The 2016 Aurealis Awards were presented on Friday night. Congratulations to all the winners! As most of you know, I had the great honour of being one of the judges on the panel for YA novels and YA short stories. Now that the results are out, I’d like to share a few thoughts on what […]
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The US election left many of my friends feeling frightened and angry. It left me worried for their safety and livelihoods. At first, I felt helpless all the way over here in Australia. But I’m a big believer in the power of small things. So I started tweeting book recommendations. Since it seemed to help […]
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One thing I find interesting about being involved with both the writing community and the reading community is noting where these groups intersect–and where they should intersect but don’t. Last month’s meeting of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild discussed marketing books. Naturally, the topic of reviewing arose. With paid reviewers rapidly disappearing from news outlets, connecting […]
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Back in April, I had the opportunity to run a meeting for the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild on tabletop games for storytellers. Players ranged from first-timers to players who’ve had decades of experience. I had great fun introducing them to some of my favourite games, so I figured why stop there? If you are a gaming […]
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Today is Friday 13th, a time for black cats, superstition and (of course) witches. I might have a streak of practicality a mile wide, but I have a soft spot for witches in my reading material. Perhaps it’s because they often share that streak of practicality, along with a fierce sense of independence and a […]
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My very first post to this blog mentions that Mt TBR was reaching perilous new heights after I became involved with the book blogging community. The post sounds naive to me now, particularly as I wrote it before I started accepting review books. I thought Mt TBR was high back then, but it has grown […]
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I had an encounter with writer’s block this week. I’ve been working on a post about fanfic that’s just not coming together. Over at Strange Horizonsa couple of weeks ago, Renay of Ladybusiness shared a bit about her first fandom and her relationship to fanfic. I’d already been thinking about my own relationship to fandom […]
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