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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
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12:56 pm - Every Writer's Deam
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Caution: This post will increase the amount of disappointment in your life.
I just got an email from a publisher in the states. It's the sort of email every writer wants to receive, but very, very few do. No, I haven't sold a novel, dammit.
Paraphrased, it went like this:
I made a mistake! Please ignore yesterday's rejection letter, I sent it to the wrong address. I'd love to buy your story!
So the next time you get that rejection letter that hits you in the pit of the stomach, I've now given you a gleam of hope. Or I've reduced you to a dribbly ex-girlfriend that stares at a silent phone and tells herself that the boy is going to call back and say he didn't mean it.
Bwa haha!
current mood:  bouncy
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, December 31st, 2007
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1:48 pm
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| Wednesday, December 5th, 2007
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5:15 pm - Cats as cats can
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I'm a cat person.
I've met a lot of people who hate cats. They make smirking comments about killing cats in all sorts of cruel ways, they claim that cats aren't loyal to owners the way dogs are, etc etc.
Now for some actual facts.
Place yourself in Ulong, NSW, in the mid 1970's: a town of about 200 people, depending how much of the bush you count. It backs onto the Dorrigo National Park, is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and is prime marijuana growing country. Also good for cattle farming, but I guess my family was in the minority.
A small red-headed child sits on the lawn, playing with a toy train set. His right hand rests on the ground. Beside it, he notices, is a female funnel web spider. It rears up in order to strike, forelegs reaching at the air. The child is frozen, going nowhere.
An orange and white blur streaks across the child's lap. The spider is thrown across the grass. It bares its fangs against the cat, fang versus claw, but is soon outmatched and eaten.
Years before, my brother toddled out along our path to the backyard toilet. Spying a stick on the path, he bent down to pick it up. It quickly entered his young child's mind that sticks do not usually have black scales and a red belly. The snake, however, did not strike him. It was caught in the hypnotic gaze of our previous cat, some meters away.
We had 17 dogs while I was growing up, and I loved them a lot, but none of them saved my life. RIP, Jinx and Spitty.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, November 26th, 2007
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11:57 am - Microsoft Online Comic
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| Monday, November 5th, 2007
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3:55 pm
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| Which Heroes Hero are You? Your Result: Peter Petrelli You're a dreamer who has lived in the shadow of your family and wants desperately to be your own person. Like Hiro, you feel the need to do something extraordinary with your life. You have dreamy eyes and great hair. | | Hiro Nakamura | | | Matt Parkman | | | Claire Bennett | | | Nikki Sanders | | | Sylar | | | Isaac Mendez | | | Nathan Petrelli | | Which Heroes Hero are You?
Create a Quiz |
Hmmm, Petey boy always HAS been the one I related to most. But great hair? Sure, I used to have cool red hair down past my shoulders, but now I have more of a Jean Luc 'do...
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
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4:59 pm - Stop press!
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Whoa, I just found out that Intel stopped making the 386 chip last month! What on earth will we do without it?
current mood:  anxious
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, October 4th, 2007
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8:32 am - huh?
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| Monday, August 6th, 2007
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8:17 am - Lessons my sons taught me last night
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My two year old son taught me that a matchbox car can make a fairly effective eating utensil.
My four year old son taught me that the altitude afforded by a top bunk vastly increases the range of projectile vomit.
(not to be outdone) my four week old son taught me that a newborn baby lying on his back can fountain milk clear over the 20cm wall of a bassinet.
The last two happened at 1am at either end of the house, like duelling banjos. I guess my four year old is becoming a leader.
In my already sleep-deprived daze, as I stripped beds and scrubbed at carpet, one mystery kept floating through my mind: But he refuses to eat carrots.
The room is spinning, my eyes are burning, and it's Monday. Still, as every parent knows, you don't start feeling REAL fatigue until about the four month mark...
current mood:  sleepy
current music: rock-a-bye baby
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007
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1:14 pm
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Let the history books show that Jonathan Flynn Cavanagh commenced participation in life on earth at 5:29pm yesterday. His mum is fine, his brothers love him to bits, and his dad is kinda fond of him too.
So far he's proved his uniqueness by sleeping through his first night (which, of course, scared the living daylights out of his mum). We have some initial optimism that he may be a quieter third child.
current mood: accomplished
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, June 15th, 2007
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5:10 pm - Obligatory Flogging
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Today two anthos came alive, and I'm in both of em:
 Satisfy your hunger for zombies in
the third installment of the popular Undead series, The
Undead: Flesh Feast. A new recruit must face the grotesque realities behind
the zombie war. An ancient, tentacled horror commands
the walking dead. A green mold creeps across an uncharted island, driving its
mysterious inhabitants insane. A lone survivor of the zombie apocalypse wants
only one thing... to be bitten. The Reaper struggles to claim the souls of the
deceased that won't stay dead. And in the featured novella, "The Legend of
Black Betty," a small town in the Old West rots with a plague wreaked by an
evil prostitute. These stories and more from:
Tim Curran • Andre Duza • Ryan C. Thomas • David
Dunwoody • Steven Cavanagh • Matthew Masucci • Michael Stone • Richard Moore • Matthew Bey • A.C. Wise • David Bain • Eric
Turowski
• Kevin Boon • Scott Standridge • Kriscinda
Meadows
Pre-Order
today from Bloodletting Books for $14.95 with free shipping! No
payment until the book is released!
"Fantastic stories! The zombies are fresh...well, er, they're actually moldy, festering wrecks...but these
stories are great takes on the zombie genre. You're gonna
like The Undead: Flesh Feast...just
make sure you have a toothpick handy."
--Joe
McKinney, author of Dead City
and Murders Squad
"From in-edible humans to a zombie Santa Clause to undead flat fish, this
collection has everything that a connoisseur of fine zombie literature could
want. A must read!"
--Taylor
Kent, host of Snark Infested Waters podcast
"With The Undead: Flesh Feast
Permuted Press prove that the first anthology was no fluke. Once again they
have collected stories by writers, some of which you will know, some will be
new to readers, all however contribute good quality stories about our beloved walking
corpses. A joy to read!"
--Jude "Pain"
Felton, All Things Zombie.com
In other news, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine have released their "Best of" Anthologies. At only 10 Aussie McBucks, how can you go wrong? Grab those goodies now!
Keep an eye out for my first ever sale, Elf Esteem. Some have panned it for being shallow (the "e" word tends to do that to people). Others looked a little harder.
current mood: creative
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, June 12th, 2007
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11:44 am
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Phew, what a weekend.
On Saturday I did a few hours consulting for my old job. It's taken them four months to realise that someone may need to know how to maintain the technology platform the entire business is running on, so they brought in a girl 18 months out of uni who hasn't even seen the species of database before, and isn't even experienced enough to know how badly she's been shafted. I tried to break it to her gently and help her as much as I could, but I felt like the guy handing out bullets at the start of Enemy at the Gates.
Speaking of military matters, the management clique at this particular company love the feeling of being an armchair general so much that they've decked out their meeting room as a war room. I'm talking camo netting on the walls, a liberal sprinkling of old ammo boxes, army pants and green water bottles, and large maps. A sign on the door (camo lettering, of course) reads TODAY AUSTRALIA, TOMORROW THE WORLD!
On Sunday I went to the launch of the 2007 HomeWord Festival at Riverside Theatres in Parramatta. Lots of fun. I was struck by the variety of artists, from the usual quirky artetypes to bush poets to frail old ladies that can pour distilled emotion into your ears.
Oh, and the ZineWest 2007 anthology was launched. My story in it, World of Hurt, won third prize! Off to Borders today with a shiny borders voucher card.
Then on Monday we had two birthday parties for my two-year-old. Very exhausting, very sugary and very much fun.
current mood: bouncy
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, May 11th, 2007
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1:22 pm - Boo!
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Well, I've done it again. Turned my back on the blogsphere to get something from the cupboard, and when I turn back a couple of months have passed.
Since I last posted, I:
-Was accepted into the year's best 'dark fiction omnibus', Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror 2007 by Brimstone Press.
-Sold two drabbles to Farthing magazine.
-Was accepted into ZineWest, the antho of the 2007 HomeWord writers festival (I'll be reading my zine piece, "World of Hurt" at the Parramatta Riverside Theatres event on Sunday, 10th June).
-Made it into ASIM's Best of Fantasy antho- with my first ever published story, "Elf Esteem".
I also:
-Got a much better job closer to home with a raise, and hired a good friend (he was one of my groomsmen) to work with me.
-Got my kids hooked onto Superman, Batman and Star Wars.
-Rearranged the loungeroom.
So for now, life's all good.
And you?
current mood: bouncy
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, February 26th, 2007
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3:43 pm
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| Friday, February 23rd, 2007
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9:49 am - Cheney protest over
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Dang! Blinked and missed it. There's now just an empty street and a couple of cops shooting the breeze. So much for my on-the-spot blogging.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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9:45 am - Cheney protest update
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A few more protesters seem to have got out of bed. They now have two giant skeleton puppets that look about 3m tall, very cool.
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(comment on this)
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9:32 am - Cheney protest update
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Everybody settled down and the whole thing has been placid for a while now. The reports got bored and started interviewing protesters at length.
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(comment on this)
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9:17 am - Cheney protest update
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The cops added a layer behind the protesters, then brought in a police armoured car/tank! Then they waded in and arrested a couple of people. The protesters just stood there while this happened, but the arresting cops were mobbed.... by shutter-happy media.
The row of horses moved down and pushed the whole protest back 10m.
The dogs look so CUTE.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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9:11 am
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The Cheney protest is just across the road from my building as I write this. A bit of a dismal showing, it only looks like 100 people tops. The cops are really well disciplined, moving like chess pieces.
They've just added another rank. The Yank must be about to arrive.
I still can't figure out why the hippy with the US flag cape is dragging big rubber chickens or something.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
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5:00 pm
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If you want to know how boring most people are, go to google images and see what they think is the "best photo ever".
current mood:  bored
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, February 14th, 2007
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4:22 pm
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I'm entering a writing competition with a scary challenge unlike any I've encountered before. I'm talking about the AUTHOR PHOTO.
That's right, I have to submit a photo of myself with my story. I'd never really thought about doing this before. Have you?
I represent the unfortunate convergence of pattern baldness from both sides of my family. What should I do? Pratchett's already got a monopoly on the fedora (along with the entire comic fantasy sub-genre. Bastard).
I posed the question to my wife, who attacked the problem laterally- she proposed taking a picture of me from low to the ground. She pointed out that not only would this eliminate the view of my balding head, but the camera would be looking up my nose, showing PLENTY of hair.
Happy Tacky Red Foil Balloon day, everyone.
current mood:  loved
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(10 comments | comment on this)
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