FLY SOUP

I wrote the following post for Aurealis Xpress last year. With the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens  imminent, I thought I'd re-post it here. So excited! It’s long been known that Star Wars: A New Hope contains examples of some of the worst marksmanship in the history of cinema, particularly with respect to the Emperor’s ‘elite’ forces. But how bad were they really? Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a statistical measure of exactly how astonishingly bad imperial stormtroopers were at hitting their mark? Well, fortunately, there is. In the United States, where police forces undergo rigorous (well, at least annual ) firearms training, statistics are kept, and made available for, exactly the type of public scrutiny in which we are about to indulge. But first to the question of “How can we calculate the number of shots fired and hits scored by stormtroopers in Star Wars in order to make a valid comparison with real-world figures?” The answer is s...

One thing I've really enjoyed about 2015 has been talking with a bunch of writers at the top of their game. I genuinely get a kick out of chatting with guys as talented, engaging and passionate about what they do as the likes of Shane Abbess and John Scalzi. Most recently I had a chat with Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C.Clarke award winning author Ann Leckie. It was just prior to the release of her new book Ancillary Mercy and I think I was almost as excited for the book's release as she was. Ann can be unexpectedly hilarious though, and we took  a couple of winding diversions in the interview which really surprised me. I think sometimes interviewees get sick of answering the same questions over and over, so if something a bit different pops up they really run with it. You can find the full interview in Aurealis #86 . Also, not sure I fully pimped my interview with Thoraiya Dyer. I think of it as her origin story, since it's a tale of the heartbreaking setbacks that have...

CSFG Publishing provides Aussie spec fic writers with a semi-regular outlet for the expression of some pretty awesome ideas. Earlier this year I learned that one of my stories would be appearing in The Never Never Land - their latest anthology. They made me work for it though. And that's something I really appreciated about this process. A lot of publishers out there are happy to accept or reject your work, and a few will even offer a bit of free advice, but there aren't many who'll take the time to bring a slightly under-par story up to scratch. The reason for this is that working with authors can be difficult. We're a tricky bunch and some of us are protective of our babies. I'll be honest and come right out and say, I'm not. Frankly, I'll do anything to make a sale (within reason). Aside from writing something offensive, I will make any changes requested if a publisher shows even a skerrik of interest in my work. So that's the tale of my contrib...

Some of my short horror and YA sci-fi has received honourable mentions in various year's best anthologies, but so far as I'm aware I haven't ever received an award. UNTIL NOW - Drum roll please:  badabadbadabadabadbadabadaba Ta-Ching! Earlier this month my story Future Me, Future Her , a young adult time-travel tale was highly recommended by the SciFi Film Festival in NSW and I was awarded a cash prize. Okay, so it didn't win. It looks like it came second or third (Robert N Stephenson also got a highly recommended gong) but I received an award and that's important to me. Thanks to Keith Stevenson for judging and Coeur de Lion/Dimension6 for funding the award, and thanks to the SciFi Film Festival for just generally being awesome! Click here for the full list of award winners for film and writing. And Click here to read my story.

My story, Perfect Kills , is out now in Aurealis, Australia's coolest SFFH magazine. I've had a fair bit to do with Aurealis this year, mostly through my author interviews (check out the September issue for my chat with the unbelievably determined and incredibly amazing, Thoraiya Dyer), but I am really excited to have some fiction published in this month's issue. There's also a great story from Tracy Washington, and Terry Wood's interview with Peter F. Hamilton. So go get it by clicking here . It's fully as awesome as it looks.

Aurealis #81 and #82 are out and contain some great fiction from equally great authors - and a bit of banter between me and a certain Mr John Scalzi.  Check them both out for the very reasonable price of $2.99. Not bad for Australia's longest running spec-fic mag!   https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/556413

A while ago I decided I loved John Scalzi's books. First I read Old Man's War and it was awesome. Then I read Redshirts and that was awesome too. The kids and I were going on a driving holiday so I bought the audiobook of Agent to the Stars , read by Wil Wheaton, and you guessed it, it was awesome. By the time I read his latest book, Lock In , it was just too much. I needed to speak to this man so I emailed him and we caught up on Skype, just like that. John Scalzi is a great guy and an absolute dream to interview. Once he starts talking it's like a freight train of ideas blasting toward you. We discussed writing (obvs), world-building, feminism, awards, stormtroopers, redshirts and lightsaber cross-guards. If writing, world-building, feminism, awards, stormtroopers, redshirts or lightsabers interest you in any way at all, you do not want to miss the June and July issues of Aurealis. Yes, that's right. This interview is so big it cannot be contained in one issue...

Aurealis #79 is out now and contains my interview with Shane Abbess, the writer and director of upcoming SF flick Infini . The movie has generated a lot of excitement among fans and Shane has some really interesting thoughts on making and distributing Australian films. There's also fiction and stuff... You can get it  HERE .