a meme for writers

[adelaidesean]

What was the very first bio you ever had published?

Mine was:

"Sean Williams lives in Adelaide and Play [sic] Radio is his first short story to appear in print. He is the son of a priest and says he's an atheist and non-practising witch. Apart from hoping to one day write professionally, Sean is also studying part time for his BA in music, and has also won the SA 1984 Young Composer Award. He is currently working on a novel about the music scene in Adelaide."

(The Esoteric Order of Dagon (EOD) Magazine, May 1991)

Things have changed just a tad since then.

Post links if you put up your own. I'm curious.

Comments

[gloripebbles.livejournal.com]

So your one day has come :)

I've been able to avoid bios completely. Not going to cross that hurdle anytime soon, which is not a bad thing in my book (because you know they are all very wet & underwater. The ink would run and all).

First bio

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not really Anonymous, and I don't have a fucking LJ account, and I'm certainly not going to "create one now" as the software demands. Oh well. Anyway...

According to that sterling book THE ROAD TO EMMAUS: A HISTORY OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT CONGREGATION IN AUSTRALIA (2007), by the excellently-named historian Damien Cash,

"...the editor of the MONSTRANCE, Fr John Gartner... published Broderick's article `The God of the Eucharist'... in June 1960. The young writer was miffed that Gartner had described him as `a 16 year old student in our House of Studies in Bowral (he was only 15)" (p. 250). When I wrote and submitted my pantheistic little effusion, that is.

Ho hum. But at least my *father* wasn't a priest...

Damien

Re: First bio

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

But at least my *father* wasn't a priest...

Nor would you have boasted about it in a bio, I suspect.

So many great titles in your post, Damien. Makes me want to write a thumping great space opera, THE GOD OF MONSTRANCE...

my bio from November 2001 (Newcastle Young Writers' Festival one, I think)

[(Anonymous)]

Aw - the embarrassment. And it was in clunky 10 point Courier, too, and I put it together on a clunky old B/W Mac Laptop.

"Kirsty Brooks is a freelance writer and editor. She has written a weekly column about the Internet for the Independent newspaper,"The Republican.", short stories, reviews and articles for magazines such as the Weekend Australian, Cleo and On The Street, as well as two non-fiction books. She also reviews websites and books for Netsurfer Digest in the US and spends an embarrassing amount of time on her computer.

Her first book "Hitching: tales from the byways and superhighways" was released in late 1995 and her second, "MadLove", in May last year. She has recently finished her first fiction novel which has been taken on by Sydney agent Mary Cunnane. She is working on two more while working at The South Australian Writers' Centre and Driftwood Manuscript Assessment agency.
She has a Journalism Degree and is nearly finished an Advanced Diploma in Professional Writing.
Her partner, Sean Williams, is an internationally published SF writer and has tried to teach her about the grey between the black and white. She still does not believe it's there."

Yes, I think EVERYTHING changed. Not even the same agent, or genre, or writing oeuvre, or fellow.
Oh, but how I love how I plump up any old crap. I can see through a flimsy bio these days like a robot from the future.
Andfrankly, from listenignt o a LOT of genre podcasts and reading related blogs the boast is born from this urge to big up what is not there. The inability to let the work speak for itself, but to 'announce' every prize and consideration and glance from a publisher. It's a short skip from turning your ugly caterpillar (unpublishable work) into a butterfly (excellent shit).

Small unrelated aside: Has anyone ever done a study on what life-freak out a caterpillar expereinces once he/she turns into a butterfly? It must be the mother of all surprises (and uncomfortable moments).

cheers!
kb.

[bluetyson.livejournal.com]

You skipped the MD then, Buckaroo? ;-)

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

You never got your BA in music? You are no longer a non-practicing witch? And you never finished that novel about he Adelaide music scene? All disappointing. Good thing you made up for it with that professional writer thing.

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

BTW In Adelaide next week.

[maelorin]

i can't find any of the bios that have gone with publications of mine.

but then mine have mostly been tedious academic works, or reviews of the same.

[mondyboy.livejournal.com]

This was my first. Actually it's only 2 years old.

IAN MOND has been scribbling Doctor Who stories since he was ten years old. It's only recently that they've started being published in anthologies such as the Short Trips collections Past Tense, Monsters (both co-written with Danny Oz) and A Day in The Life, and Myth Makers. Ian has written for the Doctor's former companion Bernice Summerfield in three short-story collections - A Life During Wartime, A Life Worth Living and Something Changed. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, and recommends people read Les Carlyon's book Gallipoli if they want to know more about that tragic campaign.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

only 2 years old.

Aw, just a baby. Wait until it's a teenager and making you feel old just by existing. :-)

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Is it possible to be a non-non-practising witch? Maybe I just lapsed from lapsing...

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Ah, excellent! We must catch up. Shoot me an email and we'll try to fit something in. Are you catching the train down?

Re: my bio from November 2001 (Newcastle Young Writers' Festival one, I think)

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping one does feel like a butterfly rather than Gregor Samsa in "The Metamorphosis"...

It's hard to believe that little time capsule was laid down ten years ago, KB. Where did the decade go?

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Foolish me. Always following my heart and not my head!

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Sad record-keeper that I am, I have an ever-expanding file on my computer in which I've kept every bio I've written since around 1994. Mainly because, every time I need one, I go to that file, copy the latest one and tinker with it until it's right, and so on. The file is up to around 18,000 words now, which is a LOT of 100-word bios...

[bluetyson.livejournal.com]

Oh well, someone else will have to deal with the next appearance of the Oscillation Overthruster then. :)

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't that meant you are not practising? Do you need suitable subjects for turning into toads? 'CauseI'd like to nominate my boss.....

[maelorin]

lol! i make up new stuff each time. depending on who i think i'm supposed to impress :p

i'm equally ... predictable ... but i keep filing the archive discs irregularly O.o

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Ah, cats, girls and a good book or two. Whatever happened to sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll? :-)

(I know which I prefer.)

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it's hard to tell who we're trying to impress: the editors, the readers, or ourselves.

I found bios for a couple of my minor pseudonyms while digging around in that file. Here's one:

"Ed Story was born in Cleve, SA, and raised in Adelaide; he studied Civil Engineering in Perth and now lives in Darwin. Thirty-three years old and happily married (to Liz) with two young children (Luke and Sarah-Jane), he has been writing on and off for eight years."

What a fanboy! For the record, he also had a dog called Darth.

[maelorin]

lol.

as i read this, this old tv tune came to mind: "travelling[sic] round the countryside, ask the leyland brothers!" :p

at least the fandom was subtle(ish). no mention of coruscant, tatooine or gallifrey.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

"travelling[sic] round the countryside, ask the leyland brothers!"

Now I have it in my mind too. Argh!

:-)

[maelorin]

Travel all over the countryside
Ask the Leylands, ask the Leylands
Travel all over the countryside
Ask the Leyland brothers.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Argh! What a terrible thing to be reminded of, first thing in the morning!

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Sure! Zapping people's bosses could be quite a lucrative sideline.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Lane. I'm really pleased you like the books. This is the best forum of all to hear it. :-)

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Hey, I loved that old novel! Must dig it out and read it again. Still waiting to see my first $200 note. That was your invention, wasn't it?

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

That's great news, Paul, and a great title! I look forward to reading it.

Over the weekend I was writing story notes for the "best of" collection, and am now appalled by how much I've forgotten. Most of the pieces were written 10-15 years ago, and they might as well have been channelled from another plane. Glad to know I'm not the only one in that boat. :-)

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

It won't be a mad fan who kills me; it'll be working too hard. I'm very keen to decrease the output a tad, and am exploring ways to do that in the very near future.

The vast mound of unpublished mss held in the University of Queensland archives proves just how little of that posthumous material would ever be considered classic. There's a reason it's never been published. :-)

And yes: longevity for the sake of Art is a very worthy goal. May we all achieve it, and soon!

[millisynth.livejournal.com]

It beats Alby Mangles "We're going north on a northern safari..."

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Luckily that's a song I've never heard. Wrong generation. :-)