Sean Williams

Thanks to the awesome efforts of angriest, Hope #2, the fundraiser fanzine helping the victims of the Victorian bushfires, is now out. It contains (among many other excellent things) my story "The Haunted Earth", which was inspired by a dream Shane Dix's son, Sam, had when he was a wee lad. The story was written in June, 1993, and has never been published before. I was reminded of it while teaching Clarion in January, when a story submitted for critique by Mac North turned out to have a very similar premise, as happens sometimes. I dug it out, found it surprisingly readable, and submitted it to Hope in the, well, hope that it would find a home. I'm very pleased it has.

This is my second story this year, and neither of them has appeared in print, per se. Hope is being distributed electronically at the moment (iirc) and "A Longing for the Dark" is only available as a reading by yours truly at Terra Incognita. Future releases, however, will be more traditionally distributed.

They are, for the record:
The Scarecrow (Broken Land, book 3, out now!)
The Grand Conjunction (Astropolis, book 3)
"A Glimpse of the Magnificent Structure (and the Threat it Entails)" (Godlike Machines)
"The Inevitable" (The New Space Opera 2)
"Ungentle Fire" (The Dragon Book: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy)
"The Spark (A Romance in Four Acts)" (Australian Legends of Fantasy)

I'm back from Canberra and Brisbane where I've had a lot of fun catching up with friends and celebrating the act of writing--something all of us have in common, even if our methods of celebration differ (mine seem to involve lots of red wine, but that will soon change). A big hello to everyone who danced, chatted, work-shopped, toasted, launched, or schmoozed their way across my path in recent days. My memories might be blurry, but the warm happy of companionship glows on.

A whole bunch of things have accrued while I was gone. I'll work my way through them over the next couple of days. Here's the first installment:

You can peer into my study (the place in which I spend about half my waking life) here, as part of the survey conducted by martinlivings. I was amazed while writing the accompanying blurb just how of much its contents relates to my personal as well as my professional life. Everything seems to have a story--and that's as it should be, I guess, for someone who makes a living from the damned things.

Cat Sparks informed me that we missed International Cephalapod Awareness Day. How did that happen?

Audible has bought Saturn Returns and the sequel novella Cenotaxis. I am dying to hear who will be cast as the voice of Imre Bergamasc!

For anyone in or near Adelaide on November 15, I'll be speaking alongside such literary greats as Nicholas Jose, Juan Garrido-Selgado and J M Cootzee at the Adelaide PEN "Denied a Voice" commemoration of the International Day of the Imprisoned Writer. That's between 12 and 2 on the lawns of the State Library of South Australia. Come along and help raise awareness of those with fewer freedoms than us--and remember how those freedoms we do have have been significantly eroded by our government in the name of security.

And for anyone out there who missed the blanket-bomb email I sent yesterday: in the month formerly known as November, I'll be growing a porn star moustache in order to raise money to help fight male depression and prostate cancer. You can help by sponsoring me (and if you're lucky I'll spare you the photos). Details below the cut.

That's it for today. It's nice to be home--and even nicer to see the rain outside! Huzzah!
( MOVEMBER )