Well, I was at the Aurealis Awards last weekend - which was great fun. Excellent company, fun ceremony and lots of catching up was done. I didn't get to spend as much time chatting with everyone as I would have liked, but there just wasn't enough time!

My thesis - well, the end is in sight! Just another correction and then my list of revisions should be sent off to the Chair of Examiners. Looking forward to getting it bound and handing it in, I have to say!

As for Bloodstones, well, I've read a hundred submissions so far (I was behind!) and there are still a hundred or two left. So if you've submitted, bear with me, this could take a while!

And, because he just looks too cute in this picture...here's a photo of Saxon:



And because I can't show one without the other...Lily with her tongue out:

The submission call for Bloodstones closes at midnight tonight. Have you sent your story yet?

Ishtar has been reviewed by Adventures of a Bookonaut.

Here's a snippet:

'Ishtar fits Gilgamesh Press’ vision beautifully.  Here we have three quality writers giving us their take on Assyrian myth, breathing life into a culture that underpins our own. Ishtar steps from the pages; a living, breathing, sensual and violent goddess – come and meet her.

If you like your fiction dark and your women powerful don’t go past Ishtar.'

Full review here.

Just a reminder that Bloodstones submissions close May 15!

Guidelines are here.

Russell Farr, from Ticonderoga Publications, has launched the stunning new cover for Bloodstones!!

I've been having some really vivid dreams lately, but by the time I get up in the morning, they're all vague and rather hard to remember. Two nights ago, however, I had one dream where I can almost remember everything that happened. It was a bit Hunger Games like.

The dream was set in a supermarket, and we had to grab equipment to help us survive. But whenever I went looking for food, that aisle seemed to never be there; even though I knew where it should be. I clearly remember finding some yellow plastic cups and shoving them into a back pack, though. For the water I couldn't find.

There was one point, however, where a huge stranger demanded I hand over a plastic bag of plates and cooking utensils. I refused. He said it was his - he saw it first. I pointed out that since it was in my hand (and had been for some time) he was incorrect. The man in charge (I'll call him the 'Gamemaster' for simplicity, even though that wasn't his title in the dream) appeared and said I had to give it to the stranger. 

I argued the point. A lot. Eventually I worked out I had to hand it over (still not sure why). So instead of giving it to the stranger, I threw it in the Gamemaster's face. Hard. Maybe I broke his nose, maybe I didn't.

Then I said, "Next time, it'll be my fist."

On waking, I've decided I have to use that line at some point.

Mark Webb has reviewed Ishtar as part of his contribution to  Australian Women Writers 2012 Reading Challenge.

It's a wonderful review: 

"Ishtar is a collection of three novellas, each dealing with the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war and sex Ishtar. The book is cleverly put together, with each novella putting the Ishtar character in very different time settings (one in the ancient past, one in contemporary times and one in a dystopian future). This, combined with radically different story telling styles, avoids any continuity issues.

The wonderful Kate Elliott has made a post about women in fantasy and the fact that while they may be 'behind the scenes', they still very much should have personalities.

Her full post is here.

Well, it's been a big couple of weeks for Ishtar.

Deborah Biancotti's 'And the Dead Shall Outnumber the Living' was nominated for the Shirley Jackson Awards and the Ditmar nomination list was announced - Ishtar received 3 mentions!!

I'd like to congratulate all the nominees for the awards - they're all great authors with wonderful stories.

Best Novella or Novelette
"The Sleeping and the Dead", Cat Sparks, in Ishtar (Gilgamesh Press)
"Above", Stephanie Campisi, in Above/Below (Twelfth Planet Press)
"The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt", Paul Haines, in The Last Days of Kali Yuga (Brimstone Press)
"And the Dead Shall Outnumber the Living", Deborah Biancotti, in Ishtar (Gilgamesh Press)
"Julia Agrippina's Secret Family Bestiary", Tansy Rayner Roberts, in Love and Romanpunk (Twelfth Planet Press)
"Below", Ben Peek, in Above/Below (Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Collected Work
The Last Days of Kali Yuga by Paul Haines, edited by Angela Challis (Brimstone Press)
Nightsiders by Sue Isle, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
Bad Power by Deborah Biancotti, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
Ishtar, edited by Amanda Pillar and K. V. Taylor (Gilgamesh Press)

I nearly cried when a workmate sent me this...