A friend’s son produced this stop-animation Star Wars using Lego. I think it’s pretty darn cool. Especially since Thomas is only 10. Watch out, George Lucas!
You can see some of Thomas’s earlier works at his YouTube channel.
Oh, and then there’s this: A trailer for Dark Knight, probably my favourite flick from 08, done in Lego.
sean williams and margo lanagan
Good news received today is that some of the tutors in Brisbane for the Clarion South workshop will also be doing readings.
The list is:
Sean Williams, Thursday, January 15, 6:30pm Margo Lanagan, Sunday, January 25, 3pm Jack Dann, Thursday, January 29, 6:30pm Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, Thursday, February 5, 6:30pm
These all take place at Avid Reader Bookstore, 193 Boundary Street, West End.
Just found out about a convention in March in Melbourne featuring a swag (well, four) actors, who’ve appeared in horror movies and TV shows, and for some inexplicable reason, Suicide Girls. I guess for a certain demographic horror and T&A go together. Pity, that. Anyhoo, the Hub horror con reads like one of those Star Trek-style cons where the guests parade through a Q&A panel or two and sign autographs for a fee, and certainly the talent is attractive (Suicide Girls not included, attractive yes, talent… debatable): Robert Englund, Brad Dourif, Jeffrey Combs and Tony Dodd, and a promise of more to come.
Also of interest is the Supernatural con they’re planning for April, with the stars of the TV show Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Incredibly, tickets costing $1400 and $800 have sold out. Are these boys hot or what?
There is also some do related to Twilight, but I think both the book and movie are naff, so I didn’t check that out 🙂
Passing on this juicy piece of info about the new Dr Who, Matt Smith!
For me, Dr Who was Jon Pertwee and then Tom Baker, after which I lost interest, until the latest series from the BBC got me hooked again. We’re still catching up with the new stuff (season 2, enter David Tennant) and hoping to revisit some of the old stuff as the budget allows. Timeless indeed!
One for the calendar if you’re into gaming, reading or cosplay: GenConOz is booked in for September 18-20, 2009. The first foray of the US franchise to our shores last year was much fun. I was impressed by how widely the con spread its wings: Alan Tudyk’s appearance was a real thrill for us Firefly fans (fanboy me just had to line up for his autograph), I got to revisit my halcyon Dungeons & Dragons days (to the extent I actually bought new dice, sadly as yet unused), and the place was hopping with cool cosplayers and slightly less cool computer geeks (I am one, I think I can get away with that). Laura and Tracy Hickman, Sean Williams, Kyla Ward, Kylie Chan, Marianne de Pierres were among the writers attending, which gives some idea of the breadth of material on offer. It’ll be interesting to see what the organisers cook up this year.
Ticonderoga is a small press in Western Australia that has done some brilliant stuff in recent years, anthologies and collections mostly. It went on a wee hiatus but now it’s back with an online presence at ticon4.com. You’ll find short fiction and book reviews there; it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Dreaming Again
And in other online news, the HorrorScope has provided a recommended list of the year’s best dark fiction. Good to see so many from Dreaming Again included, and very good to see my story, Smoking, Waiting for the Dawn, among that number. A friend described it as a “melancholy vampire story” – I like that 🙂
This has been eating at me since I read it on Saturday. Check this opening line to a review of Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s Pashazade: “PASHAZADE was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, which means it is science-fiction, but crosses into the crime genre so deftly it is hard to put down.”
I can’t help wonder if the author of said review really holds such a bias against science fiction or just wasn’t thinking when she wrote that. To me, this sentence suggests that science fiction is boring, crime isn’t, but SF with a strong crime inflection is okay because it isn’t strictly SF. Which further suggests the reviewer needs to get out more.
You can read the review here and let me know if I’m being way too sensitive.
Meanwhile, might I suggest two Australian novels of 2007 as a starting point to delving into exciting, thought-provoking science fiction: Sean Williams’ Saturn Returns and Marianne de Pierres’ Dark Space. Very different books, but just as engaging, and both with sequels listed in this year’s Aurealis Awards for best science fiction novel.
Or there’s this year’s debut novel by Kim Westwood, Daughters of Moab, with prose so gorgeous it’ll have even the most snobbish reader drooling. Surely.
The Aurealis Awards’ list of finalists have been announced and it’s very exciting. Some highlights include seeing Sean Williams in four categories and Trent Jamieson in three, and a bunch of stories from Dreaming Again — and the anthology itself — being nominated.
There’s a summary story here and the full details here.
I was a judge on the horror division so can’t say too much, except I feel the finalists’ list, from what I know of the stories involved, is a very strong one. The ceremony on January 24 coincides with the running of the Clarion South writers workshop; having some of the tutors and the Clarion young guns at the ceremony should add some extra energy to the night.
I’m glad I wasn’t on the fantasy novel panel. Trying to decide on a winner when the field includes Two Pearls of Wisdom and Tender Morsels would’ve been way too hard! (Read my review of Tender Morsels and Two Pearls.)
I’d encourage anyone interested in Australian spec fic to attend the awards. There’ll be plenty of writers from around the country there, and no doubt some agents and publishers as well.