Kate Forsyth has been inspired by Ian Irvine, Suzanne Gervay and Deb Abela and her other techno-proficient friends. She got Pan Macmillan to do a TV ad for The Chain of Charms books. I hope you'll all go and check it out!

Given that fans of science fiction were early adopters of technology, digital rights activist, blogger and science fiction novelist, Cory Doctorow sees cyberspace as the ideal home for the genre. The award-winning author has published three science fiction novels, which are available for free download from the internet (craphound.com). Leading by example, Cory has championed the need to bring copyright issues in line with the online environment of C21.

Date: Saturday 25 August 2007
Time: 10am – 4pm
Cost: Full: $195, Concession: $175
Venue: City Museum
Event: #202 

Date: 26 August 2007
Time: 11.30am – 12.30pm
Venue: Merlyn Theatre
Cost: Full $18/ Concession $15
Event: #350

Bookings: Malthouse box office.

The Shalott trilogy, by Felicity Pulman and published by Random House has now been re-released by Louis Braille Audio as a set of CDs.  The Shalott trilogy tells the story of five Australian teenagers who go back in time to rewrite a legend and save the life of 'the Lady of Shalott' (Elaine of Astolat).  In doing so, they hope also to avert the doom of Camelot.  Instead, they rewrite their own lives with ramifications for the future.

Sean McMullen has a new site up and running which features his new YA novel, a time-slip called Before the Storm. It's set in Melbourne in 1901. The book is receiving great reviews, the latest being in The Courier-Mail and Good Reading. Before the Storm is published by Ford Street Publishing Pty Ltd.

The trailer to Ian Irvine's latest children's book about Runcible Jones can now be viewed on YouTube. This trailer was created by Ian's son, Simon. Most book trailers are pretty ordinary but a lot of effort into this one.

Shaun Tan's amazing book The Arrival continues to pick up award after award. Not content with a 2006 Aurealis Award, The Arrival has also picked up shortlistings and awards in the following:

Shortlisted, APA Design Awards Year: 2007 Prize: Best Designed Childrens Picture Book
Winner, Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Year: 2007 Prize: WA Premier's Award and Children's Prize
Winner, Book Data/ABA Book of the Year Year: 2007 Prize: Book of the Year for Older Children
Shortlisted, Children's Book of the Year Awards Year: 2007 Prize: Picture Book of the Year
Winner, NSW Premier's literary award Year: 2007 Prize: Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature and Book of the Year.

And now The Arrival has picked up Australian Book of the year for Older Children from the Australian Book Industry Awards.

All of us associated with Aurealis magazine would like to congratulate Shaun for his wonderful achievements.

David Conyers has become the first Australian to have his Cthulhu novel published in the United States by Chaosium Inc. The Cthulhu Mythos was made famous by horror author H P Lovecraft.

The Spiralling Worm is a series of interlinked stories of two government agents fighting the cosmic horros and alien monsters that Lovecraft created. David said, "One aspect of The Spiralling Worm that I'm proud of is that my protagonist, Major Harrison Peel, is a Royal Australian Army intelligence Officer, transposed into a gloal setting. Chaosium were very suppostive of keeping him as an Australian character, when they could so easily adapted him as an American character."

David has been making a name for himself recently with his science fiction and horror writing, being nominated for Aurealis and Ditmar awards. A recent science fiction story has been nominated for the Irish Aeon Awards.

Hachette Australia recently announced that Bernadette Foley had been appointed the Publisher of the new  Orbit Australia science fiction and fantasy imprint. At this stage it appears that Hachette Australia’s policy remains that all manuscript submissions must be submitted via a literary agent.

Read Tim Holman, Publishing Director, on Orbit in Australia. Tim is based in Orbit's New York offices. He is responsible for the imprint worldwide.

Will Elliot’s Aurealis Award winning novel, The Pilo Family Circus (ABC Books), and Terry Dowling’s Basic Black collection (Cemetery Dance Publications) have made the International Horror Guild Awards Short List to be presented at the World Fantasy Convention in New York on 1 November.

Sophie Masson is writing a guest blog spot this week on the Good Reading website. It is about the problems writers face creating villans that don't break PC rules – prompted by and article and speech by Anthony Horowitz. Obviously once Sophie starting blogging she couldn't stop!

http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/blog/index.cfm