Storybook Perfect

Always quirky, sometimes sweet speculative fiction

Month: June 2013

The Funny Thing About Flash Fiction

June 28, 2013 / / 2 Comments
The announcement in the paper

The announcement in the paper

I’m quite chuffed with myself at the moment because I recently learned one of my stories has been shortlisted in the Redlitzer Writing Competition. The whole awesome name-in-the-local-paper deal and everything. Of course this brings in a tide of friends and family asking about the story that won. This taught me a funny thing about flash fiction.

I sent in a piece of flash fiction called Stolen Hearts, and because I never thought I’d have to do a summary for it (like I do for books and longer short stories) I never created one. This leads to me trying to explain a lot of what happens in the story that is subtext so people will understand what I think is so great about my story (as well as what happens).

Of course, by the time I’m done saying all that I’ve very nearly taken up as much time as I would have if I’d just handed the 1,000 words over to them.

In flash fiction so much is implied and hinted at that a reader will usually glean for themselves, so a thorough description of the story exceeds the length of the piece itself.

I could always just give people the story I suppose, but I’d rather get as many people as possible to check out the anthology when it is released 😀 You can be sure I’ll let you know when it’s available.

May Goals Round-Up

June 4, 2013 / / 1 Comment

And STILL from a duct-taped together laptop.

I blame YOU sir, for this.

I blame YOU sir, for this.

You know how the last few months my goal round-up posts have been all ‘woe is me, I did nothing’ but then I look at the list and think, you know, actually I did a fair amount really.

This wasn’t one of those months.

I can make excuses like my terror of my laptop simply never switching on again (I am scared every time I close the lid) or the fact that instead of only working a couple of days a week I was working almost full time filling in for my boss while she jetted off to her honeymoon in Bora Bora (geeze, some people, right? ;p ), but really, I know I could have beaten the time out of somewhere because I managed to find some time to play video games.

And don't think you're off the hook, missy, you're partly to blame also.

And don’t think you’re off the hook, missy, you’re partly to blame also.

At least I didn’t do nothing. I took another Holly Lisle course, this time her ‘How To Write Flash Fiction That Doesn’t Suck’ course which reminded me of something I’ve been forgetting to do in my fiction a bit of late. If you’re ever looking for good writing courses I strongly recommend Holly Lisle’s courses, they are comprehensive and brilliant.

I also picked back up an old project I’ve been toying with for almost two years now, a book written in blog form which I still have no idea if I’ll ever get to publishing (it would be free to read online if I ever commit properly to it). I re-read the old work, wrote some more and tinkered with the outline.

Now, to learn from my mistakes and make June a more productive month.

Australian Spec-Fic Authors Challenge – May Round-Up

June 3, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Someone asked me this month if indie authors count toward the Aussie Spec-Fic Authors Challenge. She also asked about short stories. Well in my opinion, yes on both counts. Any way you can support Australian speculative fiction counts in my books. (Books, hahaha, pun)

To better illustrate how happy I am to include indies, even though I read a traditionally published book for May, I’m going to report on an indie short story and an indie novel this month. (For those worried about me ignoring Burn Bright, I’m not, I’ll finish the other two books in the trilogy and report on all three for my June read)

lifesphereThe indie novel I read (and praise) is Talitha Kalago’s Life Sphere Inc: Acquisition. It’s the first of a series set in a dystopian future were people psychically link with bio-organic lifeforms (called Meka) to compete with one another.

The world is in depth, with multiple layers of society clearly depicted by sheer decadence scaling down through the levels to literally living in a dump.

The characters are great fun and while they are teens there’s none of the usual teen angst that sometimes makes me avoid young adult. Any suffering the characters go through is real, real enough to feel yourself.

The plot is lots of fun, with plenty of twists and turns that will take you all over the world, from the saddest pit in the Junkyard to the ritziest house in Topside (or at least one of them).

Also, it’s a good solid adventure that guys hoping to avoid the next Twilight can safely read, no mush!

You can get Lifeshpere Inc: Acquisition from Amazon or Smashwords for FREE. So don’t hesitate, just grab it and devour it – I certainly did!

dieselpunkNow, to keep up the indie marathon here: The Dieselpunk Epulp Showcase leads with a story by Grant Gardiner, an Aussie author with a grand appreciation for the 1920s. The other stories are all quite good too, but I like Grant’s the best (and not for biased reasons).

Dieselpunk, for the not-in-the-know, is inspired by the culture of the 1920s-1950s, think the dashing adventures of Bond, Jazz music and the height of fashion and manners. To use the words of Tome Wilson who wrote the foreword and runs dieselpunks.org ‘Retro Future’.

‘That Sort Of World’ is a tale from the Aether Age, which is Grant’s own spin on an alternate history in America(you can find out lots more at his blog). It follows a couple of gangsters trying to break into the big leagues, both in crime and in fashion but you’ll have to read it to see whether they succeed with either goal.

The other stories are also fun singles set in a larger world by their respective authors and feature everything from old school noir grit to idealistic, and somewhat misled, freedom fighters and a fantastic shootout in Citadel City.

You can get the Dieselpunk epulp Showcase for free on Amazon and Smashwords and if you’re hungry for another Tale from the Aether Age, you can find ‘The More Things Change’ free to read online at the Alternate History blog.

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Well, to sum it up: Go enjoy some great Aussie indies for free!

Look forward to July 1st when I’ll post my reviews of the whole Night Creatures Trilogy by Mariannne de Pierres and keep supporting Australian speculative fiction authors!

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