calissa: (Calissa)

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon badge

There are a lot of great events happening in the next few weeks. Below are a few I’m keeping on my radar.

Dewey’s Read-a-thon

As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, I love books and may in fact be a bit of an addict. One of the very few things that stops my Mount To-Be-Read from reaching the atmosphere is Dewey’s 24 hour read-a-thon.

Don’t let the name fool you. Reading for the full 24 hours is not in any way mandatory, though you certainly can if you wish. I simply use it as an excuse to cram as much reading as I can into my waking hours.

The read-a-thon runs twice a year (in April and October). For the east coast of Australia, this read-a-thon should be starting around 11 PM on Saturday, 18 October (though I make no promises as to the accuracy of this calculation).

If you are looking to connect with fellow book bloggers, or are simply trying to get Mt TBR back under control, please feel free to join in the fun by signing up or by following #Dewey and #Readathon on Twitter. I’ll be participating, so you can expect to see me report in here about how I go or you can catch me on Twitter.

 

Hachette’s Next Big Thing

If you’re more interested in writing, and in Young Adult fiction in particular, Hachette Australia wants to hear from you.

 

Hachette Australia wants your manuscript!

Hachette Australia is proud to publish amazing YA authors from Australia and around the world, including Jessica Shirvington, John Marsden, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Ally Carter and James Phelan – and we’d love to add your name to that list. Throughout October, we will be accepting submissions of YA novels in all genres. If we fall in love with your manuscript, you will receive editorial feedback, and you may be offered a contract for publication.

We love stories that keep us hooked, new worlds we can disappear into, and characters that can become our new friends. If that sounds like your manuscript, we can’t wait to read it!

Be sure to read the guidelines carefully before submitting.

 

Conflux Workshops

Perhaps you don’t have a completed manuscript lying around or you don’t feel it’s ready to submit to a publisher.  There are a number of workshops being held at Conflux that might help. I’ve already mentioned I’ll be discussing how to make the most of working with an editor. Some fellow members of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild will also be on hand. If you already have a completed manuscript, Nicole Murphy and Russell Kirkpatrick will be running Countdown Six, an epic six-hour workshop that will help you prepare a synopsis, query letter and the first chapter of your story for publication.

Writers who are still in the process of drafting may be more interested in Chris Andrews‘ workshop on structuring a novel. Chris ran the CSFG’s novel writing circle before stepping down this year and is now offering his experience to a broader audience. This will be the only workshop to run on Monday 6 October.

All other workshops will be running on Friday 3 October. Registration is required, so please visit Conflux to sign up.

 

Anime for Cancer Research

Cancer has hit the Australian SF community hard in recent years. Anime reviewer John Samuel has come up with his own unique way of contributing to the battle against this disease: once a month, he auctions off his review copies.

The Rules

  1. Once a month I’ll post a list of titles for the monthly donations.
  2. Australian residents can then leave a comment indicating how much they are prepared to donate to a cancer charity to win a particular disc (don’t forget to tell me which disc you want).
  3. The minimum pledge is 1/3 retail price
  4. The highest pledge will win the disc
  5. I will close the comments after about two weeks with a final comment identifying the winners.
  6. Winners will forward a receipt for their donations to me.
  7. I will then privately email the winners to obtain snail mail details (again within Australia only), and send them the disc(s).
  8. I will pay for the postage.
  9. I will match all winning pledges up to 2x retail per disc.
  10. My default charity is the Australian Cancer Research Foundation, but I will match the cancer research charity of the winner’s choice.
  11. I am willing to re-open bids on titles offered in previous months. Leave a comment and I’ll add them to the list.

The current auction closes in just a few days, so if you are an Australian anime fan please check out the offerings for September and make a bid.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

calissa: (Default)
What are you doing/thinking/wondering/making/reading/etc. that you don't normally post about? It has been a while since I have done one of these and I thought it would be a good way to post about non-holiday stuff

Doing: Mostly just easing back into routine. Yesterday I went swimming for what was the first time in probably a month and surprised myself by being able to swim a full kilometre. Tonight I'm heading off the the monthly meeting of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild where we'll be having a guest talk on firearms. Could be useful for some of that post-apocalyptic stuff.

Watching: I'm making my way through an anime called No Game, No Life. It's about a brother and sister who are prodigiously talented gamers--to the point of being an urban legend. One day, they are transported to a world where all disputes are solved by playing games of all kinds. It's a fascinating setting and the story has a great premise. However, I find the extreme co-dependence of the main characters a bit disturbing and the fan service, while not as overwhelming as in other shows, is tiresome and unnecessary.

Thinking: I've been invited to sit on a guest panel on editing anthologies for the monthly meeting of the Canberra Society of Editors at the end of the month. It is a challenge to consciously articulate a process that has mostly been instinctive for me. I think it will be an interesting event. This won't be the first time I've sat on a panel about editing anthologies, but it will be the first time where the audience is primarily composed of other editors rather than writers. That should have a big impact on the feel of things, since writers are mostly concerned with what they should be doing to get published (or so has been my experience).

Reading: I'm currently reading (among other things) The Vinter's Luck in hopes of finally getting to [personal profile] lynnoconnacht and Memory Scarlett's review of the same. It is a fascinating story but I find I can only read a little bit of it at a time. Fortunately, it is nicely structured for small chunks.

Wondering: The last time I wrote one of these periodic ponderings I was contemplating starting up a poetry practice. That didn't happen. Now I am contemplating starting up a blog connected to my editing website. I wonder whether this is also something that is never actually going to eventuate.

Writing: Currently wrestling with Heartwood. The story just doesn't seem to want to let itself be written. I am determined to press on, regardless.

Drinking: My ritual morning cup of tea is currently oolong, despite oolong being my least favourite tea to drink (not that I hate it, mind). The tea was brought back from Japan for me by my lovely uncle and aunt. It sounds like they will be visiting us again at Christmas.
calissa: Photo of Swarovski crystal & gold figurine of inkpot and quill sitting on a page that says 'create every day' (Writing)
As many of you know, I am lucky enough to belong to a wonderful group of local writers called The Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild. They're an amazing bunch with writers of all levels--those who've signed three-book deals with major publishers alongside those who have never published a thing and have just started writing. I've served on the committee for three years (one as Secretary) and in that time I have seen the group grow in some pretty fantastic ways. In addition to their monthly talks and short story critiquing circle, they now also regularly run a novel writing group and a novel critiquing circle. They have published two more short story anthologies--one of which I edited and the other I contributed to as a writer. A new website was launched and they've made forays into electronic publishing.

Last night they held their AGM and I chose to step down from the committee. With a new anthology to edit and a business to manage (as well as my own stories to write), things are rather busy at the moment and I needed some space to breathe. However, I will still attend meetings and am looking forward to seeing what adventures the new committee might plan.

Next

May. 29th, 2012 04:20 pm
calissa: Photo of Swarovski crystal & gold figurine of inkpot and quill sitting on a page that says 'create every day' (Writing)
For my Aussie writer friends:

Submission Guidelines

Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild is delighted to announce:
Submissions for the next CSFG Publishing anthology, ‘next’, are welcome between 20 May and 15 October 2012.

Sequence. Succession. Cause and Effect. Show us what happened. next.

‘next’ will be edited by Simon Petrie and Rob Porteous. Stories may be any length up to 5,000 words. All approaches to the theme are welcome, as long as they are by nature speculative.
Payment will be a copy of the print version of the anthology plus $10 for stories under 1,500 words and $30 for all others based on published word count.

Submissions are encouraged from Australian writers of all levels of experience, with special encouragement given to CSFG members.

Multiple submissions (up to 3 per author) are OK; simultaneous submissions and reprints are not.
Submissions should be sent (as .rtf attachments only) to next.anthology@gmail.com
Please make sure that the following information is in the email proper:
Name
Address
Email address
Author's name, as you would like it to be published
Name of Story
Word Count
Other contact information

If you wish to contribute to the interior artwork, please contact next.anthology@gmail.com

Small Print: If your story is selected, we will be seeking assignment of First English Anthology Rights, First World Anthology Rights, and First Electronic Rights, for its publication in the English language. We'd like an exclusive licence to print, publish and sell your work (story or artwork) for one year from the date of first publication. We will use your work only in the print and e-book versions of the anthology and re-printings of it.

Visit the CSFG website

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