Last Week's Headlines

November 12, 2009

The November issue of IROSF is now out.
Horns by Joe Hill has been optioned by Mandalay Pictures for the big screen.
Sara Douglass has announced she is currently writing her last novel in the fantasy genre.

November 11, 2009

The Government has decided not to change the Australian regulatory regime for books introduced by the previous Labor government. View Press Release.

October 24, 2009

Marianne de Pierres' Sentients of Orion trilogy is now available in the US - You can now buy Dark Space and Chaos Space through TOR.com.


October 22, 2009

Forthcoming books:
From Hodder - Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (Jan 2010), Ancestor by Scott Sigler (Mar 2010)
From Little, Brown - Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card (Jan 2010), Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar, Mr Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett (Feb 2010)
From Gollancz - The Cardinal's Blade by Pierre Pevel (Jan 2010), Chasing the Dragon by Justina Robson (Jan 2010), Wake by Robert J Sawyer (Jan 2010), Horns by Joe Hill (Feb 2010), Retromancer by Robert Rankin (Feb 2010), The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (Feb 2010)
From Voyager - Hourglass by Claudia Gray (Feb 2010), Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb (Mar 2010), The Pilgrims by Will Elliott (Mar 2010), The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and the Struggle by L J Smith, The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and the Dark Reunion by L J Smith

October 20, 2009

Jonathan Strahan announces the Swords and Dark Magic Table of Contents - coauthored with Lou Anders, the fantasy anthology will be out next July.


October 18, 2009

Prime Books, the award-winning independent press and publisher of Fantasy Magazine, has announced that in June 2010 it will launch a new online magazine called Lightspeed (http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com), which will publish four science fiction short stories every month, along with an assortment of non-fiction features. Lightspeed will be edited by John Joseph Adams (fiction) and Andrea Kail (non-fiction). Lightspeed will focus exclusively on science fiction. New content will be posted twice a week, including one piece of fiction, and one piece of non-fiction. The fiction selections each month will consist of two original stories and two reprints, except for the debut issue, which will feature four original pieces of fiction. All of the non-fiction will be original. Lightspeed will open to fiction submissions and non-fiction queries on January 1, 2010. Guidelines for fiction and non-fiction will be available on Lightspeed's website by December 1, 2009.

Justine Larbalestier talks about Hating Female Characters

With the Shine anthology—next year’s must-have collection of near-future, optimistic SF—now slated for an April 2010 release, and with exuberant SF as thin on the ground as bankers without bonuses, DayBreak Magazine is intended to alleviate the waiting and fill the gap. Simultaneously quenching your thirst for upbeat stories while also whetting your appetite for the main uplifting dish, DayBreak Magazine ( http://daybreakmagazine.wordpress.com/) will feature a positive, forward-looking story every second Friday until the print Shine anthology is released, or possibly even a bit beyond that date. Launched on Friday October 16, the second story will be released on Friday October 30, one the eve of Halloween. A new story every two weeks: stories set all over the world, all depicting a future in which you would actually love to live. All for free.

October 13, 2009

A book launch of galactic proportions: The official Hitchhiker's sequel will be released simultaneously throughout the world to mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – 13th October 2009 - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Part Six of Three: And Another Thing … by Eoin Colfer 13 October. Michael Joseph. rrp $39.95 And Another Thing… continues Arthur Dent’s search through space and time for a decent cup of tea and features a pantheon of unemployed gods, everyone's favourite renegade Galactic President, a lovestruck green alien, an irritating computer and at least one very large slab of cheese.

October 8, 2009

Writing the coming dark according to some of Australia's up-and-comers, Deborah Biancotti, Kaaron Warren, Jason Fischer, Angela Slatter and Peter Ball discuss the Australian landscape, the coming environmental apocalypse and whether we go out with a bang or whimper in the latest issue of http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10591\IROSF

Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan is now available in bookstores in the US and Canada.

After Anticipation, the recent World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) held in Montreal, Canada, in August, the eyes of the global science fiction community now turn to Melbourne. Aussiecon 4, to be held 2-6 September 2010 at the new Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, will be the 68th Worldcon since 1939. The five-day event represents a rare opportunity for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror aficionados to join with authors, editors, agents, and other members of the international and Australian science fiction community. The convention will be held 2-6 September 2010 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Guests of Honour include award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson, award- winning Melbourne artist Shaun Tan, and dedicated fan Robin Johnson. Aussiecon 4 is so named because it is the fourth Worldcon to be held in Australia and all have been held in Melbourne. Previous conventions (1975, 1985, 1999) were widely acclaimed. Registrations for Aussiecon 4 are now available via the official web site at http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/.

September 29, 2009

GAMERS' QUEST by George Ivanoff will be launched on Saturday, October 10 at 1:30pm. RSVP via Facebook


September 24, 2009

Shaun Tan has been nominated for this year's Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world's most valuable award for children's and YA literature.

Ticon4 has been hacked and been taken down until Russell Farr can fix it. It should be back online by November 1.

William Heaney has won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel for Memoirs of a Master Forger

Robert J. Sawyer’s novel is the basis of the hit new series FLASHFORWARD, starring Ralph Fiennes, screening September 27th on Channel 7.

September 14, 2009

New from Hachette in October: Prophecy’s Ruin by Sam Bowring (Book 1 Broken Well Trilogy), Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Book 1 League series), Covet by J. R. Ward (Book 1 Fallen Angels), Dark Curse by Christine Feehan (Bk16 Carpathian series). New in November: Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan (Book 12 Wheel of Time), Mirror Space by Marianne de Pierres (Book 3 Sentients of Orion), Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (40th anniversary edition), Bound to Shadows by Keri Arthur (Book 8 Riley Jenson series), Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong (Book 10 Women of the Otherworld series), Born of Fire by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Book2 League series).

September 5, 2009

September Internet Review of Science Fiction is now available and features Wiscon and Worldcon reports.

Teen Author Reading Nights start this coming Wednesday (6-7:30, Jefferson Market Branch of NYPL, 425 6th Ave, at 10th St.) and feature Gordon Korman, Pop, Justine Larbalestier, Liar, David Levithan, Love is the Higher Law, E. Lockhart, The Treasure Map of Boys, Lauren McLaughlin, Recycler, Bennett Madison, The Blonde of the Joke, Dan Poblocki, The Stone Child and Scott Westerfeld, Leviathan

ABC News Online is soon to launch Soapbox and are asking video comments up to 2 minutes long on the issues of the day. Register at ABC Contribute

September issue of Ideomancer is themed the afterlife; what's out there beyond human existence.


August 31, 2009

Halo 8 has secured the rights for award-winning director Matt Pizzolo (GODKILLER, THREAT) and Emmy-winning producer Brian Giberson to create an “illustrated film” adaptation of “LOADED BIBLE: Jesus vs Vampires,” a post-nuke horror comic book published by Image Comics and created by Tim Seeley (whose HACK/SLASH comic book is currently in development at Rogue Pictures with Fredrik Bond directing and Justin Marks penning). Halo-8 is planning a 2010 theatrical release for the illustrated film.


August 30, 2009

The Conflux Minicon is on

The Last Stormlord is online at the Harper Collins site, for a limited time.

Fictionscribe has moved - check out the new openings with prizes at Inky Blots Blog and Down Under Views Blog

Good Novels Don't Have To Be Hard Work - the Wall Street Journal

August 27, 2009

Glenda Larke has sold French rights for the Mirage Makers (already publishing the Isles of Glory) and sold the German language rights for the Isles of Glory.

Halo-8 Entertainment has announced the bi-monthly, episodic DVDs for its GODKILLER: WALK AMONG US “illustrated film” series will come packaged with a serialized audiobook of the prequel novel GODKILLER: SILENT WAR, written by the film's award-winning writer/director Matt Pizzolo. EPISODE 1 limited edition, shortform DVD rolls out Sept 29th 2009

A beautiful, handcast commemorative pendant in the shape of an owl has been awarded to the 2009 Octavia E. Butler Scholar. Rochita Loenen-Ruiz received her pendant on July 31, at the party celebrating the conclusion of this year's Clarion West Writers Workshop session, where she was a student. The pendant was cast from an exclusive design that SF author and MacArthur “Genius” Award-winner Octavia E. Butler commissioned from artist Laurie Edison. This is the fifth pendant Edison has generously donated to serve as a tangible reminder of a Butler Scholar's role in carrying on the legacy of Butler's powerful “change-the-world” science fiction. Photos and more information available here The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund, created in 2006, provides full scholarships to Clarion and Clarion West students of color, covering tuition, room, and partial board for up to two students annually. The Carl Brandon Society, which administers the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund, was founded in 1999 to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the production of and audience for speculative fiction.

Guidelines are now available for Midnight Echo Issue 4 which will be edited by Lee Battersby

Learn the art of non-fiction writing with Overland magazine Associate Editor Rjurik Davidson. In this workshop you will learn: how to raise your non-fiction to a higher level, how to structure a non-fiction piece, how to research, how editors work and what they're looking for and how to be professional. Saturday Sept 12,2-4pm, $25, Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne


August 25, 2009

Terminal World by Alistair Reynolds - A snarling, drooling, crazy-eyed mongrel of a book: equal parts steampunk, western, planetary romance and far-future SF - has been delayed from November 2009 to March 2010

August 19, 2009

The Australian Horror Writers Association's Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on 9th September, 7.30pm in Melbourne. All AHWA members are invited to attend and be involved in the organisation's future developments. Contact AHWA Secretary Ian Mond for further info on the location of this year's AGM. Some Committee positions will be vacated at the AGM, so the AHWA is calling for enthusiastic members to join the 2009/2010 Committee. This is a chance to make a difference as part of the leadership team of a dynamic, expanding authors' peak body! The meeting's agenda will be made available on the AHWA website soon.

The World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award] winners for 2009 are Jane Yolen and Ellen Asher. The award is presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service to the fantasy field. Lifetime Achievement winners are announced in advance; other winners will be announced at this year's World Fantasy Convention, to be held October 29 - November 1, 2009 in San José, California.

August 18, 2009

Award Winning Australian Writing will be launched 2.30pm, Friday August 21 at Festival Club and will include a short reading from “The Goosle” by Margo Lanagan. Free Entry.

To launch Overland magazine’s Melbourne Futures issue, China Miéville, Margo Lanagan and Jack Dann will discuss how the city features in their work. The panel, titled “How do we imagine the city in fiction? Catastrophic metropolises, decaying ghost towns, cities hidden beneath cities”, will be chaired by Overland’s Rjurik Davidson. Saturday 22 Aug, 2.30pm–3.30pm, in ACMI 2. Entry Fee.

Margo Lanagan (NSW) and Anthony Eaton (ACT) will host a seminar, “From Oliver Twist to Twilight: How easy is it to get published in the Golden Age of YA Literature? How flexible is YA fiction and how do you make your stories both believable and challenging?” Sunday 23 August, 10am–1pm, RMIT City Campus. Entry Fee.

Regional Tour - David Metzenthen, Michael Hyde and Melina Marchetta will visiting school groups next week in Swan Hill, Kyneton, Moe, Frankston and Geelong. Talking about Fantasy and Fiction and Characters With a Difference.

Orbit forthcoming titles - September Releases: A Princess of Landover by Terry Brooks (Bk5 Landover series), Full Circle by Pamela Freeman (Bk3 Castings trilogy), Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher (Bk 1 Codex of Alera), Drowning City by Amanda Downum (Bk1 The Necromancer Chronicles), Dwarves by Markus Heitz (Bk 1 Dwarves series), Dark Slayer by Christine Feehan (Bk 17 Carpathian series), Memory Zero by Keri Arthur (Bk 1 Spook Squad series) And October Releases Prophecy’s Ruin by Sam Bowring (Bk1 Broken Well Trilogy), Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Bk1 League series), Covet by J. R. Ward (Bk1 Fallen Angels), Dark Curse by Christine Feehan (Bk16 Carpathian series)

TOR has moved forward the publication date of the much awaited Gathering Storm, the 12th installment of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time from November 3rd to October 27th. The Australian launch date has similarly been moved forward.

August 17, 2009

Overland 196 will be launched at a special event at the Melbourne Writers' Festival, with Margo Lanagan, Jack Dann and British SF legend China Mieville discussing with Overland's Rjurik Davidson how the city features in their work. Overland 196 features Christos Tsiolkas with The Slap 1.0, Bob Brown on the republic, Rodney Hall on Ozlit in a digital age, the confessions of an ASIO informer and much, much more. It also includes a special colour section, sponsored by the City of Melbourne, in which leading SF authors Margo Lanagan, Jack Dann, Lucy Sussex and Andrew Morgan depict the future that awaits Melbourne, alongside spectacular illustrations by Matt Dunn.