Lily Mulholland's Blog, page 7

It's a vampire thing

So, a confession. I've never really understood the whole 'vampire thing'. It always seemed a bit naff. Boy with fangs bites girl. Girl swoons (or dies). The end.

When a friend of mine last year suggested I watch the first few episodes of True Blood while I was babysitting her kids, I laughed and told her I didn't 'do vampires'. She urged me to watch at least one installment and make my mind up then. I smiled wanly as she pressed the DVD case into my hands when she and her husband headed out the door.

I put the kids to bed, turned on my laptop and started reading some material/taking notes for my masters research project (which I have just put on hold). After an hour or so I got a bit bored (short attention span), so cracked open the block of chocolate I had cleverly secured in my laptop bag in case of such an emergency and slipped the disc out of its cover and into the player.

All I can say is OH MY GOODNESS! I have rarely been so riveted. I LOVED the first episode and watched the second and third (my laptop shut down and put away by this stage) and devoured the rest of Season 1 over the next week or so. Fortunately said amiga had Season 2 on DVD as well, so I watched that too. What great television – possibly even better than BSG (which I adored until the last ep).

At the same time as I was getting sucked in by True Blood, the Dead Red Heart anthology opened for submissions and I wrote a story (sadly, rejected) which had a vampire or two in it! I think I have been converted. (I still haven't read/seen any of the Twilight stuff – I have a feeling that's more along the traditional teenage angsty line – the 2010 version of Flowers in the Attic, which was all the rage when I was finishing high school.)

To top it all off, I got an email from a vampire friend of mine. Xan is the coolest damned vampire this side of Eric (how HOT is Alexander Skarsgard, by the way?) and he was emailing me! I am so not cool, but I'm happy to flirt with the dark side every now and then (a girl's gotta have a bit of bad in her life). Turns out I won a miniature guitar in a fan contest his maker was running on his Crooked Fang fan page on Facebook. I got to choose my favourite and ended up with a perfect Paul Reed Smith, replete witha bird in flight neck. I always wanted one of these – even in miniature! It now sits on my window ledge at work, a tiny reminder there is life beyond the office. Thanks Xan and the badass Carrie. You guys rock!

Now get your arse over to Crooked Fang for a bit of action with Xan.

Jetlag can help you write stories!

Gosh, that sounds like the title of one of those really insightful writer's manuals, doesn't it? Well, I have news for you; it may even be true. I had to go to Sweden last week for work (roolly, troolly) and I had high hopes of writing my story for the Nothing But Flowers anthology being released on Valentine's Day while I was away. Well, I had forgotten how badly the jetlag can hit you when you fly literally half-way around the world. It's the 10-hour time difference that's the killer.

My old body hasn't travelled overseas since 2004, so it's had no opportunity to practise the kind of shock you enter when trying to adjust to a half-day's difference. Needless to say I got no writing done while I was away – I was too busy trying to stay awake for my meetings. Fortunately I had the threads of the story just about knitted together before I left, even managing to write about half of the first draft before I flew out last Saturday. I arrived home yesterday morning and, after a couple of nanna naps, managed to spark up enough last night to bash out the rest of the first draft, edit it and send it out for beta reading. The story had been percolating in my mind for a few weeks, which always helps the initial drafting process (this is the real key, not the jetlag!)

My Chinese Whisperings alumni, Chris Chartrand and Rob Diaz II, kindly read/edited the 1500w story for me, as did my better half. I worked on it some more this morning before work and again this evening, before finally submitting the finished piece at 9pm. It's a sad story, which I don't usually write – mine are usually pretty fast-paced and have a dash of humour – so I am left wondering whether being in a hazy, jetlagged state contributed to the mood of the story. Having seen editor Jodi Cleghorn's glee at receiving a single story with a happy ending, I was left wondering whether I should have tried for a bit of uplifting post-apocolyptic fun. Ah well, perhaps next time!

Don't forget to tune in to Literary Mix Tapes on Valentine's Day, where Nothing But Flowers will be published online for 48 hours. After that the collected stories will be available in eBook and paperback formats from eMergent Publishing, the proceeds of which will go to the Queensland flood relief efforts. I hope you will enjoy my story, 'Grey, Like Stone', a post-apocalyptic tale of love, set in Canberra and Namadgi National Park.

(Image: Booroomba Rocks by Leigh Blackall. 'Grey, Like Stone' is set in Booroomba Rocks)

Nothing but Flowers

What's a New Year without a writing project? Nothing, I tell you! Presenting (Nothing but) Flowers, the new Mixed Tape anthology from Jodi Cleghorn. Being the mad woman that she is, she has kindly included me in the group of 24 writers producing 1500w tales of post-apocolyptic love, releasing our yarns upon the unsuspecting romantics and fools on 14 February 2011.

My little story will be set in and around Canberra and I'm hoping it will have sufficient legs to be turned into full-length short story for possible submission to an Australian anthology that's being published next year.

I have to fly to Sweden (for work FTW!) in the week before my (Nothing but) Flowers story is due, so I guess the two 24-hr flights will be put to good use!

(Image used under a CC licence. Rob Lavinsky)

A Christmas tale: Not a Whisper

Artwork by Alvin Penner

Merry Christmas! It's nearly over, here in Australia, and I'm about to turn off the Christmas tree lights for the last time in 2010. Before I do, I thought I'd post a link to my story, Not a Whisper, which is appearing over at Mix Tapes Volume 1: Deck the Halls. While you're there, you can check out the other 19 stories too…a word of warning, these are not necessarily stories you would associate with Christmas – they're a dark and stormy lot!

Thanks again to the fabulous Jodi Cleghorn, who works way too hard, all too often. Enjoy your internet blackout – you deserve it.

It's nearly Christmas, so Deck the Halls!

Artwork by Icypop Sedgwick

Head on over to the Mix Tapes Volume 1: Deck the Halls fan page on Facebook and click on 'like'. You'll get the links to the 20 stories in this e-anthology on the hour throughout Christmas Eve – if that doesn't get you in the mood for Christmas, I don't know what will.

Don't forget a cup of egg nog or two to go with it, especially when you read my story, 'Not a Whisper', which releases at 3pm on Christmas Eve.

Ho, ho, ho!

So this is Christmas

And what have you done? Another year over. A new one just begun.

Yes, John Lennon was a very wise man. I cannot believe another year has buzzed past without even asking me if it was all right to disembark. I am absolutely NOT in the mood for Christmas, although two weeks away from work will be a welcome relief.

Even writing my Christmas yarn for Deck the Halls (#deckthehalls on Twitter) did not help! I am sure it has something to do with being far too busy at work, a midlife crisis I am currently beating into submission and a general weirdness to the weather, which has turned us all upside down.

Fortunately I've had some very generous writers give up their time to beta read my short – they've helped identify a small issue with my story that I'll try to rectify tonight before I submit via Submishmash.

Until then, I think I had better dig out my Christmas music CDs (of which I have several) and try to get in the mood!

Yule Be Decking the Halls too!

Image: Noodle Snacks

Oi vey but that was a bad pun. Ah well, Jodi Cleghorn has called for a dash of humour with submissions to the Deck the Halls writing project I've joined, although I will try to avoid being a funny little punster to the best of my ability, yessir!

A Christmas writing project may be just what I need to get myself in the festive spirit – I nearly had a metaphoric heart attack today when I realised it is only two weeks till Christmas. I have been so busy I haven't even had a chance to think about the forthcoming festive season. Fortunately we were able to get away early from work today and I made the dash to the shops to buy the kids' presents. At 5 and 2 they would not understand why Santa 'forgot' this year!

Now to put my ho ho ho hat on and cook up a delicious Christmas treat to go with the others. I am clearly in good company!

 

(If you're wondering what that image is, head over to Wikimedia Commons. It's not anything to do with Christmas, but it kinda looked Christmassy to me.)

In the market for a spot of fun?

Feeling in need of a pre-Christmas fillip? Head on over to my flash fiction blog for a spot o' fun, as I've posted episode 14 of the multi-author series, The Great Chocolate Conspiracy. If you don't know what it's all about, head on over to Sam's website, Future Nostalgic to read about the series and to catch the preceeding 13 episodes. The final episode will be published next week by Nishi, aka Cafe Nirvana.

Also, don't forget you can follow me on Twitter: @LilyMulholland

Let it snow?

This blog is about writing as an Aussie, which is known universally as 'Down Under'. Everything is backwards or upside down when contrasted with the Northern Hemisphere – particularly the weather! While my Northern American and European friends are celebrating the first snowfalls of the season, we are supposed to be entering summer. I say supposed, as it's been anything but summery here – steady rain for the past two days and apparently three to come. There have been a few jokes around the place about needing to build an ark. The rain, however, is most welcome, as it's a sign our decade-long drought has finally broken.

Having the unseasonally cool weather and lots of rain has been handy – it's put me in the mood for MiCrow's latest offering: MiCrow Winter 2010 – Into the Void. Have a read and check out the cool artwork. You will even find my first published images and a line drawing by me. Enjoy.

In the meantime, Ticonderoga Press extended the Dead Red Heart submission deadline to 8 December. I'm using that time to really bash my story into shape, with the assistance of a girl's best editor, the fabulous Ms Jodi Cleghorn.

Well here's an idea: Daily Flash

Daily Flash 2011 cover

Fancy a flash a day? Get yourself a copy of Daily Flash 2011. You can even read in there a story  by yours truly – it features my story 'Last Man Standing' – one of my faves from 2010.

You can buy it from Amazon or direct from Pill Hill Press.