Click here to read my piece on Writers Bloc about signing the contract for Captives before it was finished, and the ensuing writing process (while travelling). Here's an extract: I wrote a few of the stories around sessions at the Edinburgh International Book Fest, including a couple which are postmodern or referential. This reflects the fact that, like the narrator … Continue reading Signing a contract for an unfinished manuscript, on Writers Bloc
small press
Introducing The Rag and Bone Man Press
I was recently invited to the launch of The Rag and Bone Man Press and though I couldn't make it due to Emerging Writers' Fest activities, their website had me intrigued. I decided to find out more... You've just launched The Rag and Bone Man Press. What sets you apart from other small press publishers? … Continue reading Introducing The Rag and Bone Man Press
This Too Shall Pass by SJ Finn
This review first appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald: Spectrum on the weekend of February 26-27. Sleepers Publishing 9781742700380 March 2011 (Aus) Jen Montgomery, known as ‘Monty’, had always considered herself a ‘forever’ person, until years into her marriage when something shifted. Monty began a relationship with another woman. This Too Shall Pass not only reflects on … Continue reading This Too Shall Pass by SJ Finn
Guest review: Elizabeth Bryer on Wayne Macauley’s Other Stories
Black Pepper November 2010 9781876044664 (Aus) Reviewed by Elizabeth Bryer Other Stories brings together Melbourne-based Wayne Macauley’s output over the past decade and counting. The collection is filled with ‘other’ stories—tales that are other, or outside the mainstream, in a double sense. They are other in subject, given that they are stories that trace … Continue reading Guest review: Elizabeth Bryer on Wayne Macauley’s Other Stories
Some notes on the 'new world' of publishing
On the weekend I was a guest of the Write Around the Murray Festival in Albury. Besides giving a blogging/social media workshop, I was on a panel called The New World of Publishing alongside author Cate Kennedy, zinester Anna Poletti, self-published memoirist Melinda Marengo, and Barry Dorr and Jo Costello from JoJo Publishing. I thought I'd … Continue reading Some notes on the 'new world' of publishing
Guest review: Elena Gomez on Mic Looby’s Paradise Updated
9780980374667 September 2009 (Aus/ Kindle) Affirm Press If you didn’t already know that Mic Looby was once a Lonely Planet writer and editor, it’s not difficult to guess, reading his debut novel, Paradise Updated. In it, the satirically named 'SmallWorld' publishers dominate the guidebook industry and the bloke who made them what they are today, legendary … Continue reading Guest review: Elena Gomez on Mic Looby’s Paradise Updated
Give Me Some Lip
Lip Issue 16 has arrived in my mailbox. In this issue I have a piece titled 'Virtual Projections: How We Construct Ourselves Online'. As it's a magazine for young women, I spoke to girls and women in virtual environments - MySpace and Facebook - but its also about my own experiences in those spaces and through … Continue reading Give Me Some Lip
Uncorrected Proof by Louisiana Alba
ElephantEars Press, 9780955867606, 2008, UK (Aus, US) Can something be playfully and overtly postmodern and still be readable - driving you through a compelling plot? Louisiana Alba proves it can be done. Uncorrected Proof is a postmodern novel that entertainingly riffs on form, style, character, tense, person - but with an overall thriller/quest type plot … Continue reading Uncorrected Proof by Louisiana Alba
Late Connections by Aileen La Tourette
2008, Ilura Press, 978921325052 It’s a shame to read a story that feels as though it has been wrestled into the wrong medium. Aileen La Tourette’s Late Connections might have made a good dramatic play with its style, overt exposition, and historical setting. We begin in Paris, where seamstress Annie Doulard works on the dress … Continue reading Late Connections by Aileen La Tourette
Harvest #1 and Voiceworks #73: Carnivale – Journal Review
A loud established journal and a studious newbie are both aesthetically pleasing and intellectually stimulating. Voiceworks #73 is themed Carnivale and even more-so than previous issues revels in quality quirk as well as showcasing the colourful talents and opinions of Australian youth. In contrast to the oft blunt-ended pieces in Voiceworks, the first issue of … Continue reading Harvest #1 and Voiceworks #73: Carnivale – Journal Review
LiteraryMinded 