Foibles, Quirks and Mannerisms
One crafty technique that should be part of every writer’s toolbox is using foibles, quirks and mannerisms in your characterisation. You should do this for two very good reasons: They individualise your characters. All humans have foibles, quirks and mannerisms. They’re the minor and unconscious ways we do things,...
New book – new book trailer!
Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town is due for release on 1st of July. Here’s a book trailer I put together to tempt and tantalise....
Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town Cutting Room Floor 3
Yes, good stuff gets left out of any final version of a novel – and for many good reasons. Still, that’s no reason they can’t see the light of day, right? But do you know how hard it is to ignore ghosts, when you’re supposed to be a dedicated...
Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town Cutting Room Floor 2
While revising and editing, some good stuff gets cut and ends up on the cutting room floor. This is another example, where Anton does some musing. Because life wasn’t all about hunting ghosts and dealing with murderous cults, I hoped Dad was going to have a bumper bookselling day...
For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry
Christopher Smart (1722-1771) is most often described as a mystic and a visionary. That’s when it’s not pointed out that he was ‘confined for insanity’ at St Luke’s Hospital in London. While he was there, he produced 1200 lines of verse most often titled Jubilate Agno (‘rejoice in the...
Cover Reveal, Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town
Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town, the eagerly anticipated sequel to Gap Year in Ghost Town, is coming soon. But we have a cover! Many thanks to the phenomenally talented Craig Phillips for his stylish work! Look for it in July, from Allen and Unwin!...
Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town Teaser 1
With Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town (the sequel to the Aurealis Award Shortlisted Gap Year in Ghost Town) to be released in July, I’m deep in the last stages of editing. Thanks to the good people at Allen and Unwin, the story is getting tighter and pacier, coming together...
Gap Year in Ghost Town – The Sequel
Hey, everyone! We now have a title for Gap Year 2 – ‘Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town’! More spooky, fun adventures, more Anton, Rani and Bec, more ghosts, more everything! Coming, July 2019 from Allen and Unwin. ...
Fantasy and SF Sentences to Savour
I keep a compendium of sentences that I like both for inspiration and for the sheer pleasure of reading them again and again. What gets a sentence onto my list? A number of reasons. A neat turn of phrase. An unusual construction. An arresting use of punctuation. A thousand...
Words and Nerds Podcast
Dani Vee from the excellent Words and Nerds podcast interviewed me recently. If you’d like to listen to my mellifluous and authoritative voice while I talk about inspiration, characterisation and motivation – with a particular focus on Gap Year in Ghost Town – then go here. After that, have...