Angela Slatter's Blog, page 199

I haz bin awarded …

… a Versatile Blogger award by the lovely Alan Baxter, he of RealmShift and MageSign.

Not quite sure what it means … perhaps I am now able to double as a lampshade or stylish throw rug … but I do like the thingy, it's green and pretty.

So, zanks, Al!

Review and Interview over at The Fringe

Scott Wilson has very kindly reviewed Sourdough and Other Stories over at The Fringe.

It is a shame that the initial print run was only 300 copies as Angela has compiled a pretty impressive group of stories into this collection. If you like enjoy fairytales then this is the book for you, well not if you are looking for the airey fairy Disney type tales.

Sourdough is a collection of interconnected stories flowing into each other and reading almost like a complete novel rather than distant or different themed tales. Many of the short stories in this collection dealt with female protagonists with a ethereal feel to the imagery.

Slatter's writing is exquisite and very vivid, she really is a master storyteller.

The rest is here. And the interview is here.

Boobs: Always a Good Cause

Over at Steampunk Fashion/Clockwork Couture, they're raising funds for breast cancer sufferers, via the Busted Foundation.

Everyone likes boobs, right?

So, head on over here and give what you can, if not in the form of cashy money, then maybe you've got some steampunkish creations that can be auctioned. Good karma in, good karma out.

Even more fun than shaving an editor: giving boobs a boost.

New Fiction!

My lovely friend and talented new writer Angie Rega has a story over at Cabinet des Fées.

Angie's work is characterised  by a glorious and rich imagination, and she taps into fairytale themes with a rare talent to reveal new and shining perspectives to old tales.

Spin Me a Yarn

I was made to work hard while my laggard mother sat idle. I cleaned the flues of soot, washed the chamber pot, scrubbed the floors and plucked the hairs off her chin – and all before the sun came up every morning! That is a lot of work for a lazy girl like me.

I dreamed of being a Squire's wife, with dresses of velvet and wool to wear like the fine ladies that brought the flax to spin. But it seemed like a silly dream for a peasant girl. What Squire will marry a peasant?

Feeling sorry for myself, I wept and wept and my cries were heard right throughout the village.

"Aye, there cries the bone lazy daughter of the sow!" Tina, the village gossip cried out for the streets to hear while she washed whores' stained sheets.

Read ze rest 'ere.

Lovely Review over at BookGeeks

Mario Guslandi at BookGeeks has some lovely things to say about Sourdough and Other Stories *blush*.

Angela Slatter, the author of the present  Tartarus Press collection, is an Australian writer who creates wonderful fairy tales for grownups, crafting exquisite , colourful stories featuring  vivid characters and  mesmerizing plots embellished by an evocative, elegant prose.

To say that she's a born storyteller is an understatement but to label her narrative style with a proper adjective is a difficult task.

There are so many excellent tales in the volume that  commenting upon all of them in detail would be tiresome, but some stories deserve a special mention such as " The Angel Wood", an enchanting, powerful tale where pagan traditions betrayed by a young woman are later embraced by her older daughter; " A Porcelain Soul", an extraordinary, magical yarn depicting a peculiar art academy where dolls are made and then given a soul; or the outstanding "Lavender and Lychgates", a perceptive, ghostly piece depicting delicate family matters – (a stillborn child tries to return to exact that motherly love he was never allowed to experience) with an insightful touch.

The rest is here.

At the end of a bleugh day

… some days the only way to feel better is to yell loudly at the season four final of Dr Who and make a strawberry cheesecake for one's significant other. Objective achieved.

A query letter of which one can be proud

Marshall Payne has posted his query letter here.

It is well worth having a look at, as it's what got him representation by the Donald Maass Literary Agency - well, that and the fact his writing rocks. So, go to his Super-Sekrit Clubhouse and learn something that may well help!

And how about the coffee-monkey? I love the coffee-monkey.

A Drive-by from The 'Gong: Cat Sparks

Cat Sparks is an award-winning writer and editor, talented photographer and graphic designer, and owner of THREE cats – and author Robert Hood . She was one of the inaugural Clarion South grads in 2007, a Writers of the Future winner, and has a small but significant pyramid in her backyard built from her nine Ditmars and four Aurealis Awards.

1. I knew I was a writer when …

… glancing at my desk one day, not so very long ago, I saw that it was piled high with ruled, A4 note pads, each one dog eared, coffee ringed and filled with crappy handwriting. As well as these (and the inevitable laptop) were graphs and charts, plotting the peaks and troughs of my protagonist's journey. Goodness! I thought. That's all starting to look a bit serious.

2. The worst sentence I ever wrote was …

… most of them prior to 2001. Here's a sample: 'she said she saw mirrors in the sky but I saw only reflections' Thankfully I grew out of my poetic phase. Today, most of my sentences contain explosions, car chases, knife fights or descriptions of people with really bad hair.

3. How many cats are essential to the production of an award-winning story? 

Well, as you know, you can never have too many. Unless you have too many in which case you're probably a crazy cat lady. I tend to write at my best with three. Any more than that and the chair tips over.

4. If I wasn't a writer I would …

… have time to read the whopping massive stack of books beside my reading chair. Also: renovate the house, weed the garden, visit my non-writing friends, travel to exotic countries, be wearing something a little more classy than daggy tracksuit pants, try my hand at hot air ballooning, parachuting, hang gliding and a bunch of other dangerous, aerodynamic addictions, and I would most definitely get a real job so as to earn enough money to finance all of the above.

5. Donuts or danishes?

I am appalled by the lard content of question five but I must confess to having a bit of a thing for those sugar coated donuts with the squishy red jam at the centre. Danishes would, of course, have been the more elegant response.

She can be found here.

Live the writer's dream: Shave an editor

Okay, so most writers manage to send an editor bald via tearing out of hair, but Russell B Farr is volunteering to de-fur himself.

All for a good cause. Head on over here and contribute to his de-hirsuting.

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