Angus

I've just realised Angus has shared our home for nearly five years. He's a funny, neurotic kitty. I love him dearly and he returns the favour. When we first got him he spent most of his time hiding in the spare room. He'd think he'd want to come out to play then after a short time he'd panic and race off to hide again. From the beginning he attached himself to me, following me around and smooching but he was terrified of men. Even when he decided the house was safe he would not let Pisces near him (which, as he's a man who loves cats, was very upsetting). It was a full year before Angus even allowed him to touch. He slowly came around and now he demands rubs making Pisces very happy.

Now we've passed another milestone. Although he has smooched and cuddled with me and creeps onto my bed to sleep - I wake up to find him with his head resting on my foot - he's never sat on my lap. He stretches out on the arm of the sofa so he can touch me while I'm watching television but that final move on to my lap has been a step too far. I've even tried picking him up and putting him there but he immediately jumps off - until yesterday when he jumped on the sofa arm, sat looking at my lap for a moment and gently stepped down and, purring madly, settled himself comfortably, closed his eyes and relaxed.

He's still terrified of other people - my daughter-in-law says she's never seen more than the tip of a tail disappearing under the bed - but it seems he's decided to take that final step. I guess it means he's finally accepted us and his place in the household completely.

Guest Blogging With Joanna Fay

My fellow Egoboo WA member and writing and critiquing mate, Joanna Fay, has invited me to guest blog on her website about a favourite character. If you would like to have a look at how Seri, a character in my as yet unfinished novel, working title The Hidden People, came into being, you can find the blog post here.

Joanna has the first two fantasy novels of The Siaris Quartet, Daughter of Heart and Reunion, available as e-books from Musa Publishing.

Conflux 9 2013

Well I'm back - and very tired, which just shows how a great convention it was, I guess. Before I say anything else though I must congratulate Nicole Murphy and Donna Maree Hansen and their team for doing a brilliant job. I've been part of running a one day, very small convention and I know how much work that is. I can't even imagine how much was required to successfully run a convention on the scale of Conflux 9.

The hotel - Rydges Capital Hill - has some beautiful public areas. The atrium is filled with palms and plantings under a high dome. It's simply lovely. There are plenty of places to sit and talk if you want a coffee as opposed to the noisier bar - and given talking and meeting up with other like minded con goers is a big part of any con this is very desirable. Then there was the luxury of free wi-fi in our rooms. Woohoo!

So much happened, I met so many fascinating people and there were so many wonderful experiences that it's not possible to list them all. This will be only a few of the highlights. For someone like me a con aimed in large part at writers and readers will always be a joy and Conflux 9 was full of information and opportunities to chat with others in the business.

Let's start with the panels. There were so many and they were all interesting. Often there would be three equally intriguing ones on at the same time. The guests of honour were Marc Gascoigne, Nalo Hopkinson, Karen Miller and Kaaron Warren but there were so many others there - authors like Glenda Larke, Kate Forsythe, Patty Jansen, Jason Nahrung, Cat Sparks, Terry Dowling, Lisa Hannett, Keri Arthur, Richard Harland, Jack Dann, my Clarion South mates Laura E. Goodin, Peter Ball, Jess Irwin and Jason Fischer and my roomies, Carol Ryles and Satima Flavell and that barely touches the list of writers present. Then there were the publishers like Tehani Wessely, Alisa Krasnostein and Russell B. Farr and agents like Tara Wynne and Alex Adsett. I spent my time torn about which panels to attend and wishing I could go to them all.

The Kaffeeklatsches. I managed to go to four - Glenda Larke, Marc Gascoigne, Kate Forsythe and Keri Arthur. The informal nature of these gatherings where a ten lucky participants get to sit, chat and ask questions of industry professionals means they are incredibly useful in giving an insight into the industry. I learned so much and in many ways these were the real highlights for me.

Of course there were book launches but I only got to a few of them. This was probably a good thing as I always tend to buy the book being launched. This is good in many ways but then you have to get them home. In case you haven't noticed books weigh a lot and, in some perverse synchronicity, the pull along handles on both my carry on bag and suitcase chose to break so getting any more print books would have been a challenge but there is always my trusty e-reader. There will be visits to on-line sellers to reload that soon. I did get into the dealers' room for a short time though and I now have Richard Harland's Song of the Slums, Cat Sparks's short story collection, The Bride Price and Kate Forsyth's The Wild Girl in my to be read pile.

There were other activities - steampunk themed high tea, cocktail party, Regency banquet, Masquerade Ball, the Ditmars (you can see the winners here) and possibly the best closing ceremony I've been too.

As I said these are only highlights. There was so much going on all the time that if you were so inclined you could have been going from one thing to another all day from the 9:30 AM start until the panels finished any time between 10:00 and 11:00 PM - and that was just panels, readings and so on.

All in all, a wonderful convention. Canberra and Conflux 9 - you did us proud.

Review: Paradox Resolution by K. A. Bedford

Paradox Resolution (published by Canadian publisher Edge ) is the sequel to Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait (my review of it is here).

Aloysius "Spider" Webb and his artist ex-wife, Molly, (at least she will be his ex-wife as soon as he signs the divorce papers) are back from the horrors of End of Time. Free of the influence and manipulations of his previous (and now vanished) boss, Dickhead McMahon, Spider's life is back to normal. He is still working at Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait, now taken over by an Indian company, where the new state of the art equipment might have made going to work pleasant if he didn't hate time machines and the stupidity of the average time traveller. To make things worse, the time machine repair business is declining as time machines evolve and the world descends into economic chaos.

In his private life little has changed. He and police inspector Iris Street remain friends. He is still living in a capsule hotel and performing household tasks for Molly, while at work, when not otherwise occupied, he tinkers with training the coffee droid (a much higher functioning one than that in the previous book) in search of the perfect cup of coffee.That is until he opens the break room fridge one morning and makes an horrific discovery. This is soon the least of his worries as he finds his new boss has plans for him that are way beyond his job description.

Paradox Resolution is somewhat more bleak than Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait although the author's light touch leavens the darker elements. While there's plenty of action - time travel tends to make things very complicated and fast moving - this book is more about Spider's personal journey and what he learns about himself. He has a lot to resolve in both his personal life and his work situation and his experiences at the End of Time have left deep scars. This means there's introspection as well as action and the author has succeeded in maintaining what can be a tricky balance with the introspective sections often a welcome relief. Before the end Spider has had to question many of his beliefs and make some very hard decisions.

Along with those like Iris and Molly from the first book, Spider finds himself enmeshed with a number of new, equally well-rounded, characters who have their own stories. Even the bad guys tend to be more flawed than outright evil, with their motivations making them human and so believable. Spider is not the only one who has to come to terms with his future and past. Others have their own lessons to learn too.

The unexplained science may not appeal to those who like hard science fiction but, set as it is in a future world with inevitable and believable advances in technology, Paradox Resolution, like Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait, is a suspenseful story, full of twists and with an unexpected and satisfying conclusion to Spider's story.

Paradox Resolution is available as an e-book as well as in print.

AWWC 2013: Prickle Moon - a story collection by Juliet Marillier

Prickle Moon (published by Ticonderoga Publications and released on April 4, 2013) is Juliet Marillier's first short story collection and it did not disappoint.

Oddly, although I have read all her novels and have never failed to be delighted by them, I had only ever read one of her short stories before. This is Twixt Firelight and Water, one of the stories in the collection. Especially interesting to those who have followed her Sevenwaters series, Twixt Firelight and Water fills in more of the story of the family of that world.

But Prickle Moon is not all set in the Sevenwaters world. This is a collection where the stories range widely. There is darkness but there is also romance, fairytales and humour.

Among the darker stories is the title story, Prickle Moon, which sees a woman asked to betray an unusual trust. Full of layers, at one point I had to put this story down because of the horror of the situation. It's one of the stand outs for me. Equally chilling are Angel of Death, where the reader is confronted with what happens as the RSPCA and volunteers raid a puppy farm and The Otherling, which deals with beliefs and consequences.

Retelling of fairy tales figures in much of Juliet Marillier's work and there's a fair sample of that here. I loved Poppy Seeds, and how it turns a traditional story on its head and while Let Down Your Hair may seem familiar as it starts out it certainly doesn't end that way. The traditional format of these two stories makes the contrast of By Bone Light more chilling. Although it has a modern, urban setting, its fairy tale roots are clear and its ending is very satisfying.

Among the romances in the collection are the historical Gift of Hope and, also historical but certainly less traditional, Letters From Robert, while there is a modern but different take on romance in Far Horizons.

There are other stories too - the funny Tough Love 3001 about a very unusual writers' workshop, Back and Beyond and Jack's Day, both about loss, Wraith, Level One, where a young wraith gets his first job, Juggling Silver, a sweet story of a community, and In Coed Celyddon, with its take on the Arthurian legend.

I thoroughly enjoyed Prickle Moon. Beautifully written, it should appeal to those who like their fantasy and romance rooted in reality.

Juliet Marillier's website is at www.julietmarillier.com where you will find details of her next books and she is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/juliet.marillier

Tin Ducks Awards

Yet another award list. The Tin Ducks are annual Western Australian awards for achievements in SF presented at the annual Perth SwanCon . It's always good to see those in the SF field being acknowledged and all the more when it's friends and people whose work I personally admire as it is this year.

The link to the award winners and the short list is here and I'm delighted that it includes three of my fellow Egoboo WA members - Joanna Fay, Satima Flavell and Sarah Parker.

Congratulations to all winners and finalists.

Of Ditmars, Hugos, Stellas and Other Things.

Actually it's more awards than other things. They just keep coming - shortlists, winner lists and more.

These are the ones I've come across today - although I freely admit that some have been around for a while and I just haven't got to blogging about them. I'm linking to them on account of being too overwhelmed by other stuff right now to do much more.

The Australian Indie Book of the Year 2013 - winners were announced on 25 March.

The Stella Prize - shortlist out.

Ditmar Awards - shortlist open for voting.

Hugo Awards - shortlist out.

It's especially nice to see my Clarion South tutor, Margo Lanagan featuring in numerous places as well as yet another tutor, fellow Western Australian Lee Battersby, appearing on the Ditmar shortlist.

There are a pleasing number of other Western Australians on the various lists including editors Liz Grzyb, Alisa Krasnostein and Jonathan Strahan and publishers, Ticonderoga Publications and Twelfth Planet Press.

Congratulations to all winners and finalists.