Narrelle M. Harris's Blog

Review: Conversations with my Cat by Chuck McKenzie & Macready McKenzie (with Ripley McKenzie)

I’ve been reading Chuck McKenzie’s accounts of his conversations with his cat, posted sporadically on Facebook, for a while now, and the exchange always make me laugh. It’s the age-old double act with the hapless and confused (but occasionally triumphant) on one side, and a cat on the other.

These little chats are not twee or cutesie in the slightest. They’re sharp – as sharp as Macready’s claws, ever ready to be deployed to make a… ahem… point. The topics range from politics to poop, and the consequences of vet visits for both human and kitty, especially when certain ‘required procedures’ are enacted upon unsuspecting felines (and they get their revenge).

Full of dark humour, swearing, and the daily argy-bargy of cats and their people trying to establish dominance, Conversations with my Cat is full of dialogue very familiar to every cat owner in the world. It’s no coincidence that it’s also full of the deep fondness that humans have for their contrary and sometimes bossy best friends.

Looking for a delightful gift for the cat lover in your life, or the office Secret Santa/Kris Kringle – look no further!

You can get Conversations with my Cat at several different online stores, including:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/conversations-with-my-cat-chuck-mckenzie/1144011971https://bookshop.org/p/books/conversations-with-my-cat-chuck-mckenzie/20541110https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-My-Cat-Chuck-McKenzie-ebook/dp/B0CHHWWVC9https://www.amazon.com.au/Conversations-My-Cat-Chuck-McKenzie/dp/B0CHL3MB7D

Or ask your bookseller to order it in through IngramSpark (Australian RRP AU$24.99).

You can also contact the human author directly (through DMs on Instagram @chuck.mckenzie.author or Facebook) for a paperback signed by both Chuck and MacReady!

Review: Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch

There must be thousands of takes on the Arthurian legend by now, from Thomas Mallory to Rosemary Sutcliff; TV’s Arthur of the Britons to Merlin; Camelot 3000, The Kid Who Would Be King, books, graphic novels, musicals, movies, plays, poems…the list goes on and on.

Sophie Keetch’s Morgan is My Name is one of the latest contributions to this rich array of retellings, and one of the subset that focuses on the character of Morgaine/Morgan le Fay – or, as she fiercely insists in this new telling, Morgan.

Far from the Arthurian stereotype of evil, manipulative sorceress, we meet Morgan as an intelligent, strong-willed child who adores her father. This Morgan – third daughter of Lady Igraine and Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall – was born in a storm. (That unruly weather seems to animate her soul, and she is very much a child of the sea and of Cornwall.)

Things begin to unravel for Morgan and her family when her father marches out to war, and one night seems to return to spend the night with Igraine. Morgan sees him, wreathed in the mist of Merlin’s magic, and never realises until much later that this was not her father but Uther Pendragon, disguised so that he can claim Igraine. Her father is dead.

Uther soon takes over Tintagel, their castle home, and Morgan resists him with all her childish might. As she grows to womanhood, she falls injudiciously in love, discovers she has powers of healing, and is sent to a nunnery where she studies and expands her knowledge of the healing arts.

So while magic very much exists in this version of the legend, and is very important, it’s used sparingly. Instead, we see Morgan growing up restricted in her choices by and at the mercy of the untrustworthy men who control her life, despite her clear intelligence and independent spirit. Hope eventually comes in the shape of her half-brother, Arthur.

Keetch turns her back on the tropes of Morgan as a witch and seductress, showing us instead the forces that shape a young woman of learning, compassion and deep feeling. This is a creative feminist retelling of Morgan’s origins, and the Arthurian legend from her point of view. Morgan, her mother and sisters, and her friends from the nunnery are vividly drawn, along with their struggles to survive a difficult reality ruled by conceited, powerful men.

Morgan is My Name concludes the early part of Morgan’s life, but is ripe with potential to explore her role in a different interpretation of the legend. I’m looking forward to Keetch’s future books in this universe.

Review: Dream Weaver by Steven Paulsen

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the history of Central Asia in the last few months. One book on the period in which 19th Century UK and Russia played their ‘Great Game’ (and with countless lives) in the battle for borders and supremacy led to another, then another and thence down the rabbit hole to Steven Paulsen’s latest!

Dream Weaver is set in Anatolia – roughly, Turkey – in 1405, not long after the death of Genghis Khan’s spiritual successor, Timur Lenk (Tamburlaine), slaughtered millions in his conquest of the region. The Ottoman Sultan is also dead, and Empire is on the verge of civil was as his sons battle for power.

So far, so historically accurate, but Paulsen weaves fantastical elements in and out of the great characters and cultural details of the time.

A young orphan boy, 16 year old Ali, begins to have disturbing, prophetic dreams – only to learn that those dreams aren’t foretelling but creating the future. He soon finds himself pursued by those who want to enslave his powers to their own dark magic in order to take over the empire. At the same time, Ali is trying to understand his distressing abilities, to harness them for better uses, including the rescue of a kidnapped girl named Rose.

Dream Weaver paints a colourful, detailed picture of the land and times. It moves at a rollicking pace, only occasionally pausing for breath, as Ali falls into and out of (but mostly into) trouble in his attempts to evade mercenaries, save Rose, and find the sage, Lumen, who perhaps can help him learn to control his dangerous dreaming.

Kind-hearted Ali is well drawn, though some of the supporting characters can lack the same depth. But the book gathers up numerous threads as it reaches the finale and leaves enough opening for further books to explore those characters, along with Ali’s heritage, his powers, and his future in a near-reality world where blood magic still has a role to play in the battles to come.

Cover reveal: The She-Wolf of Baker Street

Cover art and design by Jill Harris

It’s my delight to share with you the fabulous cover of my upcoming novel, The She Wolf of Baker Street, a queer, modern, paranormal take on ACD’s classic characters. The cover design is by Jill Harris.

Audrey Hudson is the she-wolf in question, taking the lead in this contemporary, paranormal take on the residents of Baker Street.

After Sherlock Holmes “rescues” Audrey from a kidnapper, she offers him her upstairs flat in exchange for solving the unsolved murder of her family in Edinburgh. Sherlock’s being forced to theorise without data, however – he doesn’t know his new landlady and her late family are werewolves.

There’s a lot he doesn’t know about his attractive new flatmate, John Watson, too.

Momentum is added to the case as Sherlock’s investigations suggest a much bigger mystery is at play, involving Dartmoor, a Greek interpreter, Sherlock’s agoraphobic sister, Myca; Audrey’s long-dead love, Ruby Stockton; and the fate of Great Britain’s mystic heart.

Will Holmes be able to unravel the mysteries that have haunted Audrey’s life? And can Audrey protect her new pack, or is she about to lose those she loves once again to unknown enemies?

The She-Wolf of Baker Street is due out in the second half of 2023, around September, but you can pre-order it now in paperback or ebook!

Clamour and Mischief a finalist in the 2022 Aurealis Awards

I am absolutey over the moon to find that Clamour and Mischief is a finalist in the 2022 Aurealis Awards in the Best Anthology category.

I’m thrilled and thankful to have worked with so many brilliant and lovely authors, who were a pleasure to work with and who have made it such a wonderful book!

© altocello | https://altocello.com/

It’s also delightful to see that Queer Weird West Tales (in which I have a story) has also been nominated in the Best Anthology Category. Clan Destine Press author Robert Hood is also nominated for Best Horror Novel with Scavengers, and that Aaron Dries’ “Kookaburra Cruel” (from Clan Destine’s horror anthology, Damnation Games) is also a finalist.

Results will be announced in June at a ceremony in Canberra. In the meantime, thank you to all the fabulous writers who contributed to the anthology, and congratulations to all the other finalists in all categories. What excellent company to be in!

New Song Releases: Sink or Swim, Listening & Honour

Josh and I have had a very productive few months and since my last song post about “Illuminated”, we’ve complete three more songs!

Sink or Swim

This song is referenced in my novella Duo Ex Machina 3: Number One Fan, featuring the characters of Milo Bertolone and his boyfriend and music partner, Frank Capriano. Milo wrote this song in response to his mental health struggles, particularly with PTSD after being kidnapped and almost murdered in book 2 of the series. Lead vocals this time are by Ebony Gray, who has such a clear and pure voice!

Listening

The next two songs Josh and I worked on were inspired by Dr John Watson (in particular, a fanfic series I wrote a long time ago, in which John used to be in a band and then Sherlock found out. They still fight crime together, but John also writes songs about his life and about Sherlock).

“Listening” draws on the idea that after Sherlock’s disappearance at the Reichenbach Falls, and John’s return to London, that John hears his missing friend everywhere in the city that they both love. He’s haunted by his loss – and perhaps harbours a dream, a wish, a hope, that his friend may one day return. I sing lead on this one, and my thanks again to Josh for making me sound so good!

Honour

‘Honour’ is my take on how John Watson may feel about his his medals (in some interpretations he has at least one) and his experiences of PTSD (in A Study in Scarlet he tells Holmes “I object to rows because my nerves are shaken”). He is after all a battlefield doctor and returned soldier, wounded (perhaps twice) and mustered out to a civilian life where (until he meets Holmes) he feels lost.

So often we don’t truly see Watson because, as the narrator of his stories, he shines the light upon his much-admired friend. “Honour” is an exploration of what else might lie beneath the surface of fiction’s most famous biographer.

Musician, arranger and producer Joshua King sings the lead on this one, and the bagpipe section was improvised and performed by my brother Richard Harris, who is an excellent piper who has appeared professionally with pop stars and at the Edinburgh Tattoo!

I hope you enjoy the music. You can stream Duo Ex Machina songs on several platforms:

Spotify Soundcloud Apple Music Amazon

You can also buy the tracks directly from my KoFi shop.

The Opposite of Life – 2023 re-release!

The Opposite of Life 2023 ebook

I’m so delighted to announce that my long out of print vampire novel, The Opposite of Life, has been re-released by Clan Destine Press as an ebook.

First released in 2007, The Opposite of Life was praised by author Kerry Greenwood as ‘A well-made plot with a killer (literally) ending.’ True Blood author Charlaine Harris also read it and said on her website that, ‘It’s certainly a most unusual vampire novel. Lissa Wilson is a wonderful character; not because she’s an heroic supergirl, but because she rings true. If you can get this book, do.’

The Opposite of Life is the story of a very geeky librarian who stumbles into a series of murders in Melbourne. In trying to make sense of the deaths and her a past filled with traumatic loss, she discovers that vampires are real – but not all of them are killers. She meets another total geek – the painfully awkward vampire Gary Hooper, whom the vampire community has set onto investigating who is killing humans in such an unnecessary and awkward attention-getting way.

Lissa and Gary joins forces to get to the undead heart of the matter and to their joint surprise find they are becoming friends. But the idea of living forever can be a big temptation for someone who has lost so much, and the consequences of this investigation may affect Lissa much more closely than she could have expected.

The Opposite of Life (Vampires of Melbourne 1) at Clan Destine Press

Its sequel, Walking Shadows, currently being serialised on Narrelle’s Patreon, will be re-released in 2024. A third book in the series, Beyond Redemption, is being written and after being serialised on Patreon, will be released in late 2024.

The new covers were created by Jill Harris.

New Song Release: Illuminated

The latest Duo Ex Machina song project song has been released!

As with all the Duo Ex Machina songs, I wrote the lyrics and main melody; and it was refined, arranged and the music performed by Josh King of Golden Hour Studios.

This one is a bit different as, instead of getting in another vocalist, I’m the singer this time around! (Many thanks to Josh for the voice coaching and guidance through the recording process).

About Illuminated

This song was written for a BBC Sherlock fanfic series called Guitar Man, (which I wrote under the pseudonym 221b_hound). Guitar Man is an “epic-best-friends” interpretation of their relationship, which grew from a prompt that “John used to be in a band and Sherlock finds out”.

The song project in some ways began with that series, because I needed to write the songs that young John had played in his band. This meant I had to think about his back story and write the songs I think he would write, reflecting on his life and experiences. Our previous song release, Copper Beaches, was written from the PoV of that young John.

Illuminated is obviously a song that this fanficced John wrote about his new flatmate – a response to Sherlock telling him that, while not being luminous himself, he is a conductor of light in others. SUch a backhanded compliment, but in this lyric it has led John to reflect on his own dual nature (as doctor/soldier, follower/leader, and more). He acknowledges that however he receives and conducts light, he is very much illuminated by Sherlock’s incredible powers of observation, deductdion and crime-solving, which have given John new purpose after almost dying in Afghanistan and losing his military career.

The song also references Scotland Yard’s attitude to Sherlock, Sherlock’s comments on not being an angelm and the Gordian Knot.

This song is particularly close to my heart, as it’s one of the earliest ones that set me on the path of playing with lyrics and music again. It would mean a lot to me if you’d give it a listen

You can stream/listen to Illuminated on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes and Soundcloud, or buy it from my Ko-Fi site.

You can also listen to it here on YouTube (and subscribe if you’d like to know when Duo Ex Machina releases its next song!)

Review: The Whitewash by Siang Lu

Cover of The Whitewash

Siang Lu’s delightfully satire, The Whitewash, is part entertainment essay on the history of Asian cinema and the Hollywood beast, part farce about the spectacular failure of a breakthrough, big budget Asian-led extravaganza, part love letter to Asian cinema and even part (a small part) romance – and the whole package is fabulous, snarky fun.

The premise is that we’re seeing the transcripts of the interviews (and secret recordings) of all the players involved in the crafting of a Hollywood blockbuster. The film, Brood Empire, is meant to be based on a famous Chinese “Brando X” book series about which initially ripped off the James Bond franchise and then took off in a startlingly original direction. We see the promising start of casting and filming and watch as the whole thing fractures and crumbles.

Its development – and failure – are tracked through the eyes of the Hong Kong movie star, JK Jr, and his white stuntman Chase, the Chao dynasty of film makers, the producers, directors, the dodgy journalists of a click-bait online magazine Click Bae and the latter’s put-upon lawyer.

The epistolary nature of the book isn’t new, but taking the entries from verbal source material gives the entries vivid energy, texture and fresh life. The characters leap off the page as individuals in all their messy glory.

The tale speeds along, with vastly entertaining contradictions and brilliant use of footnotes. It’s also underpinned with both knowledge and succinct opinions on the history of Asian cinema, Hollywood appropriation and whitewashing of the martial arts genre, and film-making in general – delivered with great charm and affection as well as clear-eyed and wicked wit that deconstructs all the artifice, hope, self-delusion and joy of the industry, with a particular eye on revealing Hollywood’s persistent history of whitewashing, white saviours and overall racism.

The Whitewash references many of the “kung-fu” and other action films of my youth and up to more recent films, including Top Gun: Maverick, The Eternals and Shiang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In fact, the invented cinema history of JK Senior’s TV shows, the films made by the Chao family and previous attempts to film the Brando X books are so seamlessly interwoven with real films that I had visit IMDB to check the provenance of some films and performers to see where the lines were really drawn.

The Whitewash is a delicious satire which manages to be fond and funny as well as wickedly scathing, yet even-handed in its dismantling of the poor decisions, bad luck and general blame attached to the spectacular disaster that is the failure of its fictional film (which I very much wish, along with its fictional predecessors, existed for me to watch.)

I sometimes felt that Siang Lu had started out to write an informed essay about racism and Hollywood but his sense of the absurd guided him towards this fictionalised demonstration of his points. However it began, this book is an excellent result.

To add a final bit of metatextuality, Siang Lu has also created “the Beige Index”, a website which provides a measurement of ethnic representation in IMDB’s Top 250 films, over time. If you’re not sure the fiction proves his case, perhaps the statistics will.

https://thebeigeindex.com/film/tt0032551https://www.uqp.com.au/books/the-whitewash

The Whitewash – blurb

It sounded like a good idea at the time: A Hollywood spy thriller, starring, for the first time in history, an Asian male lead. With an estimated $350 million production budget and up-and-coming Hong Kong actor JK Jr, who, let’s be honest, is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but probably the hottest, Brood Empire was basically a sure thing. Until it wasn’t.

So how did it all fall apart? There were smart guys involved. So smart, so woke. So woke it hurts. There was top-notch talent across the board and the financial backing of a heavyweight Chinese studio. And yet, Brood Empire is remembered now not as a historical landmark of Asian representation that smashed the bamboo ceiling in Hollywood, but rather as a fiasco of seismic proportions.

The Whitewash is the definitive oral history of the whole sordid mess. Unofficial. Unasked for. Only intermittently fact-checked, and featuring a fool’s gallery of actors, producers, directors, film historians and scummy click-bait journalists, to answer the question of how it all went so horribly, horribly wrong.

Cover Reveal: Clamour and Mischief, ed. Narrelle M Harris

I’m so pleased to reveal the glorious cover of the upcoming Clan Destine Press anthology, Clamour and Mischief – with 16 fabulous stories about corvids.

© altocello | https://altocello.com/

The cover artwork is by the fabulously talented Andrea L Farley (aka Altocello) with graphic design by Willsin Rowe.

The anthology itself is due out in around November, and contains stories by fledgling and emerging writers as well as several award winning authors! I’m confident you’re going to love it!

“Once upon a Midnight” by Raymond Gates“All That Glitters” by GV Pearce“Sleuthing for a Cause” by Eugen Bacon“The Past is not a Present” by Geneve Flynn“Watchers” by Alex Marchant“The Song of Crows” by Jack Fennell“Kūpara and Tekoteko” by Lee Murray“Build Another Nest for Phantom Feathers” by RJK Lee“Branwen and the Three Ravens” by Dannye Chase“Seven for a Secret” by Narrelle M Harris“The Girl and the Crow” by R.D. White“The Jackdaw Maiden” by Katya de Becerra“The Language of Birds” by Jason Franks“Murder of Crows” by George Ivanoff“The Devil’s Teeth” by Tamara M Bailey“Quoth the Raven” by Gabiann Marin

The option to pre-order will be set up soon, so keep your eye on this site, Clan Destine Press, or on our respective Twitter handles, @daggyvamp and @clandestinepres for announcements.