Introduction Pretty early on in trying to record my first audiobook, I realised my setup wasn’t going to work. I needed something that provided greater noise dampening and didn’t use my computer desk, because I needed that for other computer-type things, like writing my next novel. But after looking at options to buy some kind […]
How I built a recording booth Read More »
It’s been a little over ten years since my first novel – Horizon – was published by HarperCollins, so I thought I’d share a few insights from that experience. In 2014, HarperCollins Australia put out an open submission call for manuscripts. They’d decided to dip a toe in the emerging electronic book market and they
Publishing Horizon Read More »
Worldbuilding is an essential part of any science fiction or fantasy novel. Any world a story is set in has to feel real and believable to draw the reader in and make them feel they’re in the world of the book’s characters. With my current work in progress – The End-Times of Markusz Zielinski –
Instagram user @literaturelylost is running Aussie Author Month this April with daily shoutouts to some amazing authors. Read my short interview for this event And follow @literaturelylost for more Aussie authors. Did you always have a desire to be an author, or did it occur spontaneously? I started writing short stories for my class newsletter in primary
Aussie Author Month interview Read More »
I could probably have done this a lot cheaper, but I was determined to make the Lenticular books equal in quality to anything a major publishing house could produce and there was also a degree of experimentation in using the various promotional tools on offer to indie authors, some of which proved to be worth
What The Lenticular Cost Read More »
If you’ve ever read a huge fantasy series of a multi-book space opera you’ll know that those glossary lists at the back of the book are indispensable for helping you remember that – for example – Neg Dendra is a member of the Rem’Jaha Faction, as well as reminding you what the Rem’Jaha Faction is
Glossary Generator Test Drive Read More »
This is Udun. He’s a Kresz from a part of space called The Lenticular, which holds many alien civilisations. He stands 2.4m tall (normal for his caste, but shorter than most Kresz females and certainly shorter than Defender caste Kresz) and has both an endoskeleton and a chitinous exoskeleton like laminate armour. His body plan
There’s comes a point in any endeavour where you think you’ve taken on too much. I’m never going to get to the top of that mountain. I’m never going to pack the kitchen into the available boxes in time. I decided to finalise and publish 3 books in 18 months. I must have been mad!
The Lenticular – Production Diary April Read More »
Now that the print edition of Horizon is well and truly out in the world, my focus is turning to the main event, which will take up pretty much the rest of this year: preparation and launch of book 1 of The Lenticular Series – Traitor’s Run. Book 1 is slated for publication on 1
Publication Log – January Read More »
The End-Times of Markusz Zielinski (or End-Times for short) is my current work in progress. The premise is a simple one. The universe is ending. Not all at once but in pieces. Vast stellar systems are collapsing in upon themselves in frighteningly quick time that suggests even universal laws are not constant. All this is
The End-Times of Markusz Zielinski – Origins Read More »
There’s a lot going on in the background as I move a number of manuscripts toward publication, so this series of posts will capture some of the inputs and things I learn along the way for Horizon, The Lenticular and 2 Bodies (which is definitely a working title). Horizon is up first. Horizon For those
Publication Log – October Read More »
There’s a lot going on in the background as I move a number of manuscripts toward publication, so this series of posts will capture some of the inputs and things I learn along the way for Horizon, The Lenticular and 2 Bodies (which is definitely a working title). Horizon is up first. Horizon The ebook
Publication Log – September Read More »
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about an element of creative writing that isn’t often spoken about. It’s the writing equivalent of ‘ask and ye shall receive’. And really it’s what I like to think of as a matter of trust. I’ve been writing for quite a number of years now and in the past
For me, the key to ‘worldbuilding’ is what your characters take for granted.” Ian MacDonald, author of Luna and Brasyl On the face of it, worldbuilding is closely associated with science fiction and fantasy. Think of the millennia-spanning mythology of elves, dwarves, ents and human tribes that informs JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings books, or Iain M Banks’s
The Art of Worldbuilding Read More »
Back in 2003, I wrote ‘Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?’, an editorial for Aurealis #31, where I interviewed a number of Australian speculative fiction authors about the well-spring of their creativity. The answers were diverse but also shared a common thread – the ability to be open to the world around us and to
You can’t plan to be creative Read More »
