Mark Webb's Blog, page 25

Australian Women Writers’ challenge 2013

The 2012 Australian Women Writers’ Challenge was an outstanding experience for me. The cause was worthy – challenging the lack of critical attention for Australian women authors. The personal benefits were fantastic – providing the impetus to expand my exposure to interesting authors I hadn’t had the chance to experience

As you can see from my from earlier in the year, I was able to meet the challenge goal of reading and reviewing at least 10 books by Australian wo...

Aurealis #56 (November 2012) – review

Issue #56 from November 2012 of theAurealismagazine is a monthly magazine showcasing Australian speculative fiction and with an emphasis on Australian content and news. This edition was edited byDirk Strasser. This month is a second “Award Winners” editions, with two short stories that won Aurealis Awards this year. This is really the last edition of Aurealis for 2012 (I know, I mistakenly said that last month!), with the publication kicking off again in 2013.

Fittingly, Strasser’s editorial f...

The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson – review

I read this novella on the basis that it was a) by Brandon Sanderson, a writer whose work I have enjoyed b) the subject of a recent episode of the Writing Excusespodcast (which features Sanderson) where they deconstructed the structure and writing choices and c) short.

Sanderson is famous for the rigour and inventiveness of his magic systems and this book is no different. Practitioners in this world are able to adjust the history of an item by the creation of a complicated stamp, and this give...

Scrivener to Smashwords

I recently collected up the flash fiction pieces I have had published in Antipodean SF through 2012 and . It was an interesting experience and I thought I’d note down some of the things I encountered while it was still fresh.

Firstly, some background. I write on a Macbook Air using the writing software Scrivener. I have found Scrivener to be an excellent way of keeping my stories together and structured, and the product itself is very workman like....

Asimov’s Science Fiction – April/May 2012 – review

I have been very lax with my short fiction reading of late, and Asimov’s has suffered accordingly. I finally got back to reading this month, and the April/May 2012 edition was next on my catchup list.The editorial (by Sheila Williams) discussed reader reaction to the digital reading experience and Robert Silverberg’s Reflections talks about the interesting case of a music concert that is not expected to end until 2640. Intrigued? You’ll have to have a read to find out more.

The Last Judgement...

Cracklescape by Margo Lanagan – review

This review forms part of my contribution to theAustralian Women Writers 2012 Reading Challenge. All my AWWC reviews can be found.

Cracklescapeby Margo Lanaganis one of theTwelve Planets seriespublished byTwelfth Planet Press(12 boutique collections of stories by Australian women writers). It is made up of four shorter stories, including:

The Duchess Dresser
The Isles of the Sun
Bajazzle
Significant Dust

Cracklescape is a beautiful book, with the stylish writing that characterises Lanagan’s wor...

Salvage by Jason Nahrung – review

I didn’t really know what to expect fromSalvage by Jason Nahrungpublished by Twelfth Planet Press. I’ve read and enjoyed Nahrung’s short fiction in a variety of venues, so I knew enough about his preferred genre to assume this novella would be horror. I’d also picked up somewhere that there were vampires involved and it was set on Queensland island (a juxtaposition that sounded interesting), but beyond that nothing. I even avoided reviews from my usual sources so was able to come to the story...

A Flash in the Pan? now available through Smashwords

I’ve recently put my flash fiction pieces together into one (very small) eBook mainly to have them in one place (and to try out the Smashwords process, which was very interesting in and of itself). I’ve called the collection A Flash in the Pan? and it is available through Smashwords. Just to remind you, the collection includes:

Beware Antipodean Shores (50 words)
Shipwrecked (500 words)
The Gloriously Cunning Plan (500 words)
Make Mine a Macchiato (500 words)
Striking Twice (500 words)
In the Servi...