Matthew Lang's Blog, page 16

The Games WriMos Play

Benjamin Solah Zombie! Photo by Quoll

I am sore today.

Sore as in pysically sore. In specific, my thighs feel like they've had more of a workout than they've got since…well, since the last Kick Off BBQ actually. One of the reasons I love NaNoWriMo is the writing community it brings together each year, or perhaps the writing community it specifically brings together in Melbourne. According to the goodie bag totals left after yesterday (i.e. none), over fifty people showed up to our NaNo 2011 kick off BBQ, bringing more sugar, sausages and crazy writing enthusiasm than is safe for the human mind to safely cope with. There was frying of foodstuffs, the eating of brownies (warning, contains nuts), and the now obligatory playground games that are also an incredibly effective form of exercise for sedentary writers more at home in a computer chair than the local gym.

I mean one of the joys of getting older, is the joys of realising that acting one's age isn't really as much fun as not acting ones age, and playground games are just one of the things that I highly recommend you embrace during the crazy that is NaNo. Officially, it now appears that Melbourne NaNo has two of them. Zombie Tag and Blink.

Zombie Tag at Melbourne NaNo Kickoff BBQ - Photo by Quoll

Zombie Tag

Zombie Tag was a random idea I spouted off about 4 years back, mostly as a joke, which turned out to be a surprisingly good game in a confined space with dead ends–like an adventure playground. The basic idea of Zombie tag is that you start with one person, patient zero, who has to zombie shuffle and groan 'braaaaains' as s/he goes after the others. And once a person is caught, they too become a Zombie, and shuffles…and goes after the humans. And the plague grows until there are no humans left…and the last surviving human gets to be next game's patient zero. Other rules: no leaving the boundaries of the adventure playground. Do not interfere with kids on the playground. If they block your way–tough.

Blink

Blink at the Melbourne NaNo Kickoff BBQ 2011 - Photo by Quoll

A variant of the 'What's the Time Mister Wolf' game genre, this particular version was dreamt up by Misty, our resident creator of plotbunnies, and inspired by Doctor Who. In blink the aim is to steal an item (in this case, one of our resident mascots, Walter Wombat), from the feet of one player, who stands in the middle of a circle of people. The trick? The people in the circle can only move when the player in the middle can't see them. If s/he catches them moving, s/he can point them out and they have to return to the outside of the circle.  Once the item in the middle is nabbed by someone they have to run back out of the circle to a winning point (we used nearby trees) before the middle person catches them. If they make it–they get to be in the middle the second time around.

Of course, just like in the Doctor Who episode of the same name, the creepiest thing about being in the middle is turning around and seeing everyone has moved closer…without you seeing them.

There are reports of Zombie tag spreading to playgrounds around Victoria, and hopefully soon across the world…

Support NaNoWriMo–Buy a Book!

In support of NaNoWriMo, Matthew Lang will be donating $1 from every Mr Perfect ebook sold via Smashwords to The Office of Letters and Light from now until the end of November!

So head over to Smashwords, get your copy today, and let's raise some money for the novelling cause!

NaNo Rebel

I've always been a bit of a rebel. Artsy, different, queer. It's funny, but it's taken ages for my father to accept that. For years he nagged me to either get published or go get a real career. Now that I am published, he recently said "I may not agree with you on topics, but I will support you however I can". He was also quick to add "And I don't need to agree with you on topics". It's funny, but part of me thinks that's possibly as close as I'm ever going to get. And it might just be enough. Maybe. We'll see.

Anyway, the point is, I've always walked a little on the wild side, and I've always been a little nonconformist. I don't follow all the rules. I do what I feel is right and best, and forge towards my goal with the hope that no one will shift the goal posts before I get there. Typically, I've gone my own way and hoped the universe is kind, and so far, it seems to be working. Note I said so far.

Anyway the point is, I've almost never followed the rules for National Novel Writing Month either. Every year except last year, I started with a story already in progress, with no intention of finishing my novel in the bounds of November.  The first year I kick started a joint novel sequel, to see where the story wanted to go (nowhere fast as it turns out), and that taught me a very valuable lesson about finishing up something before you start a new project. The second year I rebooted an existing work, with established characters and got it published, launching me into the scary world of being a (hopefully) career author. For everyone who doesn't know, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, or just NaNo), although more accurately interNational Novel Writing Month is a crazy attempt by crazy writers like me to write a 50,000 word novella in a month. The most amazing thing for me, being based in Melbourne, is the strength of the writing community here, and all of the fantastic events, write ins and socialising we have. It really does motivate you to write, write much and strive to write well. I've always viewed NaNo as an attempt to write 50,000 words, and despite the admonition that in NaNo, it's quantity that matters, not quality, my aim has always been to write 50,000 quality words that I'm happy to keep going forward with, and if I look at a novel being somewhere between 90,000 and 120,000 odd words, one good November should, in theory, give me half of a novel draft.

This year, I'm doing more than a reboot. I'm actually starting my NaNo novel early. I can't afford not to. I also don't think I'll finish it in November, but that's what December is for. Since 2008, I've used a nifty little spreadsheet to track my progress, total wordcount, average words per day. And because I haven't seen any report cards for rebels like me who start out with a wordcount already, I've modified the one I've used for the last few years…and it's attached here. Feel free to download and use it. I take no credit for the original design (by Erik Benson), and it was updated consistently by Caitirin, so all credit to them for their hard work.

Download the NaNoWriMo Rebel Report Card (2011) here

National Young Writers Festival–Or What I did last Weekend

The first thing I have to say is the NYWF was awesome, and everyone should go next year. The second thing I have to say is that respiratory illnesses are much less awesome, especially when they hit two days after returning. I seem to have come down with a probably-not-flu-flu-like viral infection, and although I'm no longer aching everywhere, I am still feeling massively fatigued all the time, which sucks. I suppose I can only be thankful it happened *after* the festival. I thought I was being careful and taking care of myself so this wouldn't happen, but well, that's a story for another day.

The NYWF happens every year in Newcastle-Newy, as it is affectionately known-and This is Not Art (TiNA), the umbrella festival of which NYWF is a part, has become Newcastle's biggest tourism weekend. In the words of one person I spoke to on Grindr, the 'influx of hot gay men' over the festival weekend is something to look forward to.

It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon, and I was a NYWF virgin. My flight was delayed and when I finally rocked into Newcastle airport, the first thing I noticed was how…regional it was. I guess the first thing that struck me was the feeling that I was about as far away from a major city in Australia as I've ever been, and this was the very first time I'd been out somewhere like there as an openly gay man, and visions of homophobic, possibly racist, rednecks swarming along on utes filled my brain. And then I put those thoughts aside, collected my luggage and went in search of the bus to town.

Eventually, I found myself outside my hotel, the Newcastle Ibis, which was a little further from the festival locations than I really would have liked, but on the upside, it was a room for myself, which I wasn't sharing with another four artists. Not that I have anything against other artists, mind you, but there are considerations–like snoring, smelly feet, and enough space for me to pull out my laptop and get some work and social networking done. Yes, I'm a bit paranoid about my computers at times. Go figure.

In any case, I spent the first afternoon wandering around Newy and trying to find out where all the festival venues were. In doing so I also discovered something I'd forgotten about smaller town Australia-everything shuts early. And when I mean early I mean by 5 PM. And when I mean everything, I mean everything. It then mostly doesn't open on the weekends…or public holidays, as Monday was in New South Wales. At times I feel like I spent the entire weekend trying to find somewhere to eat that was open.

Thursday was a nice, slow easing into the whole Festival scene, with an Artist Meet & Greet, and then the TiNA launch party. I started Friday with a swim at the Ocean Baths, which seem to be a very NSW phenomenon, as seen in the ill fated Where the Bloody Hell Are You tourism campaign. Basically, they create a pool by the beach, and fill it with seawater. And then you swim in it. We don't have them down in Victoria, sadly, because they're awesome–if outdoors, and cold and salty. Next time I'll remember to wear goggles.

I also met a nice local bartender, who I never saw again, and had a chat while we were between laps. It was 9 AM in the morning, and by the time I climbed out and went to wash the salt from my skin, there was so much salt and cold that my skin felt like it had been abraded by sandpaper-raw to the touch. It was fantastic, seriously fantastic. Then I dropped into Staple Manor for a creative health check with Rebecca Giggs, in the process, getting in early enough to learn about Cryptic Crosswords from Mark Sutton. It was a bit deflating to realise that Cryptic Crosswords aren't so much cryptic as written in code. It's sort of like an exclusive semiotic code available to a select few (like opera perhaps), and if you know the language, you can do them. But that's another story. I asked Rebecca what I should be doing in the run up to my second novel, and what I should be looking to do to take my career from 'first time novelist' to 'self sufficient novelist'. The gist of her answer: Go get grants. Sign up to mailing lists, get residencies to write elsewhere. Hmm…I'm going to have a lot to think on and research in the weeks to come.

The rest of Friday was full of scheduled events–The Postmodern Romance, Erotica and Sex Panel, and then the 'Writer Wants a Wife' event, which I agreed to do on a whim. The panel went fantastically, and it was fun catching up with Haylee Kerens again, having last seen her on the Romance Genre Panel for the Emerging Writers Festival. There are apparently a lot of interesting changes happening over at Harlequin Australia, so keep an eye out for more detail on that. There was of course one clown who showed up intent on telling us about how he was going to reinvent (or possibly redefine or reclaim) masculinity–and then started demanding what 'we' the panel was going to do to get men to read. It felt almost as if he wanted us to throw the question back onto him so he could say 'Well, I am going to reclaim masculinity', and when we didn't, he then cornered Chad Parkhill after the panel and apparently talked his ear off for half an hour. At which point I'd dashed off to change for Writer Wants a Wife.

I'm sure there's probably another time I've worn a pillowcase on my head, but I think this is the first time I've ever done it for the sake of writing. As opposed to prentending to be a ghost at the age of six. The problem, as I pointed out to our fantabulous host, was that the very title of the event 'Writer Wants a Wife' is incredibly heteronormative, and I nearly didn't sign up for precisely that reason. Neither did a lot of other guys I understand, and I ended up with a grand total of one contestant, who it turns out has been emailing me all year for Farrago contributions-I should really take myself off that email list.

I have to admit, it was at that point that Newy showed it's country stripes. Given the way I dress and carry myself, I often get mistaken as being straight. My date…probably not so much. Our date picnic was located under a lamp outside (for the camera) and was the closest one to the road, and there was a fair amount of honks and yells from passing cars, and later, when we were walking through Newy, a fair number of homophobic comments. Newy: the town of one gay pub and a lot of closeted and careful men on Grindr and Manhunt. I can't say for certain, but the University seems to be a bastion of tolerance, what with people coming in from all around, and then there seems to be a fair amount of tolerance striving for equality if the Zines I picked up on Sunday are anything to go by. The conversations I've overheard of the kids on the buses in the CBD on the other hand…I don't know. It's almost as if there's the new progressive, modern Newcastle, and then there's the conservative mob baying around the edges. Don't get me wrong, I loved being there, but it felt like the bad old days I've only ever heard about.

Saturday was the start of an insane weekend, with the festival's Young Adult Queer Fiction panel, which was noticeably lacking in lesbians. It was five gay men chatting about Young Adult fiction, Queer Fiction, and wishing we had someone who could talk about the other side of the queer market, but it was very refreshing to be able to speak about bisexual and transexual characters–or rather the lack of them, which let us speak about biphobia and to some degree transphobia, that still exist in the wider community. I know I tend not to write bisexual main characters because I don't believe I can do it convincingly. One of the things I remember saying was 'You may have to write those stories yourself'. I know it was the main reason I was the main reason I started writing, and Alasdair Duncan started writing for the same reason. The more important question is whether or not there's a market for bisexual fiction in the marketplace, which I have no idea. I feel there ought to be, but I would have no idea how to crack that market–or find it for that matter. Over the rest of the festival I was constantly hearing back from festival punters saying that the two panels I was on were their favourites from the festival as a whole, which isn't all me, but I like to think I played a part. Given that Chad and I were on both of those panels together, we were a bit chuffed, but I just hope that means what we said was useful and relevant. I then went back to Staple Manor for a talk on freelancing (AKA How to Start a Writing Business) run by Cameron Pegg, which told me a lot of what I knew in terms of the bare basics of business management, but the actual ins and outs and day to day business of being a freelancer, chasing invoices and what the rates are that one should be pushing for… that was very helpful. Follow him on Twitter. Seriously. Oh and check out this graphic he referred us to: Should I work for free? I get the feeling I should be making a creative writing version.

Sunday was a day for packing (yay…not), and rain rain rain and rain. That wild weather that hit Melbourne and flooded everything, finally rolled up the coast and hit Newy, and it washed out my plans to go and see a piece of outdoor theatre in the larger TiNA festival, so instead, I went to the Zine fair, caught up with friends from Melbourne, and checked out the Video Games Writing panel, which I must admit was a bit disappointing. There was a lot of portfolio showcasing, and where players are using games as storytelling mediums, but until I actually pushed and asked questions, there was no discussion as to where jobs in the industry are listed, (www.gamasutra.com and www.tsumea.com), and the possibility of breaking into the industry via modding–think Fall From Heaven for Civ 4, or the Portal series. Still, the games industry in Australia is so tiny, I have to admit I wasn't expecting much from the industry in general. Then later that night there I did a reading of Mr Perfect, sold all the novels I brought up–I should have brought more–and then instead of going to a warehouse party, I went home with three random students I'd just met to watch the Doctor Who finale.

I think that was the right thing to do, yes?

After next to no sleep, Monday was a day for checking out of the Ibis, and then checking out the Small Press Roundtable discussion where I plugged the hell out of banQuetpress (hint hint), and stuck around for the workshop on grantwriting, which I hope will be useful in the future.

And then, amidst promises to keep in touch, and a determination to pitch a DnD session or two for next year (Geeks write, who'd have guessed?), I boarded the plane for Melbourne, ran into festival people at the Airport, and then got sick. And I can't wait to do it again next year.

Minus the getting sick part.

I hope.

 

In Newcastle

So I've arrived in Newcastle, avoiding the weather chaos in Melbourne, which I understand has stranded a number of NYWF artists there. Sadly, the crazy weather has also reached us in Newcastle, and it almost feels like Melbourne up here–four seasons in one day. Seriously looking forward to meeting even more awesome people, and getting into the swing of things up in Newy (as Newcastle is affectionately known).

I've also been roped into a few other events. The first is the Small Press Status Update:

Monday 3rd October: Small Press Status Update

Panel: 12:00-13:00

Location: Festival Club, The Great Northern Hotel, 89 Scott Street, Newcastle East

Printing options? Funding structure? Every small press is different and we want to know how. If you don't work for a small press, here's your chance to find out what the deal is. And if you do, NYWF is here to give you a cuddle and a big cup of milo.

Facilitator: Greg Gould (Blemish Books)

Artists: Voiceworks; Simon Gray; Matthew Lang…and everyone else

I'm possibly also appearing on Writer Wants a Wife, assuming enough other men who like men sign up as prospective dates. So if you know anyone who wants a chance to go on date with Mr Fantastic Me, get them in touch with the NYWF team and who knows, you could watch it all get video taped and put on youtube. Which would certainly be interesting.

Of course, it's rather late notice, so nothing may come of this at all, but who knows. Life is all about surpises after all! Cheers to everyone I've met so far and here's to a fantastic festival!

It's Official!

The program is up and the verdict is in: Yes Matthew will be appearing in Newcastle at the National Young Writers' Festival, doing two panels and one reading. All events are free, so there's no excuse not to attend!

Fri 30th September: Super Sad Pomo Love Story: Writing Earnest Fiction in the Ironic Age

Panel: 16:00-17:30

Location: Customs House, 1 Bond Street, Newcastle East

Let's Talk About Sex. Or not. Who's writing the Love Stories of our generation? And why are they bothering? Sentimental enthusiasts and cynical deniers take on the biggest theme of all.

Facilitator: Alice Gage

Artists: Naomi Stekelenberg & Matthew Lang & Chad Parkhill

Sat 1st October: Boy Meets Boy, Girl Meets Girl and then meet Boi: Queer Young Adult Fiction

Panel: 12:00-13:30

Location: The Royal Exchange, 32-34 Bolton Street, Newcastle East

Writers of LGBTQ YA fiction and queer theory buffs talk about hitting the double whammy of coming-of-age and coming out, school censorship and the dangers of getting pigeonholed

Facilitator: Matthew Lowe (BURN Writers' Collective)

Artists: Alasdair Duncan & Chad Parkhill & Matthew Lang & Brendan Lindsay (BURN Writers' Collective)

Sun 2nd October: Here's Where I Think I Went Wrong

Panel: 21:30-23:00

Location: The Royal Exchange, 32-34 Bolton Street, Newcastle East

Our own NYWF artists read stories about that fatal turning point where things went from bad to really really bad.

Artists:  Matthew Lang & Patrick O'Neil & Simon McInerney

Mr. Perfect now out as a standalone short!

So it's taken me a while to get on board with the whole ebook self publishing thing but I've finally taken the plunge and made my first short story, Mr. Perfect, available as a stand alone ebook over at Smashwords. Originally published by banQuetpress in their 2011 Men Anthology, Mr. Perfect was my first published short story and, having placed equal second in the 2010 Midsumma Sex Write Off, was the first story I ever made money from–unsurprisingly, it holds a rather special place in my heart. Special thanks to Richard Stansfield for the awesome cover art.

Mr. Perfect rather sarcastically follows the story of one Alexander "Lex" Cranbourne, a somewhat jaded geek attending a Live Action Role Play event at a local bar–and his encounter with another attendee that turns out to be a lot more than he bargained for.

Available for USD $4.99 at Smashwords, Mr. Perfect will hopefully soon be available on the rest of Smashwords' premium distribution channels, but in the interim, I've giving anyone who gets a copy from Smashwords in the next week a discount–just use the coupon code KL92M when ordering a copy and get 20% off the purchase price, so USD $3.99.

Purchase Mr. Perfect on Smashwords

Autographed Kindle eBook(s)!

One of the long standing issues with ebooks, is that to date it's been very difficult to get them personalised-i.e. signed and autographed-by an author. I've already posted about Autography, but now there's one for the Kindle.  I've just popped The Secret of Talmor Manor onto Kindlegraph, which will allow anyone who wants an autographed Kindle format ebook to request a digital autograph–simply search for the book on Kindlegraph and click the button to make a request-yes it is that easy!

Hope to see your requests soon!

Matt

EDIT: Alternatively you can visit my Kindlegraph Author Page!

Congratulations

Big congratulations to Aquarian Dancer for winning a copy of The Secret of Talmor Manor over at The Romance Reviews' Sizzling Summer Reads event. There's still a few more books and prizes up for grabs so if you're at all interested, head over and check them out!

Visit TRR to win a Talmor Manor eBook!

So The Romance Reviews are currently running a month of erotic and GLBT Sizzling Summer Reads (well, okay, it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere), and the important news is that in about ten days, you could win an eBook copy of The Secret of Talmor Manor, or indeed some other awesome book on offer. The best way to do that is to visit TRR, sign up as a member (it's free) and start answering questions. There's also some massive prizes above and beyond books, such as tickets to RomCon 2011 and a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate.

If any of that sounds interesting to you, head on over and best of luck!

Matt