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My Next Big Thing
Thank you to CSFGer Ross C Hamilton for tagging me in the Next Big Thing. The game here is that writers answer a string of questions about their work, describing what will be their Next Big Thing and...
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Why I Love Steampunk
This picture isn’t a dress-up. It’s my great-grandfather with my grandmother (his 13th daughter) taken sometime in the late 1890s. I adore their outfits and especially Nanna’s boots, though I wonder...
View ArticleInternal Inconsistency, Layering and Situational Irony
Blogging The Editing Day #5 In the end, Chapter Four needed more de-clunking than anticipated. Being an early chapter, I also had to make sure the fantastical elements had been set up well enough for...
View ArticleThe Joys of Rewriting.
Blogging the Editing Day #6 Chapter Five was my favourite chapter from the start. I would happily rewrite my entire novel to make it work. Fortunately I don’t need to because I already did it three...
View ArticleOh Those Ambiguities…
Blogging The Editing Day #7 Usually I love ambiguity. A morally ambiguous character can challenge preconceived ideas. Ambiguous dialogue can show that the speaker is either dissembling or being...
View ArticleAurealis Awards Shortlist Announced
The 2017 Australian Aurealis Awards Shortlist went live yesterday morning and what a fine line-up it turned out to be. As a member of the judging panel for the Science Fiction Novel Category, it was...
View ArticlePacing, Dialogue, Emotion, Info Dump & Symbolism
Blogging the Editing Day #8 The biggest problem with Chapter 6 began with its pacing. Having followed on from a few intense scenes, this chapter needed time to build on characterisation and fill in a...
View ArticleRamping Up Dialogue
Blogging the Editing Day #9 Chapter 7. Scene 2. Hero #1 acts passive when Hero #2 starts telling lies. Time to have a word with my character… Me: Hey girl, I know you’ve been through a rough patch...
View ArticleAnd Another Year Over…
I’ll never be a prolific blogger, but my plan has always been to keep in touch now and then. I didn’t publish any fiction in the past twelve months, but my hard drive has been filling up with work that...
View ArticleSurely, It’s Not the End of November Already??
Well, I’m not sure how the almost-end of 2019 arrived so quickly, but I suspect it had a lot to do with the way I immersed myself in my novel this year and finally got it to a standard I’m happy with....
View ArticleTwo Months Until the Release of The Eternal Machine.
My first Advanced Reader Copy has arrived from Amazon, and finally this self-publishing gig is starting to feel real. For a few seconds I just stared at the envelope, afraid to open it in case I'd...
View ArticleTHE ETERNAL MACHINE: Chapter One
Here's a sneak preview of my upcoming novel's first chapter. I'll post some more chapters later in the week. Hope you enjoy... Em Common magic (skin magic) is absorbed by the skin directly from the...
View ArticleTHE ETERNAL MACHINE: Chapter Two
Lucien Rotting cockles littered the alley from end to end. To make matters worse, Lucien already regretted abandoning Em in the street with Solly. Circumstances had dictated immediate action, but it...
View ArticleTHE ETERNAL MACHINE: Chapter Three
Excerpt from my upcoming novel. Content: PGR (low level violence and supernatural themes). Ruk The Fear whispered, piercing the shifter’s consciousness like a thorn. His name is Lucien… Save him… There...
View ArticleThe Eternal Machine is Almost Here
It has certainly been a learning curve getting this book ready for publication. But I'm almost there. Meanwhile, if you are interested in reading Sample Chapters One to Six, you are welcome to take a...
View ArticlePROOFREADING BLUES
Six weeks until my novel is released and despite hours and hours spent proofreading I’m still finding typos. Not many, fortunately; just the rare missed word such as ‘to’ or ‘the’, a couple of...
View ArticleProofreading and Layouts
My second to last proofread has arrived, and after combing through it, I was delighted to find my proofreader found only a single typo I hadn't already found myself. I've still got a month until...
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Unexpected Discoveries
What does this image represent? A. Me proofreading and spotting a typo?B. A character learning that something is not as it seems?C. A reader surprised by a plot twist?Answer:All of the above THE...
View ArticleFor the Love of Anachronisms
Back in the computer age, people had time to read books. Steampunk is a genre of subversion, not only due to the actions of its characters but also for the ways its writers play with reality, creating...
View ArticleTomorrow!
At last, The Eternal Machine will be released tomorrow, Friday 14th January! I'm excited, a little bit scared and happy to have nearly met the goal I made 14 years ago. If you like weird steampunk,...
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