FLY SOUP

It's Done! Submissions are in and Leife and I have read them all. Every single one. There were a good number of entries given that the call was limited to Aussie spec-fic writers and there were some fantastic stories. I was truly amazed at the breadth of interpretation of the topic, with some writers really pushing the brief while still meeting the criteria and creating inventive material. Now it's time for Leife and I to don our gladiatorial armour and enter the ring to fight for our fave stories Hulk vs Thor-style. It's gonna be one helluva smackdown. Also, the crowd-funding campaign to raise some extra script to pay our long-suffering authors is up and running. The CSFG's anthologies are a significant part of the Aussie spec-fic writing landscape so please, please, please consider contributing, keeping in mind it's a not-for-profit organisation. Visit the Indiegogo campaign here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a-hand-of-knaves/x/17109762#/ We

If you're an Aussie writer and you haven't yet submitted your most knavish story to the CSFG's newest anthology, A Hand of Knaves , THEN GET ON IT! YOU ONLY HAVE UNTIL 15 NOVEMBER YOU FOOL!

Submissions for A Hand of Knaves - a new anthology from CSFG Publishing - ARE OPEN!! The editorial team has already put in a lot of effort to ensure this will be a great anthology, and just look at the card art already completed by award-winning artist Shauna O'Meara. Head over to the CSFG Publishing site to find all the details and once you've read the guidelines, submit to knaves.anthology.csfg@gmail.com . Leife and I are ready to read your fantastic stories!

Rogues are my all-time favourite characters, be it in books, movies, videogames, or tabletop RPGs (yes, I was the thief who stole your Ring of Featherfall while you slept and didn't say a word as you jumped off that cliff thinking you'd be fine) and thanks to CSFG Publishing I now get the opportunity to co-edit an anthology of stories entitled A Hand of Knaves - which will be 100% about thieves, scoundrels and rogues! So as you can probably guess, I'm stoked the CSFG committee decided to run with our pitch. In even better news, my co-editor is the unstoppable Leife Shallcross , who apparently doesn't have the word sleep in her vocabulary as she edits her upcoming novel The Beast's Heart , completes her second novel (which I've read and which is absolutely amazing), helps out with Conflux, as well as fulfilling her day job and doing all her other lifey things. We are super-excited for this and make no mistake, we both love the concept and want to produc

This anthology launches today, and I'm very happy to be a part of it. Behind the Mask is getting some great press around the place and I have high hopes that people will really love the book in its entirety. I'll also point out that for the first time ever I made the cut as one of the named authors on the back, instead of being lumped into "and others..." (see below). A small thing perhaps but YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! *fist pumps* And yes, I'm not blind. I can see that all the authors are named on the back, and rightly so because everyone did a bloody marvellous job.

With twenty three novels under her belt, including the recently released The Lyre Thief , Jennifer Fallon is one of Australia’s best-loved fantasy authors. After moving to New Zealand one might be forgiven for thinking she’d switched to the slow-lane. Nothing could be further from the truth. Between her day job as an IT consultant to Antarctica New Zealand, her writing, the Christchurch earthquakes, and working on her porn name, Jennifer’s life has been anything dull. I had a few questions jotted down for her, but before I could even open my mouth she destroyed that idea completely…   I used to write full time you know. You used to write full-time? Yeah, but the GFC came along and that was the end of that! The GFC has significantly affected the amount of money you earn from your writing? Oh absolutely! I’ve lost probably fifty to sixty percent of my income. I was earning a comfortable wage, then the GFC came along and all the bookshops closed.

I'm playing Mass Effect Andromeda right now and while there are some similarities with previous ME games, Bioware have continued their trend toward partitioned open-world games which began with Dragon Age Inquisition (still my favourite game to date). The game is much less-linear than ME 1-3, offering literally hundreds of side and optional quests, giving the player more control over the order and manner in which events pan out. I'm not gonna lie. It took me a while to get into this game. After the first few hours I didn't really think I was going to enjoy this entry and nearly tossed it in. I'm glad to report I've moved on to happier parts of the game and now am enjoying it much more. I didn't want to write anything about my experience until I'd taken down one of the game's primary bosses (an architect) because I felt it was a little hard to comment until that point. Not my character but close enough - female with red hair. When I first c

Aurealis #99 is out and it features a discussion between a geologist and a geographer (aka yours truly and the incredible Russell Kirkpatrick) about maps in fantasy novels. I really enjoyed writing this article with Russell for several reasons: first, I love maps and used do produce them as part of my job. Second, I like Russell and respect his work, and third, it's a super-interesting topic What I didn't realise when I first spoke to Russell about doing a piece together, was the depth of Russell's understanding of the politics and social infrastructure behind the act of creating a map. My experience of mapmaking has been limited to: 1) reproducing my favourite faux-medieval maps from movies and/or books via a combination of pain-staking precision and ad-hoc half-assery; and 2) the production of geological, geophysical and geochemical maps designed to aid in the discovery of economically viable mineral deposits. The two don't naturally go hand-in-ha

Aurealis - The Magazine of Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction is celebrating its 100th issue in May with a one-time return to print! But that's not the only nod to its roots. Editors Dirk Strasser, Stephen Higgins and Michael Pryor have solicited new fiction from authors appearing in the very first issue, released back in 1990. And then there's my interview with Dirk about the evolution of the magazine over the 27 years since its modest launch, plus great editorials and reviews. So whether you're new to Aussie speculative fiction, a long-time fan hankering for a stroll down memory lane, or just someone wanting to get their hands on some great genre material, you can pre-order your copy here. Get to it!

Australian author Trudi Canavan won an Aurealis Award in 1999 with her first published story, Whispers of the Mist Children , and hasn’t looked back. The Black Magician Trilogy , her first fantasy series, garnered international acclaim and she has since written The Age of the Five and the Traitor Spy Trilogy, along with standalone novel The Magician’s Apprentice . Her last five books have been Sunday Times bestsellers in the UK. Following the release of Angel of Storms , the second instalment in her Millennium’s Rule series, Trudi spoke with Chris Large about the new book, her detailed world-building, and the ways in which her technique has been shaped over time by experience and injury. This interview first appeared in Aurealis #87. Hi Trudi, welcome to Aurealis. Your storytelling is very direct – written in plain speech with few flourishes or embellishments. Is this style something you work on through the drafting process, or does it come naturally? Early on in my writing