Posts made in April, 2009

RIP JG Ballard

Posted by The Author on 25 Apr, 2009 in Stuff That Happens | 0 comments

Ballard wrote some of the most surprising and creative short stories I’ve ever laid eyes on. And he remained relevant and interesting right to his last novel.

I’ll miss him.

Induction published

Posted by The Author on 14 Apr, 2009 in Stuff That Happens | 3 comments

A new short story titled Induction has been published in the plucky first edition of Verb-ate-him literary journal.

Induction is at once a brutal introduction to the blandness of the contemporary office space and a sneaky glimpse into the inner lives of the  people clacking at their keyboards. It goes without saying that not everything is as it appears.

Verb-ate-him is a literary and art e-journal that was started at the precipice of two thousand and nine by a twenty-three year old in the little town of brisbane. Verb-ate-him loves new and experimental works and gets excited over new ways to play with wording and structure.

A paper-based version is in the works, but for now, head over to Verb-ate-him, sign up for updates and download the first issue.

And what does this delicious slab of new art and literature cost? Nothing. Not an electronic sausage.

Download Hemmingway for nowt

Posted by The Author on 5 Apr, 2009 in Stuff That Happens | 0 comments

With recent changes to the site, we are again able to offer a free short story download for anyone who subscribes to web site updates.

Best of all, the story now on the free list is the ever popular Hemmingway. The story was originally published as a web-based interactive ‘e-novel’ way back in 2002 after receiving kudos even further back in the 2000 Country Road cyber-writing competition. It’s been tweaked a few times since then and stripped of all the web shenanigans to stand alone as a prime example of what I can only now call ‘my early work’. Man, that makes me feel old.

This short story also provided, of course, the inspiration for the interactive chatter-bot character Hemmingway 0.5.

To download the story, simply subscribe for updates through the new fancy subscription system here.

There are a few hoops to jump through with confirmation emails and the like, but I’ll keep working on it to try and simplify the process a little.

Subscribe to updates and download Hemmingway here.

Reacquainted with Adams

Posted by The Author on 1 Apr, 2009 in He Writes | 0 comments

Ah, how nice is this. I discovered only the other day that they created more episodes of the radio series The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, ones that follow the third, fourth, and fifth books in the series. I’m a bit behind the times apparently. They were done seven years ago. In my defense, I’ve been busy in that time.

Anyway, I found the new episodes, but I haven’t listened to them. I started right back at the beginning and I’m just finishing up the final episode of the second series. 

I’d forgotten how much of that story was ingrained in me during high school. I listened to that show a lot. I think it was what I listened to when I wasn’t listening to Beatles records, which seemed like all the time.

Am I revealing too much of myself here?

Anyway, I’m reacquainting myself with just how bloody clever Douglas Adams was as a writer and how much influence his work has had on my own. I don’t write science fiction and nor do I write comedy really, but there’s something about the precision and rhythms of Adams’ writing—to these older ears it sounds more English than I ever realised—that stays with you when it comes time to tap something out on a keyboard.

So anyway, I’m about to finish the final episode of the old series, ready to embark on the new ones. I hope they’re good.

Which brings me to the news that, apparently Eoin Colfer is writing a sixth Hitchhiker’s book scheduled for release in September or October. Sounds alright I guess. I’ll reserve judgement until I read it.