Lots of exciting activity going on with CSFG members during this winter months. Canberra’s wet and miserable weather seems to be spurring us to great (indoor) efforts!

Sales and Publications

Tim Napper’s story ‘The Great Buddhist Monk Beat Down’ will appear in an upcoming edition of Galaxy’s Edge Magazine.

Tim has also secured the services of a UK literary agent (Piers Blofeld of Sheil Land Associates) to help him sell his debut novel.

Shauna O’Meara’s flash fiction ‘Photo of a Tiger’ is currently appearing in The Worcester Journal.

Shauna also has a military SF novella ‘Hashtage WhiteBitch’ in The Last Outpost anthology from Pushpin Books and the story ‘The Laugh Contagious’ in the anthology Let Us In Volume 1 from Time Alone Press.

Finally in Shauna’s big news month, she was also a finalist in the Arizona State University Climate Fiction Short Story Contest (judged by Kim Stanley Robinson!) with her story ‘On Darwin Tides’.

Gillian Polack’s article on how she constructed the conversation in Langue[dot]doc has been published the most recent edition of postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies.

With the revivication of Satalyte Press, the launch date of Gillian’s next novel The Wizardry of Jewish Women should be rescheduled soon.

(And congratulations to Gillian, of course, for getting through her recent health troubles. We’re all very glad to hear you are on the mend, Gillian!)

Cat Sheely has been leading the charge down at the coast: the Secret Society of Words (SSOW) recently released their NaNo 2015 shared writing project – a novella called Alien Zoo. It is available this month on Smashwords for USD $0.99 for July.

Interviews

Chris Large’s interviews in Aurealis continue with an excellent two-part interview with Jennifer Fallon in issues 90 and 91. That’s followed in issue 92 by an interview with Tasmanian author Francesca Haig, whose novels The Fire Sermon and The Map of Bones have been purchased by DreamWorks and are in the process of being adapted for film by Nicole Perlman of Guardians of the Galaxy fame.

Chris’ interview with David McDonald about his Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America novels will appear later in the year.

Ian McHugh has interviewed Alan Baxter about the relaunch of his Alex Caine novels, in which they handily propose a new Principle of World Building.

Conventions and Talks

Another reminder, if anyone still needs one, that Alan Baxter will be the Guest of Honour at this year’s Conflux convention (29 September to 2 October in Canberra).

Cat Sparks will be speaking on speculation, science fiction, collective consciousness and environmental narratives of the future, an ‘In Conversation’ with Chris Palmer as part of ANU’s Student Research Conference, 5.30pm, Thursday, 14th July.

Gillian Polack will be presenting the latest in The Write Stuff series of free writing workshops at the Gunghalin Library on the subject of world-building on Wednesday 20 July. Bookings essential as places are limited.

Alan Baxter and Zena Shapter will be appearing on a speculative fiction panel at this year’s BezerkaCon, along with Richard Harland and Keith Stevenson (Sunday 31st July in Croydon, Sydney).

Retreat

Rob Porteous and Paula Boer will be among the mentors attending The Writers of the Far South Coast retreat in Tathra on the weekend of 5-7 August. A great opportunity to do some writing in a peaceful location and get some one-on-one mentoring as well.

Writing Opportunities

A reminder that the Conflux/CSFG short story contest closes on 31 July. Free entry to CSFG members, and the prize money is Not To Be Sneezed At!

The deadline for Cat Sparks and Liz Grzyb’s Ecopunk anthology has been extended to 31 August.
Cat adds: If you’re not really clear on what we’re looking for, I suggest getting hold of a copy of Loosed Upon the World, The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction edited by John Joseph Adams. Several of the stories within hit the Ecopunk nail right on the head. Eg: ‘Staying Afloat’ by Angela Penrose or ‘Outliers’ by Nicole Feldringer, or ‘Mitigation’ by Tobias S Buckell & Karl Schroeder.