Storybook Perfect

Always quirky, sometimes sweet speculative fiction

Month: February 2014

2013 Aurealis Awards Finalist

February 16, 2014 / / 1 Comment

Professor Farnsworth agreesI have some fantastic news that has me super excited.

My story Short Circuit (published in Oomph: A Little Super Goes A Long Way) has been announced as a finalist in the ‘Best Fantasy Short Fiction’ category in the Aurealis Awards.

The Aurealis Awards are Australia’s premiere speculative fiction awards so this is a huge honor and I’m stoked to be in the company of so many authors I admire.

A Few Things Of Interest

February 10, 2014 / / 0 Comments

aurealis_66_cover_fallen_angel_by_melissa_gannonI was catching up on my short story reading (gotta read lots of the good stuff to write the good stuff yourself) and enjoyed a non-fiction article at the end Aurealis vol 66: ‘Go The **** To Sleep – With Zombies’ by Patricia L O’Neill. It’s a scientific article on sleep patterns. It got me to thinking a bit about Yui and Madison from Storybook Perfect and how Yui is totally a lark and Madison a complete owl – just another thing that creates contention between the two friends. Oh, and I’m totally a lark too.

Also, check this out: Book, Book, Goose – a website which brings online the random discovery of walking into a book store and stumbling across something awesome (or hilarious).

January Goals Round-Up 2014

February 5, 2014 / / 2 Comments
stare at this real hard for an hour and you'll know how I've felt these last two weeks ;p

stare at this real hard for an hour and you’ll know how I’ve felt these last two weeks ;p

I wrote 11,700 words in a new novelette(working title: Grimoire) as well as two flash pieces (Anything To Fit In at 500 words, and Motherhood at 900 words) and two new short stories (God’s Chosen at 2200 words and Gaps at 5000 words), so am making progress on goal 3(writing and submitting more short stories). 20,000 words, not a shabby start to the year.

I’ve begun the major and (oh please god) final edit of Written By The Stars. I’m being guided by Holly Lisle’s How To Revise Your Novel Class, thus also taking care of goal 4(learning) as well as goal 1(editing Written By The Stars).

All up, fairly productive, though that trailed off with the return of my vertigo (dizzy heads get foggy which makes editing a little difficult and first drafts pretty damn nutty).

Australian Spec-Fic Authors Challenge 2014 – January Round-Up

February 1, 2014 / / 0 Comments

the noviceI followed on from December’s read ‘The Magician’s Guild’, book one of the Black Magician Trilogy, with ‘The Novice’, book two of the same.

Sonea officially becomes a novice of the Magician’s Guild, but that doesn’t mean the high born magicians will accept a slum dweller into their ranks – and let’s not forget that she is one of the few who know the dark secret about the High Lord.

Sonea faces a lot more than just bullying, but I don’t want to play the spoiler harp and ruin that. While the second half of her troubles was genuinely intriguing, the bullying got a bit annoying for me after a while. The reason is very personal to me, because I can’t really understand the mentality Sonea had of not going and asking for help. I can see the motivations that drive a person to behave that way, but it’s just so opposite to my nature that it drives me insane. But enough about me ;p

Things get much more complicated with the secret about High Lord Akkarin, but I won’t divulge how(spoilers sweetie) and again, the ending stakes make me eager to read the next book.

But the one *SPOILER ALERT* I will throw out there (yes, legitimate SPOILER ALERT) I loved the relationship between Dannyl and Tayend. I thought it was very nicely treated and I think there was a certain sense of chemistry even before Tayend was revealed as gay. There were a lot of parallels placed between the real world and the book’s world and it was interesting to see these issues tackled in a fantasy setting. My only disappointment is they haven’t gotten together (yet, looking forward to book three). I must now confess I always have been, and always will be a shipper 😀 (for those not familiar with the term it means I get deeply invested in relationships (there are other meanings too, but that’s how I use it)). And the kiss between Sonea and Dorrien was so cute.

/Spoiler.

I’m looking forward to the concluding book, I’m going to try and cram it in before my February read.

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