Angela Meyer's Blog, page 10

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

At the moment I’m reading fiction set in the C19th, but I’m also generally reading historical fiction (particularly books set partly in the present/partly in the past) for research reasons. This one I read as part of a wonderful MOOC I’m doing on historical fiction through the University of Virginia. Any other recommendations are welcome.

Connie is looking for a unique primary source on which to base her PhD research when she is given the task of cleaning out her grandmother’s house. She comes...

The Great Unknown authors: Ryan O’Neill

This is the third in a series of posts leading up to the release ofThe Great Unknown, where authors share their experience of writing eerie stories for the anthology, and give you an idea of what to expect (and, I hope, look forward to).The Great Unknownis available to pre-order fromBooktopia,Readings,Fishpond(free shipping worldwide) and all good bookstores. You might also want to add it to your shelves onGoodreads.

Today we hear from Ryan O’Neill (The Weight of a Human Heart) regarding his s...

1984

because:

Kirsten Krauth’s just_a_girl

This post is adapted from my speech for the Castlemaine launch of Kirsten Krauth’s just_a_girl.

There are three main characters in Kirsten Krauth’s excellent, powerful and confronting debut novel just_a_girl: teenage Layla, her mother Margot and a lonely Japanese man, Tadashi.

As someone who had the internet at Layla’s age—14—I would also say her experience as rendered in the novel is incredibly accurate. She acts out, though she’s never completely sure what she is acting out against. And that’...

The Great Unknown authors: Rhys Tate

This is the second in a series of posts leading up to the release ofThe Great Unknown, where authors share their experience of writing eerie stories for the anthology, and give you an idea of what to expect (and, I hope, look forward to).The Great Unknownis available to pre-order fromBooktopia,Readings,Fishpond(free shipping worldwide) and all good bookstores. You might also want to add it to your shelves onGoodreads.

Rhys Tate on writing his Carmel Bird Award shortlisted story ‘The Koala Mote...

The Great Unknown authors: Carmel Bird

This is the first in a series of posts leading up to the release ofThe Great Unknown, where authors share their experience of writing eerie stories for the anthology, and give you an idea of what to expect (and, I hope, look forward to). The Great Unknownis available to pre-order fromBooktopia, Readings, Fishpond(free shipping worldwide) and all good bookstores. You might also want to add it to your shelves on Goodreads.

Carmel Bird on writing ‘Hare’

I live in Castlemaine which is a small count...

Vertigo

Yesterday I climbed the mountain Beinn Eighe, and it was breathtaking. I get a bit of vertigo; when there’s a drop by the path I have to lean away from it and not look down or else my legs crumble and my head spins. As I laid in bed last night, my muscles humming with tiredness and pleasure, sleep came upon me as a drop, my head spun and I kicked out.

We’re staying on a small island, accessed by a footbridge. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. Like, ridiculously stunning....

Carmel Bird Award winner: Alex Cothren

I’m pleased to announce that the winner of the Carmel Bird Short Fiction Award 2013 is Alex Cothren, for his wonderful story ‘A Cure’. ‘A Cure’ stood out for me due to its imaginative speculation on the limits of ‘misery’ entertainment (and potential abuses of brain-tech), and questions it raises around the effects of saturation and over-stimulation. It’s an entertaining, smart and emotive story. It ticks all the boxes. I wasn’t surprised to hear that Alex took the competition/anthology brief...

Carmel Bird Award shortlist

The shortlist for the 2013 Carmel Bird Short Fiction Award has just been announced on the Spineless Wonders website. These are all excellent, imaginative stories, and I’m so excited that they will be joining those by the invited writers published inThe Great Unknown(including Carmel Bird herself).They range from an existential story from the POV of a pet bird (‘Bluey & Myrtle’by Mark O’Flynn), to two touching stories about women reconnecting with their families after strange happenings (‘Navi...

A few choice quotes from EIBF

Hello! I’ve been meaning to add a final post after Edinburgh International Book Festival 2013, with some of my favourite quotes in the sessions I went along to. These are basically tweets I sent out during the festival, gathered together:

Salman Rushdie described reclusive author Thomas Pynchon like this: he’s tall, wears lumberjack shirts & blue jeans, has Einstein-white hair and Bugs Bunny teeth.

A nice little exchange from John Freeman’s interview with Salman Rushdie:

‘One of the great pleasu...