Writerly updates

Last month I went to Lexicon, the New Zealand Science Fiction convention. I loved the location, Lake Taupo, where the air seems to suit my health. My hair doesn’t frizz, my skin feels soft, my lungs feel clear. And with the massive lake, filled with mystery and beauty, and things stick out of the water, I was creatively inspired as well! To be surrounded by that environment, and by clever, funny, creative people…what a great weekend it was.

Grace Bridges is chairing the 2019 Convention, which will likely be held at Rotorua. They asked me to return as a guest and I absolutely agreed!

Lots of exciting things happening during the Conflux Science Fiction Convention which runs Friday September 29 to Monday October 2. I’m lucky enough to be MC for the event, which has two incredible guests: Ellen Datlow! and Angela Slatter! We’ll be doing a one hour event at Muse Bookshop, one of my favourite places in Canberra, on the Thursday night. Conflux is such a good convention for meeting writers, publishers and editors and for finding inspiration in words.

 

 

My story “Mine Intercom”, which I consider one of my scariest, appears in the 2015 Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror. Edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene, this book is a beauty with great stories from Australian writers. This story first appeared in Review of Australian Fiction.

 

Possibly the biggest news is the awards! “The Grief Hole” has become the first Australian novel to win the Aurealis Award, the Shadows Award and the Ditmar Award. Absolutely thrilled! It also one the Canberra Critics Circle Award, and I’m beginning to the think they are the predictors of what’s to come, because they also gave me the award for “Through Splintered Walls” and “Slights”, my other two most awarded books!

Here is the book its awards. Admittedly the Shadows Statue is my one from last year, but I couldn’t wait to post the news!

 

 

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Launched!

Angry Robot Books is officially launched (with a cake made out of metal, I believe), which means “Slights” and “Moxyland” are launched as well. “Moxyland” by Lauren Beukes, is a terrifying, disturbing, heart-breaking book. I got the end and started back at the beginning again; it’s that kind of book. I’m going to read it again now I’ve read her afterword; the layers I missed of South African history, of manipulation and abuse, will hopefully come through now. It’s a damn cute little soft toy, too. I bet my daughter will want one.

That’s the very rare Advance Review Copy they’re reading. The real cover is fabulous.

With perfect timing, Falcata Times has posted an interview with me and a review of “Slights”. This was an interesting interview in that they ask all writers the same questions. Good to flick back and see what the others said!

The very entertaining and learned Gillian Polack, whose novel “The Art of Effective Dreaming” will be launched very soon indeed, has honoured me by asking me to be the first of her guest bloggers at her Food History site.  Over the next two days, I’ll talk about the food in “Slights”, food in general, and eating. I’ll post a couple of ripper recipes, too.

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Slights sample

This is starting to feel real. A sneak peek at “Slights” is available for download, right here.

Seeing my words in print for the first time is always a thrill. I love it. These words start as black ink on notebook, and here they are, in a real book with a terrifying cover.

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First Review

James Whittington, at Zone Horror, has posted the first review of “Slights”. It starts like this:

“Dark and sinister with a huge sense of raw dread running through its page count…” and gets better from there! It’s an interesting site worth visiting, but read my review before you click on anything else!

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Slights

Angry Robot today announced some incredible news. I’ve known for a while.

My novel ‘Slights’ will be published by them in June. They’ve also bought my next two novels (yes, I’ve written three!) and these will be published before long as well.

Any writer will know how I feel. I’ve worked for this most of my life, since I wrote my first story at seven. Even more so, since I wrote my first novel at fourteen and began signing all birthday cards “Kaaron Warren, famous writer.”

You can find the announcement on their webpage. I’m loving working with these guys; it’s fun, it’s professional and they know what they’re doing.

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