Lily Mulholland's Blog, page 6

Conflux, or how I survived my first con

Me with Jodi Cleghorn, holding eMergent Press books. Pic by Bothersome Words

I attended my first writing convention ('con' for those in the know) over the Canberra long weekend and what a hoot it was. I met some amazingly talented SpecFic authors, editors and fans and had a blast hanging out with my good friend Jodi Cleghorn, who came down from Brisbane for the event.

Conflux is held every year in Canberra, except when WorldCon gets in the way. This year was Conflux number 7 and was chaired by the fabulous Karen Herkes and featured a dinner aboard the 'Graf Zeppelin' with an authentic 1929 dinner created by Gillian Polack. We had a great time dressing up. I even made a dress (see below)!

Other, more organised Conflux folk have beaten me to a comprehensive wrap, so here are some links you should check out:

Zena Shapter

Alan Baxter

Bothersome Words

Nicole Murphy

Me with Jodi Cleghorn and Patty Jansen. Photo by Bothersome Words

Let me know if I've missed any!

So how did I enjoy (aka survive) it? Lots of yakking, a little bit of reading, a little bit of eating and a little bit of drinking. I'm reliably informed that the more cons I attend, the more yakking, reading, eating and drinking there will be. I must work on my con-stamina before the next one approaches at the end of September 2011. That will be but one leap-frog away from Conflux 9, which is double-hatted as NatCon13. Looking forward already to seeing all my new-found writer friends again next year. Until then, there's Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

Devin, Lawrie, John and me. Pic by Bothersome Words

Well, well, looky here…a book trailer!

Gosh. A book in which I have a story (Literary Mix Tapes: Eighty Nine) has a book trailer. I feel like I'm growing up as a writer. This is cool.

, yeeha.

We haz cover art – Eighty Nine

The next instalment of Literary Mix Tapes, Eighty Nine, now has a cover and is mere weeks away from hitting the streets (artwork by Blake Byrnes). I'm very excited my SF outing 'Chronicle Child' will be published – it's one of my favourites – alongside a bunch of fine emerging writers. The paper copies won't be ready in time for Conflux, but you'll be able to pre-0rder soon. More to follow when the release date draws near. A number of the authors will be in attendance, including yours truly and LMT maestro Jodi Cleghorn. So, if you're heading to the event, be sure to look me up.

And the year rolls on

Like a freaking tombstone (a round one), crushing the will to write. Exhaustion seems to be the main culprit, oh, and that life-thief called Time. I have all kinds of story ideas passing through my grey matter, but none of it makes it out the tips of my aging fingers. They connect to the keyboard (so often I've erased the E, L, and N key faces), but nothing useful escapes. It's all tweets and moans. Fortunately I'm not the only one for whom productivity levels are less than desired. The two forthcoming anthologies containing my stories 'Chronicle Child' (LMT Eighty-Nine) and 'The Brewer's Son' (Stories for Japan – New Sun Rising) are delayed…hopefully for not too long…but long enough that I can still look forward to seeing my name in print (I'm not discerning paper from digital anymore) twice over before the year's end. Perhaps then I can settle into my creative grave in comfort…or, like Lazarus, live to see/write another day.

Wish I had more time to write

Life just keeps on getting in the way, doesn't it? I have barely had a chance to write these past six months; work has been totally consuming and not in a good way, rather, in an 'eat you up and spit you out' way. Fortunately I had signed up to another Jodi Cleghorn writing challenge, which forced me to do some writing. With quite stringent constraints, I was forced to come up with a fairly simple story that touched history, gave a nod to some song lyrics and met the spec fic brief. After struggling with the concept for a while, it came to me while I was away for work two weeks ago. The first line came to me perfectly formed. The rest? Not so easy, but I pinched it, pulled it and pushed it into shape.  A couple of wonderful beta readers confirmed what I knew about my story and helped me make it so much better. I am indebted to Rob Diaz II and Stacey Larner for turning a 'good' story into something so much more. Well, I hoped it was more, and today Jodi confirmed it for me, which was such a relief! Hopefully I'll be able to coerce work into the background in the coming months to give my brain the headspace I need to develop some more story ideas. Until then, the cupboard is pretty bare!

Join the Nothing But Flowers chart rush on Tuesday 17 May

Exciting news! The paperback of Nothing but Flowers will be published this coming Tuesday, 17 May 2011. Editor and publisher Jodi Cleghorn has timed the release to coincide with the paperback publication of 100 Stories for Queensland, another charity fund-raising publication from eMergent Publishing. She is publishing both on the same day and hopes that readers will create a 'Chart Rush' on Amazon to help spread the word. The below is a direct lift from her blog, which you can read here. You should get to know Jodi – she is a most amazing and generous woman, not to mention a damned fine writer in her own right.

What's a Chart Rush?

Readers are invited to purchase a book on Amazon, in a nominated 24-hour period, with the intent to capitalise on the volume of sales to move the book up the Amazon best seller list. The higher up the chart it is (we're aiming for a spot in the top 100) the more visible it becomes to other readers who may go on to purchase it.

It's all about exposure and helping new readers find the books.

This Tuesday

This coming Tuesday eMergent Publishing will be releasing 100 Stories for Queensland and Nothing But Flowers via an Amazon Chart Rush. We're inviting readers to purchase one or both books  on that day with the aim of getting them into the top 100 selling books for the day (and beyond!)

By releasing both charity anthologies concurrently we're hoping people will add one extra book to their cart on the day,  whether that be someone stumbling onto 100 Stories… or Nothing But Flowers for the first time.

If  you can't buy on the day, you can add it to your wishlist. Every little bit counts to rocket the books up the chart.

You can find both books on Amazon and Amazon UK.

Nothing But Flowers retails at US$17.99 or ₤5.99

100 Stories for Queensland retails at US$19.99 or ₤9.99

What is Nothing But Flowers?

Nothing But Flowers is the second Literary Mix Tapes anthology and the first to make it into paperback. It started on the 6th January (a week before 100 Stories was launch) as a Valentines Day anthology with the brief to create stories exploring the challenges and complexities of love in a post-apocalyptic world.

With the flood disaster already weeks old, I suggested to the authors involved we donate the money generated by the sale of the anthology to a flood related charity. But I had no idea the disaster which was only days away and waiting to travel in the worst apocalyptic sense, down the Lockyer Valley and into Brisbane.

I worked on Nothing But Flowers side by side with 100 Stories for Queensland, in a crazy juggling act which was made possible by the wonderful support of Maureen, David, Trevor, Nick and all the other wonderful literary folk who read, voted and edited the stories of 100 Stories for Queensland in the first six weeks. When Nothing But Flowers was web-released on Valentines Day the hits to the site were the equivalent of selling 60 paperbacks in 48 hours!

The book has been getting rave reviews, so please, if you are dropping into Amazon on Tuesday to buy 100 Stories, consider adding Nothing But Flowers to your shopping cart! All funds collected from the sale of Nothing But Flowers will be donated to the Grantham Flood Support Flood.

See? I told you – she's an amazing woman. Now buy the book(s)!

Story accepted – New Sun Rising

I returned from Easter holidays yesterday to the best news: my story 'The Brewer's Son' has been accepted for publication in the Stories for Japan fundraising publication New Sun Rising. I am thrilled to say the least. Why don't you head on over to the Books That Help website to read more about it?

Another day another disaster – how to help

The Christchurch earthquake was just dreadful; striking during the working day and killing hundreds. It was a most beautiful city and I hope New Zealanders can rebuild. But, until then, it's the people who need our help. What can we do? Donate to the Red Cross – definitely. What else? From NZ author Cat Connor:

On 22nd February, Christchurch, New Zealand, and the wider Canterbury region, was rocked by another round of serious earthquakes. This time they struck during the middle of the day causing more devastation, and loss of life, to a city still trying to pick up the pieces from last September's quakes.

Author Cassie Hart asked immediately what can writers do to help – and came up with Tales For Canterbury. She and Anna Caro with help from Random Static and DesignEm have pulled together an anthology. ALL proceeds will go to Red Cross.

We need your assistance to spread the word and help us get as many pre-orders as possible, so that we can start getting some money through to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal. Pre-orders are also important to determine how many of the print edition we initially order. If you head over to http://randomstatic.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_10&products_id=51, you will find the pre-order information.

You can find out more about this project and the contributors here:

http://talesforcanterbury.wordpress.com/

And then there's Japan. The unbelievable scale of the catastrophe is still unfolding, but those poor, poor people. Their whole lives washed away on a black sludgy wave. Again, the Red Cross is helping. And another bunch of talented authors. Why not submit a story to New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan? The deadline for subs is 11 April. Then, buy the book – all profits to the people of Japan. It's the least we can do to help and let them know the rest of the world cares.

Buy 'Nothing but Flowers' and support the Qld flood relief efforts

You can now buy the Nothing but Flowers: Tales of Post-Apocalyptic Love anthology, edited by the fabulous Jodi Cleghorn and featuring a story by me. Not only will you make a talented bunch of authors proud that you bought their book, but proceeds will go to the Queensland flood relief efforts. You will feel so virtuous! And get 25 rockin' end-of-the-world tales at the same time. The eBook is available in different formats and the paperback is available to pre-order. What are you waiting for? Head on over to Literary Mixed Tapes for some great fiction.

He distinctly said 'to blave'

Westley: T-R-U-E L-O-V-E.

Inigo: "True Love", you heard him? You could not ask for a more noble cause than that.

Miracle Max:Yeah, True Love is the greatest thing in the world, except for a nice MLT—mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, when the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe. < makes puckering sound > They're so perky. I love that. But that's not what he said—he distinctly said "To blave" and as we all know, to blave means to bluff, heh? So you were probably playing cards, and he cheated–

[A withered lady storms into the room]

Valerie: Liar! Liar! Liar!

Miracle Max:Get back, witch!

Valerie: I'm not a witch, I'm your wife, but after what you just said, I'm not even sure I want to be that anymore.

Miracle Max:You never had it so good.

Valerie: True Love, he said "True Love", Max.

Miracle Max:Not another word, Valerie.

So, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow. A day for schmultz, a day for true love, but not a day 'to blave'! (I think the above passage from The Princess Bride script is my favourite, but it's hard to choose with such snappy, clever and sparkling writing and dialogue.) Actually Valentine's Day does hold meaning for me: seven years ago tomorrow I was married on Canberra's hottest February day on record under the shade of Glebe Park's gorgeous oak trees. It was a lovely ceremony, surrounded as we were by family and friends who had travelled from all over Australia to join our celebrations. We followed with a reception in The Hall at ANU (my alma mater), where we all danced and tried to pretend we weren't too hot! And now, Valentine's Day holds meaning in another aspect of my life – my story 'Grey, Like Stone' will be published tomorrow as part of the Nothing But Flowers anthology. The anthology will go live one story at a time from 0900 tomorrow at the Nothing But Flowers website. But you'd better get in quick – it's only free for 48 hours, after which time you'll be able to purchase the e-book or paperback – the proceeds will go towards the Queensland flood relief effort. The anthology definitely won't contain schmultz, although there may be a little romance, which is apparently hard to come by in the post-apocalypse. Just ask the twenty-odd writers who have contributed to the anthology. We've each created a unique dystopia to rock your world a little on the day of love. So, for those of your celebrating and/or commiserating tomorrow, my little story is my gift to you. Happy Valentine's Day