Which Australian author wrote the best horror story or novel in 2007? The Australian Horror Writers Association is on the brink of answering that question with the release of the finalists for the 2008 Australian Shadows Award. The Australian Shadows Award is an annual jury-judged literary award issued by the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) that honours the best works of Australian dark fiction published in the preceding year.

This year's panel of judges named finalists from Sydney (Terry Dowling), Melbourne (Matthew Chrulew), Brisbane (Jason Nahrung), Adelaide (David Conyers), and Perth (Martin Livings), making the 2008 shortlist a truly interstate affair.

 

Seven Reasons Why Australia is the Most Apocalyptic Country and Robo-Kangaroos from the Terraformed Australian Outback.

Carissa's Weblog

An audio interview with Fiona McIntosh about her book "Goddess".

 Carissa's Weblog

The Word Nerd has a short interview with Karen Miller.

 Juliet Marillier writes about inspiration, and Sophie Masson writes about young readers.

The 2008 Ditmar Shortlist has been published. Congratulations to Rjurik Davidson on his nomination for Domine, published in issue #37 of Aurealis.

 

In the tradition of the Datlow/Windling and Gardner Dozois edited Year's Best anthologies comes the third in the award winning series, The Year's Best Australian SF & Fantasy, edited by Bill Congreve and Michelle Marquardt.

'… a staple guide to what's newest and best Down Under.' and '… the best introduction you'd get to the very best in the field.' Van Ikin, Sydney Morning Herald.
'Editors Bill Congreve and Michelle Marquardt once again serve up an excellent selection of the previous year's top imaginative short stories.' Terry Dowling, Weekend Australian.
'Anyone who eschews this collection because "sci-fi isn't literary" is an idiot.' Lucy Sussex, The Age.
'There’s been an explosion in science fiction writing in Australia. More writers, more stories, a higher standard and greater international recognition than ever before. With the Year’s Best series we’re bringing the best of the small press – and the best of the stories published overseas – to a wider audience.' says Congreve.
The Year’s Best Australian SF & Fantasy, Third Annual Volume, edited by Bill Congreve and Michelle Marquardt, is the latest release from MirrorDanse Books, Australia’s oldest and most successful independent publisher of SF.

 

Justine Larbelestier was interviewed by Fantasy Magazine, along with Ekaterina Sedia, Scott Westerfeld was interviewed by Public Radio International, and Justine and Scott were interviewed together by The Village Voice.

 Jonathan Strahan and Jack Dann are amongst a group of authors asked "What purpose does Short Fiction serve?" by SF Signal.

 

Ian Irvine's latest and probably last (and definitely the best) book trailer,
for his three ecothrillers has been posted on youtube.

If anyone's wondering what it takes to put together a decent trailer, here's
the inventory:

• Picture research, approx 24 hours. They're all public domain images, ie free for any use. To buy from photo libraries would be at least $1500.
• Music research, about 6 hours in royalty-free music sites. Limited licence cost about $50.
• Font research, 2 hrs. Fonts, $20.
• Writing the script: about 15 hours getting the words right, and considering there's only a few hundred of them, that's a lot of work per word, but worth every penny.
• Misc time viewing prelims, troubleshooting etc, at least 6 hours.
• Ian's son putting it together in Premiere: 10.5 hours.

Is it worth it as a book promo investment? Good question. Ian'll let you know in due course.