Newcastle Writers Festival on Reflection

06 Apr 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in Writers Festival Tags: , ,

After two wonderful days and one wonderful evening the 2nd Newcastle Writers Festival is over. Once again I have been exposed to so many new and wonderful authors, all of whose works I now have to devour.

At the opening night Wendy Harmer made everyone laugh and think and every author I had the honour of listening to was a wealth of knowledge and provided many laughs of their own in each event.  And even for all the sessions I was unable to attend  I have no doubt that everyone took something away from it and with a smile on their face.

Of the highlights I can’t say I have a single favourite, though there is a small bias towards all things fairy tales and short stories.

After learning and listening about crime fiction, children books, fairy tales, short stories and much much more I can be sure to say that I have a myriad of ideas, knowledge, admiration, and wonderment as a result…not to mention sore feet and empty pockets.

With a chance to get signed copies, the occasional photo and sneaky chat, plus up and close interaction with a variety of authors, there was a strange form of intimacy as you all wandered the same city hall, seeing the same familiar faces in audiences and even seeing those who were on previous panels now sitting beside you in the audience of another.

The new city hall location was good as it allowed quick journeys from room to room and let us stay dry in the brief rainfall event.

Macleans the booksellers also did an excellent job in getting books to their devoted would be owners and it was fascinating watching the piles of books drop so drastically in a matter of moments.  I myself came out of the weekend with four bags and 14 new books for my ever growing shelves, not to mention all the great authors I discovered.

All in all it was it was a superb weekend once again, one that went by far too quickly and one I already look forward to in 2015.

We must also continue to thank Rosemaree Milsom for thinking up this wonderful festival and making it one I look forward to attending for many years into the future.

Cover Reveal: The Stag Lord by Darby Kaye

03 Apr 2014 2 Comments

by Amy in Cover Reveal Tags: , , ,

Reveal
Today I have a great cover reveal to share for Darby Kaye’s book The Stag Lord. The wonderful cover design was done by none other than Errick Nunnally who you may remember I did a cover reveal for back in April of last year with his book Blood of the Sun.

The Stag Lord is due for release October 28th thanks to Spence Publishing so keep an eye out for it or add it to your to read pile!

Stag Lord full jacket

Synopsis
On the run across America from a vengeful shape-shifter, Bannerman “Bann” Boru has only one thing on his mind: keeping himself and his young son, Cor, alive.  At any cost. Until he meets Shay Doyle, healer and member of a secret group of immortal Celtic warriors, the *Tuatha De Danaan*, living in modern-day Colorado. When Cor is injured, Bannerman is forced to accept her help. He quickly realizes that the golden-haired healer is shield-maiden tough and can hold her own on the field of battle with the big boys. And Shay soon discovers that there is more to Bann than meets the eye.
 Now, with the shape-shifter Cernunnos teaming up with the local pack of Fir Bolgs (Bronze Age creatures with a nasty taste for children), Bannerman, Shay, her wolf-dog, Max, and the rest of the Doyle clan must figure out how to battle one insane god.

 

Library Loot #1

02 Apr 2014 2 Comments

by Amy in Library Loot Tags: , , , , , ,


Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

This was my first library trip in a couple of weeks and while my library isn’t filled with all the books I want to read they have some pretty great ones. My goal this year is to finish my unfinished series, read more books of different genres, and find some new authors and books to fall in love with and for once my library actually came through on all accounts.

My Little Library Loot

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Cover Reveal: Sleeping Jenny by Aubrie Dionne + Giveaway (US)

01 Apr 2014 2 Comments

by Amy in Cover Reveal Tags: , , ,


Reveal

Today I am excited to reveal to you the cover of Aubrie Dionne’s book Sleeping Jenny thanks to Spencer Hill Press.

About Sleeping Jenny

As the daughter of multimillionaires, Jennifer has everything she’s ever needed, except time. Diagnosed with a form of incurable cancer, she has only months to live, and her dreams of working for National Geographic to save African elephants and polar bears are shattered. Her only hope is an experimental cryogenic freezing program, which will keep her in stasis until doctors can find a cure. The cure comes three hundred years too late, and she wakes to a futuristic world where animals are all but forgotten.

Descendants of her brother adopt her, and she’s thrown back into high school. Exara, the class beauty, calls Jenny the Neanderthal girl, and she becomes more of a sideshow than a member of the senior class. Only Exara’s gorgeous boyfriend, Maxim sympathizes with her. Her developing feelings for Maxim are only the beginning of her problems. There aren’t any more animals to save, so Jenny involves herself with a rebel group called the Timesurfers, explorers searching the galaxy for another planet to inhabit to clone long-dead animal species. Soon, she must choose between her blossoming feelings for Maxim and her lifelong dream.

FULL JACKET COVER:

 



 

 

Aubrie grew up watching the original Star Wars movies over and over again until she could recite and reenact every single scene in her backyard. She also loved The Goonies, Star Trek the Next Generation-favorite character was Data by far-, and Indiana Jones. But, her all time favorite movie was The Last Unicorn. She still wonders why the unicorn decided to change back to a unicorn in the end. Aubrie wrote in her junior high yearbook that she wanted to be “A concert flutist” when she grew up. When she made that happen, she decided one career was not enough and embarked as a fantasy, sci fi author. Two careers seems to keep her busy. For now.

 

 


Giveaway

Go in the draw to win a pair of gorgeous “Frozen” earrings. Unfortunately this giveaway is open US only.
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An Australian Short Story by Ryan O’Neill

01 Apr 2014 1 Comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, General, Short Stories Tags: , , ,

Published: October 2012
Publisher: The Lifted Brow
Format: Online
Genre: Short story
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

I love Ryan O’Neill’s approach to writing stories and this short story is no exception. An Australian Short Story is compiled entirely of lines from other stories, 149 to be exact, and all Australian authors and poets with works ranging from 1850 to 2011. The idea a story could be created with snippets and lines from others is one that seems so simple and yet sounds highly complicated all at the same time. The effort and research that would have gone into this is certainly admirable and at the end of it it is actually quite a good narrative.

The story, which first appeared in Issue 14 of the Lifted Brow, is of a husband and wife on their property, a writer without words to write, a frustrated wife, and a relationship that neither is committed to admitting out loud isn’t going very well.

Like O’Neill’s other short stories a lot is told in a short space, and a marriage, a life, and a yearning is captured well within these borrowed words. The story flows seamlessly and if it were not for the citations you would not know that this wasn’t a pure piece of original fiction. The works O’Neill draws from are vast, with Henry Lawson, Peter Carey, Amanda Lohrey, and Patrick White being just a few.

As wonderful as this sampled story is though, it is highly perplexing. Where I would normally commend O’Neill on the excellent image provoking description of a writing desk, or that eloquent and captivating description of wine, or imagery of a disintegrating jacaranda, I find myself commending Christina Stead, Damien Broderick, and A.G. McNeil instead.

Do I adjust this by saying I commend him on his choice of words, that certainly can mean a few things. And I think there needs to be a commendation about this. The way O’Neill arranges his narrative is one that engages you and makes you feel a sense of pity for those involved and the lives they choose to live. As you read you don’t know they aren’t original lines, they are certainly original moments and original scenes, and once you’ve read the story you are then able to return and admire the effort in construction. There is however one line in there sampled from O’Neill’s Flinch which was a particularly fine sentence, so perhaps only 148 works are truly borrowed from.

Avid fans of the sampled works may one or two familiar lines, but what O’Neill has managed to select are in the majority of a combination of nondescript, common, and seemingly ordinary sentences, and yet has managed to weave a telling story as a result. Personally I just knew that that specific “Yes” was from Morris Lurie’s 1979 Running Nicely even before I looked, you could just tell.

An Australian Short Story is yet another example of O’Neill’s marvellous story telling ability and capturing moments in time with skill, creativity, and unique characters.

 

You can read the story on The Lifted Brow website

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