Tag Archives: art

WorldCon and disability access

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disability access at Chicon7

See you up there!

The World SF convention started in 1939.  In the past 73 years, it seems no-one has realised that it’s difficult for mobility impaired members to get to panels or that they might need a little extra space.  If the elevators are so crowded that wheelies (mobility impaired people using scooters or chairs) can’t get in them, then I suggest that walkies wait, encouraging them to walk up the bloody stairs!  Apparently no-one has suggested having areas set aside for mobility impaired people who might arrive late due to difficulties navigating crowded corridors.  Of course, there’s no precedent in the real world for provision of disability access in this way.

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Through the Looking Class: being schooled by the SMoFs

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The Inner Cabal, a small but enlightened kingdom ruled meticulously by the Big Name in Fandom (BNF) and his council, the Secret Masters of Fandom (the SMoFs), have most graciously pointed out to me the error of my ways.

Papa SMoF

Papa SMoF

I have created an online-magazine, falsely claiming it to be a fanzine.  The BNF has gently pointed out that fanzines are not about the genre of science fiction and fantasy, but are instead about the fans who worship at his shrine.  By ignoring the well of wisdom and history lovingly maintained by the Inner Cabal, I have robbed you, cherished reader, of the opportunity to enrich your life by reading about the esteemed activities of fans in locations as far flung as the capital of BNF’s kingdom.

The High Priestess herself, consort of BNF, has graciously offered her subjects’ time and energy to school me.  It is very difficult to find female SMoFs, thus I am over-awed by her generosity in bestowing her unique time and attention upon my poor self.  Her Highness is most displeased with my arrogance in daring to start a fanzine without first kneeling at the SMoFs’ feet to learn the secret arts of the fanzine editor.  Had I knelt at the feet of older and wiser men before having the temerity to venture forth on my own, I would have learnt to emulate their standards, reproducing a lesser imitation of their glorious works instead of creating something offensively different.

When a certain venerable elder, the Merlin of BNF’s kingdom, wrote to me criticising Dark Matter, offering no positive comment nor, indeed, any comment other than ‘downsize or fold’ amidst expressing his ire, I should have immediately repented upon my knees.  Instead, I responded by flippantly calling that august personage a ‘hater’ and disregarded his pearls of wisdom cast before myself, a comparative swine.

Merlin most generously added me to an emailing list without my knowledge; in my deplorable ingratitude I considered unsolicited emails to be spam!  Oh, the ignominy of my arrogance causes my face to flame with embarrassment, in this, the hour of my humiliation!  To think I had not noticed these emails amidst the flood of unsolicited and solicited mail I receive, oh shame!  When I searched for these emails I discovered, to my consternation and horror, that Google appears to have intercepted them, mistakenly discarding them as spam on my behalf.  These emails served as carrier pigeons for words of wisdom like cherished morsels falling from BNF’s banquet table to nourish impoverished vagrants beneath.  Alas, I am inconsolable.

The Inner Cabal has raised a number of charges against me; like Galileo pressed by the Church, I confess and repent of all!

UPDATE:  Reliable sources inform me that the woman I mistakenly described as Her Majesty the Queen is, in fact, called High Priestess.  Complete with capital letters.  I stand corrected and have made the necessary changes. 

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Oh. My. God.

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Yesterday an Australia Post ticket was waiting in Dark Matter’s post office box, telling me to collect a parcel.  Today the minion brought the parcel home.  It’s usual for these types of parcels to be large bundles of books or, disappointingly, a big box with one book and a lot of packaging.  Not so today.  I received this care package from Hachette Australia.

Hachette's parcel

At this point I think my jaw about hit the floor because I had no idea what was inside, but it was clear this wasn’t the ‘usual’ pile of review books.  (Did I ever mention how spoilt I am?  I <3 Hachette.)

I peered inside…

inside the care package

Now my jaw needed to be picked up off the floor.  Wha-at?  A MANUSCRIPT???  AND A BOTTLE OF WINE???  And other stuff too?  Breathlessly I reached in, withdrawing item after item, examining my epic loot.  I took several photos as the contents of this Bag of Holding emptied, but in the end I arranged them for one photograph.

care package contents

The first item to come out was a copy of Ian Irvine’s Vengeance, the first volume of his latest trilogy about a girl living in a dystopian fantasy society.  Next was the envelope with the notation ‘Eat Me!’  You can see all the sweets that were inside.  So I didn’t have an accident I withdrew the bottle of wine next.  Last but by no means least, I gingerly extracted the first manuscript I have ever been given, a copy of book 2 of Ian Irvine’s trilogy, Rebellion.  Did I ever mention that I collect books?  I’ve never had the privilege of owning a manuscript copy before, even though my collection of autographed books is gradually growing.

When I drew out the bottle of wine I was careful because breaking a bottle  of any vintage would have been tragic; this bottle, from the Wine Men of Gotham, is worthy of display!  I’m torn between keeping it and drinking it.  I think I’ll save it up for a special occasion, drink it and then keep the bottle.

Wine men of Gotham

Recently I’ve received other books in the post as well.  The nightmare that is looking for a day job as a disabled person has distracted me lately, so my apologies for not posting these sooner.

books received

Books received lately in absolutely no order at all:
*  Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff (Japanese Steampunk!!!),
*  Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas: from the cover it looks like fantasy with a kick-ass heroine
*  Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells: more on this in a moment
*  Lady of the Shades by Darren Shan: a dark supernatural thriller
*  Maze Cheat by B.R.Collins: a kids’ book.  I’d link this but I can’t find it on the publisher’s website – it’s 2 weeks until launch, so maybe that’s why.  It’s put out by Bloomsbury on 1 September 2012.
*  Lord of Lies by Sam Bowring: part two of Sam’s duology.  I interviewed Sam last week about his work in comedy and his novels.  His published novels for adults aren’t comedic, although that could change for the future, he is looking to explore possibilities.

Besieged cover

Besiged has a special place in my heart: I interviewed Rowena last year.  Rowena talked about her novels, teaching storytelling and about creating the artwork for her covers and book trailers: it’s a family affair.  Rowena, sweetie that she is, sent me this copy personally, complete with autograph *hugs book*

Besieged book plate

After a really shitty week – the shittiness has nothing to do with Dark Matter and the SFF community – things are picking up this afternoon, both because of dealing with the problems and because I’m feeling the love from my peeps: you, the SFF and bookish community.  Thanks all!

this is AWESOME

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ready for takeoff

Hunter S. Tomcat ready for takeoff

You might already be aware that the Bloggess is my hero.  She does the most insane stuff, and when she’s doing something really mundane – like trying on swimwear – she has the most hilarious conversations and takes surprising photos.  If you’ve ever wondered why she’s my hero, THIS IS THE REASON WHY.  No photoshop required.  Only the Bloggess.

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Witch Hunts

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Witch Hunts

Witch Hunts launch, a graphic novel by author Rocky Wood and artist Greg Chapman, was launched today at Notions Unlimited Bookshop in Chelsea, south-east Melbourne.

Chuck McKenzie, owner manager of Notions, launched Witch Hunts on behalf of Rocky: his speech is below.

UPDATE: Rocky’s speech as read by Chuck is as follows (reprinted with permission):

Thanks everyone for coming. I’m sorry that the impact of Motor Neurone Disease means I can no longer speak publicly, so I get to rest while this is read for me!

‘Witch Hunts’ is a book with an interesting start in life. A couple of years ago McFarland, a fine niche publisher in the US who specialize in non-fiction, and I were talking about a Stephen King book, which ultimately came out last year – ‘Stephen King: A Literary Companion’ and won the Bram Stoker Award, so I am pretty proud of that.

McFarland asked me if I would write a graphic novel – to which my response was something like I don’t write fiction and I can’t draw, so why would you ask me? They said they liked my factual style and thought there was a niche for fact based graphic novels. So, against my qualms I talked the fine Maine artist Glenn Chadbourne into illustrating a book that re-imagines what happened to the greats of 19th Century horror – Shelley, Poe and Stoker among them in ‘Horrors!’, which garnered an Award nomination or two. All that proves is as a writer you can and should challenge yourself, and I now find myself writing Award nomination fiction after 35 years as a professional non-fiction writer.

When McFarland asked for another graphic novel I wanted very much to promote some Australian talent. Asking around the Australian horror community one name kept coming up – Greg Chapman and once I saw his work and understood his work ethic he was an easy choice. I am glad Greg can join us today for this signing – you will see in the book he is a fine illustrator, with great attention to historic detail, as well as bringing out the true horror that is the awful period in our history when we humiliated, tortured, burned and hanged women (and some men) for reasons that had almost nothing to do with so-called witchcraft. But of course you have to read the book to learn all about that! Greg is also a fine writer – an unusual combination, and his growing body of work promises a very interesting career in horror. And he was a joy to work with – nothing was ever too much trouble – and if you know Lisa Morton and I, we are nothing if not perfectionists.

A quick note on Lisa – she originally came on board to support me if my health failed and contribute her own take on the witch hunt phenomenon – well, she delivered in spades (or is it broomsticks?). The chapter on King James alone is worth the price of admission. Lisa is my Vice President at the Horror Writers Association, perhaps the hardest working colleague I have ever had in any endeavour and a fine writer, one whose mainstream breakthrough can’t be that far away. Not to mention she is THE world’s expert on Halloween!

So, again thank you all for coming, to Chuck for throwing this extravaganza, and to Greg for flying all the way from sunny Rockhampton to the depths of a Melbourne winter!

UPDATE:  Talie Helene read and reviewed Witch Hunts here.  Spoiler: she loved it.

Fairy houses

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Months ago, before I even launched my website, I declared on twitter that I’d have a page dedicated as a feminist ballot, showcasing art, writing etc from the science fiction and fantasy community’s female artists/writers.  That page isn’t up and running yet, but you might have noticed a feminist category: this is my shortcut until the page is up and running.  Hence tonight’s post.

Check out this website presented by Sally Smith.  She creates fairy houses.  Aren’t they cute?

One of Sally Smith's fairy houses

Sally Smith fairy house

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Shell: Let’s Go!

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turn the power on, lets melt some ice

A week or so ago you might have noticed me on twitter wondering if this social media campaign was for real or a spoof by anti-Shell forces: an art gallery apparently set up by Shell with photos of the arctic for members of the public to caption.

Last night someone in my feed RT-ed a tweet from ShellisPrepared, titled ‘Social Media Team’ with the Shell logo.  Social Media Team started with this:

@thisjordanbrown Please don’t share offensive ads. We’re working to remove them. #shell #arcticready

As people jumped on the band wagon, RTing more ads, Social Media Team escalated to this:

Okay, I can’t take this anymore. NAMES OF ALL RT’ERS ARE GOING TO #SHELLLEGAL. Walking there now.

This caused major jollility, with punters trolling the Social Media Team.  A careful reading of Social’s tweets started to drop hints that this is a spoof account:

Social Media Team ‏@ShellisPrepared
Wow, am I the only person in this office without a gold Rolex?

Then Greenpeace engaged their foe:

Greenpeace USA ‏@greenpeaceusa
Houston residents agree, you can’t run your SUV on ‘cute’
#savethearctic #tellshell #arcticready pic.twitter.com/utMIEZpx
cant run your suv on cute
Social Media Team ‏@ShellisPrepared
@greenpeaceusa WHAT THE HELL YOU PRINTED THE FAKE#SHELL AD ON A REAL BILLBOARD!?
Social Media Team ‏@ShellisPrepared
nvm, *nigeria* problem. wrong country. apparently we ruined their ocean or something: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/17/us-shell-nigeria-fine-idUSBRE86G0X020120717
People in my newsfeed were laughing about Qantas fail well before this point, and cracking jokes about someone being out of a job.
Social Media Team ‏@ShellisPrepared
Sooooo if anyone is hiring… I may be needing a new job…
Social Media Team ‏@ShellisPrepared
Sorry about that last tweet! I brought my cat to work today and he walked across the keyboard.
Social Media Team ‏@ShellisPrepared
I have seven cats at home (and one at work) that rely on my paycheck.

It turns out that the brilliant art gallery social media stunt isn’t another Qantas- and Gloria Jeans-type social media fail, but is actually run by Greenpeace and the Yes Men.

A couple of videos have gone viral, made by the same geniuses behind #Shellfail.


Here’s the inside story from Greenpeace themselves.

Here’s the story written up in The Age.

In case you were wondering: I’ve never belonged to a political party but when I was 5 years old I went to Lake Pedder with my step-father while the area was being flooded, to see if animals were trapped on the islands during the flooding. That kind of thing gets deep down inside you.

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Melbourne Comic Makers

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Once a month in Melbourne there is a not-so-secret meeting in PAs (Prince Albert hotel), where a group of people get together to share their interest in comics.  Most of these people make comics – either write or draw or both – often while juggling a day job and other responsibilities as well.  The gathering is informal: there is no chair person, no agenda, it’s just a bunch of people with a common interest who get together for a few beers – or cider or orange juice – diversity here is the key.  Conversation can range from serious comic book talk, including mentoring in action, to discussing the footy, life, the universe and everything.

The first time I went, I interviewed Paul Bedford the morning of Free Comic Book Day last year (interview in Issue 4).  I’d heard about FCBD but had no idea where it worked or where to go; Beddo gave me a quick run down and a list of addresses as well as inviting me to the comic book makers meet, which just happened to be on that afternoon.  This was the day that I met icons like Colin Wilson, Bruce Mutard and Tom Taylor, three passionate comic book guys, who welcomed my minion (husband) and I into the fold.

Over a year later, the minion and I still attend the comic makers’ meet although we don’t make comics.  We like the community, we enjoy the talk, we’re interested in what they’re doing, and we find hanging out with creative people to be energising.  I also have to admit this meet is one of the very few times I feel comfortable sitting in a pub; it’s the absence of pokies coupled with a friendly atmosphere.  It seems to me that the ‘elders of the tribe’ must be making like a duck (paddling under the surface while appearing to glide across the water) to maintain this community.

Over the last few meets I’ve noticed a number of new faces.  There are increasing numbers of children (meaning adults who are younger than me and who are unfamiliar to me) while old farts like Beddo are full of hot air about attending that then fizzes out.  ;)

Dark Matter is nearly two years old and Dark Matter’s website is now over two months old.  I’ve been evaluating what I’ve been doing and where I’m going, while also flailing around like some stranded whale with software issues.  I’ve tried getting comic book people to write comic book content for Dark Matter but this is pretty unrealistic: those who do it already are too busy, while others are doing their own thing.  I really don’t feel comfortable writing reviews of comics as I just don’t know enough to write intelligently about comic books.  I’m not going to learn enough either, because I just cannot learn everything.  What I really want to do is to interview more comic book creators and write more articles about what is happening.  This is an amazing time here in Australia with a wealth of talent and wellsprings of creativity.  Dark Matter issue 10 probably won’t have much comic content but I’m planning for more in the future.  You never know, you may learn about future Hugo Award nominees from this website or this zine!

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