Angela Slatter's Blog, page 38

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.

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.

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.

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!).

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.

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!

Thanks, S.J. Budd!

All of the hearts!!

Of Sorrow and Such by Angela Slatter

How often is it when you blindly come across a new book and fall under a spell within the first few paragraphs? That you must read it in one go, cover to cover in one sitting? How often do you feel shivery knowing you’ve just read one hell of a book and it might have just changed your life? That you can’t wait to read it again and again.

The rest is here. *adds extra hearts*

Writing Restoration – when the story bites back

Where did this come from? I don’t know! All manner of consequences are biting V in the backside in this third book, Restoration (WiP). Bringing the series home.

‘Do you honestly think I—’

‘No, I fucking don’t!!’ Bela yelled. His eyes flashed red, his jaw distended, his very white teeth lengthened and I swear he hulked larger. All just for a second, just for that moment when his temper got the better of him.

Bela had never yelled at me before. Never. And I was fully aware I’d been challenging over the years, like Iditarod challenging, Paris-Dakar challenging, Sydney-to-Hobart Yacht Race challenging. But never, ever had Bela Tepes yelled at me.

Midnight and Moonshine

You know, five years ago (or almost) Lisa L. Hannett and I released our Norse-inflected, fairytale-y, myth-saturated, damned sexy mosaic collection, Midnight and Moonshine.

The cover art is by the wonderful Kathleen Jennings, and the Introduction by the equally wonderful Dr Kim Wilkins.

Missing American Gods on the telly? Give Midnight and Moonshine a go.

Off you go, we’ll wait. Here for hard or paperback. Here for ebookery.

The gods are dead, but will not be forgotten.

When Mymnir flees the devastation of Ragnarok, she hopes to escape all that bound her to Ásgarðr — a heedless pantheon, a domineering brother, and her neglectful father-master, Óðinn. But the white raven, a being of memory and magic, should know that the past is not so easily left behind. No matter how far she flies, she cannot evade her family…

In planting seeds of the old world in the new, Mymnir becomes queen of a land with as many problems as the one she fled. Her long-lived Fae children ignite and fan feuds that span generations; lives are lost and loves won because of their tampering. Told in thirteen parts, Midnight and Moonshine follows the Beaufort and Laveaux families, part-human, part-Fae, as they battle, thrive and survive in Mymnir’s kingdom.

Reviews:

Publishers Weekly in its starred review wrote ‘Marked by imagery both beautiful and grotesque, and unnerving twists that recall the uncanny horror of original fairy tales, this collection contains a unifying, multilayered plot that draws upon Norse mythology to take the reader on a thrilling, unsettling journey.’

Peter Tennant in Black Static #39 said ‘Hannett and Slatter have each written superb stories in their own right, but working in tandem they have reached new heights. Midnight and Moonshine is a brilliant book, a work rich in ideas and written in beautiful, evocative prose, with a sense of magic (and horror) as inextricably entwined with human existence. It’s a book that I think will reward repeat readings as you stumble across yet more links and allusions, and appreciation grows for what these authors have accomplished.’