Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town Cutting Room Floor 3
Yes, good stuff gets left out of any final version of a novel – and for many good reasons. Still, that’s no reason they can’t see the light of day, right? But do you know how hard it is to ignore ghosts, when you’re supposed to be a dedicated...
Reading, You’re Doing it Wrong
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Four Important Lessons I’ve Learned from Fairy Tales
Lesson 1: Never Trust a Wolf. People like David Attenborough would have you believe that wolves are harmless creatures, wonderful examples of nature at its finest – strong, noble, dignified. Well, he’s wrong. Fairy Tales have taught me that wolves are evil, nasty and cunning beasts who will stop...
Autumn
Keats said it, and said it best. Autumn is the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’. I love the cool, dewy mornings. I love the way the hot air balloons arrive, happy in the calmer, cooler skies. I love the long, blue afternoons that fade into drowsy dusk. I love...
Writing Advice from C.S. Lewis
On this fiftieth anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis, I thought I’d bring some of his writing advice to you. This comes from a letter that Lewis sent to a young correspondent in 1956, but the suggestions are eternal. Always try to use the language so as to...
Fundamental Magic
As a Fantasy writer, I spend a great deal of time thinking about and playing around with magic – how it works, who can do it, the necessary limitations it has and the cost it must incur to the user. So it’s a natural step to start thinking about...
Jack Vance
While Jack Vance’s passing on 26/5/13 was hardly a surprise – he was ninety-six – it still saddened me. Jack Vance might still be largely unknown outside genre circles, but he has been enormously important for me. I picked up my first Jack Vance novel in Adelaide when I...
Soothing the Savage Magician
The life of a professional magician isn’t always easy. There’s the death-defying, the hair’s breadth escapes, the daring what ordinary mortals would not. And then there’s the problem of skin care. Harry Houdini toured Australia in 1910. A tireless self-promoter, he embarked on a series of stunts to publicise...
My Favourite Cultural Experiences
A few months ago, I was at the Radio National Melbourne studio and recorded a spot where I reflect on my five most memorable cultural experiences. It was aired yesterday and you can get the podcast here. ...
I Want the Moon Back
I’ve been re-watching the 1998 HBO series ‘From the Earth to the Moon’, and it got me thinking. We went to the moon. Can you get your head around that? We, collectively, as a species, went to the moon. That moon, the one way up there – we went...