FLY SOUP

 So I joined these guys: They seem like a pretty inclusive bunch and since I'm branching into crime writing now I thought it was a good idea. They've already put me onto a couple of informative (and free) online seminars. Honestly, as most of my work (including the narrative design) comprises some level of mystery and danger, crime writing isn't much of a stretch.  Plus - I'm loving it already!

No one who knows anything about the Skywalker saga can deny the final scenes of The Mandalorian Season 2 are anything but spectacular. The arrival of the mysterious X-wing, the green lightsaber, the black-gloved hand, all build toward an exhilarating and surprising reveal. Personally, I thought the return of Luke Skywalker in the prime of his Jedi powers was an awesome sight. My partner on the other hand? Not so much. My partner isn't a long-time Star Wars fan. She doesn't know much about the Skywalker clan and doesn't much care to find out BUT, she loves the Mandalorian and she especially loves little Grogu.  Toward the end of season two's final episode, while I was getting more and more excited as clues began to drop as to what was about to happen, my partner was becoming frustrated and confused. "What's going on?" she asked, bewildered at the sudden and unexplained turn of events. "Who's this guy?" At the time I was too overwhelmed with ch...

The first thing I'm gonna say about this game is: I freaking love it. Everything that comes after should be seen through that lens. The second thing I'm going to say is that the writers/devs on the The Outer Worlds are sharp. You know the saying, "You can't please all of the people, all of the time"? Well, Obsidian Entertainment has shown that you really, really can. It's been said many-a-time that "This Game" is just Skyrim with guns, or "That Game" is just Fallout in Space etc... Well, The Outer Worlds is all that and it doesn't care what you think about plundering pop culture for kicks. There are numerous nods to other games, sure, but (and I want to emphasize this) not only games. There are references to TV shows, movies, music, books, table-top RPGs, the list goes on, and it's not confined to the SF/F genres. Conversations are 1 on 1. Very Reminiscent of Oblivion. And like early Elder Scrolls, the voice acting is ...

The more contracts I take in the game industry, the more I'm appreciating the nuances of game writing. And the more I appreciate the differences between straight fiction and interactive experiences, the more I'm blown away by the creativity of some people involved in producing video games. Cue the total, mind-bending insanity of Cuphead and Mugman . I have no idea how, or why, this game came into existence. No doubt I could search it and discover all the details I'd ever want and more, but I don't need to. Cuphead and Mugman is perfectly well appreciated simply by playing it. With visuals reminiscent of early Disney cartoons - or even early Popeye  - this game is like no other. It looks amazing. It sounds amazing, and it IS amazing , but in this case it's not the graphics, story, or even the gameplay that really make Cuphead a great experience for me. It's the all-pervasive, persistent absurdity of almost every element of the game that has me entranced....

The title of this post says it all. My writing's been given mentions in "best of"s" and I've had the odd award here and there, but my work's never been nominated for a Ditmar award, so this is new for me. Which isn't to say A Hand of Knaves is all "my work". It's an anthology containing the work of plenty of people, but Leife and I planned the theme, read and selected the stories, and edited them as best we could to come up with the final product - which also contains artwork from Shauna O'meara that just happens to be nominated in the Artwork category (so we're winning all 'round). Congratulations to everyone involved with A Hand of Knaves and thanks to everyone who voted us into the ballot. As I've only ever considered myself a writer, it's strange to have something I've edited up for a national award. Strange, but AWESOME!!! Go AHOK!

Wow. Just, wow! I had reservations about buying Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4 when I first heard tell of its development by Insomniac Games. Never, ever, ever , have I taken to a superhero game for PC or console. Even the recent Batman games were - for me at least - a soulless button-mashing exercise in kicking and punching bad guys into submission with little-to-no story or motive above the generic satisfaction derived from kicking ass. Marvel's Spider-Man has changed the way I look at superhero games. Insomniac has managed to inject story into Peter Parker's journey, but more than that, they created a series of narrative sequences that really motivated me to want to come back time after time to unravel more of Peter's tangled web of relationships. Sure there were predictable back-stabs and double-crosses from (mild spoiler alert) the likes of Dr Octavius and co. But because aspects of Peter's relationships with other characters were so strong, I found myself...

When CSFG Publishing puts out a submission call to authors across Australia and NZ, it's with a view to showcasing the fantastic work of established and emerging writers in this region of the world. This was most certainly the case with  A Hand of Knaves , edited by yours truly and Leife Shallcross in 2017-18. The "blind" submission process helps a lot, as there can be no subconscious (or even conscious) favouritism involved during the story-selection phase. The most exciting part of the process for me, was getting to show-off some new (and even first-time) authors to readers of short fiction in this country. But now some of the more established contributors are getting their opportunity to shine. The recent announcement of the 2018 Aurealis Award finalists includes three stories from A Hand of Knaves: For Best Fantasy Short Story "A Moment's Peace" by David Versace For Best Science Fiction Short Story "A Fair Wind off Baracoa" by Rob Por...