Angela Slatter's Blog, page 96
October 23, 2014
Last week, in Adelaide
Breakfast, day one
And so last week I went back to Adelaide barely a fortnight after I’d left it in order to deliver two talks at Flinders University (thanks to my Brain, Lisa L. Hannett, for organising all that!).
We had an excellent breakfast beforehand, at Bocelli, which provided the best French toast brioche with vanilla mascarpone, strawberries and maple syrup, and the breakfast trifle museli in a mason jar for Lisa.
Photo by Dr Lisa
Afterwards, I went off and did this:
My talk at the Writers and Their Worlds event (followingthe very interesting Doug Henrie talking about his book AmalgaNations) was the chance to talk about my career and my books – what author doesn’t love talking about themselves? I actually don’t, but I did enjoy this chat! Lovely, engaged audience. Afterwards we rushed off so I could deliver my “official” lecture, Keeping It Short, which was about using editing as an audit process to make sure your short story is just that Again, a lovely, attentive, engaged group of students.
Breakfast, day two
Then the work part was over! The next day Lisa and I were nerds, and I mean NERDS. We had breakfast again (hey, we gotta eat!) at The Store. Amazing pancakes for me, and a rather garish but delicious avocadoy, beetrooty, spinachy thing for Lisa. Then we wandered through the glory that is the Botanical Gardens, admiring trees, being creeped out by bat colonies, and finding ourselves at the most excellent Museum of Economic Botany – go there, it’s wonderful.
Moi, being economically botanical
Me at Mortlock, trying to stay there
Next, to the art gallery, where we meandered happily, oohing and aahing, and occasionally urghing at the displays. After lunch with the lovely Sara, we went to the Mortlock Library, which I never wanted to leave. It’s so beautiful. 
And then on to the museum, where we did this. Squid! 
And it was all a bit of a blur after that, ending with burgers at The Hackney, and a re-watch of Willow at home.
Then, finally, up at the crack of oh-my-gods’o’clock in order to make my 6am flight back home to Brisneyland and my Beloved. 
But most importantly, there was this: time with my best Brain. 
Mario Guslandi on Home and Hearth
Mario Guslandi reviews my Spectral Press chapbook Home and Hearth at the British Fantasy Society’s page.
Angela Slatter is firmly holding her position in my personal Top Ten list of favourite dark fiction authors since her outstanding debut collection “The Girl with No Hands” and her equally excellent second book “Sourdough”.
Her narrative style is apparently direct and simple ( but how effective!) so much so that she’ s able to hide the sheer horror lurking behind it, ready to strike the reader with terror and angst.
The rest is here.
October 22, 2014
Blood Sisters: Vampire Stories by Women
I’m very happy to say that I’ve got a story in this fabulous reprint anthology edited by Paula Guran. Blood Sisters: Vampire Stories by Women can be pre-ordered here.
The table of contents is a thing to behold:
• Kelley Armstrong, “Learning Curve”
• Elizabeth Bear, “Needles”
• Holly Black, “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown”
• Pat Cadigan, “The Power and the Passion”
• Suzy McKee Charnas, “Unicorn Tapestry”
• Nancy A. Collins, “Vampire King of the Goth Chicks”
• Storm Constantine, “Where the Vampires Live”
• Jewelle Gomez, “October 1927”
• Laurell K. Hamilton, “Selling Houses”
• Lisa L. Hannett, “From the Teeth of Strange Children”
• Charlaine Harris, “Tacky”
• Nancy Holder, “Blood Freak”
• Nalo Hopkinson, “Greedy Choke Puppy”
• Tanya Huff, “This Town Ain’t Big Enough”
• Caitlín R. Kiernan, “Shipwrecks Above”
• Nancy Kilpatrick, “In Memory of…”
• Tanith Lee, “La Dame”
• Angela Slatter, “Sun Falls”
• Lucy Snyder, “Magdala Amygdala
• Hannah Strom-Martin, “Father Peña’s Last Dance”
• Melanie Tem, “The Better Half”
• Catherynne M. Valente, “In the Future When All’s Well”
• Carrie Vaughn, “A Princess of Spain”
• Freda Warringron, “The Fall of the House of Blackwater”
• Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, “Renewal”
October 20, 2014
Rick Kleffel on The Literature of Fear: 12 High-Quality Horror Books for Sleepless Nights
The delightful and erudite Mr Rick Kleffel has selected twelve “high-quality horror books” for your delectation, including Nathan Ballingrud’s magnificent North American Lake Monsters, Dreams of Shadow and Smoke from Swan River Press, Michael Marshall’s We Are Here, and my Bitterwood Bible.
The literature of fear is not as hard to find as you might imagine. Literature itself began as a means of dealing with our fears of the unknown. Our first stories were those of gods and monsters, both with little regard for mere human lives. Henry James and Mary Shelley terrified us with literary classics. Stephen King has written his way to literary respectability.
But a visit to the book store might have you thinking that the horror genre is all vampires and serial killers, with gore and violence standing in lieu of character and insight. For those of us who enjoy the literature of fear, with a soupçon of the fantastic, there are still lots of great writers out there. Here’s a pocket guide to some first-rate literature with a macabre imagination.
The rest is here.
He is particularly kind about The Bitterwood Bible: Every story is nothing short of amazing, from the opening tale of “The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter” (forced to work with unhelpful shade of her father yelling at her) to “St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls,” an academy that teaches the fine art of murder for vengeful teen angels. Slatter’s prose is often magnificent, and she’s able to craft characters as great as the powers they wield. Here you find beauty and terror in a marriage made in prose heaven.
October 19, 2014
Interview: The Pretty Little Dead Girls of Mercedes Murdock Yardley
The wonderful Mercedes Murdock Yardley talks about her new, beautiful, mournful, whimsical work, Pretty Little Dead Girls (which T O Munro reviews here.)
1. So, what do new readers need to know about Mercedes Murdock Yardley?
I’m the girl next door with poisonous flowers in my hair and I write whimsical horror. I live in Las Vegas with a small zoo of kids, chickens, a rabbit, fish, and an angry, cranky turtle. My father made me an anklet of small bells so I chime when I walk. I write like crazy and most of it is fairly dark, but still hopeful. That’s me in a nutshell.
2. What was the inspiration behind Pretty Little Dead Girls?
Pretty Little Dead Girls came from a myriad of places. It’s partly based on my home town out in the middle of the desert. It’s beautiful but deadly, and when you’re sitting outside under the stars at Rabbit Mesa, you’re watching the desert and feeling like it is watching you right back.
I also had a man come up to me once and say, “You’re the type of girl who gets murdered, you know.” And he was so heartbroken! He was mourning this impending death that he felt I was going to have. That stayed with me. Marry these things together and you have Bryony Adams, the woman who was destined to die.
3. Do fairytales underpin much of your work, either overtly or covertly (you 
know, wearing trench coats, dark glasses, lurking in dark alleyways)?
They very much do, in a way. Fairytales and folklore are such a part of learning and history. That used to be how lessons were taught, through fairytales. This is how I learned my lessons as a kiddo. Work hard and be rewarded. Don’t talk to strangers. Be a clever girl and outsmart witches. So I see quite a bit of that in my work. I adore the fanciful and lovely, and fairytales are horrifically dark, as well. Perfect. Simply perfect.
4. How did you connect with Ragnarok Publications?
It was a delightfully random thing! Joe Martin of Ragnarok contacted me and basically asked if I had anything to send them. I wasn’t familiar with Joe, but I knew his business partner, Tim. They’re just stellar guys who work really hard. I had a novella that I was writing at the time, and I asked if they’d like to take a look at it when I was done. Now I’ve published three books with them and I’m contracted for two more. They’re fantastic publishers and I couldn’t be more pleased.
5. Tell us about the cover art from the very talented Galen Dara!
Oh my goodness! Galen was always my dream artist for this project. Her art is so ethereal and deliciously dark. I was over the moon when she agreed to create the cover art. I sent her a few scenes and told her the basics of the story. I tried to convey the ambiance of the Star Girl, and she nailed it beautifully. I knew she would.
Artist Orion Zangara also created a special and beautiful piece of art for the limited edition signed hard cover copy. It’s a scene from the book and it’s simply stunning. I have the original piece and I’m trying to figure out which wall to hang it on. It’s beautiful in pictures, but seeing it in real life? It quite took my breath away.
6. In general, who and/or what are your writing influences?
That’s a good question. My writing has been influenced by Erma Bombeck. She was hysterically funny and wasn’t afraid to show her wit without being cruel about it. I was also heavily influenced by Gabriel Garica Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. I studied that book in college and oh, how I originally loathed it! The storyline and generations of family were hard to follow. But the imagery was so striking and unique. It was really my introduction to magical realism. I thought, “I can really write like this?” I found a place. I found where I belonged.
7. When did you first decided you wanted to be a write? 
I knew by the third grade that I always wanted to write. It was such joy for me, and a way to get my imaginings out of my head and onto paper. When I was older, I talked myself out of writing because it didn’t seem adult and responsible enough. It gave me great happiness, yes, but adulthood isn’t for happiness; it’s for hard work and grown-up things. At least, that’s what I thought. I began to write again and it put my soul back together.
8. Who is your favourite villain in fiction?
I adore Hannibal Lecter. He’s frightening, he’s intelligent, he’s charming. The fact that he keeps himself under such tight lock and key is frightening to me. He has self-imposed rules on who he does and does not kill. That type of insanity in a very contained personality is horrifying. He’s a brilliant villain.
9. Who is your favourite heroine/hero in fiction?
I’d say my favorite hero is Schmendrick the Magician from Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn. He’s atypical. He’s a soft-spoken and perpetually weary character, but his heart is good. There are a few story tie-ins that Beagle wrote about Schmendrick, and it’s intriguing to see them and the depth of his character.
10. What is next for the Mercedes Machine?
I have a novella coming out in February! It’s part of The Grimm Mistresses collection that four women in horror are tackling. We’re each modernizing a Grimm fairytale and putting them out in one omninovel for Women in Horror Month. That’s a lot of fun.
I’m also working on the sequel to my urban fantasy, Nameless. But what I’m most excited 
about is finally starting a novel that’s been gnawing at the back of my brain for about a year now. Its working title is “The Kitchen Witch” and I’m in love with the main characters, Belladonna and John. I haven’t had a chance to start this book, and I blocked out all of November and December to work on this and this alone. It’s my own little reward for having such a crazy year.
Thank you so much for the Interview, Angela! I enjoyed your questions very much.
October 14, 2014
Story Sale: Bearskin
From http://www.tehcute.com/full/bear-cubs...
This morning I woke to find I’d sold “Bearskin” to Sean Wallace for the February 2015 issue of The Dark. This has a nice symmetry to it as I sold “By My Voice I Shall Be Know” to The Dark for their inaugural issue in October last year!
“Bearskin” is one of
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October 12, 2014
The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2013
Ticonderoga Publications has released the Table of Contents for their latest volume of The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2013, which contains many excellent works of Oz speculative fiction. I’m fortunate that they’ve also picked up my tale “Flight”, which first appeared in Paula Guran’s Once Upon a Time: New Fairy
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October 11, 2014
Bitterwood at Thirteen O’Clock
Mario Guslandi has reviewed The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings over at Thirteen O’Clock:
Award-winning Australian author Angela Slatter returns with yet another collection of fantastic stories where she can display once again her fertile and powerful imagination, her extraordinary ability as a storyteller, endowed with an elegant narrative style and a remarkable
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October 6, 2014
And now our tranmission shall be resumed
And we’re back!
The IT Badger and I had a few days away in the beautiful Adelaide Hills for a bit of a mini-break and to attend a wonderful wedding! Lisa and Chad tied the knot at the fabulous K1 Winery. We had a lovely time catching up with friends, eating
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