Angela Slatter's Blog, page 37
July 16, 2017
The Realm Recommends …
… over at The Realm I recommend five books!
This is one of those books I discovered back in the old days when I was a sixteen year old checkout chick at Woolies and grocery stores used to have remainder bins (do not denigrate the remainder bin, many’s the reader who’s found new authors there and then spent years tracking All Of The Books and buying them at full price). I picked up Night’s Master based on the rather gorgeous cover, and took it home (I also subsequently found Delusion’s Master there, but alas never Delirium’s Mistress nor Death’s Master), and was immediately hooked.
The rest is here.
Over at The Realm of Hachette …
White fox by Kathleen Jennings
… my post on Ten Scary Creatures from Fairy Tales and Mythology is up!
As an avid reader and self-confessed story junkie I’ve spent most of my life reading books of fairy and folk tales, legends, myths, religious texts, apocrypha, and demanding the people around me tell me stories. My mind, therefore, is a really big treasure chest of, well, stuff. When I say “treasure chest” I mean like that drawer in the kitchen where you put EVERYTHING: all the useful stuff, like the good scissors, the different lengths of string, the cool cookie cutters, that allen key you need for the Ikea shelves, the last couple of headache tablets and cough drops, the sharpie, a tiny scrap of ribbon for when you’re wrapping an emergency birthday present … you know, the stuff that seems like crap but is in fact entirely useful in the right situation. So I offer some items from the top sedimentary layer of my personal kitchen drawer/brain treasury: my Top Ten Scary Creatures from Fairy Tales and Mythology
1. Trolls
Generally found in Norse fairy tales and mythology, trolls come in various forms, some live in caves, mountains, under bridges, some look more like humans, but most seem to be generally described as lumpy, bumpy and not at all attractive. They’re nasty and smelly, overly fond of treasure, not too bright and, if you believe Tolkien, tend to turn to stone in the sunlight. Plus there’s their nasty habit of swapping human babies for their own, leaving a squalling changeling in the cradle like a cuckoo for harried parents to bring up. In “Tatterhood” while the ugly sister is fighting the trolls, the pretty sister opens the window to watch ? and a troll snatches off her head and replaces it with a calf’s (of course!). Eventually the ugly sister beats the trolls and gets her sister’s head back, but it’s touch and go for the pretty one’s modelling career for a while. My favourite version of this story is Mike Mignola’s The Troll Witch.
The rest is here.
Over at Avid Reader …
… the delightful Trent Jamieson says lovely things! And I’ll be at the Avid Reader Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club on 31 July.
Spinning a Fairytale Web
The fairytale is a rich soup of story. As a starting point their foundations are strong and deep, but it’s the way each writer builds on them that makes them at once universal and incredibly unique, and Australians are amongst the best writers at reworking, revisualizing and remaking them Margo Lanagan, Kate Forsyth, and Shaun Tan have all brought us wonderful and powerful retellings of fairytales.
Angela Slatter definitely belongs on that list too. Her short fiction is dazzling, breathe-stealing, and jewel-like. She is truly one of Australia’s finest stylists and her work sings, full of ideas, magic and energy expressed with a true mastery of prose. There’s a very good reason why she has won the World Fantasy, and British Fantasy Awards, as well as numerous Aurealis Awards.
The rest is here.
July 15, 2017
Corpselight over at Tor.com
The lovely folks over at Tor.com have the opening chapter of Corpselight over on their site for you to read!
Mud
She took a while getting out of her car, smoothing the workday creases from her Donna Karan suit, collecting her handbag and the briefcase. She jingled the keys before inserting them in the lock of the house’s front door, as if the noise might ward off evil spirits; as if it might let them know she was home and they should disappear. The hallway looked fine, but the smell hit her before she’d taken even two steps inside. Had she caused it, she wondered, with her expectation? She shook her head: magical thinking would get her nowhere. Steeling herself, she followed the stench.
Mud.
Again.
Go here.
July 14, 2017
Corpselight is launched!
Oh yes, it is.
Huge thanks to everyone who came along last night to listen to Drs Kim and Ange do “Twenty Questions with Angela Slatter”. Thanks to everyone who bought books – I hope I spelled all the names correctly! – and to Pulp Fiction Booksellers for selling the books, to my sis for the photos, and to Iona and Kat of the Brisbane Square Library for looking after us with such efficiency and enthusiasm. 
And mega huge thanks to Dr Kim for such excellent questions, especially the Michael Fassbender one, the Conan the Barbarian quote one, and the one that gave me the opportunity to cast some fairly impressive shade (that only my nearest and dearest would have recognised the many layers of), and for playing “mic drop”.
Thanks to my publisher Jo Fletcher, and to Hachette Australia for the assistance.
And to anyone who knows the sort of state I was in last year when we launched Vigil (6 days after a break-up, three days after a torn knee thingy): I am MUCH better!
And it is always the best feeling to see my family sitting in the front row – it’s easier for my Dad to heckle.
Thanks, Dr Kim
Art by Mr Nigel Bell. Thank you, sir.
Joke was probably inappropriate. First of many.
Cupcakes by K, once again superb.
Signing line, plus both of my heads.
July 11, 2017
612 ABC Brisbane Interview
Radio face
Last night I had a great time on Evenings with Trevor Jackson.
We were supposed to be talking about Corpselight, but mostly talked about writing and Brisbane! And a bit about Corpselight.
The link is here and I start blabbing around 1:25:30.
July 10, 2017
Happy Double Bookday to Me!
Today is publication day for Corpselight (Verity Fassbinder book 2) AND for the paperback of Vigil (Verity Fassbinder book 1)! The later contains a standalone Verity story in the back (which was on limited release as part of the 24hr Book Project back in 2012!). 
July 3, 2017
Corpselight Launch: Ten Days Out!
So, we’re ten days out from the Corpselight launch! Please remember to ring and book, Brisneylanders! I know it’s cold outside at night, but you will be going to a place of warmth and cupcakes!
This is not a drill!
Corpselight will be launching on Friday 14 July at 6pm. There will be cupcakes and Kim Wilkins will be doing launching duties and we’ll do a retrospective on “From Vigil to Corpselight” (or something).
But most importantly: there will be cupcakes.
Venue: Brisbane Square Library
Bookings: The event is free but you absolutely must book! Phone 07 3403 4166 to reserve your place.
Pulp Fiction are doing the book sales, and they’re also taking pre-orders so if you wanted to pre-order then collect at the launch for signing purposes, that is all good.
Ticonderoga Publications: New Bookshop
Ticonderoga Publications has opened a new online bookshop!
You’ll find many fine works there, including Lisa L. Hannett’s Bluegrass Symphony, Alan Baxter’s Crow Shine, Ian McHugh’s Angel Dust, Kaaron Warren’s Dead Sea Fruit, and several of my own collections like The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales and Black-Winged Angels.
Head on over here and drop a few shekels for fine Australian fiction.
June 29, 2017
ABC Interview: Vigil
Around about this time last year I was talking to Kate Evans on ABC Radio National about Vigil.
I was also very excited because I was in the TARDIS in the Brisbane studios. Plus, I’m a Doctor. 
Need a reminder of what it’s all about before Corpselight drops?
Go here!
