Aurealis Awards

It's hard to believe that last year I was in the audience at the Aurealis Awards. I'm one of those distant blurs up in the top left hand corner of the auditorium shots. It was great to see some of my favourite authors shortlisted and the winners had to face fierce competition to carry off their prizes. Congratulations everyone. The complete list of winners is here. It was especially pleasing to see Terry Dowling awarded the Peter McNamara Convenors Award for Excellence for Rynemon while Cat Sparks, who has an amazingly busy life but still manages to write, received the Best Science Fiction Short Story Award as well as the Golden Aurealis for the overall best short story for Hollywood Roadkill. The judges' reports are also available on the Aurealis website. To celebrate, Jim Baen's Universe magazine, who published Garth Nix's Aurealis winning fantasy short story, Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again, have made it available free of charge on their website.

Vale Heath Ledger

I, like so many others, was shocked to hear the sad news about the death of Heath Ledger. That he was a fellow West Australian, so talented and died so young, makes it all the more sad. The unsubstantiated and innuendo laden rumours sweeping the world about how he died are more shocking. Heath Ledger has left behind family and friends who, while dealing with bereavement, are also having to deal with reporters and other invasions of their privacy. They have to listen to these smears on a loved son, brother, father. It shames the whole of humanity that gossip-mongers regard a tragic incident as something they can exploit. We are seeing the same thing in the current inquest into the death of the Princess of Wales. That so many feel they have the right to photograph or otherwise intrude on people's private lives truly shocks me.

My heart goes out to his family and friends.

Clarion South writings

One of my fellow Clarion South grads has a story up at Strange Horizons in the 7 January issue. It's "Still Living" by J J Irwin. If you get a chance wander over and read it. It's one of my favourite Clarion South stories.

Planting , planting , planting madly

My garden has been depressing me. Usually I have an flourishing flowerbed outside the family room door, well-mulched shrubs and bulbs flowering and fruiting in the rest of the garden and the vegetable garden supplying us with about half our needs. However, I have discovered an interesting fact this summer - if you spend all your time on the computer because you have to meet some important deadlines, something has to give. In this case it was the garden. Other essentials have to be done so it seemed the easiest route. Another interesting fact though - if my garden is a mess, I'm not happy and if I'm not happy then my writing is less successful. Is that a resounding chorus of "Duh!" I hear?
So I'm about to address the problem, bad back, creaking joints and all. We will have order. We will have flowers, fruit and vegetables. We will plant. Today.

Synopsis Writing

Wouldn't you just know it. After anguishing my way through an outline/synopsis with the help of friends and numerous websites just before Christmas, look what has turned up on Writer Unboxed. Here Therese Walsh gives a neat, concise summary in readable language. It won't make writing the synopsis less painful, of course, but it will act as a useful checklist. By the way, it was good to find out that others hate, loathe and detest synopsis writing as much as I do.

Darwin Awards

The 2007 Darwin Awards are up here.
You may want to take a look if you are fascinated by just how stupid people can be. Every year I'm torn between horror at the way these people died and asking why would anyone do anything so stupid.

Fists of Steel and Balls of Fire

Perhaps I should explain, especially to those who have Googled the phrases above and found me, that they - as well as 'the eye of the tiger' - were part of a writing challenge by some of my fellow Clarion South grads. I'm sure that a blog mostly about writing, gardens and whatever else takes my fancy wasn't quite what the two military visitors from Arlington, Virginia, expected but I hope they enjoyed their visit anyway.