The Science Fiction Translation Awards are running a fundraiser, accepting donations now towards the running of their awards, which aim to promote and celebrate great science fiction translated into English, and to provide a substantial cash prize to the original author as well as translator.

It’s a great cause, and there are a bunch of great book prizes up for grabs for a few lucky donors. I’ve contributed a complete Creature Court trilogy (feels so GOOD to be able to offer that!) and it’s in some very good company.

Speaking of the Creature Court trilogy, Sean the Blogonaut wrote a lovely review of Book 2: The Shattered City: “Action, blood and lust and a little bit of dressmaking. If you enjoy well written action, political intrigue, anime like transformation of characters into monstrous beasts and well written sex scenes give the whole series a go.”

I’ve been enjoying Tor.com’s current theme of military SF – I don’t think of myself of a fan of that particular subgenre, and yet I am familiar with so many of the works they discuss! I guess that means something. I liked this post about Starbuck and gender in Battlestar Galactica. Ahh, Battlestar Galactica. You got it so right, before you got it so wrong…

Speaking of military SF, over at i09 Jen Heddle makes a compelling argument that they should have brought Robotech back already. Hell, yes they should! Want me to write it?

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The new episode is up! Go fetch it and consume it with digital gusto!

In which women aren’t funny, don’t write important books, but come in handy as assassins and thieves.

News

Connie Willis named SFWA Grand Master

Liz Bourke on Strange Horizons & the art of the mean review

Survey shows that men (as well as women) often play characters of the other gender while gaming – in many cases, men are bored with or alienated by the big musclebound male characters, which game designers think they want. Sound familiar?

Hoyden about Town are asking for guest bloggers to crosspost their Australian Women Writers Challenge reviews on Hoyden (ASIF also keen to do so)

More on feminine tosh: a good solid article in the Australian media (shock!) about the women in literature issues of recent months (and, you know, decades).

Have we been following the “Women aren’t funny” stoush that played out in NYT? This interesting development.

DC Comics – cancellations & new titles – Tansy is especially excited by World’s Finest (featuring the Earth 2 Huntress & Power Girl)

Stranger with My Face – Women in Horror film festival in Hobart, Tasmania – 17-19 February

Tansy’s book launch for Reign of Beasts (Creature Court Book Three) on 2 February at Hobart Bookshop, 5:30pm.
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I received an early Christmas present this year, courtesy of my mother Jilli, who is the artist behind the Deepings Dolls. Three dolls, one for each of my Creature Court book covers.

I’m only sad that I don’t have a hard copy of Book 3 to hand so I can photograph my scarlet flapper-with-sword like I have the other two!

First, we have Isangell the Duchessa, who appears on the cover of Power and Majesty [Creature Court Book One] in a gown with roses sewn all over it.

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When: Thursday 2nd February, 2012

Time: 5:30 PM

Where: Hobart Bookshop, Salamanca Square, Hobart, Tasmania.

What: Reign of Beasts by Tansy Rayner Roberts, third and final book in the award-winning Creature Court trilogy, will be launched by Rowena Cory Daniells.

THERE WILL BE MERRIMENT AND REJOICING!!!

My book launches for this series have been a thing of joy to me, with so many loved ones & devoted readers (mostly loved ones who ARE devoted readers) turning up to share a glass of wine, point out how adorable my children are, and celebrate the making of a trilogy. This is it, guys, the last book. Let’s make it a shindig…

I’m especially delighted that I managed to schedule the launch at the end of next year’s Tasmanian ROR so that some of my mainland writer friends can come too. I’m sneaky like that.

Hope to see you there.

Heh well more of a bijou wave (or do we say boutique now?) – a wavelet.

I sent out the first wave of postcards recently and am writing up the last few now, which makes me up to date. So if there are more of you out there who kinda thought you might enter to score a postcard sneak peek of the new books, please do!

Entries are open until 15th December.

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Glad to see some entrants right off the bat, especially as I forgot to put up an end date for the Creature Court Fashion Challenge (it’s 15th December, for those of you working on more long-term entries).  Remember, the earlier you enter, the more valuable your sneak peek of Reign of Beasts is.  Which, by the way, went to TYPESETTING today, hoorah!

Oh and for those of you outside Australia wanting to enter, yes, I will send postcards anywhere.  And I meant it when I said everyone’s a winner.   Get entering!

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It’s a book it’s a book it’s a book it’s a book wheeeee! I’ve been waiting to share this one with you all for so long now.

The new episode is up here! Go, listen.

In which we fight crime, rail against derailing and read a million books.

News

Our Sisters in Crime, Still Fighting
and
Why the Faux Oppressed Whinge

Ada Lovelace Day

Wonder Woman gets a father (yesthisisnews)

Alisa’s news:
Thief of Lives by Lucy Sussex now available as e-book

Tansy’s news: publishing date for Reign of Beasts
and the Creature Court Fashion Challenge Contest

What Culture Have we Consumed?

Alex: The Fall of Hyperion, Dan Simmons; Yarn, Jon Armstrong; Thief of Lives, Lucy Sussex; Yellow Blue Tibia, Adam Roberts; The Word for World is Forest, Ursula le Guin; Eyes like Stars, Lisa Mantchev

Tansy: The Courier’s New Bicycle, Kim Westwood; Thief of Lives, Lucy Sussex; Catwoman: Crooked Little Town, by Ed Brubaker; Fablecroft blog series On Indie Press wraps up; Sofanauts interviews Paul Cornell; Two Minute Timelord round-table about Season 6 Doctor Who

Alisa: Doctor Who. Shorts: The Book of Phoenix (Excerpted from The Great Book) – Nnedi Okorafor (Clarkesworld March); Younger Women – Karen Fowler (Subterranean Summer), Valley of the Girls – Kelly Link (Subterranean Summer)

Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

This one is for those of you who are hanging out for the release of Reign of Beasts, the third and final Creature Court novel. I wanted to do something personal to thank my readers who have been so supportive since the releases of Power and Majesty and The Shattered City, and to hopefully make up (a little bit) for the fact that the publishing date shifted, and you’re not holding the book in your hands RIGHT NOW.

THE CREATURE COURT
FASHION CHALLENGE CONTEST.

All you have to do to enter is comment at the bottom of this post, or email me at creaturecourt (at) gmail.com with your entry. It can be in any medium: a sentence, a paragraph, a sketch, a craft project, whatever fits the challenge, which is:

Design or describe an outfit for one of the characters of the Creature Court novels to wear.

EVERYONE’S A WINNER:

Everyone who enters the contest & provides me with a postal address (to creaturecourt (at) gmail.com – please don’t post addresses in comments) will receive a Creature Court postcard with a juicy snippet from Book 3 hand-written by me.

I printed the postcards specially for this contest – the images vary, and are based on photographs of the Creature Court themed crazy quilt I have been working on this year.

You can take the challenge as seriously or as flippantly as you choose! I look forward to seeing your entries. Unless you request otherwise, I will post your entries on my blog, either at tansyrr.com or creaturecourt.com. If you wish me to remove them from public display at any time, just ask.

UPDATE: Competition is open until 15th December or until I run out of postcards, whichever comes first!