Wattle Bird's Nest

This week a couple of wattle birds have been checking out our back patio, much to our cat's consternation (she's afraid of birds). But, in the end, they chose the Jacarada tree outside my upstairs study window. In a week or two I won't be able to see the nest any more because the tree will be covered in purple flowers.

Wastelands: Age of Iron

Returning home from Wastelands was like coming back from Clarion. I was just getting into the swing of being around like-minded people who love sf, fantasy....and (best of all) Steampunk and it was time to go.

It was:

Fun and frightening reading out my paper (a first for me).

Great catching up with friends new and old.

Awesome listening to Nick Stathopoulos about art and the titanic and Mr Squiggle.

Fantastic eating cupcakes and drinking tea and talking with the ladies from Twelfth Planet Press.

Amazing looking at all the dress ups. There's something about the Victorian costume that makes me wish we still dressed like that, except maybe for the corsets in summer. And, of course, the girl who gave me a business card advertising "The Arte of Weaponry" was dressed totally the coolest. And so was Lily Chrywenstrom who seemed to be dressed in something different every time I saw her!!

A totally awesome time. Congratulations Callistra and Cheshirenoir for a job excellently done.

Next steampunk convention, I'm dressing up!

Wastelands: Age of Iron

I'm presenting a paper at Wastelands tomorrow morning:

A Brief History of Steampunk: What Wound It Up and Why It Still Ticks

Steampunk can be purely science fictional or a mixture of science fiction and fantasy, suffused with anything from a heavy dash to a light sprinkling of neo-Victorianism. So why not neo-classicism? Or druidism? Or Roman chariotpunk? What is it about the Victorians that secures their place in steampunk? To explore this question, I will look at works of proto-science fiction, beginning from the early 1800s, following an evolutionary branch to the works of Jeter, Powers, Blaylock, Gibson, Sterling and Mieville.

And While I'm on the Subject of Caves

Back when I scuba dived Piccaninnie Ponds, Mt Gambier, I managed to take a few fuzzy photos underwater. This video from wavesncaves on YouTube brings it all back much more clearly though.



My best dive in Pics was a night dive when the water was so clear it felt like you could see forever. On the way back up again, you'd stop at about 30ft and turn your torch off and look up and see the stars. It felt just like floating in space.

And to think, if I hadn't read Jules Verne's novels, I might not have done this.

Steampunky Trivia

Dare I admit how long ago it was that I read the works of Jules Verne? Journey To the Centre of the Earth was my first SF novel. That impressed me so much that I kept reading SF and, when I grew up, took up caving and cave diving for a few years. Today I decided to have a reread of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in preparation for the paper I'm giving at Wastelands: Age of Iron. How tickled was I to relearn that Captain Nemo's Nautilus was powered by electricity.

All you DIY steampunkers and steampunk musicians whose awesome creations get dissed because they don't spout steam, here's your defence: The Nautilus didn't spout steam either!!

I know, I'm a failed blogger

Anyhow, here's some nice pics of Seattle:

The Suzallo Library, where I spent a few relaxed hours writing and critting:



Mt Rainier from Red Square:



A pretty street near UW:

I'm Home

Have been home for about 10 days. And I'm sorry for not blogging Seattle, but the writing experience turned out to be so intense, I ended up eating, sleeping (not much sleeping, mind you), writing and critting 7 days a week. That's what I went for, so I'm happy.

Anyhow, I'll get back into blogging soon, write some more about Seattle. The trip home was great -- all 40 sleep deprived hours of it -- thanks to the turbulence all the way from LA to Taipei. If it wasn't for this hilarious Japanese time travel movie, Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust (2007), I might not have survived. Here's the trailer:

Seattle Week 1

I'm over the jet lag, but the urge to write a story is much greater than the urge to blog. So here's a quick run down of what I've been up to since leaving Perth.

Highlight of the Flight: Seeing snow-capped Mt Fuji from the plane and a minefield of volcanoes on the approach to Seattle.

Awesome People I've spoken to: Vonda N. McIntyre, William Gibson, Paul Park, Gardner Dozois, Nisi Shawl, Connie Willis, Eileen Gunn

Awesome People I've heard speak on panels: Neil Stephenson, Jack Womack, Greg Bear, Charles N Brown plus some of above

Awesome People I've heard speak at the Hall of Fame: Peter Beagle, David Hartwell, Richard Gid Powers and Family, Rod Serling's Family and some of the above.

Awesome News I've heard: The announcement of the Locus Awards for Shaun Tan (for The Arrival ) and Jonathan Strahan (for The New Space Opera ed with Garder Dozois)

Spent lots of hours exploring nearby Seattle, sometimes with a walking stick, sometimes without, depending on how my foot feels at the time.

Finally, here's a picture which I'm sure BJR will love:

Blogging Seattle

My son came home from school yesterday and told me that someone who reads my blog (Hello Elimy) is tired of reading the Steampunk entry I wrote back in April and wants to read something else. So, okay, here's something...

I'm off to Clarion West Seattle next week. Lists have been written, jobs have been finished, plans have been made. Just when I thought everything was running smoothly, I fell off a step and broke a bone in the top my foot (Navicular). Fortunately, after resting up for a few days (Ohhhh how frustrating), I can walk on it again, but only if I wear my hiking boots for ankle support. Well...I'm not going to argue with that because I love my hiking boots.

So now I'm frantically catching up again. I'd hoped to do some writing in preparation for Clarion, but I've done very little as I've been madly finishing off my proposal and writing a novel chapter so that when I get back I'll still be up to date with my uni timetable. I hear it's good to go with a clean slate, anyway. Hopefully, I'll leave all my old bad writing habits behind me, try things I haven't tried writing before, surprise myself.

My aim is to blog the Clarion Experience as much as I can without it interfering with my writing. So I'll aim for once a week, and possibly fit in a tad more.

Steampunk Music

I was looking up Seattle today and found this link to Abney Park. I'm really liking this genre.

Reading Frenzy

I've got to get this proposal out of the way, so I'm reading like crazy. This week I finished off China Mieville's Perdido Street Station which is a veritable feast and one book (along with The Scar and probably King Rat) that I'm going to refer to a lot in my PhD essay. Also read K.W. Jeter's Morlock Nights which is one of the first (or maybe THE first) Steampunk novel. I found this really useful in deciding which themes I want to pursue when I write about Mieville's work because it's by far less complex and easier to critique. Now I'm halfway through Gibson & Stirling's The Difference Engine which I hope to finish tomorrow. I love the writing in this book and I keep trying to figure out which bits Stirling wrote and which bits Gibson wrote, but that's not what I'm supposed to be looking for. Once that's read, I'm going to knuckle down to some proposal writing and also try and get through Tim Powers' Anubis Gates and something by Moorecock and Sean McMullen and maybe Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age. Busy times ahead.

Hint: If your having trouble with pantry moths (which I am right now), Perdido Street Station is probably only going to make matters worse!!!

Why Seattle

A friend asked me yesterday why I chose to apply to Clarion West, Seattle over San Diego and Brisbane. I've got to say, it was a difficult choice. All three Clarions have an excellent line up of tutors this year and I've heard excellent reports about all three from past students. If I'd had to base my decision on that alone, I would have ended up just pulling a straw out of a hat. Even when I sat down and thought hard about it, there were pros and cons on all three sides.

Brisbane Clarion, unfortunately is bad timing for me. January is Aussie summer and school holidays and the only time of the year all five of us are operating on the same wavelength. I'd hate to miss out on that. San Diego and Seattle Clarions, however, are right in the middle of Aussie winter. The kids have a 2 week break and Phil can take time off work to spend time with them. That leaves only 2 1/2 weeks of school either side of school hols. My 16 year old has end of semester exams, but my plan is to harass her into studying a few weeks before so she's at least a bit better prepared than she would have been if I were there. My 18 year old will be on uni break and my 13 year old will be simply cruising, as usual. So hopefully, when the time comes, I won't feel too guilty about leaving them. Next deciding factor was climate. Seattle is mild, San Diego is hot. I'll take mild over hot anytime. Also, I visited San Diego about 20 years ago, but not Seattle. Plus, Seattle has an enormous volcano (Mt Rainier) which might have some snow on top while I'm there, and will definitely have some walking tracks and spectacular woodland around it, so that's where I'm heading after the workshop: Mt Rainier for a day walk (or two).

I still can't believe I'm actually going!!!!

Edit: Another reason why it's better for me to do Clarion in June rather than January is that I'd be doing it early in my PhD rather than a third of the way through. That gives me more time to use what I learned, I reckon.