Narrelle M. Harris's Blog, page 42

Competition: Win the Outland Series 1 DVD!

“In the closet, no one can hear you squeal.”

I have a theory that everyone has a secret second life. It’s not necessarily criminal or hideous: it’s just that I think almost all of us have a parts of our life that we like to keep separate.

For example, I was, for a short while, a secret nerd. People at school didn’t know about my fannish proclivities. Then, people at work had no idea about fanfic, conventions, my love of Blake’s 7 or my tendency to costume up for events.

Who am I kidding? I doubtlessly outed myself as a nerd within a week, and the older I get, the less I care what people think of my nerdery. I am out and proud.

But, my own singular lack of ability to separate my life into compartments, I know that other people keep sections of their life discrete.  There are all sorts of reasons for this, not all related to shame, but let’s face it, it’s a choice that most of us can relate to.

In early 2012, the ABC  TV comedy series Outland debuted on Australian television. The show is about people who are out and proud about their sexuality, but rather more in the closet about their nerdiness. The six-part series watches five queer nerds stumbled through life, love and SF references both popular and obscure, trying to find a place to belong.

It’s a story for everyone.

I’ve been part of the Outland story since its first manifestation as a short film, shot for $500 over two weekends in 2006. For this incarnation, I went along for the filming of the final episode to be part of the crowd scene set at the Mardi Gras (you can catch a glimpse of me in my corset during the final scenes!)

I love the result: the wit brought to bear on creating visual, musical and dialogue tributes to SF, fantasy and horror shows and films while maintaining humour, drama and a cast of characters who I actually cared about.

Outland was co-created and primarily written by John Richards, who happens to be my brother-in-law. Still, as I’m fond of saying, just because I’m biased, it doesn’t mean I’m wrong. I’m predisposed to love Outland because I love  John, and because he and I have a similar sense of humour. But I also love Outland because it’s fabulous. It’s warm, funny, smart, cheeky and clever.

Outland’s six episode run is over, but now it’s out on DVD with interviews, deleted scenes and other special features.

To celebrate Outland’s release, and the very fact it was made in the first place, I have a copy of the DVD, signed by John Richards, for someone to win! To win the DVD, tell me what your secret passion is. Do your friends know about your secret knitting habit? Does anyone at work know you collect commemorative plates about the monarchy? Do your SF nerd friends know you have a passion for football? Or Glee?

Email me at narrelle@iwriter.com.au to tell me your secret, and why it’s secret, to be in the running. Note that I would like to use your answers for a future blog, so tell me if you’d like me to use an alias to keep your secret safe!

Note, too, that Outland is a region 4 DVD, which plays on Australian or multi-region players. This means that people from outside Australia are very welcome to enter, but if you win, you may not be able to play the DVD.

If you just can’t wait, you can get Outland from the ABC shop.

The competition is open for two weeks until Wednesday 9 May 2012!

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

Behold: The cover of Walking Shadows!

cover by Daryl Lindquist

The cover for Walking Shadows was unveiled officially at Supanova on Saturday 14 April! Isn’t it glorious? It’s still being finalised and polished, particularly the back cover, but this is it! The Melbourne Arts Centre spire! A new vampire character! Undead shenanigans!

I’ve just sent off the latest draft, and if there are no significant edits to come, and if things keep to schedule, you can look forward to this sequel to The Opposite of Life coming out in June 2012.

JUNE!

That noise you hear is me, squeaking excitedly.

Here’s a little about the story!

Walking Shadows

Lissa Wilson’s world turned upside-down a year ago. People she cared about – one she could have loved – were murdered. By vampires. They tried to kill her, too.

On the plus side, she made a new friend. Gary Hooper might be Melbourne’s (or maybe the world’s) least impressive vampire, but he may be her best friend, ever.

Without meaning to, he changed her and he taught her the value of her life.

Knowing Lissa has changed Gary, too, even though he’s not really sure what it means. It doesn’t mean that Gary doesn’t have secrets, though. Secrets that might end their friendship, if Lissa ever learned about the services he provides the undead community.

And what’s an ordinary geekgirl librarian to do when hardcore vampire killers begin killing off Melbourne’s vampire population, and her undead bestie is on the hit list? Should she throw herself in mortal danger, despite having no battle skills, let alone supernatural strength?

Lissa risks everything to protect someone who should be perfectly capable of protecting himself. And Gary finds that the ways he’s changing might make him more human – if they don’t get him killed.

Everyone has secrets; everyone gets trapped by their history. How many can learn how to change? How many will live long enough to try?

Look out for Walking Shadows in June 2012!

Visit Clan Destine Press and join the mailing list.

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

April news: Supanova, GoodReads competition, May talks

I’m a busy little chickadee over the next few months. Well, I’ve been a busy little chickadee all year, but I frequently forget to let anyone know what I’m doing. So, for the novelty of it, I thought I might post about what I’m up to!

Supanova Melbourne

I will be appearing with my Clan Destine peeps at Supanova on Saturday 14th April. We will be holding a panel, Fangs, Felines and Fantasy at 11:20am, but I’ll be hanging about the Clan Destine booth a lot of the day too. (For the Outland fans, John Richards and Adam Richard will be there, talking about their show at 1:40pm, and signing copies of the DVD, now on sale.)

Get the Supanova event guide.

Showtime competition on GoodReads

Australians: You have until 16 April (Monday) to enter the GoodReads competition to win a copy of Showtime!

Canadians, Americans and Brits: You have until May 16 to win a copy of Showtime from GoodReads!

May talks

Well, it doesn’t really, but I will be speaking at various events during the month of May.

Tuesday 22 May 2012: Coburg Library – Growing Up Reading, 7pm

Cnr Victoria and Louisa Streets, Coburg 3058

“Author Narrelle Harris, a passionate and voracious reader, is an enthusiastic Friend of the National Year of Reading. Narrelle will share what reading meant to her as a child growing up in a house full of books and how it shaped her love of reading as an adult. Come and share your experience of reading, your favourite books and what they have meant to you. Be prepared for an inspirational celebration of the joy of reading.

Bookings: (03) 9353 4000

31 May 2012, 9pm: Emerging Writers Festival

I’ll be doing a Ghost Story reading at the Emerging Writers Festival this May. Stay tuned for confirmation of date, time and venue. And I’d better write something…

Other things are happening in June, July and August, so check out my Events page for details.

 

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

Review: Matilda Told Such Dreadful Lies – The Essential Lucy Sussex (AWW Challenge #7)

It's been a while since my last Australian Women Writers challenge post. That's because I've been immersed in Lucy Sussex World, reading-wise, since February.

The Essential Lucy Sussex is 500-odd pages of some of the most textured, intelligent, witty, erudite and imaginative spec fic ever produced. That's not what took me so long to read it, though. The book is also bloody heavy, which created certain problems with trying to keep it open as I read over breakfast. The whole experience prompted a blog post about some things I really like about e-books.

Still, the physical weight of the thing notwithstanding, this collection is full of heft on its own accord. Which isn't to say it isn't also sometimes melancholy, funny or even surprising. The 25 stories that make up this collection are textured and fabulous.

Particular favourites in a book stuffed full of goodness are:

My Lady Tongue: This SF story about the vibrant Saffy, from a wimmin's commune, getting injured and ending up in the care of her natural enemy, a man remains as fresh and exciting as the first time I read it. It references Shakespeare, particularly Beatrice and Benedick and their sharp, sparring dialogue. Such a fresh, lively voice in Saffy, is a joy to read and re-read.

Duchess: I'm not much into fashion, but this story make me see the attraction, with this intelligent, outrageous character and the suggestions of displacement in time, though it could just be madness.

Ardent Clouds: Love, volcanoes and disaster. Beautiful.

La Sentinelle: An intriguing take on the legendof the golem. I've always thought lifelike dolls were kind of creepy. This story has set the seal on that opinion.

Something Better than Death: This is a modern take and entertaining analysis of the folk tale of The Musicians of Bremen. It demonstrates Lucy's capacity to go off in surprising directions, though admittedly, most of her stories do that.

Matilda Told Such Dreadful Lies:  A sly and entertaining retelling of the Waltzing Matilda story by the other witness to those (and related) events.

The collection contains a lot of stories playing with history, versions of reality, research and discovery, and twists on old folk tales. Every story shines a lot on something you knew nothing about, or thought you knew but didn't really.

LucySussex was born in New Zealand but now lives in Melbourne. She's researched and travelled widely, and has done Australian literature the great service of rediscovering one of the nation's (and first) nineteenth century crime writers, Mary Fortune.  Her awesomeness has many facets and very possibly no limits.

If you haven't heard of Lucy Sussex, you should have. This amazing collection of her body of work spannign almost 20 year is not the whole of Lucy Sussex, but I'd agree it's essential.

If you feel a bit daunted by the size of the book, get Lucy's Twelve Planets book, Thief of Lives, first. You'll be rushing to get her back catalogue once you've whet your appetite.

Buy Matilda Told Such Dreadful Lies: The Essential Lucy Sussex
Buy Thief of Lives in paperback or for Kindle at Thief of Lives (Twelve Planets)

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

Give me your tales of library loss woe

I once left a library book on  a train. I was terribly upset for two reasons. One. It was a library book, not my book, and it felt almost like stealing through negligence. Two. I hadn't finished reading it!

And, actually, three. It was a library book. I know that's just One again, but I felt really bad about it.

Losing library books feels like stealing food from the starving poor. Or being mean to puppies. Or something.

The book was Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World, so it wasn't like I was waiting to find out whodunnit, or whether the secret plans were recovered, or if Frodo really got to Mordor. But it was a damned good book.

Lost and Found never found it, so I duly called the library and paid for the replacement, and because I couldn't wait, I also bought my own copy of the book and finished it.  *aaaaah, the literary relief of it*

I thought of this incident at the beginning of the year when I read about the anonymous return of an overdue library book 27 years after the fact.

I was impressed that someone wanted to do the right thing after all that time, and the financial cunning they showed in doing it anonymously.  Even though I know the library would not have charged them the nearly $3000 in overdue fees, because libraries don't actually work like that.

Sadly, when I was a teenager, I met someone who confessed that they stole books from the local library. I can't even remember now whether or not she read them, or just nicked them for the fun of it. I remember being horrified and we stopped being friends shortly afterwards.

The weird thing is that I was mortified partly because, you know, theft, but mostly because, you know, theft from a library. I don't know why that makes it worse, except, of course, that libraries are sacrosanct.

I'm assuming I'm not the only one with an intense quasi-sacred regard for library books. So please, share your library-book-pain stories with me, and we can all go seek therapy together.

Five by five by all the books

Reading paper books over breakfast can be problematic.

I was having the usual 'physical books versus e-books' discussion with someone on the weekend, and I came to my usual conclusion: that the worst book in the world cannot be made better by being made of paper, and the best book in the world isn't diminished by being electronic. I think I always end up sounding like I don't like regular ol' books, when I'm really very fond of them. It's just that I also like e-books. I'm fond of them, too. They suit aspects of my life admirably, moreso than ink and dead trees. Yet. Ink and dead trees can be SO LOVELY.

So here's my top 5 reasons for loving e-books; and my top 5 reasons for loving paper books.

Traditional papery paper books with shiny covers? I'll give you five reasons why you make my heart go pitter-pat.

SHINY COVERS. Not all covers are lovely of course, but oh, those little artists' impressions of what your innards are like? I adore them. I like to look at you and guess if I'm going to love you from your wrapping. Or if you're going to disappoint me terribly. Or if you're going to be an ugly ducking that grows up, by page 87, to be the bestest, most beautiful swan in the 'verse. You're tricky, cover art, but I love you.
THICK PAPER. Some books, usually those with hard covers, have gloriously thick paper. It's lush. It's gorgeously tactile. I love the feel of turning a page of thick, textured paper. It takes reading from an intellectual and emotional exercise to one of physical sensation as well. Most books don't have really lovely paper like this, but those that do… it's a sensual experience. Even when the book sucks (which is a bit like fancying someone who dresses beautifully but turns out to be an arse, sadly).
I CAN SPY ON WHAT YOU'RE READING. I confess, I'm a snoop. My husband tells me it's perfectly natural, because I'm a writer. He sometimes threatens to make me a License To Be Nosy to flash around on the tram. Maybe I could use it to find out what people are reading on their sneaky e-readers. Hilarious erotica, possibly. I like peeking at what people are reading, though, either at the cover or, if I'm well positioned on the tram, over their shoulder to see what's in the header. Maybe a couple of paragraphs. Yes, I know. I'm creepy. But I love how paper books conspire with me in public places like that.
TANGIBLE PROGRESS. It's quite nice to see my bookmark moving along the pages in that steadfast, inexorable fashion. My e-reader shows me a little dotted line; sometimes a percentage. Doesn't seem quite so satisfying, somehow. Which leads me on to…
BOOKMARKS! I have a nice little selection of bookmarks. Some of them I've had for years. Some of them I even remember to USE, instead of the bus tickets, cafe receipts, chopsticks wrappers and occasional bits of torn envelope.

E-books, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

I CAN READ YOU WHILE EATING. I can open you to a page and pick up my knife and fork and you will not flow determinedly shut from the force of your excellent binding. You will allow me to rend my eggs and bacon into bite-sized pieces and simultaneously get on with the awesomeness of the story I am currently so steeped in that frankly, it's lucky I remembered I need to eat. And I can change pages with a press of a button that only takes one finger! No more having to lay down arms, move the glasses case/travel guide/brick/cat I've been using to hold the pages down so I can either see the obscured paragraph or turn the page!
YOU ARE SPLASH RESISTANT! And no sauce stains on The Hunger Games, or the Return of Sherlock Holmes, or anything by Lois McMaster Bujold, because I can wipe away the evidence of my grubbiness.  Take that, inability to eat tidily!
DICTIONARY! So that when I'm reading, and there's a new word, I can just highlight you (or tap on you if I'm reading on my iPhone) and my vocabulary E-X-P-A-N-D-S with hardly any effort. Ah, little e-book, whisper brand new words into my ear as often as you like. I can't get enough of you. I sometimes find myself tapping at words on a printed page in vain, and then I get pouty. Paper books should have inbuilt dictionaries too. *sulk*
E-BOOKS, LIKE GOD, ARE EVERYWHERE AT ONCE! I start reading a book on my Kindle at home! The battery goes flat while I'm out, OH NOES! but hello there, little iPhone, with your synchronised Kindle cloud, remembering where I am up to! Bless you! When I've recharged my Kindle, LO! the synch has spoken to you and you take me to the right place again. And if I give up on both of you and turn on my computer – WELL HELLO KINDLE APP ON MY DESKTOP.  So versatile.
A HUNDRED BOOKS WEIGH THE SAME AS ONE. When I travel, I can take every book I want to read. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Even though I only ever travel with a small backback and a handbag. Because all the books fit into my one, petite, handy-dandy, purple-case-wrapped lovely little Kindle. I love you, compact little Kindle!

Got any loves of your own, for either format? Share the delight!

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

It’s Showtime!!

This week on International Women’s Day (8 March), Twelfth Planet Press announced the official release of my new short story collection, Showtime!

I’m so excited to be part of TPP’s Twelve Planets series. I’m also excited to bring you four domestic (but not domesticated) horror stories.

Stalemate

- a kitchen ghost story
Thrall

- a Hungarian vampire finds the 21st Century doesn’t agree with him, and all he has to help him remedy the situation is a dowdy middle aged mum. With allergies.
The Truth About Brains

- a teenage girl’s little brother gets turned into a zombie, and she’s trying to fix him before mum finds out.
Showtime

- Gary the vampire and Lissa the librarian from The Opposite of Life go to the Royal Melbourne Show. Lissa is annoyed to discover vampires up to No Good at the Haunted House. Terrified, but mostly really annoyed.

US Author Seanan Maguire wrote a magnificent introduction to the collection that makes me feel amazed that someone could like something I wrote so much, and see so much in it.

An e-version will be available in due course, but in the meantime buy Showtime from Twelfth Planet Press.

Some bookstores stock TPP books, too, including Embiggen Books on Little Lonsdale Street and Notions Unlimited in Chelsea, so check with them. If you want your own local bookstore to order it in, the details are: Showtime by Narrelle M Harris, published by Twelfth Planet Press, ISBN 978-0-9872162-0-5.

The official blurb:

Family drama can be found anywhere: in kitchens, in cafes. Derelict hotels, showground rides. Even dungeons far below ruined Hungarian castles. (Okay, especially in Hungarian dungeons.)

Old family fights can go on forever, especially if you’re undead. If an opportunity came to save someone else’s family, the way you couldn’t save your own, would you take it?

Your family might include ghosts, or zombies, or vampires. Maybe they just have allergies. Nobody’s perfect.

Family history can weigh on the present like a stone.  But the thing about families is, you can’t escape them. Not ever. And mostly, you don’t want to.

It’s a beautiful collection of pieces, each one utterly classic and completely new at the same time… In Narrelle’s hands, everything old is new again, and everything new has the weight of age.  There’s magic in that, and in this book. — Seanan McGuire

These Australians give me hope for the future of female, and even feminist, writers in SF. – Gwyenth Jones

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

It's Showtime!!

This week on International Women's Day (8 March), Twelfth Planet Press announced the official release of my new short story collection, Showtime!

I'm so excited to be part of TPP's Twelve Planets series. I'm also excited to bring you four domestic (but not domesticated) horror stories.

Stalemate

- a kitchen ghost story
Thrall

- a Hungarian vampire finds the 21st Century doesn't agree with him, and all he has to help him remedy the situation is a dowdy middle aged mum. With allergies.
The Truth About Brains

- a teenage girl's little brother gets turned into a zombie, and she's trying to fix him before mum finds out.
Showtime

- Gary the vampire and Lissa the librarian from The Opposite of Life go to the Royal Melbourne Show. Lissa is annoyed to discover vampires up to No Good at the Haunted House. Terrified, but mostly really annoyed.

US Author Seanan Maguire wrote a magnificent introduction to the collection that makes me feel amazed that someone could like something I wrote so much, and see so much in it.

An e-version will be available in due course, but in the meantime buy Showtime from Twelfth Planet Press.

Some bookstores stock TPP books, too, including Embiggen Books on Little Lonsdale Street and Notions Unlimited in Chelsea, so check with them. If you want your own local bookstore to order it in, the details are: Showtime by Narrelle M Harris, published by Twelfth Planet Press, ISBN 978-0-9872162-0-5.

The official blurb:

Family drama can be found anywhere: in kitchens, in cafes. Derelict hotels, showground rides. Even dungeons far below ruined Hungarian castles. (Okay, especially in Hungarian dungeons.)

Old family fights can go on forever, especially if you're undead. If an opportunity came to save someone else's family, the way you couldn't save your own, would you take it?

Your family might include ghosts, or zombies, or vampires. Maybe they just have allergies. Nobody's perfect.

Family history can weigh on the present like a stone.  But the thing about families is, you can't escape them. Not ever. And mostly, you don't want to.

It's a beautiful collection of pieces, each one utterly classic and completely new at the same time… In Narrelle's hands, everything old is new again, and everything new has the weight of age.  There's magic in that, and in this book. — Seanan McGuire

These Australians give me hope for the future of female, and even feminist, writers in SF. – Gwyenth Jones

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

Review: Walking the Tree by Kaaron Warren (AWW Challenge #6)

I've heard a lot about the publisher, Angry Robot, spoken of with enthusiasm and maybe a little awe by the likes of Alisa Krasnostein of Twelfth Planet Press and Tasmanian writer, Tansy Rayner Roberts. I had no idea Walking the Tree was an Angry Robot book, so I was killed two curiosity-birds with one e-purchase. The main reason for the purchase was to find out more about Kaaron Warren, who was also spoken of with much admiration.

Walking the Tree tells of a group of women who chosen to be 'teachers', who take a group of kids from their home village of Ombu on a pilgrimage around their island home, Botanica. The women are seeking other communities in which to settle and bear children (doing so within their own communities is taboo, because they are too closely related to the menfolk). The children go to learn about their world and the different societies that inhabit it. We see the journey mainly through the eyes of Lillah.

It took a little while to get my head around Walking the Tree. I definitely liked the writing style and the ideas. The world of Botanica was intricately built, both in its people and in the societies that lived around the girth of the giant tree that swallowed up the middle of the island. And when I say 'giant', I mean that the characters who go on the traditional pilgrimage around the tree know it will take five years to do so.

Five years. That's one big-ass tree.

It took a little while to warm to the voice Warren use to tell the story. It has a quality of fable about it, like a very old fashioned fairy tale or Sir Thomas Moore's Utopia. The story didn't unfold the way I expected it to, either. I've was expected an adventure story, following Lillah's journey of self-discovery, perhaps. And it's not that there isn't one of those. But while Lillah seems to be at the centre of the story, she's actually just the eyes through which we see the centre. Which is the tree and all the societies around it.

And about half way through the book, I got it. The purpose of the story is not to unravel and delve into the person of Lillah – it's to unravel the world.

Walking the Tree is not one woman's 'adventure'. It's more like a modern Chaucer's Tales or The Pilgrim's Progress. It's a science fiction fable.

The quality of the writing and the vividly drawn world kept me involved even when I wasn't sure what kind of story I was reading. And once I cottoned on, well, the whole book crystallised for me.

Kaaren Warren, in taking us on this pilgrimage around the tree, shows us intricate layers of ideas and meaning about women, relationships, belief and society.  Each society has different attitudes to the tree, to men and women, to the ocean and to death, creating a fabulous well that Lillah and the other pilgrims can dip into to unravel the ways that humanity is still, well, very human.

The characters are more than archetypes, though they are less individual, perhaps, than the world they inhabit. Lillah and her young charge, Morace, are intriguing and able guides to the world.

I'm glad I found a way to look at the book that clicked for me. It took my enjoyment of the prose to another level, to enjoy the entire spirit of the book.

Get Walking the Tree from Angry Robots
Read some sample chapters

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

2012 Chronos Awards: For Your Consideration

The Devil's Mixtape: Eligible for Best Long Fiction and Best Artwork

Nominations for the 2012 Chronos Awards are open until 18 March, so if you read or saw some terrific specfic, horror or fantasy in 2011 by a Victorian, you should consider sending in a nomination.

If you're not familiar with the Chronos Awards, they were introduced to celebrate "excellence in Victorian SF, Fantasy and Horror". It's a great opportunity for the Victorian fan community to recognise the talent in its midst. A work needs four nominations to make it onto the ballot, so obviously the more people who are involved in the nominatino process, as well as the voting, the more representative the awards are.

A list of works eligible for nomination is under construction, but I thought I would highlight a few works on this blog as well. Where I've reviewed the item, I'm linking to my review of the work.

Professional Categories:
Best Long Fiction (including collected works)

Lucy Sussex: Matilda Told Such Dreadful Lies
Lucy Sussex: Thief of Lives (reviewed on GoodReads)
Paul Haines: The Last Days of Kali Yuga (reviewed on GoodReads)
Meg Mundell: Black Glass (reviewed on Mortal Words)
Mary Borsellino: The Devil's Mixtape (reviewed on Mortal Words)
AK Wrox: Arabella Candellabra and the Questy Thing to End All Questy Things (reviewed on GoodReads)
Helen Patrice: poetry chapbook A Woman of Mars
Karen Healey: The Shattering (reviewed on GoodReads)

Best Short Fiction

Steve Cameron: So Sad, The Lighthouse Keeper published in Anywhere But Earth
Lucy Sussex: Thief of Lives published in Thief of Lives

Best Artwork

Audrey Fox: cover for The Devil's Mixtape.
A Golem Story by Lally Katz, Michael Kantor [theatre] (reviewed on Mortal Words)

Fan Categories:
Best Fan Publication in any Medium

Bad Film Diaries (podcast), by Grant Watson.
Galactic Suburbia (podcast), by Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Alex Pierce.
The Writer and the Critic (podcast), hosted by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
PaleoCinema (podcast) hosted by Terry Frost
Boxcutters (podcast), episode 269 "Making SciFi TV for Adults", by Josh Kinal, John Richards, et al.
Dark Matter, fanzine edited by Nalini Haynes.
Ethel the Aardvark (MSFC club magazine).

Best Fan Written Work

Your Heart Is A Weapon the Size of Your Fist by Mary Borsellino, Hunger Games essay examining love as a political act published in The Girl Who Was on Fire. (Reviewed on Mortal Words)
Reviews by various folks in fanzines and blogs, including reviews by Steven Cameron, Nalini Haynes, Chuck McKenzie, George Ivanoff and even mine from this blog. You guys probaby know more about the reviewers you follow and like than me, but don't forget they're eligible in this category.

Special Award for works not eligible in existing categories:
Best Achievement

Computer animated book trailer for Gamers' Challenge by George Ivanoff, created by Henry Gibbens.

This list is a very limited idea of the bodhy of work that's eligible for nomination. If you've been impressed by a Victorian's work in 2011, please take a moment to contact the Continuum 8 awards committee to send them your nominations.

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.