Saturday afternoon went off quite well, I did the full write up on the Vision Writers website, so I’ll link you rather than rehashing it all here.
My only concern was I think a lot of the audience might have thought I was playing around on my phone while the event happened – but I was using the stop watch app on my phone to keep an eye on each person’s feedback time. We limit verbal feedback to 2 minutes a piece per person. Nearly everyone kept under, I only had to ring the bell three times. Gah! I hope no one thought I was a jerk on my phone!
The Brisbane Writers Festival loves to trip you out ;p
Exciting news! Vision Writers are making another appearance at the Brisbane Writers Festival.
Are you curious as to how the meetings are run? Wondering how cutting the critiques are? Just want to check out our ugly mugs? Well drop by the Kuril Dhagun lounge (in the State Library Queensland) at 4pm on Saturday 5th of September and you can have all those questions answered.
You can book your free tickets on the Brisbane Writers Festival website now, or come along on the day. The site says bookings essential, but unless we go over capacity showing up on the day is fine.
Three members will be reading their short stories aloud to you and then the rest of the group will either praise or eviscerate them for your entertainment. What more could you want from a Saturday afternoon?
I’m quite amused that one of the books beside 18 was about babies considering I’d left my 6 week old at home to attend the launch
Oh my god! She’s still alive!
Yes, yes, I live. I don’t sleep a lot, but I live ;p
I thought I’d update you quickly on a bit of news: the Vision Writers anthology ’18’ has been included in the Books From Our Backyard catalogue released by the Queensland Writers Center’s.
There was a launch event for the catalogue’s release last night and Talitha Kalago and I attended. We had a wonderful time talking with fellow authors, QWC staff, agents, and editors who attended and I *may* have pigged out on hors d’oeurves ;p I also enjoyed dressing up and wearing high heels for the first time since the Aurealis Awards last year.
The Books From Our Backyard catalogue contains a massive list of books by Queensland authors, covering every genre(no joke, everything fiction and non fiction alike), so is well worth checking out to help you pad out your to-read pile (because we all totally need help with that!).
The books featured in the catalogue will remain on display at the State Library Queensland, but if South Bank isn’t within reachable distance for you don’t forget 18 is available free online from here
You can also read my more official post about the event on the Vision Writers blog .
While it was quite different to the round table style meetings we usually have, we had to work with the auditorium we’d been assigned and the small stage did not have space for a table big enough to fit us all.
We still handed out our critiques, going to the podium when it was our turn to provide feedback, and even a few of our usual jokes and quirks (like Talitha Kalago’s refusal to fit into the two minute time limit(which she gets away with because her feedback is always so stellar and thorough) and my tendency to gesticulate) managed to slip through, giving everyone in the audience a real taste of our meetings.
Afterwards we fielded a few questions, like the definition of speculative fiction, and even sold a few copies of the paperback version of our anthology, 18.
It was a great session and lots of fun and who knows, if things go well we might be back for round two in 2015 ;p
Brisbane Writers’ Festival 2014 – Our Stories Unfold
At the start of next month I will be attending the first writers’ festival in which I am a presenter.
As long time readers well know, I’m Vice President of Vision Writers, Brisbane’s speculative fiction writers’ group. Instead of having our usual meeting in a room in Brisbane Square library we will be having an open meeting at the Brisbane Writers’ Festival, showing people how we run a meeting, how we critique, how we help each other grow as fellow writers.
On Saturday 6th September at 4pm you can come to the State Library Queensland and check out how our meetings run. We’ll be critiquing pieces just the same as we always do, giving people an insight into what it’s like to be critiqued. Attendance is free and you can find more information out here on the Brisbane Writer’s Festival homepage.
Kirstie Olley is an award-winning speculative fiction author and the full-time wrangler of her children Xander and Harlequin.
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Books
Read The Troll's Toll: A Retailored Fairy Tales Novella now.
Read 'Charming' (Honorable Mention in the Writers of The Future contest Q4 2014) in Leading Edge Magazine issue 68.
Read 'Short Circuit' (finalist in the 2013 Aurealis Awards Best Fantasy Short Fiction category) in Oomph: A Little Super Goes A Long Way from Crossed Genres.
Read ‘Hanabi to Kitsune'(Fireworks and Foxes) now in Tales of the Sunrise Lands from Guardbridge Books.
Read ‘Glass Bones’ now in WARRIOR an anthology choc-full of LGBTQIA warriors all across space, time, and imagination.
Read 'Gaps' in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #63. Click the cover to buy.
Read The Beauty of the Dance(Honorable Mention in the Writers of The Future contest Q41 2015) in Myriad Lands vol 1: Around the World.
Read 'Nightfall' for free now in 18. Click the picture to decide where to download it from.
Read ‘God’s Chosen’ for free now in Darkest Depths – the Vision Writers 20th Anniversary anthology. Click the picture to decide where to download it from.
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