yourself a nice cup of tea. Treat yourself to one of those nice biscuits you've got hidden away. Thanks for making it this far. This next one is going to be an easier pill to swallow.


#3 BRENDAN FRASER STOLE JERRY O'CONNELL'S CAREER. Like I can't actually back that up. But Fraser's breakout role was in 'The Mummy' and I will swear 'til my dying day that role should have been O'Connell's. Like I don't even know if O'Connell auditioned. But he would have been perfect in that role, and Fraser is the kind of actor who even looks confused himself how he's still getting parts. You know that general confused and out-of-his-depth look that's basically his trademark? He's not acting. He's confused as to what he's even doing in front of a camera. Anyway, how freaking good was Sliders? That's a TV series they should bring back.


Alright. Let's move to novels now. Do you still have that tea? Best brew another cup before reading further.


#4 HARRY POTTER WAS NOT THAT GREAT. So it took me a long time to actually pick up the book. Ten years? Yeah that's a while. Having said that, I only read Anna Karenina last year too. 140 years since it was published versus ten years since it was published. And despite not reading the books or watching the movies, everyone has known who Potter was and what the story was about pretty much since it came out. So I was like "Young boy-Wizard goes to magic school - I've read this before." And then you hear about other characters and scenes and they bear striking resemblances to characters and scenes you've read in other fantasy novels, and you just get less and less excited about it. So by the time I read it, I'd heard the whole story about how it was rejected seventeen times before it was picked up by a publisher. And when I was reading it, I could see why. But I have to acknowledge that the humour that Rowling brought to the story was really good, genuinely funny English humour.


#5 A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE WAS SO BORING AND PREDICTABLE I COULDN'T FINISH IT. Well I gave up somewhere in the third book. I mean, what more is there to say? When you've read it all before, why would you keep reading? Honestly it felt like more like a homage to the great sci-fi/fantasy literature of the past hundred years than anything else.


Anyone still reading, thankyou. You can, of course, post your feedback in the comments. Tell me why I'm wrong about everything. And remember, your opinions are as valid as my own.


#6 THERE STAR WAS REBELS / RESISTANCE ARE TERRORISTS. Before you start, hear me out. Anyone who does what the Rebels / Resistance do in our world are given the label 'terrorist' and are universally condemned. And if you still don't think Luke Skywalker and your childhood heroes deserve that title, consider the definition of a terrorist act, "an act of violence to achieve a political, religious or ideological aim." The Rebels sure as hell have different political and ideological aims and beliefs to the Empire, hence any acts of violence they are involved in can accurately be defined as acts of terrorism. So the question becomes "is terrorism ever acceptable?" A quick history lesson will show that America has supported terrorism for a long time, I mean those who fought against the English in the American Revolution must also be described as terrorists. Ultimately, it comes down to who is telling the story, doesn't it? We call the American Revolutionaries 'heroes' because they won, and the winners tell the story. If they lost, and the English told the story, would they still be revered as heroes? I don't think so.


So that was fun, wasn't it?  I guess you probably all think I'm a bitter soul who doesn't like anything. But you'd be wrong. For balance, my next piece will be about the books and movies that I just love.   

Tuesday 8 May 2018

Australia Day, and the Constant Spectre of Politics in Literature



So today is May 8. M8. Mate.

I am one of the minority who call it Australia Day.

Why? Because the official day (the 26th of January) celebrates the arrival of the First Fleet and the creation of the British colonies in Australia. And as you might imagine, the arrival of Europeans in a continent already populated by Aboriginals never works out well for the Aboriginal people, or First Australians in this case.
The First Australians refer to the 26th as 'Invasion Day' and given the shit that they've survived since, the inequality and racism that they continue to endure, I can't see anything worth celebrating on the 26th of January apart from the survival against all odds of Australia's Aboriginal people. So we need a new day that all Australians - whether their ancestors arrived here 20 years ago, 120 year ago or 80 thousand years ago - can celebrate what this land means to them. May 8? Why not.
So this blog is usually about writing. So why am I talking about politics? Because the two are intrinsically linked. As I wrote on twitter (here's the link) Books are Political - Books talk about our world, our experiences, our cultures and our beliefs. Even kid's books - 'The Lorax' for example. Books open reader's minds to new ways of looking at the world, of challenging conventional stereotypes, challenging social constructs like racism and sexism, and inspiring people to fight back against their oppressors.

This was something I always knew in the back of my head, but it didn't crystallise until a few years ago when my wife and I were strolling down the beautiful Unter den Linden in Berlin and visited the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (let's just call it the Humboldt University). This was where, on May 10th 1933 the Nazis burned over 20,000 books written by "degenerates" and opponents of the Third Reich. There is a monument in the square of Humboldt University to this moment, one of many moving monuments and reminders of the crimes of the Nazis. It's an empty bookshelf with a plaque saying "Where they burn books, they will also ultimately burn people."

So what does all of this mean? I guess Paul Kelly said it best with "From Little Things Big Things Grow" (which, appropriately, is a protest song about the Gurindji people's struggle for equality and land rights). A book can plant a small seed in the mind of it's reader. which can influence the way they see the world and their beliefs. And a small group of Australians who refuse to celebrate Australia Day on it's official day but instead celebrate on a different day* well that might catch on. I hope it does get bigger over the next few years. No-one can tell us when or how we celebrate what is important to us. That is a decision everybody can make for themselves, and there isn't a damn thing the Government can do. So Happy Australia Day.



*Obviously the "Invasion Day" protesters and thousands of people who have condemned the continual celebration of Australia Day on the 26th of January and the whole "Change the Date" movement have inspired people like myself to actively celebrate Australia Day on a different day is where this idea started.














Sunday 29 April 2018

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"What's it going to be then, eh?" is how every part of Burgess' A Clockwork Orange starts.  It's how every day of our own lives start too.

Is this the day we step up, take the risk, get our shit together?  Is this the day we finally do everything we've been putting off?  Is this the day we're going to do something different, something special?  Or are we just going to muddle through it, work another shift at a job we're sick of and do the exact same thing as yesterday?  I'm not trying to be inspirational here, I'm just stating facts.  If we want to change our lives, we can.  In P. K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly Rob Arctor had a wife, a family, a job.  Then he hit his head unexpectedly on an open cupboard door and decided that it wasn't the life he wanted to live anymore.

I guess that's the closest analogy I have for how I became a writer.  It happened almost by accident.  And I'm still struggling to work it in around my full-time job, having a broken hand (which you might remember from my previous blog) and my family.  Honestly though, I'm still figuring out what to do with what I've written.  Before approaching agents with the first book in the series featuring Alex and the Madhouse Kids I'd like to self-publish a stand-alone novel online.  I've got a half-finished NaNoWriMo project, but there's a long way to go with that one.  So I guess if I want to go down that path I've got to write another book.  I've also recently submitted two flash fiction pieces which may get published if I'm incredibly lucky.  I also want to share some of my writing on my blog for you all too.  Maybe if my flash fiction pieces don't get published I might publish them here.  Another idea is I could share some horribly embarrassing songs I wrote when I was in university.  Any suggestions you may have would be welcome.  Let me know in the comments.

Back to "what's it going to be then, eh?" though, that's not a once-a-day type question.  That's asked of us every time a colleague tells a racist joke, or when you see sexism or bullying on your way to work, for example.  When you're in a position where you see any behaviour like that, you automatically ask yourself "shit, should I say something here?" or have a "what's it going to be then, eh?" moment.  And stepping up in that moment, stopping the bully, telling them that sexism or racism is not acceptable, actually changes you too.  You feel better about yourself, you feel like you're more capable, and you won't spend the rest of the day / week / year wishing you did something.  This is actually the topic of one of flash fiction pieces I recently submitted.  It is based on my own experiences, and when writing it I titled it Heroes but since there's a few references to the Bowie song of the same name, I changed the title at the last minute.  To avoid any possible legal issues, basically.  Anyway maybe in a couple of weeks I will publish it here. 

I probably shouldn't be writing at all right now, because of my broken hand, so I'm going to sign off here.

Stay well, and if you feel like it, tell me about your "what's it going to be then, eh?" moments! 



Thursday 12 April 2018

I'm slightly concerned about how many people read my last post.

Almost thirty of you read my last post, 'How important are titles, anyway?'

And I wasn't prepared for that.

I haven't covered my blog with warnings cautioning you not to follow my advice or my example yet.  Come on, people.

- I still insist on writing with two spaces after a full stop.  And I get annoyed by any books written which only have one space after a full stop.  Which is pretty much every book published in the last twenty years.

- I am writing this while listening to my entire back catalogue of Hunters & Collectors albums.  On CD.  Currently I've got 'The Jaws of Life' from 1984 blasting away.  You don't need to follow that example.

- Not only am I listening to music that the Australia Post delivery guy just cringed at, but I am doing all this with my right hand in a cast.  That's right.  I broke my hand.  And I'm a writer, FFS!  I need that hand, dammit!

- And I broke it in the stupidest way possible.  *Awkwardly changes disc to 'The Way to go Out' (1985)*  This dickhead here thought it was a good idea to punch a tram.  I mean, in my defence the tram had it's doors open, and the driver clearly saw me running up to him, waving my arms.  But he clearly thought it would be a great gag to close those doors in my face.  And the next tram wasn't expected for another twenty minutes.  Fair to say I was a bit pissed off.

- But I also suck at getting medical attention.  I hoped I'd just bruised my hand, you know.  There was no numbness and I could wiggle all my fingers.  Good signs, right?  So I iced it and tried to sleep it off.  It was still sore and swollen the next day so I called in sick and took myself to the GP.  He referred me to a radiology clinic connected to a local hospital to get an x-ray.  20 minute journey, then after half-an-hour in the clinic I got x-rayed.  The x-ray people saw I'd broken something, and told me to take those x-rays back to my doctor right away.  Which I did.   Another 20 minute journey and another wait in the doctor's waiting room.  He saw the x-ray and said I had to go to the hospital's emergency room.  Which is exactly what I wanted to avoid.  I was considering breaking my other hand against the wall of his office I was that frustrated.  I was just some loser with a sore hand, certainly nobody's definition of an emergency.  So everyone else who would come through would be seen as requiring more urgent attention than myself.  Eventually they did see me, but they couldn't use the x-rays I'd got only hours earlier, so I had to go through that whole process again. 

- Repetition frustrates me.  I hate repetitive music, the same lyrics over and over again, I hate it when people repeat what they told me only moments ago.  And I hate having to repeat myself most of all.  And everyone I spoke to, my GP, the x-ray technicians, the triage nurse, admin nurse and doctors at the hospital all asked the same questions.  Not to mention the second lot of x-ray technicians and random nurses who attended me.  And I didn't want to tell this super-embarrassing story once, let alone repeating it over and over again.  *Changes disc to 1986's 'Human Frailty'*  It's kinda funny though, about how I can't stand repetition but at the same time really love dogs.  I mean, they only know one word.

Anyway, I was considering using my fight against a 20 ton unfeeling steel monstrosity to espouse the values of picking one's fights.  But you know what?  Sod it.  Fighting isn't about winning.  Obviously losing's no fun, but if you only get involved when you can win, you're never going to take action against the injustice and oppression that surrounds us, that we (perhaps unconsciously) support by our silence and our passivity.




Sunday 1 April 2018

How important are titles, anyway?

The novel I have been working of for some time now is currently titled 'Emma and the Madhouse Kids' and sure, it sounds good.

It means there's going to be:
*an Emma.
*Kids, possibly from some "madhouse" -  whatever that means.

And those things are true.  But, believe it or not, there's actually a lot more to it than that.  Firstly, while there is an Emma, she actually isn't the main character.  She thinks she is, and in a way it is all about her, but the main character is actually Alex.  So should I call it 'Alex and the Madhouse Kids' instead?

What about those Madhouse Kids?  Well yes.  I mean, no.  There is a bunch of kids at a medical facility where experiments are done on their brain, but never once is it referred to as a 'Madhouse'.  Maybe I need to work on that.  Maybe I should just call it 'Emma'.

But maybe I can keep it as is.  I mean, think of all the books with misleading titles.  Wait.  Don't even think.  Here is a list.

The Six Most Misleading Book Titles.

1. 'To Kill A Mockingbird' -  Not a story about killing birds.
2. 'The Neverending Story' - Well the main gripe I have with this title is that it ended.
3. 'Trainspotting' - Unless that actually is a term for Heroin that I've never heard of.
4. 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus' - Just nope.
5. 'The Man in the High Castle' - Amazing book, but no.  The title is all wrong.
6.  'Breakfast at Tiffany's' - No.  No-one had breakfast there in the entire book.  I don't even know if you can have breakfast there. I thought it was a Jewellery store.

But you know what?  Despite having titles that just make no sense, most books on that list are amazing.  So I will stick with that title for now.  And you know what?  When I write the sequels, their titles won't make sense either.  'Kiara under the Reichstag' and 'Devendra versus the Tokyo Traitor' - well until I think of something better anyway.

Which I am certainly going to do at some point after they've been published.








Thursday 8 March 2018

Why the Name?

Why the name?
Oh, you mean 'The Perils of German Cusine'?
Yeah.

Mostly I thought it sounded good.  Mostly. 
My mum and her family escaped from the Soviet East Germany and, as refugees, found their way to Australia.  So exploring my German roots and connecting with German culture is something that's important to me, and what better way to explore culture than food?

The one drawback is that my mum can't cook.  So I've had to teach myself how to cook, mostly through Jamie Oliver's 'Ministry of Food' and trial and error.  And through travelling the length and breadth of Germany, from Dusseldorf to Dresden, Hamburg to Oberstdorf, I really enjoyed the German food in all it's wonderful varieties, and, of course, the beer.  So I hope to learn one or two German dishes throughout the course of this adventure.

That's not very perilous though.
Well you haven't seen me cook.  And, of course, life is perilous.  And, if I survive long enough (and if this blog survives, let's be honest) I will regale you with stories of my brushes with death.  So we've got that to look forward to.

If you read my first post, you might remember that I achieved more last year than I could possibly have envisioned.  So far this year - up to the first week of March - my greatest achievement is removing the 'We've Made Mental Health a Priority' signs from the office.  I have honestly been struggling at work recently, as have a lot of the others, as a result of industry-wide changes that began in December.  Couple that with decisions by management which show a complete disregard for the mental health of the staff, it was something I just had to do.  A little victory, if you will.

I will sign off now, and I wish you all the best, may you achieve the little victories you need, even if it is just getting through the day.