Delete everything*, she said. And we thought, perhaps, she meant only the difficult things. The things that would betray us. But everything also meant that time we dyed one of the chickens blue, accidentally of course, and then blow-dried it through the wire of its pen. Everything meant that kiss … Continue reading
I set a writer I am working with the challenge of writing a 200-word story every day for two weeks. Each one has to be self-contained: each one featuring a new story, a new character/s. I firmly believe that I should never set someone a task I wouldn’t be prepared to undertake … Continue reading
Many moons ago, Jessica White tagged me in a ‘blog hop’. I only had to answer five questions, but it has taken me more than a month to get to it. In my defence: the questions were HARD! What am I working on now? I’m a bit of a bower-bird … Continue reading
I’m usually pretty resistant to the kind of colour-by-numbers approach that many Hollywood screenwriters seem to recommend. It works fine for them, most of the time, but it’s not the process for me. My own process is more organic and chaotic, though it’s also contained and reliable. (I AM going … Continue reading
At night, the monster pads down the hall. Her bare feet are soft on the floorboards. Who’s that trip-trap-tripping down my hall? Who’s that rap-rip-rapping at my door? At night, the monster comes into my bed. She lies down beside me. Her hair is pale as wheat. Her lips are … Continue reading
I talk to the divine Ms Alex over at galactic Chat about lots of things: Rupetta, feminism, Wiscon and the Tiptree Award.
This is the abstract for a paper I’m hoping to deliver at the 2014 AAWP conference, Minding the Gap: Writing Across Thresholds and Fault Lines. The conference will take place in Wellington, New Zealand, 30 November — Throughout literary history, a number of women writers have taken on male noms … Continue reading
So, it’s about time I revisited this site, updated its look and started, like, actually posting stuff here. I mean, new stuff. So, this week, this site will be UNDER CONSTRUCTION while I work on that. Gotany suggestions? I’d love to hear from you.
I hope you’ll be attending GenreCon this year — it’s going to be an amazing event, with a rich and diverse program of panels, discussions, workshops, debates and other wonders. I’ll be making two ‘official’ appearances. The Joy of Writing workshop will take place from 1:30 – 5:30 pm on … Continue reading
Commonwealth Writers has re-focused its prizes to concentrate on the Short Story. It will no longer offer the Commonwealth Book Prize. Commonwealth Writers develops the craft of individual writers and builds communities of emerging voices which can influence the decision-making processes affecting their lives. The Short Story Prize aims to identify talented … Continue reading