Category: Review

The proofs are out there…

On By leiossIn novels, Review, The Beast's Heart, writingLeave a comment

2017-11-18 14.40.24This has been an exciting few days! Hachette Australia HQ held their book bloggers night last Thursday, and this lil old thing got given out, leading to a small social media flurry on my part as people tweeted & instagrammed pics of their copies. I am telling you as a total rookie debut author, I don’t think this will ever get old.

But here’s the exciting part: a group of book bloggers and reviewers from Sydney blog Read3r’z Re-Vu will be doing a read along of their proof copies of The Beast’s Heart from Sunday evening through Monday, and they’ve asked me to join them! Basically, I get to peek over their shoulders and watch their reactions (via whatsapp) as they read it!

Am I looking forward to it? Am I what!

In return, I’ll be giving them some exclusive insights into writing the story plus a bonus playlist of songs I listened to while writing it.

On top of that, the submission window for A Hand of Knaves closed on Thursday at midnight. So now I have a fat folder sitting in my inbox of short story submissions ready  to read. Really looking forward to seeing what’s waiting for me there.

Plus there’s a few other bits & pieces to be getting on with, like a wrap-up of last weekend’s Genrecon and a new article for Hodderscape, not to mention I’ll be starting a new job on Monday. So it’s not like I’m going to be at a loose end over the next few days…

Glimmers of sun in the pouring rain

On By leiossIn achieved, life, Music, New story!, ReviewLeave a comment

aurealis-95In a week that has spelled disappointment, grief and gloom for many of us, I’ve had a few small, personal glimmers of sunlight. Here’s one. A lovely review of my story Breathing, out in the recent Aurealis #95, from Kat Day over at Tangent online. She’s given it a “highly recommended” (squee!) Achievement unlocked.

A lovely piece of work, very thought-provoking and actually rather moving.

And here’s some Leonard Cohen for you. Because even though he’s gone now, that’s one life that is definitely worth celebrating.

A tweet from a total stranger

On By leiossIn Feedback, Review2 Comments
The End Has Come
The End Has Come

I’ve had a couple of lovely surprises this week. Firstly, Best SF posted this lovely review of Wandering Star in John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howie’s The End Has Come.

Then, a couple of days later, this arrived in my Twitter feed:

It’s beyond wonderful when a total stranger takes time out of their day to tell you they’ve enjoyed your work. But not only that, when the feedback you get tells you someone got your story & that it affected them the way you hoped it would… That’s completely priceless.

A really quick & wonky Wandering Star block I put together this morning.
A really quick & wonky Wandering Star block I put together this morning.

Music for an Ivory Violin – reviewed on Tangent!

On By leiossIn Review, short storiesLeave a comment
Aurealis #74
Aurealis #74

I’ve finally had a chance to do some catching up on stuff, and look what I found: Chuck Rothman has reviewed Aurealis #74 on Tangent Online! He says Music for an Ivory Violin is:

 … an interesting tale of a unique form of revenge that avoids some of the problems with revenge stories.

Well. That’s quite good to hear. Thanks, Chuck!

(I wonder what revenge story problems I’ve avoided?)

The Blue Djinn’s Wish – reviewed!

On By leiossIn New story!, Review, writingLeave a comment

I had a really long day today. Up at 5 am to head off to Sydney for work; long day full of meetings; back on a plane at 6 p to fly home. Then, once the plane landed, we sat on the tarmac for ages waiting to taxi back to the airport. Fortunately, they let us turn our phones back on, so I jumped on FaceBook to while away the time.

And look what I saw!

Use Only As Directed

A link to a new review of Use Only As Directed by Melbourne writer and astrophysicist Tsana Dolichva; and look what she has to say about the antho and  my story!

There is a wide variety of stories contained within; every story sticks to the theme, but there are a lot of very different interpretations. I appreciate the lack of homogeneity and the novelty of getting something completely different each time I picked up the anthology.

My favourite stories were “The Blue Djinn’s Wish” by Leife Shallcross, “Future Perfect” by Janeen Webb and “Home Sick” by M Darusha Wehm.

She goes on to say of The Blue Djinn’s Wish

Easily the best genie story I’ve ever read. The princess who finds the magic bottle is happy and already has everything she could wish for, but will that last?

Now obviously this blog is where I blow my own trumpet, so to speak. But I’ve gotta say a big thank you to Tsana for taking the time to review UOAD and saying such lovely things about my story. I’m still kinda new at this, but the thrill of hearing that someone has enjoyed one of my stories is something I don’t think will ever get old.

Thanks, Tsana!