Category Archives: Australian Writers

February 21, 2019 · 11:07 pm

Aurealis Short List Whoot!

It’s that time of year again, when the Aurealis Short List is announced. This is a peer judged award that is held annually.  Having been involved in running the awards in the past I know how much work is involved by dedicated people, so I’m sending out a big thank you to the AA team.

Well done, everyone on the short list. Writers tend to be solitary beings and they don’t get the immediate feedback that musicians or other creative people get, so it is a buzz to be be short listed by your peers for an award.

And also, a big congratulations to my fellow ROR writers, Margo Langan and Tansy Rayner Roberts who both have one or more of their works listed for an award. Both Tansy and Margo do a lot for the writing community.

Support Aussie Spec Fic authors and pick up one of their books today.

 

 

 

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December 3, 2016 · 4:47 am

Podcast of my Aurealis Award winning story

What’s just as nice as winning an Aurealis Award?

Being approached by the lovely people over at PodCastle to do a podcast of the story. (You can find the Podcast of The Giant’s Lady here) A big thank you to the team at PodCastle and to Barry Haworth for going that extra mile to get the pronunciations right.

And it is great to see PodCastle supporting Australian writers by doing an Aurealis Awards series of pod casts. Go Aussie Authors!

‘The Giant’s Lady’  was published in Legends 2, edited by Ian Whates, Stories in Honor of David Gemmell. It was a thrill when Ian asked me to submit a story for this anthology and now I hope new readers will be able to connect with the story via the podcast.

Warning: Technical Writerly Stuff and possible Spoiler Alert

When the story won the award the judges said they liked the unreliable narrator. This is interesting because I wasn’t trying to write an unreliable narrator. The narrator was trying to make sense of the world and the motivations of the people around him, just as we all do, all the time. Sometimes we misinterpret other people’s motivations.

Here’s the anthology, along with the Aurealis Award.

Legends 2, where 'The Giant's Lady' appears, and the actual Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

Legends 2, where ‘The Giant’s Lady’ appears, and the actual Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

 

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September 21, 2016 · 6:19 am

Bonza Day (as we say here in Australia)

I came home from the shops (which is a bit of a trek now that I live in the wilds of Tasmania) to find a note in my letter box saying there were parcels to pick up from the post office. I thought it would be the possum trap we’ve ordered.

Here I digress…

Over winter the possums have eaten the bark of several of the fruit trees and then they ate two little azaleas that I planted. I thought azaleas would be safe since they haven’t eaten others. I was wrong. So it wasn’t the possum trap (in case you are worried, we intend to drive down to the river which is part of a national park and let the possum go so it will be a pig in mud, rather than making a pig of itself in our garden).

The parcels were… drum roll … my copies of Solaris Classic KRK, All FOUR books.  I was expecting book one but I should have realised Solaris would send all four books since they were being printed together, so they could be released a month apart.

The updated covers look terrific. Here they are on the kitchen table. Kudos to Clint Langley for the wonderful artwork.

krkr_4_frontcovers

You’ll notice on book two there’s a sticker letting people know that Garzik’s novella, The King’s Man, is included at the end of book two. Great news, for all those readers who contacted me wanting to buy a print version.

And then I turned the books over and discovered the layout artist had done something really clever. Ta Da!

krk_all4_backcovers

They’ve used silhouettes from the front covers. Very graphic, very nice. So kudos to the graphic designer at Solaris for this!

And now I’m all set up to do the GoodReads giveaway for book one which starts on the 24th of September and runs until the 30th of November. (Will see if I can add a link to the giveaway when it goes live). Must get to work on all the blog posts I promised as well.

See here where the Fantastical Librarian interviewed me. Thanks to the lovely Mieneke.

 

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September 13, 2016 · 7:30 am

Whoot and Wobbly Knees

Well today is the 13th of September and it’s the day Solaris release KRK book one.  This is the launch of their new Solaris Classics line. Yaaaay

 

krk_cover_classic_series

I’m incredibly honoured but also quietly terrified. I don’t know if writers ever get over this sense of trepidation.

I’m really pleased because The King’s Man, (a novella about Garzik) was only available as an ebook and now it will be printed at the end of book two, so people who contacted me wanting a print version will be satisfied.

It’s coming out in what we call trade paperback here in Australia. The cover looks stunning.(Many thanks to Clint Langley for his gripping artwork)  Here’s hoping the readers think so too.

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March 25, 2016 · 11:37 pm

Major Squee

Legends 2, where 'The Giant's Lady' appears, and the actual Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

Legends 2, where ‘The Giant’s Lady’ appears, and the actual Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

 

When I heard in February that my work had been shortlisted for two Aurealis Awards I was both delighted and surprised. In Australia the Aurealis Awards are our Big Thing.

 

Here are the short listed stories for the fantasy section:

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

“The Giant’s Lady”, Rowena Cory Daniells (Legends 2, Newcon Press)

“The Jellyfish Collector”, Michelle Goldsmith (Review of Australian Fiction Vol. 13 Issue 6)

“A Shot of Salt Water”, Lisa L Hannett (The Dark, TDM Press)

“Almost Days”, DK Mok (Insert Title Here, FableCroft Publishing)

“Blueblood”, Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar, Ticonderoga Publications)

“Husk and Sheaf”, Suzanne Willis (SQ Mag 22, IFWG Publishing Australia)

 

And here is my KRK series rubbing shoulders with some of the best in the field.

SARA DOUGLASS BOOK SERIES AWARD

The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin [The King’s Bastard (2010), The Uncrowned King (2010),The Usurper (2010), The King’s Man (2012), King Breaker (2013)], Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris Press)

The Watergivers [The Last Stormlord (2009), Stormlord Rising (2010), Stormlord’s Exile(2011)], Glenda Larke (HarperVoyager)

The Lumatere Chronicles [Finnikin of the Rock (2008), Froi of the Exiles (2011), Quintana of Charyn (2012)], Melina Marchetta (Penguin Random House)

Sevenwaters [Daughter of the Forest (2000), Son of the Shadows (2001), Child of the Prophecy(2002), Heir to Sevenwaters (2009), Seer of Sevenwaters (2011), Flame of Sevenwaters (2013)], Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)

The Laws of Magic [Blaze Of Glory (2007), Heart Of Gold (2007), Word Of Honour (2008),  Time Of Trial (2009), Moment Of Truth (2010), Hour Of Need (2011)], Michael Pryor (Random House Australia)

Creature Court [Power and Majesty (2010), Shattered City (2011), Reign of Beasts (2012)], Tansy Rayner Roberts (HarperVoyager)

 

Being shortlisted ‘made my day’.

Then, when Marianne and I were asked to co-host the awards I was both touched and honoured.  I figured I hadn’t won either award and this didn’t surprise me, not with such a strong field. Co-hosting the awards was a chance to ‘glam up’ for an evening and catch up with the friends I only see once a year. (Or in this case I haven’t been out in the ‘real world’  for over two years).

Here I am doing my Marilyn imitation (as a mother of six my life is not at all glamorous)

Here I am doing my Marilyn imitation (as a mother of six my life is not at all glamorous)

 

When I track down from photos (my camera has died) I’m going to do a separate post about the awards ceremony and the fun we had. But right now I’d like to say the things I didn’t say when I was so gobsmacked by winning the award.

I’d like to thank the team who organise the award for all their hard work. There was 55 entries (over 200 books) in the Inaugural Sara Douglas Fantasy Series Award and over 100 short stories in the fantasy section. I’d also like to thank Ian Whates for inviting me to submit to Legends 2, Stories in honour of David Gemmell. 

 

 

The full list of Aurealis winners is below. Many of these people are my friends and I am delighted for them. Others are up and coming writers and I wish them all the best with their careers. It is an honour to be included in such a talented group.

 

The Winners of the 2015 Aurealis Awards

 

By ventureadlaxre on

aurealis2016

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2015 Aurealis Awards!

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

A Single Stone, Meg McKinlay (Walker Books Australia) 

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK

The Singing Bones, Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin)

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

“The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

“Bullets”, Joanne Anderton (In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep, AHWA)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

“The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

“The Giant’s Lady”, Rowena Cory Daniells (Legends 2, Newcon Press)

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

“Defy the Grey Kings”, Jason Fischer (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Firkin Press)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

“All the Wrong Places”, Sean Williams (Meeting Infinity, Solaris)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

“By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers”, Garth Nix (Old Venus, Random House)

BEST COLLECTION

To Hold the Bridge, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

Bloodlines, Amanda Pillar (ed.) (Ticonderoga Publications)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

In The Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker (Allen & Unwin)

BEST HORROR NOVEL

Day Boy,Trent Jamieson (Text Publishing)

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

Day Boy,Trent Jamieson (Text Publishing)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Illuminae, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)

SARA DOUGLASS BOOK SERIES AWARD

The Watergivers [The Last Stormlord (2009), Stormlord Rising (2010), Stormlord’s Exile(2011)], Glenda Larke (HarperVoyager)

THE CONVENORS’ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

Letters to Tiptree, Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)

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March 24, 2016 · 9:07 am

Squee

Only one sleep until the Aurealis Awards. And there’s an added reason to frock up. Marianne and I are going to be EMCeeing the awards.

This is a particular thrill for us as it is the 21st Aurealis Awards  night and the 20th anniversary of the Vision Writers group. 20 years ago Marianne and I escaped our families on Father’s Day (we have very patient husbands) and met at the very first Vision Writers group meeting.

After discovering that we had 9 children between us and that were both eager to pursue our dream of becoming published authors we buddy-ied up, going to workshops and events together.

 

Here we are hanging out at Melbourne Convention

Here we are hanging out at a Melbourne Convention

There were many times we were all set to go to Brisbane Writers Festival event then one of us would have to cancel because of a sick child.

Here we are at a Supanova event

Here we are at a Supanova event

Through the ups and downs of writing, getting rejected, writing some more, finding an agent and getting published we supported each other. Twenty years later, dozens of books and with our kids all in their twenties now, we have become the ‘establishment’ LOL.

Honestly, it is an honour to be asked to EMC the awards.

If you’re in Brisbane and you’d like to come to the Aurealis Awards tickets are available here.

And the national SF convention CONTACT is on in BrisVegas over the Easter weekend. You can find out more about CONTACT here. This is the place to be if you are interested in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror this weekend.

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February 17, 2016 · 11:53 pm

Whoot Aurealis Award Shortlist

Had some lovely news yesterday. I heard from the Aurealis Awards organisers. Drum roll…

My story, The Giant’s Lady, that appeared in Legends 2, edited by Ian Whates, is a finalist in the Fantasy Short Story section. A big thank you to Ian for inviting me to submit to this anthology in honour of David Gemmell.

GEMMELL+COVER2d (2)

And, another drum roll…

My series, The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin, is a finalist in the Inaugural Sara Douglas Fantasy Series Award. This award was named after Sara Douglas who sadly passed away from cancer. There were 55 series entered in this section so I am really honoured to find my work in the shortlist with these wonderful authors.

72DPI_RGB_RCD_KingsMan

A big thank you to the team of hard working volunteers who make the Aurealis Awards possible.

And congratulations to everyone on the shortlist. The full list can be found here.

 

 

 

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June 3, 2015 · 10:48 pm

Author Copies Squee Day

It can take a year to write a book then several years to get published.

With the Fall of Fair Isle the trilogy was written late 90s early 2000s, published, then it drifted into obscurity. People would turn up at events with well-worn copies asking me to sign them, or more often desperate to find a copy of the third book which had sold out.

Now the trilogy has been republished by Solaris and was released in March. It took ages for my copies to reach Australia and then I was flat out with family emergencies (it has been a horrible 18 months) so I only got around to unpacking the box today.

After all the time and effort we poor authors put in you can see why opening a box of your new books is one of the things we look forward to. Apparently, so does my cat.

Here I’ve opened the box and set it up for a nice picture. (not too much household mess in the background LOL)

FOFbox1

 

Then one of the kids interrupts me. There’s a minor emergency, an assignment is due today and we’ve run out of paper.

Disaster averted, I come back to find Sassy cat inspecting the box. You know boxes have a fatal attraction for cats.

FoFbox2

 

‘What?’ she says.

FoFbox3

 

‘Yup, this is the spot. Think I’ll have a nap right here.’

 

FoFbox4

 

Mind you this is the cat who sheds everywhere and being white, she leaves a noticeable trail of fur.

So there you have it. My big girl squee day and the cat steals the show.

 

PS. A big thank you to Clint Langley for the cover and to Solaris for releasing the book as an omnibus. Readers can get the whole trilogy in one big door-stopper!

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October 13, 2014 · 7:08 am

Feeling Chuffed!

I’ve been sitting on a secret for a couple of weeks now, since I was delighted to learn one of my stories had been selected for Australian Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2013.  Had to wait for the official announcement, before I could let anyone know.

The years best anthologies are produced by Ticonderoga Press, edited by Liz Gryb and Tallie Helene, with an absolutely gorgeous cover. Kudos guys.


years-best-fantasy-and-horror-v4-web

 

Congratulations to everyone selected for the anthology. Waves to my friends and colleagues.

Lee Battersby, “Disciple of the Torrent”, Tales of Australia: Great Southern Land
Deborah Biancotti, “All the Lost Ones”, Exotic Gothic 5 Vol I
Trudi Canavan, “Camp Follower”, Fearsome Journeys
Robert Cook, “Glasskin”, Review of Australian Fiction Vol 5 #6
Rowena Cory Daniells, “The Ways of the Wyrding Women”, One Small Step
Terry Dowling, “The Sleepover”, Exotic Gothic 5 Vol II
Thoraiya Dyer, “After Hours”, Asymmetry
Marion Halligan, “A Castle in Toorak”, Griffith Review #42
Dmetri Kakmi, “The Boy by the Gate”, The New Gothic
David Kernot, “Harry’s Dead Poodle”, Cover of Darkness Magazine
Margo Lanagan, “Black Swan Event”, Griffith Review #42
S. G. Larner, “Poppies”, Aurealis #65
Martin Livings, “La Mort d’un Roturer”, This is How You Die
Kirstyn McDermott, “Caution: Contains Small Parts”, Caution: Contains Small Parts
Claire McKenna, “The Ninety Two”, Next
C.S. McMullen, “The Nest”, Nightmare Magazine
Juliet Marillier, “By Bone-Light “, Prickle Moon
David Thomas Moore, “Old Souls”, The Book of the Dead
Faith Mudge, “The Oblivion Box”, Dreaming of Djinn
Ryan O’Neill, “Sticks and Stones”, The Great Unknown
Angela Rega, “Almost Beautiful”, Next
Tansy Rayner Roberts, “The Raven and Her Victory”, Where Thy Dark Eye Glances: Queering Edgar Allan Poe
Nicky Rowlands, “On the Wall”, Next
Carol Ryles, “The Silence of Clockwork”, Conflux 9 Convention Programme
Angela Slatter, “Flight”, Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales
Anna Tambour, “Bowfin Island”, Caledonian Dreamin’
Kaaron Warren, “Born and Bread”, Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales
Janeen Webb, “Hell is Where the Heart is”, Next

The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2013 is scheduled for publication in late-November 2014 and can be pre-ordered at indiebooksonline.com. The anthology will be available in hardcover, ebook and trade editions.

At over 10,000 words, I didn’t think The Ways Wyrding Women would ever be published. It was too long for a short story and would take up too much room in an anthology. But Tehani Wessley of Fablecroft Press published it in One Small Step, the anthology which won an Aurealis Award and now it has been selected for  The Year’s Best Australian Australian Fantasy and Horror. So thank you, Tehani!

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August 30, 2014 · 8:37 am

Off to Comic Con

This weekend I’ll be unpacking my boxes of books (no photos, my office is too messy, hangs head in shame).  Must get everything ready for Brisbane Comic Con next weekend, September 6th and 7th. I’ve done several Supanovas (always lots of fun). This time I thought I’d do comic con.

If you come to Comic Con you’ll find me in Artist Alley. Look for the beautiful pull-ups based on Clint Langley’s artwork.

Here I am at Supanova with Lindy from ClanDestine Press.

Here I am at Supanova with Lindy from ClanDestine Press.

 

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