Properly this celebration belongs to the delightful Livia, who does not live on this blog, but I don’t care because NEW BOOK DAY IS FOR EVERYONE!

Book booka book booka book, it’s so pretty and it’s all mine.

(the Vegas background is because it’s balanced against my screensaver)

You can of course pre-order A Trifle Dead from Twelfth Planet Press, or come along to one of the two launches on Thursday to source your own copy: Perth or Hobart.

Check out Tamara’s post for an interview with me, and info about the Goodreads giveaway.

Random Alex has also interviewed me/Livia as has Angela Slatter. There’s another interview coming from Narrelle Harris later in the week. Squee!

I’ll admit I was nervous when I heard there was ‘tweaking’ going on with the cover of my book, because I had just been showing it off to everyone I met at Genrecon and hearing so much positive feedback about how it worked for crime and mainstream readers (and even the occasional SF reader) – the thought of changing it was alarming!

But of course I should have trusted the amazing Amanda Rainey, who added a splash (literally) more criminal intent to the original design, which really brings the concept together.

YOU GUYS IT’S REALLY SOON NOW!

A Trifle Dead will be launched on 28 March at the Hobart Bookshop – more details on that later. In the mean time, you can pre-order the book directly from Twelfth Planet Press.

Thanks to Sean the Blogonaut for scooping the author on this one & saying such nice things about the book based on only having read the first chapter. Someone get that man a review copy!

Over at the MindMeld, I answer the question of ‘what books do people expect you to like but don’t?’ If nothing else, head over to hear my spirited rant about the sinister work of Beatrix Potter.

The Twelfth Planet Press website has been updated for the new shiny year! Head over, admire its shinyness, and while you’re there you might want to consider pre-ordering the upcoming 2013 titles from Livia Day, Andrew Macrae, and the next in the Twelve Planets series: Asymmetry by Thoraiya Dyer.

All this, and the first “real” episode of Verity! was published today! We review The Snowmen, talk about Clara’s frocks, the new credits sequence, Vastra and Jenny’s marriage, the return of Strax, kissing in Doctor Who, plus Liz gets to bounce about the Great Intelligence. We start as we mean to go on!

Check out Deborah Stanish’s post on how she got the band together. You can subscribe to us at iTunes (Doctor Who: Verity Podcast), like us at VerityPodcast on Facebook, follow us on Twitter as @VerityPodcast or even all three!

EDIT: I forgot the other thing I meant to add to this post! My award-winning short story “The Patrician” has been reprinted in Apex Magazine, which is a lovely way to ring in the new year!

I’m feeling a bit bipolar at the moment, because I’ve spent the last day or two setting up a social media presence of sorts for my crime-writing alter-ego, Livia Day.

Oh. Have we not talked about her yet?

My first crime novel, A Trifle Dead, will be published early next year by Twelfth Planet Press, under the name of Livia Day. It’s a fun Hobart-based murder mystery featuring fashion, food and vintage film geekery.

I wanted to differentiate between my fantasy/SF writing and my crime writing, because while they have a lot of crossover appeal, they also have two distinct audiences. I still wish I’d done something with the Shimmaron book to separate my children’s writing from my adult writing, even if it was just slipping in a secret initial, or dropping off one of my surnames. For crime, it felt right to choose a new name, even if the risk is that I lose some of my current loyal readers who don’t realise it’s me.

HEY SWEETIES, IT’S ME!

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The awesome Terri started chronicling her crazy cupcake adventure from Continuum – she’s promised us a blog series about each Twelfth Planet Press book themed cupcake she made for the event, and starts here with Jason Nahrung’s creepy beach gothic novella Salvage, blue frosting and coconut.

Grant Watson aka the Angriest follows up on our Continuum panel “Where are all the wonder women?” by discussing Wonder Woman’s pants, and how it’s not actually the wardrobe that’s the problem.

A new Shortpacked comic addressing gender/feminist issues! This one is a mild but entertaining dig at the mansplainers of the world.

N.K. Jemisin takes on a topic dear to my heart, the over-regulation of magic in fantasy fiction. Considering how often things go wrong with technology and recipes in the real world, what makes people think that magic would always produce predictable results? (the answer of course is that like with creative writing, the methods that are easier to teach/communicate become prioritised over all the rest)

Hoyden About Town take on the idea of Shakespeare and the Bechdel test

The Mary Sue discusses a recent Kickstarter for Roominate, an inspiring toy/project designed to teach girls vital science/engineering skills.

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In which we report live and punchy (not enough sleep to be sassy) from Day 2 of Continuum 8: Craftonomicon, Natcon 2012 in Melbourne Australia. Download it IF YOU DARE

NEWS
The Con so far: panels, parties, yarn and cupcakes…

What Culture Have we Consumed?
Alisa: Deadline by Mira Grant
Alex: Game of Thrones s1; Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency; The Courier’s New Bicycle, Kim Westwood (YES ALRIGHT AT LAST)
Tansy: Timeless by Gail Carriger, Cracklescape by Margo Lanagan

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!

[Photo credit: Cat Sparks]

Can’t believe Alex has already managed to write up the whole con! I’m still grouping the events by theme…

And speaking of events, there were all manner of special ones at this convention. I was delighted to be able to go to Narrelle Harris’ launch of Walking Shadows, the sequel to The Opposite of Life. This book has been a long time coming, and it was delightful to see it finally HERE. I adore Narrelle, and she deserves all the wonderful writerly things that have been happening for her this year. It was a smallish program room but utterly packed, standing room only (and there were plenty on their feet) as Jason Nahrung launched the books, and we all queued up to buy it. I have a copy!

Speaking of books, I was also excited beyond all measure to get my hot little hands on Medea by Kerry Greenwood, one of my favourite Ancient Greece novels of all time, recently reissued by ClanDestine Press, who are also publishing Narrelle’s novels. I’ve never owned a copy of this book (I read it through the library) but am so excited to have a chance to reread it.

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If you’re in Melbourne this weekend and not at the Continuum/Craftonomicon convention, you can still get in on some Twelfth Planet Press action!

Hosted by Ian Mond of The Writer and the Critic Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein and a bunch of her authors will be recording a live podcast from Embiggen Books this Saturday afternoon and otherwise causing merriment and mayhem. We’d love to see you there whether you’re a reader, writer, podcast listener or just someone interested in awesome, cute books. For many of you it will be your first chance to get your hands on (or just gaze lovingly at) Through Splintered Walls by Kaaron Warren, and Cracklescape by Margo Lanagan, two brand new books in the Twelve Planets range, plus Salvage by Jason Nahrung, which will be launched at the convention the previous night (TONIGHT)

Embiggen Books
5pm Saturday 9th June (TOMORROW)
197-203 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000
A book launch with a difference! Come join host Ian Mond, Twelfth Planet Press publisher Alisa Krasnostein and Twelfth Planet Press authors as they launch the Twelve Planets into space, via a live podcast from Embiggen Books. Find out what goes in to putting together this acclaimed series of boutique collections. Hijinks will undoubtedly ensue.

If you’re at the convention, of course, we’d love to have you come along as well! It’s about a 10-15 minute walk from the main con venue, and the more people we have, the better.

Eeee I’m going to be in Melbourne in a few hours.

Kirstyn McDermott’s short fiction has been published in various journals, magazines and anthologies in Australia and overseas. Her debut novel, Madigan Mine, received an Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel, and her second, Perfections, is due out later this year. She lives in Melbourne with her husband and fellow scribbler, Jason Nahrung, and can be found online at www.kirstynmcdermott.com

1. The Writer and the Critic has become an integral part of the Aussie spec fic scene very fast – and you don’t even talk about spec fic books all the time! What does podcasting offer you, as a social medium or a creative one?

For one thing, it gives me a chance to review and talk about books. It sounds simplistic but somehow I never find the time to actually sit down and write reviews these days, let alone the sort of substantial, in depth critiques that The Writer and the Critic affords me. Of course, it does mean that “reading” for me has now been shifted across into the “work/obligation” box, but I’m learning to live with that. And I’ve realised what a highly critical reader I am … now when I read a book, my filter is generally, “Can I talk about this for half an hour on the podcast?” If the answer is, “No,” as it very often is, I’m afraid I find myself resenting that book rather a lot more than I might have a couple of years ago. Maybe that’s not really fair, but it does remind me that life is way too short to read anything less than brilliant books.

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Deborah Biancotti writes & reads in Sydney. Her first collection, A BOOK OF ENDINGS, was shortlisted for the William L. Crawford Award for Best First Fantasy Book. Her first novella, “And the Dead Shall Outnumber the Living”, has been nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. Her newest collection, BAD POWER, is available from Twelfth Planet Press. You can find Deborah online mostly just by Googling her.

Check out Deborah’s previous Snapshots: 2005, 2007, 2010

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