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rejected again
Received a rejection slip today from a major magazine. The editor said he liked the characters but didn't quite buy the (sfnal) situation. But the thing is... the situation itself was actually the non-sf bit! I based it on something bizarre I saw in a doco about 15 years ago about Japanese society !!! Argh! Of course, the real reason he didn't buy the story is because he didn't want to buy it. The filler you get in your rejection slip is just the excuse. :-) So far this particular story has been rejected for being too sci fi by some editors, and not sci fi enough by others. I wonder if there's a nice gardening magazine I can send it to next? Never know your luck, etc etc. |
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wot a ripper!
Recently my parents asked my sister and I to clean out all the crap we left behind when we moved out of home 25 + years ago. Some gems have been uncovered in the attic during the process including Ripper 76 - the second album I ever owned. Thge first album I ever owned was The Best of Abba. OK, so I had the Jungle Book and Puffenstuff on LP as well but they don't count because they were kiddy records. Ripper 76 was one I bought for myself with my pocket money -- either that or I demanded it for my 11th birthday. I can't recall. The 70s were a classy decade, weren't they? I mean, who wouldn't prefer to read a track list off a woman's arse?  And now I see that this record was what kick started my Roxy Music thing. Love is the drug. Oh yeah.
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Arctica
While I'm waiting for my beta readers to get back to me with feedback about Sammarynda Deep, my recently completed novel, I thought I might as well get started on the next one. It was a toss up between a couple of ideas but I finally settled on Arctica, a Victorianesque-steampunky-antique robotty-kind of thing with sea serpents, based on my Aurealis Awards nominated fantasy story of the same name. All that was missing was an actual plot, but I made up some twaddle on the train to Sydney yesterday en route to visit a friend. So, with 1200 words of synopsis now down, I think I shall draw myself a map of the proposed terrain. Yes, unlike the last one, this book shall be constructed in not only a timely fashion but also an orderly manner. The map comes FIRST. Trying to construct a map for Sammarynda Deep based on my own clues scattered throughout the text has been more than a little difficult. And, I suspect, geographically incredulous.
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another one!
squirrel_monkey's Paper Cities anthology has received yet another positive review and my story Sammarynda Deep, scored a mention:"Sammarynda Deep" by Cat Sparks presents an alien culture that combines the familiar with the magical although the latter manifests itself more subtly. Sparks establishes numerous beats that make it a compelling read and what particularly impressed me was its ending which, while open-ended, was well-seeded and quite satisfying. Bibliophile Stalker. I guess this balances out the horridly smug rejection I received for another story this week...
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Wrote 4,000 words of a new short story this weekend. Also, overdosed on Bryan Ferry + Roxy Music's Platinum Collection 3-CD set. Man, was that ever the best fifteen dollars I ever spent, thank you JB Hi Fi! We started watching A for Andromeda on DVD. Only one episode of the original production survives along with a few short extracts from other episodes. The story is told with a series of labeled stills from the show. As we sat riveted to the screen, I realised that we are the absolute dictionary definitions of skiffy nerds. Its a 1961 sci fi series that doesn't even exist , yet we're still freaking watching it -- and having a good time! It absolutely reeks of Quatermass. I really should get more of a life, shouldn't I?
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rectuma
Finally, a movie too gross and low brow even for me! Details and more pix on Undead Backbrain if you're really interested. But you're not. Trust me. |
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1997
As a counterpoint to the last post, here is a pic of myself with friends Isobel and Kathryn taken in Cairo eleven years ago.  and here is me sitting in the Cairo Coptic district. My eyebrows were much bushier and my face thinner in 1997. Also, that may well be my actual natural hair colour. 
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anzac day
This photo is of Harry and Mervyn Sparks (centre and right) and a mate, Egypt, 1915. It's from my Father's collection and if I paid closer attention when he expalined such things, I'd be able to tell you more about who these two Sparkses were and what relation they were to me. The photo was used in an exhibition entitled "Was thinking of home today..." North Sydney and the World Wars. The exhibition, held at the North Sydney Heritage Centre 2005, 'explored the impact of the world wars upon the people of North Sydney and commemorated the personal stories of those who went to war and those who stayed behind.' 
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when research is stranger than fantasy novel writing...
I spent the whole day researching Saharan terrain, weather patterns and traditional nomadic lifestyles. This is the most interesting thing I learned: "There is, however, a tradition of blind guides in the Sahara, men who could check their position at the end of each day by the smell of the sand." wow.
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the joy of rewriting...
So I'm barreling along through my rewriting just now. One of my characters is cross examining another, trying to make sense of what is happening to their town. Suddenly another character screams. The first two rush into another room to investigate... and its all getting quite exciting. Especially for me because I had completely forgotten what I'd written next. Yes folks, I actually got to experience a bit of my own book as a first time reader! ever ask yourself this question: am I actually too dumb to be writing novels?
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the things we do
So I'm psyching myself up for another one of my big 3-day writing weekends, or in this instance, re-writing. I want to do a spit-polish on those 15,000 words I knocked out over the course of the weekend before last, as well as smooth over some anomalies currently sullying earlier sections of the text. And big weather. I need to add some big weather effects. When all this is done, the book will still not be 'finished', but it will be presentable enough to send out to the folks who have been With actual local weather being so broody and gothic at the moment, what I would prefer to be doing is curling up on the couch with a pot of tea, a packet of Tim Tams and a stack of Cary Grant dvds. I fondly remember the days when I seemed to have time for such things. I think it was known as my youth...
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grumpy, jaded old cow photo
Mostly I smile sweetly in photos but Tehani managed to take this snap of me at Swancon in which my true evil self shines through brilliantly. If only I had a novel being published right now -- this would definitely be my author photo. 
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pigs may yet fly
Over at ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} lastshortstory Master Payne gave one of my own short stories the *thumbs up!"From the latest Aurealis Barbed and compassionate, huh? Yep, I reckon that's me all over. *he usually hates my stuff
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chipper
