Five Things

Hola! It’s the Brisbane Writers Festival this weekend – the final festival on the packed schedule of festivals and travel that have kept me away from the blog – which means it’s a little over a fortnight before I resume regular postings. In the meantime, I’m going to interrupt this period of non-posting with a handful of announcements that may interest you.

ONE

I’ve got a non-fiction piece in the latest Apex Magazine that distills writing advice from the rants of professional wrestler Al Snow. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Apex editor Lynne M. Thomas came across a blog post I did on the topic a few months ago and asked me to expand it into a full-fledged article.

Being the type who is fond of getting paid to write things and the type who likes watching shoot interviews with pro-wrestlers, I immediately agreed and went into research mode. Now I just need to find someone who’ll pay me to write a series of essays titled “What Writers Can Learn From Watching Trashy Tuesday Movies” and my work here will be done.

TWO

Melinda Moore is one of those people who I’ve known online for years and one of the earliest people to become a regular poster here on petermball.com. She’s also had her first-ever short story published and kicked off her own website, Enchanted Spark, to celebrate. I recommend checking out both.

THREE

The Untitled Emergency Project I was writing a few weeks back? It’s now got a title – Tithes – and a spot in Jennifer Brozeck’s upcoming Coins of Chaos project for EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. I don’t think the anthology is out until late next year, but since we’re clear to mention it early.

FOUR

The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2011 was released in the last week or so. It includes my story Briar Day and a bunch of other cool stories from other Australian writers. Available in trade paperback and hardcover.

FIVE

I have a cold. This displeases me.