Category: Discussion

The bad news is that I have had to cancel my appearance at the Logan Library SF mega panel due to some other work commitments. Many apologies to anyone coming to say hello, but know you’ll be well entertained with the fantastic authors who will be there on the day; Trent Jamieson, Rowena Cory Daniells, Lou Cusack and the pocket rocket, Kylie Chan.

The good news is that I’ve ordered two weird westerns on amazon:

“How the West Was Weird: 9 Tales from the Weird, Wild West”
Russ Anderson Jr
“The Big Book of the Weird Wild West: How the West was Really Won! (Factoid Books)”
John Whalen

Has anyone read them or heard of them? The Joe Lansdale books looked interesting too, and I wanted to get Cowboys and Aliens but it was soooo expensive.

Dear Platinum Studios, please send poor writer a complimentary copy.

Who watched Castle on Sunday night? If you did then you will have seen Castle arriving at his book launch like Brangelina at the Oscars. I nearly choked over the ridiculously played out misconception of how it is for authors – even the very successful ones.

It makes me wonder if the screenwriters are having a lend of the audience, or whether they’re just indulging a wet dream (Charlaine Harris, Stephanie Myer or JKR, feel free to disagree with me). Does anyone else get annoyed by this?

It may be tongue in cheek but there’s plenty who would not see that.

Fortunately, I love Susan Sullivan!

Occasionally reviews still pop up for the Parrish Plessis series. I always admire anyone who has been able to read this series out of order. I know it would make no sense to me at all, if I’d tried to do that. Anyway, this particular reviewer makes a comment about the fact that the girl on the cover doesn’t accurately reflect Parrish and her disfigured face. Here’s a snip from it:

Once I did bond with the character and catch up with what was going on, I really enjoyed myself. I applaud de Pierres for giving her heroine a major facial injury. Unlike one or two other female protagonists sporting such trophies, I could fully believe that Parrish wouldn’t bother to get any sort of cosmetic surgery done to repair the damage. In these days with increasing pressure on girls to look ‘hot’, it was a shame, I felt, that the girl on the cover didn’t display her crooked nose and caved-in cheekbone. However, I’m not going to hold that against the author. It’s a pity that Orbit didn’t reflect more accurately what was going on between the covers when designing the jacket.

Meantime, I’m definitely going to get hold of the other major series de Pierres has written, Sentients of Orion. This time, though, I’ll take care to start with the first book. Code Noir by Marianne de Pierres – reviewed by S. J. Higbee @ SF Reader

I’ve thought about this a lot over the years, even more so when the whole debacle over Justine Larbalastier’s US book cover for Liarwas going on. Part of me would liked to have seen Parrish in her true grunge glory on the cover. That’s why I’m quite attached to this piece of fan art by Neyour. It’s kind of more realistic.

OTO – I love Larry Rostant covers.

I’d like to hear what everyone else thinks. Do you want an accurate representation of the character in the book? Or do you see the cover as a separate text?

Awards

davitt-award  aurealis-award   logo-curtin-university

Peacemaker - Aurealis Award
Best Science Fiction Novel 2014

Curtin University Distinguished Alumni Award 2014

Transformation Space - Aurealis Award
 Best Science Fiction Novel 2010

Sharp Shooter - Davitt Award
Best Crime Novel 2009 (Sisters in Crime Australia) 

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