tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52738222011-04-22T14:14:50.297+10:00Adventures in writingThis is the spot to read up on Susan's writing efforts, life, and opinions. There will be lashings of misplaced punctuation, angst and joy and hopefully the odd literary moment.Susannoreply@blogger.comBlogger2591100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-25094577330944706632007-09-20T20:24:00.000+10:002007-09-20T20:25:49.330+10:00Tonight, right now, very now in Melbourne Overland 188 is being launched.Go to the website, order a copy now!Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-69111633072673041772007-08-23T18:01:00.000+10:002007-08-23T18:05:13.354+10:00Such a hive of holiday activity I am.I have finished my synopsis, my bio and my re-write of the novel. (OK I have one more change I want to make to the last chapter - but so close I'm going to call it done!)I have emailed first three chapters to a very obliging friend who has offered feedback (thanks Z).I have made some slight changes to 'The Chance' short story (recent 2nd prize getter in the Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-80455557185245401642007-08-21T09:15:00.000+10:002007-08-21T09:20:00.271+10:00I'm back!Yup - one week of playing with family and doing rewrites in Bowral (not to mention the odd jog and a bit of pub trivia) is now over.I'm almost through the entire manuscript and hopeful that by the end of the week I might be almost in a position to call it done!In other news I have for the third time picked up 2nd place in the Katherine Susannah Prichard Fantasy and Science Fiction AwardsSusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-8065648823081874422007-08-09T22:30:00.000+10:002007-08-09T22:33:59.141+10:00The galleys for Overland arrived yesterday - so I spent this evening proofing them. A couple of minor typos - but nothing significant. I'll send them back tomorrow along with my ATO Statement for why I'm not quoting an ABN.Otherwise spent the evening snuffling a bit and doing a re-write of a story that is about 3 years old. I've decided if it cleans up ok I'll shoot it off to a historical Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-82433883853072692962007-07-23T18:38:00.000+10:002007-07-23T18:40:12.794+10:00So in order to get the novel ready in time for the Manuscript Competition I need to:Rewrite 10 pages a day (so 20 tonight cos I've got other stuff on tomorrow)Write a 1 page synopsis (I hate those things)And hopefully at the same time throw the odd word down on other projects.That's the plan.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-65751768499815264762007-07-11T22:36:00.000+10:002007-07-11T22:37:19.397+10:00In Tasmania a giant squid washed up on a beach last night. Australian scientists have gone into a feeding frenzy. That's a whole heap of calamari.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-64910248767653073262007-07-06T18:39:00.000+10:002007-07-06T18:40:55.667+10:00An acceptance landed today - from Overland Magazine. And there was much rejoicing.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-7696548138548898652007-07-05T15:47:00.001+10:002007-07-05T15:50:33.816+10:00A treasure trove arrived at the Post Office in a great big Australia Post sack! Books and magz and all things wonderful from Kelly and Gavin in the US. They said they would send a sampling of the US spec market when they got back - such an abundance!I have bought full cream milk to assist in scone making."Plain scones are delicious and very simple to make, but it is equally easy to throw in a Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-16939597956056543722007-07-04T18:02:00.000+10:002007-07-04T18:07:39.093+10:00The great scone-offL and I are engaged in a scone-off.How did this come about? Well last week, hunting through my recipe book, I came across onion and parmesan scones. "How cool!" thought I and proceeded to cook.When L turned up I plied him with said scones (very excited at my creativity). "What do you think of them?" I asked."They aren't as good as the ones my grandmother used to make," says Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-75304472920360239152007-07-02T18:33:00.000+10:002007-07-02T18:35:16.328+10:00There's a great big cargo ship called 'Pasha Bulka' stuck on the beach at Newcastle. It got blown in on the last big storm and has become an overnight sensation. People drive from the country to take a look at this boat parked on a beach.I just like the name. In high school, when you went to a party and kissed someone it was called a pash. The Pasha Bulka - my kind of boat.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-18355108157291038542007-07-01T16:17:00.001+10:002007-07-01T16:21:18.944+10:00It was chewing too much of my life I tell you. It just has to go! University that is. Having made the decision I feel I find myself much more in a mood for writing again...Took my YA novel MS to the 'Writing for Children and Young Adults' Festival yesterday and had a one-on-one session with Mark McLeod. He gently but firmly pointed me at some flaws (like there wasn't enough tension early Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1758568024367499422007-05-25T23:52:00.000+10:002007-05-26T00:02:34.142+10:00Scattered thoughts....In writing I have got two things into circulation in the last week or so. The first is a new story - sent out to the Shoalhaven Literary Awards. The second is Clarion 05 story subbed to the KSP Science Fiction / Fantasy Awards.The original story was approx 4200 words. So to make it eligible for the KSP I had to carve 700 odd words off it. The first 400 were amazingly Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-2979046132740109412007-05-08T21:28:00.000+10:002007-05-08T21:34:56.300+10:00So sue me - maybe I'm not the smartest kid in town but....It seems to me that both the Federal (Liberal) Government and the State (Labor) Government are both doing their best to be seen as caring for the environment. Yup - we've heard about global warming, we've seen 'An inconvenient truth' and now we're going to make a token gesture and give people money to change to solar hot water services Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-22713912336626790072007-05-01T21:12:00.000+10:002007-05-01T21:13:14.110+10:00A scattering of bits.Good marks at uni - 27/30 for a short story, 9/10 for participationHowever - didn't win an Australian Society of Authors Mentorship.... sniff.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-64803941797517690022007-04-25T09:15:00.000+10:002007-04-25T09:19:21.410+10:00So have you ever heard of focalization?It's kind of point of view of a story - except it goes one step further. Tricksy hey? So your point of view might stay the same - but the focalization might shift.So there - I have learned something from going to university!Got a few hundred words on paper last night before class sitting in the foyer of the Uni Library. Hoping to go gangbusters on it over Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-79803969716956393712007-04-23T18:30:00.000+10:002007-04-23T18:31:37.733+10:00Alexandra Pierce at Asif! has posted a review of Ticon 10.Medieval history, particularly its tortures and punishments and when suitably filtered and enhanced by modern eyes, is a ripe source for fantastic stories. Just so in “The Iron Shirt”, by Susan Wardle. Written in the first person and the present tense, it elaborates the trial of Dan Langdon, to figure out whether he committed murder or notSusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-32728905509570377832007-04-22T19:34:00.000+10:002007-04-22T19:36:45.789+10:00Attended a cocktail party last night with some of the Spec Fiction types. Go here if you want to see the pics.L decided that seeing as how he'd had his photo taken, and how everyone there was a writer therefore he must be a writer too. I've tried to explain that it's just not that easy.... he won't be convinced.Now enough of this - I have jotted notes today and am planning on words tonight.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-90947871560672866422007-04-17T20:08:00.000+10:002007-04-17T20:09:57.496+10:00Ticonderoga Publications have just announced the contents list for 'Workers Paradise'.Check it out.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-81612269622652103832007-04-12T07:55:00.000+10:002007-04-12T07:59:25.614+10:00I guess some updates on my little world of writing are due.I've had a story 'Arianne's Event' accepted into 'The Workers Paradise' being produced by Ticonderoga Publications and due out around the middle of the year.Also a micro accepted for 'Black Box' e-anthology - following on from the much acclaimed 'Shadow Box' editted by CS05er Shane Jiraya Cummings.I also think I've decided (although I Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-6801975569774220902007-04-11T20:21:00.000+10:002007-04-11T20:26:24.077+10:00Back from a whirlwind 6 days in Tasmania with L. It was a wonderful escape - and every place we went to we came away from saying 'just another day would have been good'.We splurged a little on accommodation - as a result every night was extra specially good. From rainforest retreats, to historic bed and breakfasts. There was a steam train and historic diesel engine trip - and I managed to talk Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-34234849837653546182007-03-26T17:49:00.000+10:002007-03-26T17:54:20.385+10:00Once upon a time, in a far off galaxy....I used to play an online multi player game called Everquest (or Evercrack as the addicts knew it). I spent a couple of years adventuring in this world, slaying monsters, making friends, winning magical items.Then one day I realised that while I'd been off adventuring I'd let my other life fall apart. So I turned my back on Everquest and set about working Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-79084917587995581892007-03-24T08:54:00.000+10:002007-03-24T08:57:08.870+10:00I'm a bit annoyed with modern society. We cannot live without passwords.At work I have mutiple passwords for the various computer systems I use, passwords for the bank, passwords for hotmail and blogger, passwords for yahoogroups and other such things.Is it any wonder that I forgot my blogger password?I have voted this morning. May the prettiest party win!Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-55529550426967876012007-03-06T19:44:00.000+10:002007-03-06T19:48:19.165+10:00Macabre.I've written a gentle little story, from a young adult perspective. It involves a small session of hitting a spirit or ghost over the head with a stick - but nothing too scary. Barely speculative I would have said.Macabre Dark GothicFrom the non-spec crowd. Interesting thinks I.There was general agreement on the fact it needed work.Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-72460304687798505492007-02-26T16:59:00.000+10:002007-02-26T17:04:34.981+10:00In just a few weeks there will be a State election. A whole bunch of people who have made some poor decisions and bad mistakes (I hate the privatisation of roads) will go up against a whole bunch of people who are entirely capabale of making equally poor decisions and bad mistakes.It's sort of depressing really.Added to that is the fact that, because I live in a 'safe' seat, my tiny vote will Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-53826447293718795782007-02-19T21:21:00.000+10:002007-02-19T21:25:54.122+10:00I'm both enrolled for uni and I've paid for it. For some odd reason it was no-where near as expensive as I initially calculated it. I'm not complaining mind you.I've worked out that I'm way behind on my New Year's resolution of 1,000 new words a week. I think we're about 9 weeks into the year and I think I have about 5,000 new words written. So I'm going to have to pull my finger out to catchSusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-57813991002423819712007-02-12T06:58:00.000+10:002007-02-12T06:51:38.571+10:00Things Kelly & Gavin taught meLet the reader work. You don't have to give every action.If you describe unimportant things you give them a weight they don't necessarily deserve.A character developes when there is another character on the page for them to interact with. Characterisation can then be shown through dialogue and interactions.A short story should have 3 plot lines or layers.Reversals Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1170926846347594052007-02-08T19:24:00.000+10:002007-02-08T19:27:26.360+10:00Confessions....I watch 'The Biggest Loser', in fact I'm fan.I leaned out my car window yesterday and berated a woman who left her 2 young sons in her 4 wheel drive while she went to the newsagent. The 4-wheel drive was parked across a driveway I wished to enter. I was cross.I love Weet-Bix.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1170620669797619382007-02-05T06:23:00.000+10:002007-02-05T06:24:29.810+10:00My Clarion story 'The Children's Crusade' has been accepted for issue #32 of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (ASIM) due out in October.I'm thrilled. That's two stories of mine due for publication in 2007 now.Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1170403113756265822007-02-02T17:53:00.000+10:002007-02-02T17:58:33.766+10:00Between 20 January and 24 February each year life gets a little emotionally bumpy.The 20 January is my big sister's birthday. The 24 February is the anniversary of her death.My sister taught me a lot of things; three unit maths, gin rummy, how to ride a bicycle. Her death taught me a lot of things; bad things happen to good people, hug the ones you love, happiness is hard work.So I'd like to Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1170073963544829272007-01-29T22:30:00.000+10:002007-01-29T22:32:43.556+10:00Tonight I'm a blowout not a hero.I planned to come home, go to the gym, go shopping, come home, write 6 kinds of good.Instead I came home, had a nap, shopped, came home, watched Battlestar Gallactica, drank a glass of wine.You have to accept that every now and then you'll let down your own expectations. In fact expect to let them down - then anything else is victory.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1169977958003909672007-01-28T19:50:00.000+10:002007-01-28T19:52:38.016+10:00Today I have been good.I put some time in on my current short story in progress (loosely titled 'Uncle Henry's Dog'), in fact I thought I'd finished it - but across the day a couple more ideas of edits and additions have come to me.I worked on my novel synopsis.I went to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition - some very amazing shots indeed. I want to take up photography now!I Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1169778187195110262007-01-26T12:18:00.000+10:002007-01-26T12:23:07.213+10:00Alcohol makes me talk. A lot. Last night I talked for two hours non-stop brain dump at L.The man is a saint.Alcohol also makes me say unfortunate things sometimes. In retrospect those unfortunate things are sometime funny, in a kind of "I'll just kill myself now manner". Not that I reached the 'unfortunate things' point of inebriation last night.I went to work at 6.30am this morning with a Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1169118149716954712007-01-18T20:59:00.000+10:002007-01-18T21:02:29.730+10:00Just in from dinner with Kelly Link and Gavin Grant plus a crowd of the local favourites. Lovely to talk books (and receive some recommendations 'Magus' by John Fowler) and writing.Things are gathering momentum well for the workshop we've convinced Kelly and Gavin to run - with 13 signed up and some of those CS05ers coming from interstate! It makes me think we must do this more often.No w a Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1168506999632665812007-01-11T19:10:00.000+10:002007-01-11T19:16:39.646+10:00As a former Clarion South student I can't help but be fascinated by the process that 17 raw recruits are currently undergoing in Queensland. To this ends I have been checking up on Lyn Battersby's blog and having a grand old reminisce (1 glass of wine up - so spelling is shot to pieces).In my own humble attempt to recreate the magic (and at the request of a fellow Thorbyite) I've been in touch Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1168459562091600782007-01-11T06:04:00.000+10:002007-01-11T06:06:02.106+10:00Yipee!My Clarion South pirate cannibal shipwreck story has found a home!'Here be Monsters' will be appearing in Macabre: The New Era of Australian Horror produced by Brimstone Press.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1168074460466271622007-01-06T18:59:00.000+10:002007-01-06T21:43:36.816+10:00It's two years since I turned up in Brisbane for Clarion South 05. Sometime around about now there is a new batch of keen writers packing bags and laptops and wondering how they'll ever manage to write a short story a week for the next six weeks.In thinking about Clarion and the speculative fiction genre in general I find myself wondering if we mightn't be better to fund places by selling the Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1167963160876864362007-01-05T12:07:00.000+10:002007-01-05T12:12:40.890+10:00Well I've done it. I've finally accepted my offer of a position in the Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Writing at Macquarie University.I've been thinking about this for some years - but always had good reasons not too - mostly related to time and a fear of study.About halfway through last year I started thinking about it again so I rang the convenor and had a nice chat. No essays. No Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1167860583365361182007-01-04T07:35:00.000+10:002007-01-04T07:43:03.383+10:00Christmas came and went. I actually had a nice time. Yup it wasn't too bad. I'd better watch out, maybe I'm mellowing.And old year went out, new year came in.Resolutions are for a minimum 1,000 new words a week. Not a large target - but achievable with work and life. It also means any time I write more it's a win!Oh and the chocolate has to go (but only once I've finished my Christmas stash!)Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1166614315524085542006-12-20T21:28:00.000+10:002006-12-20T21:31:55.526+10:00I don't believe in Santa Claus and I don't send Christmas cards.Tinsel and Christmas lights in the shape of reindeer bring me out in a rash. Christmas Day is something to be lived through....And I'm not sure how much everyone else has spent buying gifts for people because you feel you have to - not because you want to - but I'm well over the Australia average and counting (that's what having Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1166613658107098672006-12-20T21:15:00.000+10:002006-12-20T21:20:58.120+10:00Sometimes I'm just too harsh.This is about someone I know. A person I've met through work. Someone who, for the past 18 months I've been writing off as socially inept, a poor communicator, pompous and without a single original thought in their head.Tonight I learned that I'd been too judgemental. On two separate occassions this evening I saw behind the exterior, the heart of the man. Saw him Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1166425614367911952006-12-18T17:02:00.000+10:002006-12-18T17:06:54.380+10:00Well Stephanie Gunn of Horrorscope has the following to say about my story 'Iron Shirt' up on Ticonderoga Online at the moment...The first offering in this issue is Iron Shirt by Susan Wardle. Wardle mixes up medieval torture with a future setting, a strange and almost jarring juxtaposition. While the premise is interesting, I found that there was a lack of emotion in this story – surprising, Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1165318554773048672006-12-05T21:32:00.000+10:002006-12-05T21:35:54.790+10:00It's 10.30pm and I'm tired, just in from a work do... skin itching from spending too long in the same set of clothes, smelling vaguely like deep fried fish and stale smoke.I'm contemplating the perilous emotional state that enables writers to write. Not too happy, not too sad. A bit of unhappiness can actually provide fruitful. Discomforting situations sometimes create the most vivid of images Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1165298945637412172006-12-05T16:08:00.000+10:002006-12-05T16:10:24.200+10:00I've got a story up on Ticonderoga Online - so check it out and the rest of the mag. It's online and it's free!Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1164829300375440932006-11-30T05:36:00.000+10:002006-11-30T05:41:40.386+10:00It's almost two years since I attended Clarion - so I thought I'd give some statistics.Prior to attending Clarion I had 5 stories published. 3 of these as unpaid, 2 paid*.*I'm counting a story I'd written and subbed but that wasn't accepted till after Clarion.Post Clarion I've had 7 stories published. Of the stories I've had accepted - to date I've only sold one of my Clarion stories (although ISusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1163108570640605442006-11-10T07:35:00.000+10:002006-11-10T07:42:50.656+10:00The reason I've been commenting on fashion - and various other ridiculous moments in life and not mumbling on about writing is cos I haven't been doing a whole heap of writing lately.First draft of the novel is complete - and I'm putting off getting back to a full re-reading and editting session. I'm kidding myself that it's because I need the distance. I do need the distance.On the short storySusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1162986041614728662006-11-08T21:27:00.000+10:002006-11-08T21:40:41.630+10:00It's all about the fashion.Oh yes, that's a fact.I have recently acquired a new pair of heels. Strappy heels, with a tiny little strap over the top of the toes and then a little noose (with a diamonte on it) over the big toe, strap around the ankle and all at a ridiculous height. In fact I think these are the highest of the high heels I've ever owned. Higher than my brown suede calf length Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1162609659624114792006-11-04T13:04:00.000+10:002006-11-04T13:07:39.636+10:00Got to L's at 10pm last night having finished work at 8.30pm. Found out he was getting up at 6.30am this morning to go to work. Finishing around midday. Seeing as I was heading off to work in the afternoon evening, felt a bit bummed.Staggered home around 7.30am and wrote a short story full of over tiredness and endless days and nights of work then collapsed into deep dreamless sleep for 2 Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1162497672943745072006-11-03T05:57:00.000+10:002006-11-03T06:01:12.960+10:00Well I got my application in for the HarperCollins Varuna Manuscript Awards so now a wait.I thought I'd also got my uni application in - but they sent part of it back with more paperwork to fill in - so I'll do that this weekend. I'm having second thoughts about uni - while I'd love to do it - it's actually pretty expensive and I'm not sure I can manage that plus the mortgage plus having a life.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1161856085320875832006-10-26T19:41:00.001+10:002006-10-26T19:48:05.320+10:00Thursdays make me tired. Actually it's Wednesdays that make me tired and Thursdays that I live tired in.I work somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2 days on a Wednesday. Yesterday it was two. In at 8am out at 10pm. That's 14 hours = 2 work days.So on Thursdays my body and brain struggle - usually till around 4.30pm when I stagger out the door and home to bed. I sleep for an hour or sometimes two then Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1160647807038550822006-10-12T20:02:00.000+10:002006-10-12T20:10:07.916+10:00Me: I've written a novel.You: Wow, that's great. Well done. What's it called? I'll look it up next time I'm in a bookshop.Me: It's not published.You: Oh well that's still a great effort, well done. I've always meant to write a novel. I'll get around to it one day. What's your's about?Me: It's kind of about these kids who live in this country town, that's in this sort of fantasy, kind of Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1160516397653479042006-10-11T07:34:00.000+10:002006-10-11T07:39:57.666+10:00On Thursday I will be sending my manuscript to a friend for its first full read through and comments. Woo hoo!And in good time too. I'm planning to re-submit to the Varuna Manuscript Awards at the end of this month.I've also printed up the paperwork from the web to fill out as my application for Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Writing.I'm looking forward to getting the novel off so I can Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1160027392037808442006-10-05T15:47:00.000+10:002006-10-05T15:50:57.080+10:00If you want to support me in supporting peoples with cancer go here and give some dosh.http://www.relay.cancercouncil.com.au/donate.html?member_id=44411Thank youSusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1159962074254130562006-10-04T21:24:00.000+10:002006-10-04T21:41:14.313+10:00Unless you're a man, picking the right sock isn't as easy as it sounds.If you're a man you've probably got sports socks and black (or some similar dark shade) socks. One you wear for sport, the other you wear for everything else. End of story.If you're a woman the sports sock and the black sock don't even start to describe the variety of choice we suffer from. There's pantyhose and stockings (Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1159864487675274042006-10-03T18:32:00.000+10:002006-10-03T18:34:47.686+10:00It's bigger than I anticipated.My novel that is.I've just printed it up in its entirity and its just under 50,000 words. I thought first draft would be 45,000 and second draft around the 50,000 mark. This is good. It will therefore probably end up growing by at least another 5,000 words in rewrites. Yes a small novel - but hopefully of sufficient size for a first and for a young adult novel. I Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1159131940358937142006-09-25T07:03:00.000+10:002006-09-25T07:05:40.370+10:00Tansy Raynor Roberts has written a review of Ticonderoga Online 9 over at the Asif! website.Ticonderoga Online 9 contains a review of 'The Outcast' anthology.So in effect Tansy has written a review of a review. I am amused.Susannoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1158981803253239912006-09-23T13:19:00.000+10:002006-09-23T13:23:23.273+10:00I could talk about work, and where my big event tomorrow is at, the issues we've had with it along the way.Instead I'm going to post this groovy review of 'The Outcast' anthology by Russell B Farr from Ticonderoga Online."Things of Beauty" by Susan Wardle is possibly the strongest story in the collection with its internally consistent setting, depth of characterisation and well structured, Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1158566347591635222006-09-18T17:57:00.000+10:002006-09-18T17:59:07.606+10:00I'm tired and I can't decided what will take less energy; staying in and making dinner or going out and paying someone else to make me dinner!I survived the weekend - my edge of a cold remaining that way.Now for next weekend all I need to do is work out how to get a semi-trailer through a hole that's too small. Looks like some fence deconstruction and reconstruction may be on the agenda!Susannoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1158387747900883352006-09-16T16:16:00.000+10:002006-09-16T16:22:27.913+10:00L has been sick for a week. Seven days in which, as well as providing nourishing meals full of healthy vegetables, I have harangued poor he about the state of his immune system."Look at me. I haven't been sick once in the last twelve months yet you've had how many nameless colds and afflictions? You need to eat better, exercise more, work less...."Now I have the edge of a cold. Just the edge - Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1157667176668896062006-09-08T08:07:00.000+10:002006-09-08T08:12:56.706+10:00Justine has posted on 'How to write a novel'. And lots of its true. As someone who is struggling with their first novel attempt I was amused by the advice to not bother with a plot outline if writing your first novel. Hear, hear!I am stumbling my way through on gut intinct and the seat of my pants. Little of the way I've approached writing this novel is really text book stuff. I've written Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1157582137318734462006-09-07T08:33:00.000+10:002006-09-07T08:35:37.333+10:00This morning my face looks like someone slept in it - which of course they did - but why is it that my face looks more slept in when I haven't slept in it?The link for Asif review yesterday should have been http://www.asif.dreamhosters.com/doku.php?id=fables_and_reflections_issue_8 I'd edit yesterday's page but this slept in face of mine can't be bothered.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1157496252663425532006-09-06T08:42:00.000+10:002006-09-06T08:44:12.676+10:00From a review on www.asif by Nicole Murphy of Fables and Reflections Issue 8:The first story is “The Crying Chair” by Susan Wardle, and it’s a great start. Tabitha finds a chair at a garage sale, and the chair is crying. Tabitha takes pity on the chair and takes it home, and the chair becomes very loyal to Tabitha. So loyal, that when she starts to develop an attachment to her friend Paul, the Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1156128121697120252006-08-21T12:39:00.000+10:002006-08-21T12:42:01.710+10:00Review from Oz Horroscope on Antipodean SF edition 98 by Stephanie Gunn:The first story in this issue is Susan Wardle’s “Half Life”. Wardle knows how to use the few words allocated in flash fiction to her advantage in this story about a mirror with a secret. Delightful.Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1155967258661304582006-08-19T15:51:00.000+10:002006-08-19T16:00:58.680+10:00Back in from two weeks in Fiji. Dirty clothes in the wash, mother spoken to, mail opened.What to say? Cocktails, diving, swimming, snorkelling, wine, rainforests, tropical downpours and moist sweaty bodies....Interesting moments when, some hundreds of kilometres from the nearest hospital we follow a large Fijian carrying a machete into the rainforest. We returned some hours later and were Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1154385998421191312006-08-01T08:42:00.000+10:002006-08-01T08:46:38.473+10:00A recent review of Shadowed Realms 'Redback edition' by Nicole Murphy on the Asif! website has the following to say:“The Last Bulkhead”, by Susan Wardle, is one of those wonderful stories where reality isn’t clear until the end, but the characters are so compelling that you have to keep reading. It’s a very dark, terrible, horrible story and the end will have you wishing you hadn’t read it. Just Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1153434716429595672006-07-21T08:09:00.000+10:002006-07-21T08:31:56.510+10:00Some money arrived in my letterbox yesterday. $25 dollars as payment for my story (currently out in print in Fables and Reflections 8).It's always nice to get payment for a story, particularly at the moment where the bills seem to be greater than the sum of all else.It got me to thinking about writing and income.Since 2004 I've won a couple of prizes in competitions and had a few small press Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1153347884290806872006-07-20T08:22:00.000+10:002006-07-20T08:24:44.303+10:00In a sudden spurt of productivity (brought on by an impending Thorbies deadline) I've written 1,000 words each night for the last three. Oh yes, put the pressure on and I can perform.Slightly less happily I've decided my short story is (despite 4500 words) not on the page and not really dealing with the major thematic issues. Which is a bummer. So despite having flogged myself to get it to Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1153088622440145052006-07-17T08:23:00.000+10:002006-07-17T09:16:21.806+10:00I have a flash fiction piece up on www.antisf.com at the moment - check it out!Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1152829670811968922006-07-14T08:22:00.000+10:002006-07-14T08:27:50.913+10:00I'm feeling a sense of achievement at the moment. Over the last week I've done a complete rewrite of my YA manuscript, deleted probably 1,000 words and written a couple of thousand shiny new words.My word counter is currently sitting at 40,500 and I'm getting close to the end. So close I can almost sniff it! Only 5,000 - 10,000 words to go!Last night did some line edits (cos I was feeling kind Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1152484394900521512006-07-10T08:30:00.000+10:002006-07-10T08:33:14.913+10:00Two things of interest about being a member (or visiting the member's) part of the Sydney Cricket Ground.1. If you are a boy you must wear a collared shirt - no matter how tattered.2. The Member's Enclosure is the only part of the SCG where you can buy full strength beers.So obviously collared shirts prevent drunken behaviour. Amazing. I must start wearing collared shirts more often!Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1151995789474134982006-07-04T16:43:00.000+10:002006-07-04T16:49:49.486+10:00I went to Steel, Iron and Steam Ships conference over the weekend with my dad. It was put on by the Maritime Museum and had 3 sessions on Friday night and 7 or 8 on Saturday.Dad and I quickly discovered that we didn't fit into the three major groups that were present; the mad deep divers, the historians and the Navy.There were sessions on lost submarines (namely AE1 and AE2, not to mention one Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1151626214582739052006-06-30T10:06:00.000+10:002006-06-30T10:10:14.593+10:00I have the day off work today and am catching up on some of my writing type admin. Just emailed off what is (hopefully) a final version of a story which Russell Farr has accepted for Ticonderoga Online and a bio for my flash 'Half Life' which will be appearing at www.antisf.com in July / August.Now the intent is to get some new words on paper, tidy the house, slip in a run (though it looks cold Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1151360845589400372006-06-27T08:24:00.000+10:002006-06-27T08:27:25.600+10:00Pull the curtains and shut out the sun. The Socceroos are out of the world cup.I didn't actually stay up for it (yes unAustralian, that's me). To be honest I couldn't bear the thought of struggling through today with less than four hours sleep. A younger Susan might have made the effort - but today's Susan is just too committed to 8 hours a night of solid slumber.Now, having got passed the June Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1150842946874997672006-06-21T08:31:00.000+10:002006-06-21T08:35:46.893+10:00Some bright spark has suggested that on 18 August women writers should submit to F&SF - the aim being to bomb them with 100 short stories written by women on that particular day (and up their publications by women). It's an interesting idea - I'm going to see if I can finish the (loosely titled) 'Dirt Farm' by then.The thing is - having decided I wanted to get Dirt Farm finished for this month'sSusannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1150758782785384882006-06-20T09:08:00.000+10:002006-06-20T09:13:02.796+10:00Well I'm a week in on my alcohol free bint. I've broken the limit and current the charity of my choice is $30 up and with a big work function for Luke on Friday night involving free French champagne I'm guessing by Saturday morning I'm going to be feeding a small African village somewhere.On the good side I have cut back considerably. I was in the habit of having pretty much a glass of wine or Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1150152715757401862006-06-13T08:16:00.000+10:002006-06-13T08:52:00.573+10:00Back from a long weekend in Canberra attending Conflux. Hmm what to report?Arrived Friday night and met up with peoples in the bar at the hotel lateish. Possibly not a good idea - Saturday morning I felt like something the cat had vomited up. Made it to a session on world building. While there were some interesting panellists lined up I felt the discussion suffered from not enough structure. Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1149459593794180602006-06-05T08:17:00.000+10:002006-06-05T08:19:53.803+10:00Horroscope has a review of 'Outcast' up at the moment by Miranda Siemienowicz.Susan Wardle's "Things of Beauty" is probably the outstanding piece in this anthology. The first page is a flurry of new language, orientating the reader gently but powerfully to a deep and colourful new world. In this story the major social division is between ordinary society and the Misfits, the outcasts, who are Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1149200663297117032006-06-02T08:18:00.000+10:002006-06-02T08:24:23.326+10:00I'm lucky for a whole heap of reasons. In fact the more I see news reports on places like Timor the more I realise how lucky I am. Where we are born is really just chance.But that's not what this blog entry is about. It's about being lucky enough to have been chosen to participate in Clarion South 2005, and the fact that the people who went all got along and that the tutors have been generous Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1148855413697642022006-05-29T08:27:00.000+10:002006-05-29T08:30:13.706+10:00Shane has some intelligent comments on the anthology explosion in Australia - something I have wondered about myself lately. Check it out at http://sjiraiyac.blogspot.com/Great for all us wanna be writers - but is this proliferation of anthologies good for spec fiction?Having said that I'm pleased to have been published in 'The Outcast' and will continuing subbing to the best and most Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1148423027494682922006-05-24T08:16:00.000+10:002006-05-24T08:23:47.526+10:00I found out this week that a story of mine has been included in the recommended reading list in 'The Year's Best Australian SF & Fantasy, Two'.You could go to http://www.tabula-rasa.info/MirrorDanse/YearsBest2005.html if you wanted to check it out. Shane Cummings (CS05 buddy) has a story on the reading list as does Chris Barnes (fellow Thorbite). I was absolutely chuffed to get a mention.Rju (Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1148248165805168562006-05-22T07:46:00.000+10:002006-05-22T07:49:25.813+10:00I dreamed that the world was invaded by E.Ts. A rain of them from the heavens, all with hand grenades in their mouths.Thank God they all landed in that big aquarium. It made it so much easier for us earth types (along with the midgets and the mutants) to fight the damn things.In other news I've noticed that it's much easier to get out of my office than in. To get in one needs a security card. Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1147646247933159042006-05-15T08:32:00.000+10:002006-05-15T08:37:27.943+10:00The first weekend I've had in I don't know how many years in which I didn't find time for a nap!I ended up subbing the first 5,000 words of my YA novel to my writing group. They had lots of thoughts. Pointed out some areas in which I really don't have my thoughts clearly on the page and where I need to strengthen motivations and so forth. Incredibly helpful - also worrying because I thought Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1147214206309198122006-05-10T08:33:00.000+10:002006-05-10T08:36:46.320+10:00A 5 month rejection yesterday. It's my train story from CS05 - so need to work out what to do with it next.Felt very virtuous yesterday. Got home, did a run, had dinner, did 100 words.It's my monthly writers group this Sunday - and I don't have anything to submit. Last month I toyed with putting up the first chapter or two of my novel - but I feel a little uncomfortable about doing that as I Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1146620996887046502006-05-03T11:43:00.000+10:002006-05-03T11:49:56.916+10:00100 words a day - it's that easyMy Canadian buddy Suzanne has signed up for some '100 words a day' thing. While I haven't signed up (cos that would be way too much like commitment) I have been trying it out. It's pretty easy you know. In fact all this week I've been doing it and usually I write more. It's realeasing me from all the guilt I usually feel about the fact that I believe I should Susannoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1146199286135696812006-04-28T14:38:00.000+10:002006-04-28T14:42:59.796+10:00On writer angst....What happens when you write the best story you can and it's still not good enough? Maybe you get it published and the reviewer doesn't like it, or you send it out to countless markets just to get it back as a reject.At what point do you admit to yourself that it's not them, it's you? That you just really are crap.Ok... got that out of my system. Back on with the show.Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1146175602463998962006-04-28T08:03:00.000+10:002006-04-28T08:06:42.476+10:00Well Specusphere has a review of 'Outcast' by Stephen Thompson. “Things of Beauty” by Susan Wardle, which reads like a microcosm of Jewish history, juxtaposing an escape from a Nazi-like authority with a search for a Promised Land — masterminded by a Schindler-like figure." He goes on to say, "Not that having resonances with religion is necessarily a bad thing, I only mention it because it Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1146090355320029912006-04-27T08:20:00.000+10:002006-04-27T08:25:55.353+10:00Remember when videos first came in. There was Beta and VHS. If you'd bought Beta you had the superior product but VHS killed it with good marketing. (Kind of like Apple and Microsoft, except Apple's making a late comeback whereas Beta seems lost forever.)At first the video shop had a pretty even balance of Beta and VHS videos, as time passed the Beta buyers ended up having to hang at the back Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1146011515133323512006-04-26T10:25:00.000+10:002006-04-26T10:31:55.173+10:00On the 25 April 1915 a bunch of Australians and New Zealanders landed at Gallopoli.The operation was pretty much a balls up from start to finish with the soldiers being landed in the wrong spot and the Turkish army digging in. Over 8 months the two sides fought, both suffering huge casualties until some smart person had the idea to withdraw.91 years later this date is one of Australia's biggest Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1145792514441409592006-04-23T21:39:00.000+10:002006-04-23T21:41:54.450+10:00Heh just critted a short story for my little bro (he's in year 12). What was the story like?Actually pretty good I thought - given it's context. Lots of passive voice and a failure to give the protag a name, but the concept was largely on paper and the descriptions (if perhaps a little too much) weren't bad.Hmmm I'd better get back to my own stuff now I guess.Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1145485110311081702006-04-20T08:14:00.000+10:002006-04-20T08:18:30.320+10:00My little brother rang me last night. So what? I hear you say. But this is a first!He has to write a short story for school and didn't know where to start - so Gail obviously said 'Ring Susan'. So he did. It was kind of cute. Hope his story works out OK.In other news do yourselves a favour - go and buy a copy of 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak. I cried my way through the last chapter.Last Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1145313953379631072006-04-18T08:43:00.000+10:002006-04-18T08:45:53.390+10:00Back from a couple of days in downtown Berry.I spent the entire weekend procrastinating about writing (although I did pick up a fine book call 'The Book Thief' go buy it) then on Monday morning words starting leaking out of my fingertips and onto paper.Then I got home and turned on the computer to type them in, add them to the end of my MS when suddenly I worked out that my plot was all murky andSusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1144880172273506972006-04-13T08:13:00.000+10:002006-04-13T08:16:12.293+10:00Yesterday when I got home there was an envelope in my mailbox. One yellow envelope with address but no stamp. I knew immediately who it was from. I have a friend who's a postie and, just as some of us might occassionally commit acts of workplace fraud (like using the phone for a personal call, or printing something on the work printer) she commits her workplace fraud by sending letters withoutSusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1144707084637777312006-04-11T08:06:00.000+10:002006-04-11T08:11:24.653+10:00Following on from the arrival of 'Outcast' in my mailbox last Wednesday I have received an email from Russ at TiconOnline accepting my story 'Iron Shirt' for publication some time in either December 2006 or March 2007.Another publication for me, and in an e-zine that seems to be gaining increasing attention. At this stage, by the end of the year, my list of 2006 publications is likely to look Susannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1144361355282414172006-04-07T08:03:00.000+10:002006-04-07T08:09:15.296+10:00My copy of 'Outcast' has finally arrived. Much rejoicing. It looks very spiffy and my story is no.2.Go here http://www.austspeculativefiction.com.au/html/s13_shopping/view_product.asp?id=60&nav_cat_id=5&nav_top_id=shop2&ds=10%2F03%2F2006+5%3A56%3A00+PM and order now!I have been nesting. Receiving bits of furniture and trying to organise them so they look like more bits than they really are. Susannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1143683176900965342006-03-30T11:39:00.000+10:002006-03-30T11:46:16.920+10:00See - I haven't dropped off the edge of the universe - I just got kind of busy with work and moving and all that sort of baggage. However, in between it all I did have time to finish my most recent story and sub it out! I also received a rejection today - so my stories in circulation maintains its equilibrium.I have also bravely pulled out my novel manuscript. It's time to finish that sucker!InSusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1142663689746910222006-03-18T16:29:00.000+10:002006-03-18T16:34:49.756+10:00One of the things I love about me is my eternal optimism. I believe I can achieve things on ridiculous time frames. Optimism is a hard task master.Yesterday I took a day off work, went to the 'new' flat (at this point I realise I might not have mentioned that about six weeks ago I went insane and bought myself a place to live!). I washed walls, undercoated the two bedrooms.Then went home, put onSusannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1142158211743378002006-03-12T20:07:00.000+10:002006-03-12T20:10:11.753+10:00At 6pm I worked out that I'd worked 16 of the previous 24 hours. Now at home and have just packed a box.Tomorrow I settle on the new flat - by this time next week I will (hopefully) be moved in having had ceilings painted, sugar soaped and painted walls, taken delivery of a fridge, a bed and a chest of drawers and generally transferred boxes of stuff.Some time about April I plan to take a deep Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1141764983315891712006-03-08T06:55:00.000+10:002006-03-08T06:56:23.326+10:00I had a birthday yesterday and a fine thing it was too.I worked, ate cake, worked, ate more cake, went out to dinner with friends, drank champagne...As a result of the champagne imbided today is going to be a long hard slog I suspect.At least it's only once a year.Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1141716360260967592006-03-07T16:54:00.000+10:002006-03-07T17:26:00.300+10:00Which Market?Ok, so I'm a newbie on the writer's circuit. Still getting used to the whole process of submission and waiting. But I'm interested in the processes and how they work.So far now I've submitted to a number of Aussie markets and far less US markets.I understand that many of the publications I submit to are run as an act of love by individual/s trying to create something for the Susannoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1141076131547041052006-02-28T07:31:00.000+10:002006-02-28T07:35:31.560+10:00More reviews:First from Tangent Online By Jason Fischer on ShadowBox:“Changing” by Susan WardleActually a little shocking for a short, it dabbles in S&M and sexual deviancy. It seems tastefully done, in context, and serves its purpose in making you read it again, thinking “what the hell?” Wardle is spare and concise with her language in this riveting piece, and it is no surprise to learn that Susannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273822.post-1141038294612437372006-02-27T20:54:00.000+10:002006-02-27T21:04:55.200+10:00It hurts to age.Not that I'm that old. In just over a week I'm turning 33 - for the second time. I'll do thirty four next year - I'm not ready for it now.Years ago, when I was young, I used to work events that saw me standing for hours on end in high heeled shoes. Smiling and handing awards to an MC in the correct order, walking the floor at a formal dinner for 2 or 3 hundred guests wasn't Susannoreply@blogger.com1