Angela Slatter's Blog, page 11

Closure of the Flensing Factory

Hello!

Due to a change in my circumstances (for the better!) I’m closing the Flensing Factory.

Any current mentees and clients I’ll continue working with you until the end of our agreements, but won’t be taking on new clients.

Having said that, I’m going to be working for the Australian Writers’ Centre and will be teaching, mentoring and assessing manuscripts for that august organisation, so check out their website https://www.writerscentre.com.au/

If you’re looking for an editor, I can offer recommendations – email me on me@angelaslatter.com.

The Strange, the Weird and the Uncanny podcast

Hello, my poor neglected blog.

Yesterday I had the privilege of reading on Daniel Braum’s podcast The Strange, the Weird and the Uncanny.

An experience made even better by reading alongside of Kathe Koja, Nathan Carson, Philip Fracassi and Dan himself.

You can listen here if you so wish.

Great stories, much horror.

Plus goats.

Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards!

Voting is now OPEN for the Courier Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award! The judges have shortlisted eight books by Queensland authors. Polling closes 16 Aug with only one vote allowed per person. http://ow.ly/zcXB50FytGD #QldLitAwards

And I’m so excited to say that All the Murmuring Bones is on that list! As is Kathleen Jennings’ Flyaway, a book close to my heart.

Judges’ comments on All the Murmuring Bones:

Miren O’Malley is the last of the O’Malley lineage, a once-great family that now finds itself on hard times. An clever mix of gothic tale and short story, this brilliant novel builds a world that makes you believe in magic and monsters. Truly a magnificent achievement.

Aurealis Awards!

Hello, my poor neglected blog.Am utterly delighted and honoured to have won the Aurealis Award for Best Collection for The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners! Most of the honour comes from being a finalist alongside some of Australia’s – nay, the World’s – finest writers, who(m) I also get to call my friends: Lisa L. Hannett, Juliet Marillier, and Tansy Rayner Roberts. Thanks to the judges and the committee for all their hard work, and to @editormum75 for accepting on my behalf.Thanks to @pspublishinguk for producing this book, to Mr Kim Newman for writing the Introduction, and to @daniele_serra_art for the glorious cover art.Here’s to the day when we can all get together in person to do these ceremonies!!! The full list of winners is here.

Arcana

Now that I’ve crawled out from under the weight of finishing Morwood (it’s been sent off to my wonderful editor at Titan Books, Cath Trechman), I am trying to catch up on All The Neglected Things.

That includes this rather glorious anthology from Rhonda Parrish, Arcana.

 

Ze blurb:

Tarot card decks have twenty-two major arcana, filled with symbolism and imbued with meaning. Explore the greater secrets and ideas behind those cards with the stories and poems of Arcana. Discovery awaits in tales such as a grasping king struggling with his legacy, an alchemist setting a golem out on a mission of revenge and a woman finding what she didn’t know she was looking for.

Each story is like drawing a card from the deck–you never know what it might reveal.

Featuring stories by Sara Dobie Bauer, Greg Bechtel, Beth Cato, Eliza Chan, Kevin Cockle, Sara Cleto, J.G. Formato, Chadwick Ginther, Joseph Halden, Gabrielle Harbowy, Jim C. Hines, Diana Hurlburt, L.S. Johnson, Dan Koboldt, C.S. MacCath, Susan MacGregor, Cat McDonald, Annie Neugebauer, Alexandra Seidel, Angela Slatter, Sarena Ulibarri, Brittany Warman and BD Wilson.

Links for purchase can be found here https://www.rhondaparrish.com/home/publications/anthologies/arcana/

Australian Shadows Awards – update

Absolutely delighted to learn that I won the Australian Shadows Award for Best Collected Work this evening! The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners and Other Stories got a gong. Thanks so much to PS Publishing for making it such a beautiful book and to Daniele Serra for his glorious artwork! Huge thanks to the judges and to my fellow finalists.

Congrats to all the other winners and finalists in all categories (you can locate them over on Twitter @AustHorror).

2020 Australian Shadows Awards

The Australian Shadows Awards shortlist for works published in 2020 has been released!

I’m delighted to say that The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners and Other Stories (PS Publishing) and Red New Day & Other Microfictions (Brain Jar Press) are both finalists for Best Collected Work, and my story “New Wine” (from the Cursed Anthology, Titan) is a finalist for Best Long Fiction.

Lots of friends and amazing pieces of fiction on this shortlist, and it’s a huge honour to be nominated.

The full list is here.

Sourdough and Other Stories in translation

I’m so excited! This is my first whole book to be translated entirely. Sourdough and Other Stories has become Masa Madre (Y Otros Relatos)!

The publisher of this version is the wonderful Dilatando Mentes Editorial, and the cover illustration is by José Antonio Ávila.

It’s now up for pre-order:

Próximamente: “Masa madre (y otros relatos)” de @AngelaSlatter

Obra finalista del World Fantasy Award y del Aurealis Award. En preventa. A la venta el 31 de mayo. Portada de @JAAvilaHerrero

Corrección del texto de @MaryHarker_

Más información: https://dilatandomenteseditorial.com/inicio/104-masa-madre-de-angela-slatter.html

You Are Not Your Writing & Other Sage Advice

Oh, hello, my poor neglected blog!

Just popping in to share a lovely review from Reviewers of Oz of my Brain Jar Press chapbook You Are Not Your Writing & Other Sage Advice! This little book is part of the Writer Chaps Series One – others are by Sean Williams, Kaaron Warren, Alan Baxter, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and publisher Peter M. Ball himself. All are available as singles, a series, in e-form or paperback.

The lovely Kylie Thompson writes:

Now, let’s be honest here: writing guides can be a little… dry. Preachy, too, sometimes. A lot of authors fall into the trap of saying success comes from doing exactly as they do, and for people with mental illness or physical limitations, the constant refrain of ‘real writers write every day’ can leave you feeling majorly discouraged, and kinda unwelcome in the writing community. As someone with a love/hate relationship with writing guides, this chapbook is a bright point in the genre. There’s no preaching – always nice – and Angela is quick to note that what works for her likely won’t work for everyone.

This is a low pressure, high relevance little chapbook of advice designed to give you small doses of helpfulness without weighing you down with all the backstory – like if recipe bloggers took all the well-meaning nostalgia trips and advertising out and just got straight to the important stuff.

One of the things I’m loving about Brain Jar Press, a new Aussie publishing house, is that they’re focused on quirky titles. This isn’t your typical oh-so-serious lecture from a famous author. There is no shaking of fingers, just a conversation that feels like settling in with a coffee while a highly passionate and witty woman sets you right about some of the deeply unhelpful, even hurtful, assumptions we hold about writing.

This is also part of an ongoing series of writing guides, and one that’s captured my attention so much I’ll definitely be collecting the whole set.

The rest is here.

Mermaids!

Mermaid from one of Kathleen Jennings’ calenders

Over at Female First UK, I chat about ten mermaids who subvert the genre.

Shout-outs to Cassandra Khaw, Maria Lewis, Rivers Solomon, Marjorie Liu, Bethany C. Morrow, Christina Henry, Monique Roffey and a couple of golden oldies (coz I’m ancient as the sea, me).