Sylvia Petter's Blog, page 14

Mercury Blobs - coming soon!

I´m very pleased to report that my new story collection, Mercury Blobs, will be appearing soon, maybe even in the basket of the Easter Bunny as he pops by to add another year to my life. Several people went into the making of this book which I am proud to see done my way.

Some stories were triggered by an online group run by Sarah Salway. Others were written on commission. Others have appeared in charity collections. It´s funny how life goes. It was while working on the editorial team to produ...

The Next Big Thing - Adnan Mahmutović

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The next big thing …and some balls of wool

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It´s the season!

SwedenIt´s been a year of highlights and low-downs. There was the Geneva Writers´ Conference in February where I caught up with old friends, froze and chilled out. Then, in June, I retreated to the Swedish woods with family and mozzies, and that was immediately followed by heat too hot for the pool at the wonderful 12th International Conference on the Short Story in English in North Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, end June, and my time in Connecticut with Paulette and George. September was York a...

Chunks of our lives

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 2.0cm 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style> <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fqux0rOT3so..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fqux0rOT3so..." width="320" /></a>40 years ago, tram 65 in Vienna. She was tall, had long <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>straight blonde hair tied back, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a preppy grey skirt and blazer. <i>Newsweek </i>under her arm. She must be American, I thought, or work for <i>Newsweek</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">40 years ago, Copenhagen airport. She was not tall, wore a maxi-length coat and a foxy fur hat. The colours were pumpkin sunshine. „Are you going to Helsinki?“ I asked. She nodded.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">39 years ago, Vienna Prater. Walking the dog. „This is my friend,“ she said. The tall blonde smiled. „She´...</div><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 2.0cm 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style></style></div>

The book is out!

It's out in paperback! New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan is out in paperback! And we're having a launch party today! So come on over!


The book is also available here, and  all proceeds from both the paperback and kindle versions go to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

This project had its ups and downs, but has finally succeeded. More than 60 contributors from all over the world donated stories, poems and artwork Contributors include award-winning Austrian poet and writer, Friederike Mayröck...

Flieder

A lilac bush stood at the edge of a small park in Vienna in Margareten. A poetess would pass by every day and would greet its blooms and inhale its perfume, sometimes even breaking off a twig. The lilac bush didn’t mind. She had so many, and she liked to bloom for the poetess who she knew understood her.

One day, the lilac bush felt poorly. Each day it got worse until it had to be taken away. The poetess was sad and wondered whet...<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]></div>

VG in Wien: The Workshop

Am just telling life to slow down a bit so I can share with you my super time hosting Vanessa Gebbie, a writer I´ve known for yonks on the net - we nearly overlapped in our early writing days in Alex Keegan´s online Boot Camp - but had never met in person.

Writers' Studio, ViennaI felt I knew her so well that I forget to give her my address and just said I´d pick her up at Vienna airport on Wednesday night. I started panicking when I got no reply to my sms messages - still haven´t worked that...

Vanessa Gebbie is coming to town!

I´m madly trying to tidy my souk and get the hearth warming. We´re expecting snow here in Vienna this weekend. And next week, Vanessa Gebbie from Wales is coming to stay upstairs - where it is all tidy and waiting for her. It´s just that a peep into my souk on the way out might be a bit of a shock. And anyway, I´ve completed a couple of projects, or parts of them  - more on this later - and it wouldn´t do for my writing place to be in too much of a mess, would it?

Vanessa will be giving a...

Margo

On Saturday, I gave a flash fiction workshop at the Australia Festival in Divonne-les-Bains, France. In the small group there was a young girl called Margo (I don´t know if I´ve got the spelling right). She must have been about 10 or 11 years old. We did some freewriting, I asked for an image that stood out. We adults, analytical as we have learned to become, tried to explain ours, but couldn´t really zero in on a vibrant image. Margo - she saw a koala with a pot of Vegemite. The image took u...