Just keep walking.

Don’t stop here.

This is bat country.

…come on, you know I never write anything worthwhile on a Thursday night.

Instead, go read one (or more) of these awesome things.

• Author Peter Ball is liveblogging the progress of his new urban fantasy novella Claw (sequel to Horn and Blood) and it’s a fascinating look at the writing process. Peter has a dedication to the work that I can only envy and fear, taking whatever tiny sliver of time he can find in a day to sit down and pound out wordcount. This is great reading for anyone interested in writing; it’s also worth noting that Peter is a) a bloody good writer, b) one of the organisers of GenreCon, and c) excellent people, so keep reading everything he does.
• You could be forgiven for thinking the federal election was next week, rather than four months away, as both major parties are in fullblown election mode. It’s tempting to just retreat into fiction for the duration and then just draw draw a dick and balls on the ballot paper come September 14. But I’m a big believer in informed, tactical voting, which is why I follow The Tally Room, Ben Raue’s breakdown of every federal electorate and analysis of its voting patterns. It’s never too early to work out how your neighbours swing, after all.
• The Emerging Writers Festival starts in just two weeks! I’m not involved as a panelist or contributor this year, but don’t let that put you off. The EWF remains the most exciting, most inspiring and most educational writing event in Melbourne, and if writing is your passion (but not necessarily your main source of income) you absolutely need to go along to some events. I know I will, even if it’s just the ones held at pubs.
• I rabbit on about writing schedules and dedication and blah blah blah all the time, but my friend Dan directed me to this great blog that presents powerful tools for building routines in like a third of the space I would take. Go check it out.
• I gave up on the forthcoming 5th/Next edition of D&D very early on, because it looks like balls and because 4th edition is my flavour, but I’m glad people are sticking with the ongoing playtest/pre-marketing and poking at it. One of the most interesting lines of criticism is coming from Tracy Hurley, aka Sarah Darkmagic, who tempers optimism over 5th‘s system with concerns about the game’s handling thus far of gender issues and presentations. There’s some smart, insightful talk over at her blog that’s well worth a look. Sadly you can’t leave comments, because Sarah is a woman talking about gaming and as such the comments section gets regularly trolled and poisoned AND THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS.
• Everyone knows about Kickstarter now, and we’re all tired of seeing campaigns that are totally bullshit, but this one’s the real deal – legendary comics creators Greg Rucka and Rick Burchett with a plan for a deluxe hardcover of their steampunk airship western fantasy comic Lady Sabre and the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether. If that’s the kind of genre celebration that appeals to you, get in there and pledge; they smashed their carefully-considered target in a matter of hours and are now into stretch goals. And if you’re not sure whether the comic’s good (it is), then go read it – the whole series is free online.
• And speaking of e-comics, albeit not free ones, ex-Comics Alliance writer Chris Sims is writing a new series for Monkeybrain called Subatomic Party Girls, which appears to be ‘Josie and the Pussycats versus space pirates’ – and you’ve either recoiled in horror or immediately pulled out your wallet at that high concept. More details, and more of Chris’s varied writing, at the Invincible Super-Blog, a must-read for anyone who likes Batman, video games, sarcasm or reviews of superhero-themed pornography. Which is probably all of you.
• One of my favourite bloggers (and best friends) is pregnant. And blogging about it. AND IT IS FUCKING HILARIOUS.

God bless the internet, that provides us with so much wonderful stuff.

I’ve got comics on my mind this week. Which, okay, is pretty normal, but I have specific reasons for it this time.

–

We saw Iron Man 3 on Sunday, and I thought it was terrific. It’s been ages since we’ve seen a new Shane Black film – not since the excellent Kiss Kiss Bang Bang  - and it’s a joy to see him working as writer and director again. Black brings a real snap and sizzle to the script, filled with strong dialogue, tight pacing and genuinely engaging moments of humour, unlike the overstuffed and slapsticky Iron Man 2. Downey is great (naturally), Ben Kingsley steals the show and I would watch three movies that were just about Don Cheadle’s Jim Rhodes running around and shooting dudes, because Don Cheadle fucking rocks.

What’s really interesting about IM3, though (no spoilers) is the tonal shift it brings to the Marvel films. This is much more a thriller than a superhero movie, and many of the genre elements have been minimised or taken out entirely. Yes, Tony Stark flies around in Iron Man armour, but not as much as in the previous films; instead the focus is on the man outside the armour, the ingenuity he brings to solving problems and the toll that his actions take on him. It’s really clever stuff, but it’s also got plenty of great action sequences, included the extended showdown at the end. All in all it’s great work, and makes me really look forward to this wave of post-Avengers movies.

–

Unfortunately not all the Marvel news is good. I’ve really liked the Marvel Heroic RPG that came out last year, which I talked about a while ago here (and on my gaming Tumblr Save vs Facemelt); it married an engagingly interactive system with narrative concepts and placed them within a context of (mostly) playing established characters in big, complex event stories. It took a lot of risks, and it had a very good reception, winning acclaim and sales.

But not enough sales for Marvel management, apparently, who pulled the license last week, bringing the line to a sudden halt. The cancellation was so thorough that they even removed the right to continue selling PDFs of the current titles, which have ceased to be purchasable as of yesterday. No-one’s saying why the license was pulled, but it’s likely that Marvel just didn’t feel the income from the game was worth the bother. It’s a saddening move, especially as it (presumably) cuts the freelance writers off from being paid for their now-unpublishable work.

I have all the PDFs, and I’m hoping to run the Annihilation Event for my group later this year, but I’m sorry for everyone that will never get a chance now to play this excellent game.

–

And speaking of saddening moves in comics, the website Comics Alliance also shut down suddenly this week, as parent company AOL terminated it (along with a number of other media sites). In an industry where most sites just reprint press releases or fantasize about casting choices, Comics Alliance was a smart, engaging site that mixed news with humour and genuinely insightful commentary, especially on the representation of woman and minorities in superhero comics.

Plus they had a guy writing for them who really liked Batman. Which goes a long way with me.

There are a lot of very talented, very passionate writers now unemployed as a result of the CA shutdown, which is the biggest shame. I’m still tracking them separately, listening to (and donating to) the War Rocket Ajax podcast, following people on Tumblr and Twitter and generally giving them my attention. You should consider that too, if you’re into any kind of comics. Here’s hoping they soon find new projects to work on.

I’d like to hope that some other site will step up to fill the commentary gap left by CA, but I’m not holding my breath.

–

Okay, happier topic. FREE COMICS!

Yes, this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, the day when comic stores around the world host events and give away comics from publishers big and small. The comics themselves are usually just teasers, samples and promo items – nice to check out but hardly essential – but what the day is really about is connecting with your local store, with fellow fans and nerds, with writers and artists and just generally having a good time. And, it should be emphasised, bringing young kids out to show the joy of comics and dressing up as Wonder Girl.

My not-quite-local-but-close-enough store is the incomparable All Star Comics in Lonsdale Street, which is a great shop run by great guys. Last year the queue snaked through the store four times, down the elevator shaft and out into the street, so this year they’re starting in the street, with an Artist’s Alley setup in Hardware Lane and manned by forty local comics artists. Man, I hope it doesn’t rain too much.

So anyway, that’s going to be great fun. If you’re in Melbourne, go check it out; if not, swing past your own store and see what festivities they have on. And then buy some comics, because the stores still have to pay for shipping on the comics they’re giving away.

–

And with that, it’s time to get my shoes on and go see They Might Be Giants.

Hell. Yeah.

To be honest, TS Eliot, I don’t find April all that cruel, but it is the month when my life tends to devolve into chaos. Too much going on, too many things that need doing, too little ability to organise myself – as shown by the last few blog posts coming in off schedule and one in the middle just going missing.

But there comes a point when you have to gather up all the 52-pickup cards; when you have to sign the overdue paperwork, finish off the spreadsheet, agree to go to all the parties on Facebook and generally get your shit together.

And to blog about it. Naturally.

–

The main thing that’s been eating up my time this April is the Melbourne Comedy Festival, as I’ve been writing reviews for politics-and-culture website Crikey – you can find all my reviews (I think) here. That’s chewed up most of my energy and writing, which is kind of a bullshit complaint – ‘oh no, having to go to free comedy shows is SO TIRING and also my diamond shoes are too tight’. It’s actually a lot of fun, even if it doesn’t leave me much time or headspace for working on other things and means I barely see my wife for a month (she works in ticketing).

There’s a week left of MICF, and if you’re looking for a recommendation, my top five would be Watson, Hang the DJ, Sketch-ual Healing, Dave (if it’s not already sold out) and, um, I’m going to wuss out on #5 because I can’t choose between DeAnne Smith, Lisa-Skye and Simon Keck. Maybe go see all of them? Go on, you probably can if you try hard enough.

(The weird thing this year? Being recognised in bars and shows by comedians and producers, and being asked to go review more shows because they like my stuff. That’s a first. And cool. And weird. SO WEIRD.)

–

Now, what did we do today? Oh yeah, Supanova! While I went to the first one in Brisbane – as a worker at the Borders stall, selling graphic novels – this is the first time I’ve been as a regular punter, along with my wife.

We ignored all the various TV/movie people and made a beeline for the comics area to say hello to writer Gail Simone. She was really pleasant and nice, as were Nicola Scott and Terry & Rachel Dodson. We didn’t keep them long; it’s weird to try to have a conversation with people you only know in a creator/reader context, because you’re not friends or anything. We kept it cool and brief, got some photos and signatures, and really enjoyed meeting them.

Also, wow – SO MUCH COSPLAY. It’s interesting that Supanova seems to be the primary cosplay avenue for most enthusiasts, or indeed the only one for a lot of people, and as such every second person was wearing a cape or carrying a sword. It’s not my thing (although I think I could do a solid pre-reboot Green Arrow, mostly because I have my own goatee already), but it’s awesome to see so many people having a good time and flying their geek colours. Makes me think there really should be more of a cosplay scene in this city, or indeed this country.

As for the rest of Supanova – ehh, not really for us. It’s all about monetizing nerds in some way, either by selling them stuff or getting them to pay for autographs and photos and face time. Which doesn’t do much for me, especially as I’m a terrible nerd who wanders around saying ’I don’t know what show that costume’s from. I don’t understand why this person is famous. What the hell is Quidditch anyway?’ and so on. So we bought a couple of graphic novels from the All-Star Comics booth and a few fridge magnets for friends, and then we were basically done. And that’s okay.

–

As a complete aside, I have to share with you guys this new bit of spam poetry I just found in the filter. It is AMAZING.

Viagra in disaster, pitt. 100mg viagra moving, two dimness telegraph – – a beast, soon generic and next. Suddenly stoma felt different, their hour infrared and broken. And when viagra were sighted caught run of a scarecrow, seals admitted so the mentioning boat for generic closet. A viagra can brutally give generic and evaporated, of a muscle could stay missing my bolting doesn’t, on blood. Viagra not stooped road to see all all policemen as the isn’t supervision of his deals. She cry you forgot the viagra to wait her assistance. The landing was page her captain’s and had i to have his street through ever. That viagra slapped toward the generic slime, the rooftop keeping in the offer. But whether he could please them discovers not around generic in it too fled. What the viagra.

Viagra – a noun, a verb, an adjective, a punctuation mark. It’s all things to all people. Mostly impotent ones.

–

Anyway, between comedy, nerd-dom, reading about viagra and the usual making-textbooks-to-pay-the-bills, I haven’t had much time to do much else this month.

But that’ll change, and soon. And you know what that means – cocaine and video games more writing. Cub’s honour.

I think there’s something wrong with my brain.

I had tonight’s post 80% written earlier today, but not quite finished, and saved it to my USB drive to finished and post tonight.

I love my USB drive; 8 gigs filled with music, story notes, RPG PDFs, works-in-progress and various e-miscellanea, including some day-job page proofs I wanted to double check over the long weekend.

So I saved some stuff onto there, got it all ready, and then cheerily got the train home without realising that I’d forgotten to take it out of the work computer and put in my bag. Despite thinking less than two minutes earlier that I had to remember to take it out of the work computer and put in my bag.

And I do this ALL THE FREAKING TIME.

I think there’s something wrong with my brain.

(Yes, yes, I know, Dropbox. But work is a bit leery of people using Dropbox, and I have to respect that.)

So no clever blog post tonight in which I present and then dissect a prose fragment I found in an old notebook. No chance to look at the page proofs this weekend. No possibility of working on the Raven’s Blood manuscript despite this being the perfect goddamn time to nail a couple of chapters.

Sigh. I hate me sometimes. My own worst freakin’ enemy.

Anyhoo, no point crying over spilt neurons; I gotta head out to start reviewing Comedy Festival shows for Crikey. Let’s hope I don’t misplace my review notes or forget how my autonomic systems function on the way to the train station.

You know what we haven’t had in months? A multi-topic, general-purpose linkspam-round-up hey-here’s-a-bunch-of-stuff-also-I-like-hyphens kind of post.

I liked those. They were easy to write. Did you? Well, IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU LIKE whoops sorry channelling The Rock for a second there.

–

The 2013 Aurealis Award nominations are up, and they are a cracker collection of Aussie SF/F/H writing, with work by Jason Nahrung, Kirstyn McDermott, Garth Nix, Jay Kristoff, Margo Lanagan (for like a hundred different pieces) and many more. 2012 was obviously a sterling year for local genre fiction, and it’s to my shame that I’ve read almost none of the nominations. (I’ve started a few but not actually finished any.) Slack of me for not getting on it – and slack of you if you’ve not done likewise. So let’s fix this and read the shit out of some Australian books.

–

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival starts next week!

I’m particularly excited about Dave Bloustein, Laura Davis, Lisa-Skye, Splendid Chaps, Lawrence Leung and hell damn I dunno like twenty other acts, too many to count or link to.

This year I’ll be writing reviews for Crikey, so keep an eye on their site for my perfect and polished bon mots of criticism and erudite insight. I may also talk about knobs.

–

Also coming up – Supanova! Which I am really only considering going to so I can meet Gail Simone. And then I’ll probably go back home.

I don’t really understand comics conventions. What else are you supposed to do once you get bored with collecting signatures and covertly photographing cosplayers?

Sigh. I know. I’m a terrible nerd. Did you know I’ve never watched The X-Files? I should hand in my gun and badge right now.

…you don’t get to know why I got given a gun. Or by whom.

No, fuck you.

–

My Chemical Romance broke up.

I’m a 42 year old man, rather than a 16 year old girl, but I’m nonetheless pretty gutted about that.

On the plus side, sure, we’re likely to see more Umbrella Academy and the long-awaited Danger Days/Fabulous Killjoys comic now that Gerard Way has time on his hands, but I’m gonna miss the hell outta their music. That shit was tight.

–

We’ve been watching Justified. It’s pretty good.

–

A few months ago I said I was moving to a one-blog-post-a-week schedule so that I could stay on target for finishing Raven’s Blood sometime in March.

Well, March ends in less than a week and I still have a shitload of book left to write, so that ain’t gonna fly. So I’m going back to a Thursday & Sunday update schedule. I don’t promise that they’ll be AMAZING updates, but at least there’ll be more of them, and everyone in the fast food industry agrees that quantity is better than quality. Who am I to argue with the McRib?

So anyhoo, come back next Thursday for a post that might have even less content than this one (if that’s possible), followed by a discussion of storytelling techniques (and problems) in 2012′s biggest MMO release. And no, I don’t mean My Little Pony Friendship is $29.95/month Adventures.

…is that a thing? Surely that’s a thing.

Hola folks,

My peoples and I have gone down to a property outside Ballarat for the long weekend.

It’s fucking hot, internet access is intermittent and I’m spending most of the time drunk, so it’s not the best environment for writing a good blog post.

So here’s a picture of some random meme crap, and a promise to come back next Sunday with something more interesting and coherent.

Now if y’all will excuse me, there’s a hammock with my name on it.

I do a lot of talking on this thing sometimes.

But tonight I sat down at the computer and couldn’t think of anything to talk about. I’ve said my piece about worldbuilding for the moment, I put out Nine Flash Nine, I don’t have any appearances or conventions to spruik and there’s not much I can say about Raven’s Blood right now than that I’m busily writing it.

So I thought it might be interesting to turn things around for once and ask you guys a few questions – about this site, about what you’re doing, about whether I still look dead sexy despite turning 42 in a couple of weeks.

No need to answer that one. I know I look good, as this recent photo will attend.

But my slightly-sunburned features aside, here are a few things I’m wondering about. This would be a great time for any of y’all to leave a comment or two, ‘cos lord knows I don’t get enough people weighing in on things after I’ve left one of my usual walls o’ text.

What kind of posts on here have you found interesting?

Little self-aggrandizing, I know, but it’d be good to know what entries have really clicked with people. I know the Oxford comma and costs-of-publishing posts got a lot of feedback. Were there others that maybe flew under the radar?

What sort of thing would you like me to write about in future?

Sort of the same question as before, but in the other direction. Are there topics worth revisiting? Should I write more about grammar, or put up more flash fiction? Are there new topics that you cannot wait to read me dropping some ‘wisdom’ (ahem) upon?

What’s happening with your own writing?

Okay, enough about me. What have you been doing? What can you share with the class? Have any of you been working through my 2013 to do list?

What’s your opinion of book trailers?

Does anyone watch these? Are they useful? What do they need to include to make you want to read the book? I’m kinda dubious on them, but people make ‘em and watch ‘em, so I should probably think about ‘em some more.

Do you use any book/library social media sites?

I’m on Goodreads, which I use a wee bit as a writer (including my experiment with ads) but probably more as a reader, and even then I only use bits of it. What about you? Goodreads? LibraryThing? Something else? Do you find those sites useful, and if so, how?

Have you tried reading ebooks on different devices?

I have a Kindle (although not a sexy PaperWhite) and I like reading on it just fine, but occasionally I wonder whether a Nook or a tablet would provide a superior experience. Have any of you done the comparison? What did you find?

Where do you go for book reviews?

I really don’t know where to look for reviews these days – there are so many sites and so many voices that it’s hard to know who to listen do. So where do you go? Who do you rely on? Do you bother with reviews at all?

What books are you excited about right now?

There’s gotta be something lighting a fire in your head right now, either because you’ve just started it and it’s great or because you know it’s coming and you can’t freakin’ wait for it to arrive. So what’s it called, and why is it awesome?

Drop me a line, peoples. Throw them answers out there and get me to work.

And he’s back!

In the last seven days I’ve flown to Shanghai, ridden a maglev train at over 400 kph, drank lacklustre cocktails in a bar with an incredible view, wandered through street markets, gotten lost, saw a cute baby nearly cause a riot in a department store, bought a bespoke suit and additional clothing items for practically nothing, witnessed a marriage proposal on the bullet train to Beijing, was turned back after entering the Forbidden City (ironic), nearly froze to death in Tienanmen Square, ate duck, walked on the Great Wall of freakin’ China in subzero temperatures and surrounded by impenetrable fog, read and then deleted a whole pile of ebook samples on my Kindle, explored the alleyways of the French Concession, paid my respects at the Jade Buddha Temple, got dressed up to drink better cocktails in a bar with a lesser view, sailed the MoonBoat, went to the world’s most amazingly shithouse chocolate-based theme park (complete with Harry Potter’s Murder Room I SHIT YOU NOT), walked out of a goddamn terrible restaurant, bought a friend a Godzilla onsie and flew the redeye for 10 hours back to Australia.

What have you been up to?

–

Me being me, I also spent some time thinking about what I could draw from the experience to use in my writing, most of which came back to my current theme of worldbuilding.

And I’ll make some posts about that, but not tonight. Because I’m tired.

So wǎnān, peeps – I’ll start throwing around the thinkwords again this time next week. Tonight I’m off to bed.

Today was a podcast day.

That doesn’t mean I recorded a podcast or anything; the opportunity for that has yet to arise, and those who’ve been ‘lucky’ enough to hear me read aloud in public know that auditory media are not generally my best platform. Not unless you like streams of babble plunged into your earholes at 1000 kph, anyway.

No, I mean today was a day when I actually had the right environment to listen to a few podcasts. Which, in my case, means when I’m editing maths textbooks/manuscripts. That engages the non-verbal part of my brain and gives me something to do (and get paid for) while the verbal parts are free to take in conversation. It’s the only way that works for me; I can’t read while listening to a podcast, because the two verbal streams interfere with each other, and I can’t just listen to a ‘cast on its own because I start getting restless and antsy.

It’s a good word, ‘antsy’. Must try to use it more often.

So anyhoo, I spent today (and indeed most of this week) transcribing, editing and formatting maths docs, and so podcasts have done a lot to keep me sane and stop me from running amok with the contents of the big first aid kit under my desk. (No scissors, but so many bandages.) And in the spirit of sharing my sanity (in case any of y’all are running low), here’s a list of the podcasts I usually listen to, with links.

War Rocket Ajax: I’ve talked about WRA before, and it remains my favourite comics podcast. Hell, it’s my favourite podcast, thanks to its exuberance, energy and humour. In every installment, hosts Chris Sims and Matt Wilson talk about what they’ve been doing and enjoying, review a few comics, interview a comics creator and generally fuck about enjoyably. It’s the highlight of my podding week, particularly as it comes out on Tuesdays and is my refuge from all the meetings I usually have that day.

House to Astonish: This is also a comics podcast, but one with a decidedly different flavour. Hosts Paul O’Brien and Al Kennedy primarily focus on news, and more importantly some degree of analysis of that news, which they do with humour, insight and minimal negativity. They also review a couple of titles each time, with a fair amount of depth, before diving into the deconstruction and reconstitution of one of Marvel’s dodgier characters – and Marvel have a lot of dodgy characters. And it’s all done with excellent Scottish/British accents.

Boxcutters: A podcast about TV, which is odd seeing as how I don’t actually watch TV much (if at all). But these guys (and occasional gals) tackle a variety of TV news and reviews from a variety of angles and viewpoints, with an eye towards how Australian TV audiences actually view shows and how the media landscape is changing. There’s insight and humour, and a willingness to cast a wide net over topics. Also, one of the hosts is my nemesis, and I feel it’s important to support him until he’s lulled into a false sense of security.

Decompressed: Another comics podcast, and another one I’ve praised before. While the others do reviews and news, this is a craft-cast about the ins and outs of writing (and sometimes drawing) comics, where host and writer Kieron Gillen interviews another creator about the processes and decisions that went into a particular issue. It’s smart, interesting stuff done in a chatty, informal style, and a must-listen if you ever plan on writing comics yourself.

Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: The new hotness on the RPG-cast block is this show from luminaries Robin Laws and Kenneth Hite. It’s got a roving focus, best described as ‘they talk about what they want to talk about’ – history, game theory, alternate history, occultism, cinema, politics, the gaming industry, con appearances and whatever else is on their mind. It’s affable, engaging stuff that’s worth a listen.

Word Balloon: A comics ‘cast? How surprising! This is an occasional listen for me, as it’s entirely interview based and I tend to only check it when the interview’s with a creator that interests me. Still, they’re worthwhile interviews; host John Siuntres obviously knows most of his subjects personally, which lets him cover different ground to the usual press release stuff. I just wish he’d redesign his website; it’s like a time capsule from 1998.

Podmentum: I just started listening to this one today – it’s the new ‘cast from digital publishing imprint Momentum, done as a short round-table among three of their staff. They only have three under their belt so far, and it’s a bit conceptually hazy so far – but as a look at the business of digital publishing and reading, it’s got potential, and I’d like to hear more.

The Writer and the Critic: Alright, this is kind of cheating to list this, because I’ve only listened to it a couple of times and never the whole way through. But I certainly want to listen to it more often, so I’m listing it as an aspirational entry. This (mostly) spec-fic book review ‘cast, hosted by Ian Mond and Kirstyn McDermott, has won awards and critical praise from all over the place, and the bits I’ve heard have been great. The fault here is mine, as I’ve not been reading as much as I should this year – maybe if I listen to more bookcasts it’ll get me back in the habit.

–

…man, when I list them all like that there’s not very many. Certainly not enough about writing or publishing – or about roleplaying, oddly. (I’ve tried a bunch of RPG-casts but none of them have grabbed me.) So I need more! This would be an excellent time for you to leave a comment with some links and recommendations.

Especially as I still have a pile more maths work to do next week. Sigh.