• 23:03 RT @TISFpodcast Up now TISF 013: Deborah Biancotti reads 'Hush' / Keith reviews Slights by Kaaron Warren. Free at www.tisf.com.au & itunes. #

Over at Terra Incognita, my story Hush is now online as a podcast — AND coming soon to iTunes. Double the Hush!

This time we don’t get the whiskey tones of Nick Evans, I’m afraid. The author has to read her own stories at Terra Incognita. Must be part of that whole global economic crisis thing. I’ve tried to remember what I learned watching Dorothy Porter read one of her stories at Stanton Library years back. What I liked most was that she made it sound like a conversation. No Grahnd Poh-etry Rahding Voice for Dorothy Porter. I loved her more for that.

But heck, I never even shook her hand. So you can be assured that all flaws and shortcomings in this reading (well, this story, too) are mine.

Hush is one of the six new stories in A Book of Endings. It’s a little bit steampunk, a little bit revenge tale. And it features a dog and a talking horse. What more could you want?

—–
A Book of Endings, go on, buy it via Twelfth Planet Press.

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 15:00 Oh man, fantastic resource for writers! You want names? bit.ly/QMTQM #
• 15:04 Bf said, "That has to be the guy who played Hellboy. Look at that face!" He was right: Ron Perlman = Hellboy. And I thought it was makeup. #

• 23:20 Happy Friday 13th! #
• 23:20 #fridayreads Transition, Iain Banks. Liking, not loving it. #
• 23:34 Today VirginBlue emailed to offer me complimentary Gold status. Then emailed to apologise: no Gold status for me after all. #
• 23:37 They give & then they take it away. #

I’ve had some shitty day jobs.

There was the mortgage-processing job, where the boss was at great pains on day 1 to tell me about the culture of ‘no blame, only teamwork’. And two months in when I uncovered an error that had been made with some mortgage cheques, he tried to guilt-trip me about the costly solution he’d have to implement — apparently assuming that because I’d uncovered the error, I’d also made it. (I hadn’t.)

There was the workplace I refer to as the Toxic Avenger, where my last defiant act was to act as a witness in a formal complaint of corporate bullying. I hadn’t really considered the aggressive, ignorant behaviour of my superiors to be bullying until I went to HR for something else & they showed me a copy of the Anti-Bullying Policy. Which was about when I realised that no one had ever described my exec director as accurately as that document. He was also a liar, but the policy didn’t cover that.

There was the Narcissism Is Me workplace, where the MD was prone to sending self-pitying emails to all staff about stuff he’d decided to take personally: staff leaving, staff not filling in their timesheets, staff calling him a moron (oh, wait, no one told him that, right?). He also had a nifty way of firing people or downsizing a role without ever actually having to pay out a redundancy. He wasn’t so much a liar as a man living in a land of complete make-believe, fantasising about his own efficacy in the chaotic organisation he’d fostered. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those at greatest geographical distance from him reported being the most happy in their jobs.

Reading back over this list I can see the truth of the idea that people don’t leave bad workplaces, they leave bad bosses.

And of course, we must note the good jobs. The State Library job was a lot of fun. I loved working in a ‘cultural institution’, loved the events, loved the Library’s mission, loved the history, the building, loved a bunch of the people. The casual jobs I had while at or just after uni were great. I worked on campus in a bunch of roles: stuffing envelopes, staffing the info centre, admin-ing at the careers centre. None of it taxing, all of it cheering. The multimedia job I had (right before the internet ate all the multimedia technologies that weren’t net-specific) was also awesome for the 3 months it took the company to go bust.

But the caveat on each day job is that it must feed the writing. Occasionally this has felt like the inevitable failure to serve two masters. Sometimes — less often — it’s worked.

The multimedia fed the writing because it was both creative AND structured (I was a Macromedia Director author, in case anyone recognises that terminology) – but because I loved it I also worked a bunch of extra hours on it, which limited my writing time. In contrast, the Toxic Avenger allowed me a helluva lot of time (these were the years when I was most active in the blogosphere) but made me feel dead on the inside. It’s hard to write when you’re dead. Not so hard to blog, oddly.

I figure by now I’ve tried just about everything I can think of. I’ve tried the dead-end, dull job, I’ve tried the all-in, exhaustive job, & a bunch of patterns in between. I’ve tried a day-job in writing & several well outside. I’ve tried part-time & full-time work. I’ve learned what -– for want of a better word — works. I’ve tried my darnedest to maximise that stuff & minimise the rest.

And I think Eden Robins’ post over at Ecstatic Days is the picture-perfect day-job description. If you’re a similar kinda writer as me, that is.

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 06:25 Thank goodness! RT @PenguinBooksAus: Gulp! Did you know there are only 50 days left until the end of the year? #
• 17:10 "You're killing Independent George!" just went through my head. #
• 17:12 Now I find out I'm a member of 3 lists by OTHER PEOPLE. I'll be watching what lists y'all put me on, people. #
• 20:55 RT @BlueTyson: WFC Interview - Michael Swanwick: "What is valuable is the presence of other writers of.. bit.ly/27aNTj #

Well, I didn’t have to go very far to find my welcome-back-to-the-blogosphere deathknell. Fictionbitch calls this the end for writers, but I wonder if it’s more about the end for readers. The end of a nice sit down in a bookstore, that is, heralded by Waterstones — a British bookchain, from the sounds of it. I don’t think we have Waterstones, but I doubt that gives us much of an evolutionary advantage.

Still, the article ends on a high note by suggesting Waterstones may end up killing *itself*. Selling eReaders will wipe out the need for bookshops of any kind, apparently. (Unless someone comes up with a Red Room for eBooks, I suppose.)

I found one of the Waterstone article comments interesting: a parent who tells their child, ‘we don’t care what you read, just read something!’ Much as I want to encourage reading, I’ve always found this idea of the mystically transformative powers of reading kinda … short-sighted. My neighbour’s kid took to reading at the age of about eight. He read & read. What he was reading was the Harry Potter books, over & over again. Not sure if he ever did take to reading anything else.

Quite apart from that, he was one weird little kid.

The point is read, sure, and read widely. But be aware when reading that you may still come across garbage. And reading garbage is just as bad as watching garbage, listening to garbage or, indeed, eating garbage. Strictly, y’know, in my opinion.

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 18:26 Man, I miss Mexican food. Hair of the Dog Cantina, I love you! #
• 18:33 RT @BookBuzzr: "The secret of success is to be ready when your opportunity comes." - Benjamin Disraeli (www.bookbuzzr.com) #quote #

Man. I was gonna say something about the whole PW thing — particularly with reference to my suspicion it comes down not to ‘we r excluding women’ to ‘we r using a definition of ‘good’ that aligns with our definition of ‘masculine”, & so on. Or, as Jim Hines suggests, a result of a kind of blindness to our own blindnesses. And heck, it’s been ages since I said anything to really earn my feminist stripes. On the blogosphere, that is. And why is that, I hear you cry? Well, I’ve been busy in a dozen directions at once. The world has tried to divide-and-conquer me. But eventually the world tries just one well-placed kick too many & it wakes a girl up.

I’m back, baby.

Not sure I’d go so far as to girl-cott male authors, like Kathy Lette recommends. Because, y’know, none of us is free until all of us are free. And taking it out on male authors seems … well, against the spirit of the thing.

BUT anyhow, the damn internet took so damn long to load, who can remember what in hell my finely-tuned arguments really comprised of? Smarter people than I have already covered off the topic. I guess I’ll go kick some cans for a while.

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 09:08 Best 10 hours of sleep I've ever had. Today: clearing the decks on the paperwork & taxes, making space to make changes in my life. #
• 09:15 RT @clarkesworld: If you were at #WFC2009 or live in the San Jose area, you need to read this bit.ly/FC80Z #

• 07:21 Checking out & heading home! #
• 09:25 Waiting for shuttle to San Francisco airport. Homeward bound. #

• 18:56 Finally I get around to blogging about WFC: bit.ly/3PuIeX #wfc2009 #

Alas, over already. I kept opening the blog during the week only to shut it again from severe brain drain.

Some highlights:

* Firstly, this has been my favourite WFC so far.
* Wednesday: the Caltrain from San Francisco to San Jose is a straightforward commute, though it’s not designed to accommodate suitcases. I choose to travel at midday, & fortunately the train proves to be at least as empty as I hoped.
* Dinner Wednesday night with Team Oz & Team Locus. We eat grasshoppers & mole. They’re both rather tasty. As are the margaritas in chilli-rimmed glasses.
* The hotel is awesome, & odd (’multitudinous caverns’, as Graham Joyce describes it). The function floor is in the shape of a ring, which means regardless of whether you turn left or right, the room you want is the furtherest point from where you exited the lift.
* The other floors are worse.
* Thursday: we meet to plan the Aussie Party, try on our t-shirts (custom designed by Cat Sparks), drink pink drinks (as is the custom) & catch up with friends. We check out the Presidential Suite (i.e. the party venue) & run into Tessa on the way back. The group splits for various errands, me to have tea with Tessa.
* I spy Jeff Vandermeer, who ignores me. Twice.
* I cannot for the life of me remember what I do for dinner Thursday night.
* We attend the Last Drink Bird Head party, where I accost Jeff while he’s cutting cake. I thank him for mentioning my book on his blog, & then hold my nametag up beside my face. *NOW* he remembers who I am!
* (He shouldn’t feel bad, though. I mean, Jeff Ford remembers me. Chris Roberson remembers me. But then, Jeff was kind enough to mention my book on his blog. So, it all evens out in the end.)
* The Aussie Party is AWESOME! Much Australian wine & beer is drunk. To relieve pressure on Garth, Sean, Jonathan & Justin behind the bar, Liz Argall begins to ferry bottles of white wine around the room while Jason Nahrung & I cover distribution of the red. Other Aussies wav the flag & generally impress the crowd with the mighty powers of Australia-dom: Kirstyn, Cat Jenny, Russell, Isobelle, Tessa, Anna. The Australian contingent is huge this year!
* Some of us are up until 3am, stealing the halloween decorations from some other party.
* Friday: tired. Very, very tired. Think I have a cold.
* Cat, Graham Joyce & I head out to find the Rosicrucian Temple. After an uninspiring visit in an Egyptian museum (with Graham playing the part of local guide, right down to the accent — & the begging for money), we discover the temple is actually around the corner. We arrive to find it locked, but after much persistence (& luck, really), the door opens & we’re ushered in for a Rosicrucian meditation ceremony. I find the whole thing wonderful & want to immediately sign up, but Graham spots a dark spirit sitting behind us. When I ask how a dark spirit could be in a place where the ceremonies are so joyous, Graham replies, ‘It’s the dark thing that hangs around on the edges of the light.’ … Which shuts me the hell up.
* Lunch with Graham & Jonathan (a burger that fills me up for about 24 hours), where we discuss writing & career, hurrah! Exactly the kinds of conversations I come to WFC for.
* More hanging out in the bar, then the Orbit party, then the mass signing where I sign my book! Twice! (Hey, that’s big news for this unknown Aussie.) I watch Sean & Garth’s queues with admiration.
* Then the Locus party, where at midnight we toast Charles Brown.
* Saturday: tired. Very, very tired.
* The 10am panel on Why Steampunk Now? (which I chair) turns out to be standing-room only. The panellists are all wonderful, thoughtful, smart people. Which makes my job a helluva lot easier. When it turns out Ann Vandermeer & Nisi Shawl were both in punk bands, the conversation drifts momentarily into 70s music (with Michael Swanwick waxing lyrical) & I drag it back on topic with the help of Liz Gorinsky. It really was wonderful. Thank-you to everyone who came & helped keep it lighthearted & fun — & who laughed at my jokes.
* Off for a quick trip to the Winchester Mystery House with Sean & Cat. The tour is kinda fun but leaves us all hungry to see more of the crazy house. Afterwards I chat extensively with Danel Olson about ‘the architecture of the mind’.
* Dinner with Garth & the gang, so many people I better not try naming ‘em all. Fabulous seafood platter in the hotel restaurant, makes me homesick.
* I miss the Weird Tales party because I’m so tired I’ve started to feel sick in all kinds of new ways.
* Sleep for 10 hours.
* Sunday: leisurely morning (& last trip to the dealer’s room) until the WFC banquet, where we get to cheer Margo Lanagan & Shaun Tan for their wins! Also cheers to the Nightshade crew for the best damn suits of the con (& maybe the decade).
* Two parties in the evening, followed by salad in the bar, followed by several drinks & planning for tomorrow’s long journey home.

I’m sure there was more.

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 18:27 Just returned from the Locus party. A toast was raised to Charles at midnight. To Charles! #wfc2009 #

• 09:06 RT @PenguinBooksAus: Did you know, that on this day in 1938 Orson Welles broadcast his radio play of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds? #
• 09:08 Taking a break from the socialising before the opening ceremony. #wfc09 Plans for Aussie party tonight going well! #
• 09:09 Great steampunk hats available for sale in the dealer's room. Some with goggles! #wfc09 #
• 20:57 WFC Aussie Party a huge success. Now 3am, tired, drunk, happy, tired. See y'all tomorrow. #
• 20:57 Oh, sorry, #wfc09 #

• 16:27 RT @editormum75: #abookofendings reviewed in The Age - details via @krasnostein: bit.ly/3TbU7q #

*Forgot* to mention, The Age review has been transcribed by ‘the publisher’ over on her blog:

The busiest short-story writers in Australia are working in speculative fiction, a mixture of dark fantasy, science and other unsettling stuff. They are also some of the best, although largely ignored by the major local publishers. Biancotti has won various awards and been commended in international listings. She is working in the Zeitgeist of The Road and Steven Amsterdam – the apocalypse and afterwards – but at much shorter length. There are 21 short stories here. Most have the germ of a novel within them. A robot dog rusts in a decaying royal palace, but sticks to his duty. A girl slips into the interstices of Sydney. Thugs tussle over black market electricity. What Biancotti will do with more space, and a novel framework, remains to be seen. But the stories are succinct and powerful. Best ordered online, as the publisher is a micropress.

Hurrah!

Really kind of excellent. Though I am the only one to be hung up on the line, “What Biancotti will do with more space, and a novel framework, remains to be seen.”…?

(Yes, I suspect I am, because interest & sales are up & ’succinct & powerful’ makes me feel very chuffed!)

By the by, apparently my flippant description of my novel as ‘The Great Unsaleable’ isn’t washing with several people. I *think* I read someplace that in traditional Chinese culture, it’s bad luck to talk about a newborn child in terms of its beauty, its charm, humour, personality, prospects, strength. Because if the gods hear, they’ll grow jealous & snatch the child away. So, for some weeks, the child is not named and not complimented. ‘Poor, ugly baby,’ the adults croon. ‘You’ll never amount to anything, little baby.’

Similarly, I have been trying to outwit the gods.

But, no more! People are worried the strategy will work too well & I’ll jinx myself & the gods will forget entirely to honour me. Henceforth I’m throwing away the pessimsim & working hard on proving that my novel is a charming, beautiful, honourable baby. I shall call it BROKEN, not because it *is* broken, but because that’s part of its real name, that’s what it’s about, a novel about being broken and living anyhow. A novel about shards of consciousness and subconsciousness and about how we shape the world with those.

Also, I am still getting my perverse delight from calling it BROKEN.

Excelsior!

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

Body didn’t know, last night, if it was sleepy or awake. So alternated between the two states at random, testing them out. Asleep at 11pm, awake at 1am, 2am, 3am, 4… asleep at 9am, 10am…

You see the pattern. Spent the night going to the window, burningly alert, staring out at the city. ‘Can’t wait to get into it!’ Then sleeping like the dead. Missing, ultimately, my half-made plans to see Alcatraz first thing. Next time I’m in San Francisco, I’m determined to do the Alcatraz sunset tour.

Got up, confirmed with the man on the hotel desk that my method of getting from San Francisco to San Jose (researched during the awake hours in the middle of the night) was the best available, wandered through a day just as bright but much colder than yesterday. Had Mexican again! Hurrah! This time with Jason, Kirstyn & Sir Tessa (blog links to be inserted as I remember ‘em). Wandered with the crew to Union Square where Jason & Kirstyn left to find the Golden Gate Park or the Tutankhamen exhibition (or both) & Tess & I decided to take advantage of the unreasonably strong Australian dollar & try some shopping. Victoria’s Secret, which has always fascinated me, turned out to be not quite as appealing as Peter Alexander, but the one chosen department store of all the pickings — Macy’s — offered up several delights. Some of which Sir T. is still suffering amidst a room full of Toucans. Too-much-cheesecake-not-enough-red-velvet um, cake at the Cheesecake Factory atop Macy’s got the better of me, but the hot caramel apple cider was deLISH! And tea! Mmmm, tea made properly hot. I love you, San Francisco.

More wandering, off to the Golden Gate Bridge, which is beautiful, really beautiful in the same way art deco is beautiful, classical sculpture is beautiful, mist on mountains is beautiful. Also, in the gift store you can buy canned fog. But careful opening the can, as fog dissipates on exposure to air (says so right there on the can).

Cable car rides up & down the 50-degree+ inclines of your regular SF streets (it was exhilarating, exactly like a roller coaster), us clinging to the rails for our lives because if we started rolling down the hill we’d end up in the bay within 90 seconds. It’d be just like a sheer drop off a cliff, I’m pretty sure. Dinner on Geary St — wagyu burger, yum! — and then cable cars back up Nob Hill to my beautifully posh hotel. Ahhhhh, hotel. How I’ll miss you.

Now catching up on reading via Twitter. So far:

Forget everything you’ve heard about publishing, Adam Penenberg.

42 Essential Third-Act Twists, erm, Dresden Codak?

Worthwhile Culture, Jeremy Fisher, ASA President

A brilliant day!

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 14:40 Weather in San Francisco is BRILLIANT. Mexican from Hair of the Dog Cantina is AWESOME. World, I feel so close to you right now. #

Seriously, San Francisco is in good shape. The weather is perfect (I thought I was being optimistic packing t-shirts, but no. Turns out I was being pessimistic packing jeans). The Mexican is superb, especially from Hair of the Dog Cantina. The wander through Columbus Avenue, into City Lights Bookstore & that place that lets you taste the salt water taffy free, sipping the world’s grandest Chai Grande, wandering past all those wonderful weatherboard houses with the quirky windows. Then up, up, UP the damn hill towards the hotel (I knew I was in trouble when I read the Nob Hill address, but the discount on the regular room rate was so huge I figured I’d deal with it later).

A fabulous afternoon. I feel relaxed, a world away from the frustrations of the everyday. (Well, not EXACTLY a world away. I’m planning a new project or two on my return home.) Perhaps I’ll nip down to the piano lounge for half an hour (& a scotch) before bed.

And then Wednesday, on to San Jose for the beginnings of the World Fantasy Convention.

See? Aren’t these happy posts boring?

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 13:40 Anyone else have problems with Leopard workspaces , specifically switching from Word to another space? #

Toothbrush, check, passport, check, notes for panel, check, copies of A Book of Endings to use as beercoasters give-aways, check, list of MEXICAN places to eat in San Francisco, check, US dollars (now over AUD$0.90, keep ‘em coming), check. What HAVE I forgotten?!

While I shut down my browser for the first time in weeks, here are some pretty things:

* Via Ellen Datlow, Vivian Maier’s street photography of Chicago in the 50s-70s. Awesome.
* Livia Marin’s wonderful sculptures of Broken Things. I would like for one of these to be cover art on my novel, which was called Broken Places, but which I might rename in honour of Marin’s work. I love it.

Possibly a few more distracted posts like this before I fly out tomorrow. Ahhh, Air NZ, how I love your comfy seats, supreme little TVs & excellent New Zealand reds with my meals.

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 17:41 Friday traffic in Sydney never looks worse than when you're in a cab. #

• 11:55 #bookending Today worked on a short story with no particular deadline. Just because. Forgotten how soothing that can be. #

On Saturday, 10am, I’ll be chairing this panel at the World Fantasy Convention:

Why Steampunk Now?
Steampunk is not only hugely popular right now but it is also a bit of an oddity in that it is simultaneously a literary sub-genre, a style of fashion, and a social movement. What interests and cultural concerns is Steampunk addressing and why has it become popular so many years after its original invention?

With fellow panellists Liz Gorinsky, Michael Swanwick and Ann VanderMeer.

I think this’ll be a hoot, picking the brains of my learned comrades to find out why steampunk, why now? (I got to pick the brains of my steampunk friends & fans last night, & I now have a full arsenal of questions and ideas — much obliged, teamsters.)

Apart from that, I’ll probably be in the bar.

See y’all next weekend!

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 23:01 RT @Paul_Cornell: Ursula Le Guin's 80th birthday today. Wouldn't it be great if that became a trending topic? #happybirthdayUrsulaLeGuin #

• 23:16 I don't get a chance to use my extensive library of foul language nearly often enough. But today I fcking did. #

It started with the life-threatening cut to the wrist that covered my kitchen in blood, but successfully missed all major arteries. (Wouldn’t think it to see the bloody mess we cleaned up at 3am.)

It continued, with the home break-in that resulted in one smashed window ($400+, thank-you very much) & the loss of … nothing. (Yes, we did replace our toothbrushes.)

AND now, third & hopefully final in the list of 2009 Near Misses, we bring you the paramedics who came to save Helen — but had the wrong house.

As we rolled into the street, the ambulance was obvious. Out in the middle of the road, parked straight as if forgotten, not askew as if abandoned.

“Hahahah,” I said, “if it’s in front of our place we know the cat’s been making prank phone calls again.”
“Ahaha,” agreed the boyfriend.

But, alas, it WAS in front of our house, & I leapt out of the car in somewhat of a panic to find out what on earth they were doing at my front door.

“That’s my house,” I stammered, “are you looking for something specific?”
“Is there a Helen at home?” the bored-looking paramedic asked.
He had bleached hair and looked like he wasn’t used to sleeping, or that he slept all the time on his feet. His partner was shorter, rounder, just as tired-looking.
“There’s no one home at all,” I said, leaving out the detail of the cat.
“Ah, well,” said the bleach-job.
I found myself apologising and the paramedics — rightly — pointed out it wasn’t my fault.
They wandered away. Wandered, not in a straight line. Like people filling time. And I stood still with my hand to my mouth, thinking that if I’d forgotten there was a Helen in the street, I was taking away her chance at life. And didn’t the paramedics want a chance to save her?! Wherever she was.

A minute or so later the ambulance drove away and the boyfriend returned from parking the car and the cat re-appeared from whatever corner she’d been in & you could swear Helen had never darkened my door with her misguided minions or lost saviours.

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 08:56 Will an Aust-bought iPhone work on a US network? I'm thinking 'no'. Alas. #

For anyone waiting on a copy of A Book of Endings from last week’s launch (where we ran out of books), the box has arrived! Distribution is imminent.

I’m off to the World Fantasy Con in a little over a week, though, so we might have to make this quick. May have to be a pub gathering next weekend. ;p (Note to developer friends: ever done a soft launch AFTER the real launch?)

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 21:29 #bookending. Novel-writing day. This morning and this evening, punctuated only by day-job duties in the middle, & an unsuccessful gym trip. #
• 21:29 RT @OverlandJournal: Of course, if you waited until you knew what you were talking about, you'd never say anything at all. #
• 21:38 Seriously, how many vampire TV shows ARE there right now?! #
• 22:09 RT @BookBuzzr: I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes. ~Sara Teasdale (www.bookbuzzr.com) #quote #

• 18:00 The only person standing in a wine bar out of seats. #
• 18:03 Quick, everyone, send a tweet to @KaaronWarren ! #
• 20:51 RT @LizUK: 500 followers, yay! Tweet @_TheVoyager_ by 5pm & I'll pick 5 people to win goody-bags stuffed full of exciting Voyager books! #

• 11:31 I want. @MelbWritersFest Portable steampunk office trunk > bit.ly/4cp6t2 #

Lots of excellent endings in last week’s poll. Thanks, everyone. I had a blast reading through the nominations.

I got to hear the ending to Ulysses (without having to read the book — thanks, Wendy! And great ending, too). I found myself in complete agreement with Stephen Dedman about the excellence of the ending for Casablanca, & I was reminded of the cheeky ending for the original Italian Job via Jon Gibbs. Cold Comfort Farm, Lord of Light & Bridge of Birds received intriguing mentions. And then there was Pet Sematary (oooohhhhhh, good one, Chuck!).

Tansy & Cat nominated two fabulous ‘dumb courage’ endings — Blake’s 7 & Zulu. Both great films, not just great endings. bluetyson (eep, I don’t actually know your name!) also nominated Blake’s 7 (deservedly, one of the best endings evah!), & also The Usual Suspects for good measure. What a fantastic movie that is, too. Brilliant whodunnit.

David Carroll’s real life ending for Thelma & Louise was awesome. I loved this one. And then there were the metatextual endings: real life by Paul Haines. Hard to argue with that one! And Gillian Polack’s ‘pick your own ending’ made me chuckle out loud. Well done on that one!

But in the end I decided to give the free copy of A Book of Endings to a sentimental favourite. Grant Watson’s nomination of ‘The Monster at the End of This Book’ was a book my little sister received, but which bewitched me even more than her, I think, for the break-out unpredictability of it. I’d never seen anything like it! A book which actually referred to ITSELF as a book! Far out, man! (What? It was the seventies…)

Because you see, gentle reader, the monster at the end of the book … is…

Well, I won’t spoil it for you.

Grant, feel free to step forward & claim your prize!

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 19:15 #bookending A little work on the novel today. But otherwise, relaxing, watching bad movies, updating photos of launch: bit.ly/3ZdEJB #
• 19:18 RT @sadknob: "Lots of people confuse bad management with destiny." -Kin Hubbard #

A huge thank-you to the people who came to the launch of A Book of Endings yesterday. NG Gallery put on a damn classy show (the catering was so artfully done most people actually *mistook* it for art), & the crowd was cheerful & kind & wonderful. I was blown away by the number of attendees. Among the crowd were many friends & family I hadn’t seen in years. (One relative commented that the last time he’d seen me I’d measured up to his waist.)

I was overwhelmed.

Margo Lanagan gave me the most gracious, convincing write-up I’ve ever had (thanks Margo!), & I believe my family was duly impressed. Especially when I burst into tears. (We shall speak no more of that.)

Alas, we sold out of every book I had! Some of you put your names on the order list, but if you haven’t done that & you’d still like to order a book, please just let me know via the comments, or email me at deborahb AT-diddy-AT livejournal.com. I shall post ‘em off when ‘the publisher’ sends more.

Special thanks has to go to my sister, Rachel, whose up-selling skills were something to behold. Instead of offering people change, she’d ask them if they wanted to purchase a second book. Some did fall for her charms — & I just love that my good buddy Sue rocked up to the head of the signing queue with no less than FOUR books in her hand! They do make great Xmas gifts.

Also there was a rather special family photo taken of the Biancotti-Wegert-Reganzani-Miller family which I intend to frame for the wall.

Thanks again to everyone. I’m just blown away.

More photos at Flickr here & at Cat Sparks’ photo stream, or feel free to forward your own!

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

Since we happen to be discussing endings this week (and btw, some awesome endings being nominated over at the tell-me-your-favourite-ending poll — today’s your last chance to enter the competition!), it seems timely that IRoSF has just put up an interview called The Coming Dark, where Angela Slatter nails a few fellow Oz writers to the floor to discuss the end of the world. I’m there, along with Kaaron Warren, Jason Fischer and Peter M. Ball.

Also features some of my photos from Red Sydney (i.e. the Sydney dust storm of last month). In case you needed a visual dose of the apocalyptic.

Mirrored from my website at deborahbiancotti.net. You can respond here or at the other deborahb blog.

• 22:45 Did not think to make #abookofendings launch a FaceBook event. Luckily, "the publisher" thought of it for me. #

• 11:52 #bookending. Relatively productive morning reminding myself of teh novel, pushing pieces around & getting 'em to play nice together. #
• 15:27 A review of the iOffer: tinyurl.com/ydevqbw #
• 20:02 Tell me your favourite ending! (Book, TV, movie or real life.) bit.ly/2eCOnZ #
• 20:29 Please RT. A Book of Endings: launching in Sydney Saturday. Details: bit.ly/JInR6 #
• 21:18 Kindle going worldwide. So, should I buy one? #
• 21:33 Thanks
  for re-tweets, teamsters! :) Very much obliged to you. #

What is your favourite ending (book, TV, movie, or real life)?