It’s time for another monthly check in, and March has been busy for sure. From one page RPGs to the ever closer anthology submission deadline, there has been a lot to discuss and think about for our membership. With all the public holidays in April, it’s a little slower, but all the usual suspects are still on the calendar! See at the end of the email for the full list of dates and times. If you’re new to the Guild and any of these interest you, check out our discord channel to learn all of the details.

Monthly Meeting Recap: One Page TTRPG Workshop

This month saw our members guided through designing their own 1 page TTRPGs by our star game designer, Lee. Games developed include grand political schemes with the aim to coup d’etat a beloved leader (or less beloved tyrant); Health Insurance CEO survival game-cum-phishing scam; a supermarket worker battling with a customer at closing time; and many more. This was a great chance to flex some storytelling skills in an unusual medium, and to challenge ourselves to write something that would fit both setting, context, and rules into a single page format. Thank you to Lee for facilitating the workshop! You can find Lee’s writing on its website, and previous game jams it has run on itch.io.

If you missed out this time and you’re interested in a similar workshop, let us know! We’d love to run more TTRPG events in the future.

Our April monthly meeting will be held on the 19th of April, 7pm at the Burns Club Kambah or online via Zoom. Our guest speaker is to be determined, but an update will be sent out ahead of the meeting with more details.

‘Never Say Die’ Anthology Submission deadline

A reminder to all members that the submission deadline for the ‘Never Say Die’ anthology is Friday, April 4, 2025 at 11:59 AEDT. You can see the submission guidelines here if you need a refresher. Questions and submissions can be sent to [email protected].

Book Club: Next Book Selection

The first book club session was held on 18 March via Discord, hosted by Victor. Members discussed Simon Jimenez’s fantasy tale The Spear Cuts Through Water, and its themes, including: the Filipino experience of war in its colonial era; the Venn diagram of storytelling in prose vs performing arts; how mental and physical traumas shape character interactions with the world and each other; and the ideals the protagonists embody (or fail to embody) in the worlds of the story.

If you’re on the fence about whether you should give this book a try, President Tacks has a spoiler-free but lightly unhinged review on their blog. (It’s possible this review was why so many people voted for The Spear Cuts Through Water last time!)

Voting on the next book will begin on 1st April via Discord poll (not a prank, we swear). This month’s theme is post-apocalyptic earth, and survival in a world that has been destroyed, either recently or in the distant past. Please check the Book Club discord channel for more information.

Member News

Long time CSFG member Gillian Polack has had a short story published in The Journal for the Fantastic in the Arts’ s anthology Yemoja’s Tears: An Anthology of Water, Bodies and Bodies of Water. The anthology is available as both an E-Pub and in print format, and can be purchased by clicking this link with all of the proceeds supporting communities facing water insecurity. Congratulations Gillian!

Tacks has shared two resources for short story writers on their blog: one on finding places to submit your work, and one on writing cover letters for short story submissions. If you, like many of our writers, have short stories that don’t quite fit the anthology, these might help you find them a home!

A reminder to members: you can have your news highlighted too! We love to celebrate what our writers are up to. If you have news to share, email [email protected], or reach out to Fionn MacPherson via the discord channel.

April Events

Wednesday 2nd – Short Story Critique Group: 7:30pm (online)

Friday 4th – Anthology submissions due!

Saturday 12th – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, Pulp Book Cafe (in-person)

Wednesday 9th – Novel Critique Group: 7:30-9:30pm (online)

Wednesday 16th – Monthly Member’s Meeting: 7:00-9:00pm, Burns Club Kambah (hybrid)

Friday 25th – Movie Night: 8pm (online)

Saturday 26th – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, National Library of Australia (in-person)

For information about any of these events or activities, reach out to us at [email protected] or message a committee member on Discord.

Note: links to join hybrid meetings online are shared through csfg.groups.io and the CSFG Discord server.

 

This month’s featured image is Lantern Slide – Wizard & Cauldron, 1850-1900, Unknown artist. Part of the Museums Victoria Collection. https://ehive.com/collections/6553/objects/823643/lantern-slide-wizard-cauldron-1850-1900