Last friday night — Friday the 13th — my beloved and I went to see Bret Easton Ellis speak at the glorious old Athenaeum Theatre, an appearance organised by the Wheeler Centre in conjuction with the Melbourne Writers Festival. I like Ellis’ books –  Lunar Park in particular is outstanding — although I haven’t had a chance to read his new novel, Imperial Bedrooms, which this tour is supporting. I had minor reservations about seeing him in person — “I hope he’s not a dick,” is what I said to Jason on the way in — as I didn’t want the personality of the author to override my future reading of his work. This is a real danger. There are authors whose work I used to like a great deal before I met them in person, or saw interviews with them, or something else, and they turned out to be dicks. If they turn out to be big enough dicks, that colours my view of their work and I find it hard to enjoy it anymore. But Ellis wasn’t a dick.  He was cool. And funny. And had lots of interesting things to say about himself, and writing, and pop culture, and much else.

It was a meta-interview of sorts: Bret Easton Ellis dissecting the interview process, the publication process, the writing process, the process of being Bret Easton Ellis, and his fans were happy to play along. The Q&A section at the end, while stupid and somewhat embarrassing, actually felt like a continuation of the whole performance of Bret Easton Ellis as Bret Easton Ellis. Very clever-clever questions, very well-rehearsed, often straddling the border between insult and come-on, often tumbling clumsily to one side or the other. Apart from the last awful train-wreck of an exchange between a self-important, self-avowed “inner-city hipster” and the obviously bemused and perplexed author, the most obnoxious one was probably: “Do you ever wish that maybe someone killed you at the peak of your career?” Because, yeah, not only does Ellis wish he was dead but he’s quite happy to acknowledge that his best days are behind him!

It was a strange night. I’m not sure I know that much more about Ellis than I did before I went — although I am sure I know no more than he wants me to know — but I enjoyed myself, and I enjoyed the show. And now the Wheeler Centre has uploaded a video of the entire night for the viewing pleasure of those who didn’t make it along. It runs for over an hour, so grab yourself a tasty beverage then sit back and enjoy the ride. Even if you haven’t read any of his work, Ellis as performance makes for compelling viewing.

Firstly, Ticonderoga Publications has announced a forthcoming collection of stories by A Bertram Chandler Award-winning, internationally respected writer and researcher Lucy Sussex. The collection has a working title of Matilda Told Such Dreadful Lies and is scheduled for publication in mid-2011. Read more.

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For those in Melbourne who can’t wait that long, Lucy Sussex will be launching her non-fiction book, Saltwater in the Ink, a collection of 19th century diaries as a free event at the Melbourne Writers’ festival. There’ll be performances from the Rogues Choir as well as dramatised readings, and I have it on good authority that those coming along in Victorian garb will be made more than welcome!

When:  11.30am, 29 August 2010

Where: Feddish, Federation Square, Melbourne.

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In other news from Ticonderoga Publication, there is also a collection of stories by Ditmar and Chronos Award-winner and new sensation Felicity Dowker to which we can look forward to reading . . . albeit a long way forward. The collection is tentatively titled Bread and Circuses and scheduled for publication in 2012. It’s certainly a book I’m keen to have on my shelf! Read more.

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And finally, Necroscope,  the official zombie fiction review blog, is having a subscription drive. For the chance to win a whole swag of tasty undead goodness, simply visit the site and become a “Shambler” (click on the follow button). A winner will be drawn at random on 16 September 2010, so get clicking!

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Kirstyn has easily and gracefully moved from short story to novel form with Madigan Mine. It’s a very Melbourne story, and also a very Gothic story — being about Goths, but also about a truism of human nature, that being drawn to the dark side can lead us to some very banal evils. A love story, which turns into a hate story. Strongly characterised, intensely and skillfully narrated, and lastly beautifully written. Here’s my favourite line from the novel: “The past is a poisonous place and I’m not going to live in it any longer.”

Thanks so much, Lucy. Thanks also go to Theary and the staff at Carlton Library for having us, as well as the delightful crew from PanMacmillan (Debra, Meagan, Corey and Kate) who came to fly the flag on the night, Justin Ackroyd of Slow Glass Books for purveying of books, Tiger Lily cafe for catering, and of course, to everyone who came along to help me celebrate, as well as those who sent their regrets but very best wishes.

I talked to a lot of people, but didn’t get to meet everyone who came, for which I do apologise. Thank you, thank you all for coming. I also signed a lot of books . . . and for my appalling handwriting and wildly differing signatures, I also must apologise. My beloved, Jason Nahrung, wandered around with a camera:

Lucy Sussex waxing lyrical

Justin Ackroyd ... bookseller extraordinaire

The lovely people from PanMacmillan ... Debra, Meagan, Corey (who designed Madigan Mine's amazing cover) and Kate.

Storytime

My favourite purple pen!

Rowena ... all the way from Brisbane!

Ori and Ian, two of my oldest friends

Ian, Ori and . . . iPad!!

Myself and Julia

An ebullient Rachel

Blurry Elizabeth, sharper Steve

Sarah and Talie

Paul Collins and Jane Routley

Ellen and Tracie

Tracie, Paul and Miranda

Listening attentively ...

... and general milling about

Tired but exceedingly happy!

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Best Novel

* Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Penguin)
* Liar, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury)
* World Shaker, Richard Harland (Allen& Unwin)
* Slights, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot Books)
* Life Through Cellophane, Gillian Polack (Eneit Press)

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Best Novella or Novelette

* “Siren Beat”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Black Water”, David Conyers (Jupiter Magazine)
* “After the World: Gravesend”, Jason Fischer (Black House Comics)
* “Horn”, Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Wives”, Paul Haines (X6/Couer de Lion)

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Best Short Story

* “The Piece of Ice in Ms Windermere’s Heart”, Angela Slatter (New Ceres
Nights, Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Six Suicides”, Deborah Biancotti (A Book of Endings, Twelfth Planet
Press)
* “Black Peter”, Marty Young (Festive Fear, Tasmaniac Publications)
* “Seventeen”, Cat Sparks (Masques, CSFG)
* “Tontine Mary”, Kaaron Warren (New Ceres Nights, Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Prosperine When it Sizzles”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (New Ceres Nights,
Twelfth Planet Press)

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Best Collected Work

* The New Space Opera 2, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Gardner Dozois
(HarperCollins)
* New Ceres Nights, edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Tehani Wessely
(Twelfth Planet Press)
* Slice Of Life, Paul Haines, edited by Geoffrey Maloney (The Mayne Press)
* A Book of Endings, edited by Deborah Biancotti, Alisa Krasnostein and
Ben Payne (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Eclipse Three, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Night Shade Books)

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Best Artwork

* Cover art, New Ceres Nights (Twelfth Planet Press), Dion Hamill
* Cover art, The Whale’s Tale (Peggy Bright Books), Eleanor Clarke
* Cover art and illustrations, Shards: Short Sharp Tales (Brimstone
Press), Andrew J. McKiernan
* Cover art, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #42, Lewis Morley
* Cover art, “Horn” (Twelfth Planet Press), Dion Hamill
* Cover art, Masques (CSFG), Mik Bennett

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Best Fan Writer

* Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work
* Chuck McKenzie, for work in Horrorscope
* Robert Hood, for Undead Backbrain (roberthood.net/blog)
* Tehani Wessely, for body of work
* Bruce Gillespie, for work in Steam Engine Time

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Best Fan Artist

* Dave Schembri, for work in Midnight Echo
* Kathleen Jennings, for body of work
* Dick Jenssen, for body of work

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Best Fan Publication in Any Medium

* Interstellar Ramjet Scoop , edited by Bill Wright
* A Writer Goes on a Journey (awritergoesonajourney.com), edited by
Nyssa Pascoe et al
* ASif! (asif.dreamhosters.com), edited by Alisa Krasnostein, Gene
Melzack et al
* Australian Science Fiction Bullsheet (bullsheet.sf.org.au), edited by
Edwina Harvey and Ted Scribner
* Steam Engine Time , edited by Bruce Gillespie and Janine Stinson

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Best Achievement

* Alisa Krasnostein, Liz Grzyb, Tehani Wessely, Cat Sparks and Kate
Williams, for the New Ceres Nights booklaunch
* H. Gibbens, for the Gamers’ Quest CGI-animated book trailer
* Ruth Jenkins and Cathy Jenkins-Rutherford, for the children’s program
at Conjecture
* Amanda Rainey, for the cover design of Siren Beat/Roadkill (Twelfth
Planet Press)
* Gillian Polack et al, for the Southern Gothic banquet at Conflux

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Best New Talent

* Pete Kempshall
* Kathleen Jennings
* Thoraiya Dyer
* Jason Fischer
* Simon Petrie
* Christopher Green
* Peter M. Ball

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William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

* Chuck McKenzie, for “The Dead Walk! … Into a Bookstore Near You” (Eye
of Fire #1, Brimstone Press)
* Ian Mond, for reviews on his blog (mondyboy.livejournal.com)
* Grant Watson, for reviews and articles for Eiga: Asian Cinema
(www.eigaasiancinema.com)
* Helen Merrick, for The Secret Feminist Cabal: a cultural history of
science fiction feminisms (Aqueduct Press)

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Very exciting news!

The landmark horror anthology, Macabre: A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears (edited by Angela Challis and Dr Marty Young) can now be ordered through Brimstone Press.

The anthology retails for $44.95 and will be available in stores in October/November, but Brimstone Press are offering Macabre for sale at $30 + postage. The anthology will be shipped from Brimstone in September.

Macabre is a snapshot of the fears that have gripped Australians for over 200 years: the isolation of the bush, monstrous fauna, supernatural terrors, violence, war, terrorism, alienation, cannibalism, and murder. From the very earliest colonial ghost stories through to grim tales of modern life, Macabre will take you on a journey through the terrifying heart of Australian horror.

Macabre includes a detailed essay on the history of Australian horror, an Australian horror fiction timeline, and 38 stories from three eras (classics, modern masters, and new era originals) – at a massive 672 pages, Macabre is, without doubt, the most significant anthology of Australian horror ever published.

Contributors in the Classics and Modern Masters sections include Henry Lawson, Marcus Clarke, Mary Fortune, Barbara Baynton, A. Bertram Chandler, Kaaron Warren, Terry Dowling, Robert Hood, Stephen Dedman, Rick Kennett, and Sean Williams.

The largest section, the New Era, includes original stories from Will Elliott, Stephen M. Irwin, Kirstyn McDermott, Richard Harland, Martin Livings, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Kyla Ward, Paul Haines, David Conyers, and Bob Franklin (and many more!).

Macabre will be launched at Aussiecon 4, the World Science Fiction Convention, in Melbourne on the weekend of September 4-5 (exact details of the launch will be publicised when they become available). The editors and many of the contributors will be in attendance to sign copies at the launch.

For those of us with more books than space to keep them, may I introduce you to Bookshelf Porn. A fabulous collection of images featuring bookshelves, libraries and piles and piles and piles of books. Some pretty amazing designs, many of which I’d love to one day have in my own home. Of course, my home would need to be a tardis, but hey, a girl can dream. Mmm, books. Mmm, bookshelves.

If you do happen to have more space than books in your life — how? do you do it? — then I have a couple of suggestions which might help to fill that void.

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Power and Majesty is the first volume in the Creature Court trilogy by Tansy Rayner Roberts and it now has a pretty new trailer for you to watch. Magic and mystery and shape-changing creatures, oh my!  Power and Majesty is available right now from all good bookstores — and possibly a handful of evil ones — with volumes two and three due out in January 2011 and July 2011 respectively. See, you won’t even have long to wait to see how the whole story ends.

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Or perhaps you would care to consider the latest offering from FableCroft Press, Australis Imaginarium, due out for AussieCon3 in September but available for pre-order now (there’s a tasty discount if you elect to pick it up in person at the convention). Edited by Tehani Wessely, with beautiful cover art by Shaun Tan and an impressive list of contributors that includes the likes of Deborah Biancotti, Margo Lanagan, Angela Slatter, Lucy Sussex and Sean Williams, this collection of Australian speculative fiction will most certainly be on my list of Books Which Must Be Bought.

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That’s what happened when I used my novella, “Painlessness” as the comparison text anyway. Which is all very flattering and ego-boosting and warm-fuzzy-making. With Madigan Mine, apparently I’m more like Kurt Vonnegut. Strangely, “We All Fall Down” (a short story which will be published in the next issue of Aurealis) comes up smelling like JK Rowling — with nary a death eater or house elf in sight!

Of course, according to this sample of Chuck Palahniuk’s work, he writes like Stephen King. But that’s okay, because Stephen King writes like Dan Brown. Disappointingly, it seems that Dan Brown just writes likes himself. But Mary Shelley is the new Vladimir Nabokov! Or was the old Vladimir Nabokov. Or whatever. Frankenstein meets Lolita — now that’s a mash-up I’d like to see. It’s got to be better than fricken Little Vampire Women.

Hmm, wonder who Louisa May Alcott writes like . . .

The winners of the Shirley Jackson Awards were announced over the weekend at ReaderCon 21 and I’m absolutely delighted to see that Rob Shearman was a joint-winner in the Single Author Collection category for his book, Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical. Rob’s been on a roll recently, with the same collection recently winning the Reader’s Prize category of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize as well as garnering several British Fantasy Award nominations (winners to be announced in September). His debut collection, Tiny Deaths, also won a World Fantasy Award in 2008.

If you haven’t yet come across Rob’s work, you’re missing out on something quite extraordinary.  Written with intelligence, wit and warmth, his stories weave fluidly between sorrow and humour, darkness and light, pessimism and hope. They are often disturbing, usually quite strange, and always, always surprising. Rob is among the best writers of short fiction that I’ve come across, possessing an enviable economy of style and absolute mastery of the form. His stories inspire an implicit trust in the reader, right from the very first sentence. You know that you’re in safe hands and you know that the journey — while it might be sometimes joyful and sometimes painful — will undoubtedly be a rewarding one.

You can grab either or both collections via the links on Rob website, and I highly recommend them. There is also a new story, “Cold Snap”, currently online at The Lifted Brow — available for a limited time only, so don’t be tardy.