I'm smiling at the top of this hill, despite knowing that the next several kilometres will be all downhill. I much prefer walking up because walking down usually ends up with me slipping and sliding and ending up like a beached turtle flat on my backpack and unable to get up, much to the amusement to those following behind. Fortunately only a few minor bruises though, as a full backpack is a worthy cushion. Photo taken last year on the Routeburn Track, South Island, NZ.

This week it's been mostly uphill for my Clarion West friends:

chris_reynaga received official confirmation today that his story "Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree" has been sold to the anthology, Up Jumped the Devil! (PS Publishing). We critted this story at Clarion and it's inspired by the Nick Cave song.

Carlton Mellick's book, "Cannibals of Candyland," which was written after Clarion, has been accepted by a German publisher, Festa Verlag. It's to be published WITH A SCRATCH AND SNIFF COVER to smell like strawberry. Carlton writes the bizzarrest Bizzarro and his Clarion story, "Candy Coated" is published here in Vice Magazine

And as for me, I'm back on the novel, this time second drafting. I'll blog about that soon on WA Egoboo.

Moonrise over Eagle Bay, WA.

My Clarion West friend, rajankhanna has a story, "The Furies" published in Skulls & Crossbones, edited by Andi Marquette and R. G. Emanuelle. The anthology can be purchased as a pdf here. Raj writes a great story, so go check it out.

My story, "Deeper than Flesh and Closer" is to be published in Russell B Farr's Belong Anthology in April. The Table of Contents is here.

Over at Egoboo WA, Satima speculates on the speculative and Sarah writes that Editing is Creative Writing too.

So, there we were, walking along the track that was supposed to lead us to the spot where Gimli fell off his horse in The Two Towers. But we must have walked past it, because we ended up here. It sort of looks like the cliff that Aragorn fell off, but it wasn’t:




The cliff that Aragorn fell off was here, overlooking the Queenstown Airport runway, where you can see Airbuses flying beneath you:



In a display of utter madness, almost-hobbit number 3 attempted to follow in Aragorn's footsteps, but was saved by a conveniently wide ledge about 3 feet below.

Photos taken at Deer Park Heights, Queenstown, NZ.

Over at Egoboo WA Helen Venn talks about how we ran our Critting Sessions at Eagle Bay while I look at plotting in the movie, Avatar, bearing in mind that to learn how to plot effectively, it's good to know how the formulas work first.

Jay Lake laughs about The larval stages of the common American speculative fiction writer which made me laugh too.

And finally, hellos and waves to my Clarion buddy, Caren Gussoff, who gave me the best welcome at the airport when I arrived in Seattle. Check out her publications here. She also has a story, Games forthcoming in Destination: Future, edited by Z.S. Adani and Eric T. Reynolds

The tourists on the opposite side of this tarn are walking the exact path taken by refugees from Rohan on their flight to Helm's Deep. Deer Park Heights, Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand, which we visited Christmas 2008 before the park closed indefinitely. We found this spot easily because it was well sign posted and the park owners provided maps which took us to several filming sites. Unlike in Lord of the Rings, there were llamas grazing in a nearby field. And a mobile phone tower over the hills behind us.

Over on Egoboo WA, Sarah writes about Creative Flurries

Yesterday I went back to an old 7500 word story and thought hard about why it wasn't working. It had all the right stuff, but just too much of it. So I thought about which paragraphs were merely window dressing and which were pulling their weight. 2500 deleted words later, my story was pretty much the same story, but felt much much better.

Now I think the novel has lain fallow long enough. It's time to get back to work again.

Four almost-hobbits crouched in the exact spot where Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin hid from the Ringwraiths not long after they left the shire. The big tree and its roots were fake -- and fortunately so were the big insects -- but the background trees are exactly as they were in the movie. Mt Victoria, Wellington, North Island, NZ. We found this location with the help of The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook (extended Edition) by Ian Brodie.

This month Egoboo WA is hosting the Aus Spec Fic Carnival so take a look and see what Aussies have been up to this month.

One of my Clarion buddies, pamrentz keeps a great blog and has a story, The Battle of Little Big Science forthcoming in Asimovs. She often prefaces her posts with a stunning picture of some awesome place in the USA, so I thought I'd have a go at doing the same -- so Pam could see some of my pictures too :) So, to start the ball rolling, here's a picture of Mt Doom. Not just any Mt Doom, but the one with the
kind of fire that forges a certain type of ring. It's also known as Mount Ngauruhoe. We took this picture from the car window when we were on our way from Lake Taupo to Wellington, New Zealand.



Not that I'm feeling doomed at the moment, because right now 2010 is shaping up just fine. My novel writing group, Egoboo, has been wonderful for providing friendship, support and advice during the long haul of writing my first finished novel. We blog here, and yesterday I wrote a post about my thoughts on writing cross gender here

A couple of days ago, I sold an 11,000 word novelette to Ticonderoga Publications, for their Anthology, Belong. But more about that soon.

Also, watch this space for more about my Clarion West Buddies, but if you can't wait that long, there's a list of their post-clarion publications here, courtesy of the wonderful pamrentz

For the next two weeks, Indiebooksonline are donating to the Toodyay fire appeal: $5 from every paperback and $10 from every hardback sold through their webpage. Toodyay is a small town about 80 km from Perth, in Western Australia. More about the fire, including the destruction of 38 homes here.

Books available through Indie include Dirt Magic by Sean Williams and The Infernal by Kim Wilkins.

In celebration of the release of the Aurealis Awards shortlist, Twelfth Planet Press is having a Silly Season Sale!

Aussie Sales Free Postage
International Sales Half Postage

For great titles, go see....

http://girliejones.livejournal.com/1514206.html

I am so proud of my Clarion West buddies. So proud of their achievements and their dedication to writing and critting. I'm proud of what they are all aiming for and proud of what they've already achieved.

Big woohoos to:

Caren Gussoff, (spitkitten), who makes the best Romany stew and also tells the best twisted fairy tales, has an awesome story Basic Biology online at Cabinet Des Fee and the equally awesome story Correspondence online at Birkensnake and also Section III in Abyss&Apex and also “As They Get Warmer, They Give a Little” in Membrane SF, which comes with a great review by Tangent here . Caren also has a story forthcoming, "Games" in Destination: Future, to be published early 2010, edited by Eric T. Reynolds and Z.S Adani. Karen edits bad ass flash fiction at: Brain Harvest. I'm sure there's something I've missed of Caren's, but wow, what a line up so far.

Eden Robins, also editor of Brain Harvest, writes the best Zombie stories ever, and has a story, "Wildlife" forthcoming at Membrane SF #9. Yay Eden!!

The fantastic Pamela Rentz, (pamrentz) has just made her first sale ever, her week #3 Clarion story, The Battle of Little Big Science", to ASIMOVS. Absolutely woohoo, Pamela!!

The wonderful An Owomoyela, cookie maker extraordinaire raven_radiation Has just sold her post clarion story, "Abandonware" to Fantasy Magazine. Woohoo!1

Rajan Khanna's “Pumpkinhead”, was recently accepted for the "Shadows of the Emerald City anthology" from Northern Frights Publishing. "The Furies", is currently available in Shimmer Magazine's Pirate Issue and "The Emperor's Gift", is forthcoming in Shimmer Magazine's Clockwork Jungle issue. Woohoo Raj!! I know there is another story of Raj's out there, but I can't find it :(

chris_reynaga's story "A Million Miles from Graceland" will be in an upcoming issue of Cemetery Dance. Woot!!

And also a big woohoo to Marguerite Croft, albionidaho who has made her first post clarion sale to Flushed Anthology. Woot!!

If I've missed any one out, blame it on my bad memory, and please let me know in the comments, and I'll add you up here XXX right where you belong.

Although it was months ago, I just thought I'd let you know I made my goal of 30,000 words, in fact I made a few more than that: 36,000! Now if I write less than 1000 words a day, I feel like I'm slacking off.

Huge thanks to my sponsors. I surpassed that goal as well!!!

Still working on the novel and hoping to finish it by mid October.

Last week I wrote scenes for the beginning, middle and end of the novel. Still making progress though.

A bit of unedited wordage from somewhere near the beginning: ( Read more... )

It's been a while since I acknowledged the picometer I borrowed from writeropia

Just a little bit of unedited wordage this week. ( Read more... )

I've passed the (theoretical) half-way mark in my first draft. This past two days, I've felt as if it's losing direction, so I've been going through past scenes and and looking for ways of finding my way again. I've found a few surprises I missed during the writing process, and now know exactly where to go next. It's exciting and I just want to sit here all day writing until it's finished. Every spare moment is spent either tapping at the keyboard or writing in my head. First drafts have never felt so magical before...



A little bit of unedited wordage: ( Read more... )

A huge thanks to all the people who have sponsored me. I am totally awed by your generosity.

Tons and tons of dialogue last week. Needs work, I know. But this week, I feel like I'm getting somewhere.



An excerpt here: ( Read more... )

Well, you know, it feels like writing a ton...



Plus: 600 words on a short story, 2nd draft.

That's 2,490 so far. Almost half a weeks worth of 5000 per week...



Here's a snippet from today's effort...

Rook scaled the wall with ease, despite it being twice his height. He was almost over when the seat of his pants caught on one of the metal spikes that ridged the top, making him lose his footing. Acutely aware that the things were meant to maim intruders rather than keep them out, he had no choice but to cringe at the sound of tearing fabric and let himself tumble into the hawthorn hedge. It certainly wasn’t the most elegant entry into Mathias Prowd’s estate but, so long as he remained unseen, there was no point in wishing for a better one. Flinching against thorns, he wormed his way deeper into the hedge, then curled up on his side and waited.

If ya want to sponsor my words for the Clarion West Write-a-thon, take yourself over to here XXXX

This time last year I was newly arrived in Seattle, jet-lagged and barely settled into the Clarion house that was to be my home for the next six weeks. I had my daughter's laptop with me and 500 words of a story I'd started the day before leaving Australia. I didn't bring any of my other stories. I wanted to start with a blank slate, leave all my old writing habits behind, discover new ones. I was ready to absorb as much creative energy and as much wisdom as my tutors and fellow-Clarionites could offer. I told myself I'd write a story a week. Stay up all night critting, if I had to. I was prepared to welcome criticism and accept it as the useful tool that was offered to me, not so much to show me what was wrong with my work, but to show me how to improve it.

Thank you to everyone involved in CW2008. You all helped me do that.

And so another year has come around and CW2009 has just begun, along with the CW 2008 Write-A-Thon. This morning, the first draft of my novel was up to 36,785. Tonight I'm at:



At the end of the Write-a-thon I plan to be 30,000 words further down the track. I'm also planning to raise $100 for CW to help give something back to the organisation that has done so much to improve my writing skills. If you're feeling generous and would like to sponsor me, you can do so at the Paypal link here. 0.0333 cents per word will give me $10 per sponsorship. 10 sponsorships will give me $100 dollars. This just a suggestion though. I'm grateful for whatever you can spare.

All money raised will go to Clarion West (Seattle). And for every dollar I make, I will donate a dollar out of my own money to Clarion South (Brisbane) up to the value of AUD$100

And don't forget to let me know if you sponsor me, so I can thank you.

Huge thanks to those who have donated money so far. I'm halfway to my goal already.

PS: Please forgive typos. I've gotta go work :)

The 2009 Clarion West (Seattle) Write-A-Thon runs from 21st June to 31st July, shadowing this year's workshop. I've committed to writing 5000 words per week for this event, and getting as many sponsors as possible, and will do my best to raise at least $100. All sponsorships will go directly to Clarion West.

For every dollar I earn I will also donate a dollar out of my own money to Clarion South (Australia) up to the value of AUD$100.

If 10 people sponsor me for $10, I will make my goal. So far, I have two sponsors (huge thanks and hugs), which means I am 20% there already. The words will officially begin on the 21st June, but till then, I've been practising, completing 10,000 words in the past two weeks.

You can sponsor me using Paypal here.

During the Write-A-Thon I will update my LJ regularly with my progress.

Clarion West is a live-in, intensive writers’ workshop run yearly for six weeks in Seattle, Washington USA. It was one of the best of my life experiences and I came away full of ideas, renewed enthusiasm, and a journal full of new writing techniques. I met a wonderful bunch of people in a beautiful city. For me, the Write-A-Thon is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the fund raising required to ensure the continuation of these workshops in both Seattle and Australia.

I first learned about Clarion West in 1999, when I read about it at Critters. Going to Seattle then became a goaldream, along with my dreamgoal to improve my fiction writing (I was a compulsive journal writer before that). But first I wanted to wait till my children were older. Last year turned out to be the best possible year and June/July were the best possible months, with kid’s exams over and done with for the semester. Then of course, it was summer in Seattle and I could not ignore the prospect of getting in some mountain hiking on the weekends! I didn’t count on breaking my foot a week before I was due to leave. As it turned out, there was no hiking for me on that trip, but lots of writing and just as much fun.

Here's the CW 2008 group with one of our wonderful instructors, Cory Doctorow:

Yesterday I came within an inch of having my foot run over by a 4WD turning in front of me on a pedestrian crossing at an intersection. It approached from behind me when I was already on the crossing . This was in a shopping centre where the speed limit was 15km/hr. Before I stepped out onto the crossing, I'd looked behind to see if anything was coming, but the 4WD didn't have its indicator on, so I thought it was going to go straight.

Since the completion of the Mandurah Line, I've been using public transport and shanks pony more often, especially when heading off to the city. In Seattle last year, I was amazed how cars stop for you when you stand and wait at an intersection. Clearly people know their road rules over there. In Perth, however, 25% of cars don't even bother stopping at pedestrian crossings.

If there is no walk/don't walk light at the traffic lights, then you've got a long wait ahead of you, because most drivers do not seem to know the WA road rules...

3.10.2 Intersection traffic control arrows

Red light with green arrow:

This means you may not go straight ahead, but you may turn in
the direction of the arrow, if it is safe to do so. Remember, you
must give way to all pedestrians crossing at the intersection.

And if you're on a suburban street, don't even expect anyone to follow this rule, unless you want to end up skittled...

3.14.2 Turning

The rules when making a turn are as follows:

(snip obvious stuff)... Turning vehicles must give way to pedestrians;

A few weeks back, I was totally amazed when listening to a radio talk back show where the presenter was suggesting that a way to reduce traffic holdups in the CBD was to get rid of pedestrian crossings. Seriously, they were blaming Pedestrians for the city's peak hour traffic problem, and little old ladies in particular!!

What's the first thing you find to eat after spending 5 days in the wilderness?