If you want to nominate for the Ditmars but are coming up a blank on the 'Best Artwork' category, Trudi Canavan has put this amazing website together with images from all the book & magazine covers of the year that are eligible (ie by Australian artists, speculative content). Check out: http://www.spin.net.au/~trudi/ditmarart.htm to see her good work, and to marvel at the wealth of SF & fantasy art by Australian artists in 2003.

The Ditmar nomination forms are available now at: http://www.camrin.org/ditmar.html

These are awards for recognition of excellence in SF & fantasy professional and fan achievements for 2003. You don't have to be a member of this year's Natcon to nominate (although you do in order to vote).

If you are nominating, please make an effort to fill in all the categories that you possibly can -- Best Artwork, Novella and Novelette are often neglected, and it's a shame when there aren't enough nominations to run a category.

It would be great to have enough nominations in the novella and novelette categories this year to run them separately instead of having htem lumped in with 'short story'. A novelette is a long short story, over 7,500 words, and a novella is a v. long short story or short novel, at 15-40,000 words.

I’ve been following the Clarion South project with great interest, mainly out of sheer awe. The idea of giving up six weeks of real life to immerse oneself in writing seems both brave and terrifying to me, and I don’t even have kids or a real job! Then again, that may be why I don’t feel the need to take such a huge step. I have my precious two days a week at home ot write uninterrupted, something most part-time writers would give their left leg for (obviously not their left arm, as they need that to type). Anyway, I’m envious as hell. It sounds like they’re having an amazing, unforgettable time, even though it’s getting more and more challenging.

All the current (first ever) Clarion South attendees are profiled in the latest ASIM (#10, edited by Monissa Whitely) and Zara Baxter and Alinta Thornton have both been keeping outsiders up to date with their Clarion weblogs. Worth a look, especially for anyone who's thinking of doing it next year...

Clarion - www.clarionsouth.org
Zara - www.vile-temptress.org
Alinta - www.zip.com.au/~athornto//clarion

Novel progress:

The Creature Court (still working title) is currently at about 42,000 words after three and a half months of solid writing. 11,000 of those words were written in the first 11 days of the year -- that’s what happens when I take a break from uni! I’m back to my real life schedule now which means two days at home & three at my office at uni each week, plus weekends. My aim is to try and write 1000 words every home day, plus each weekend day which should make for about 4,000 words each week -- a little more productive than the 2,500 a week I was managing last year but then I have to compensate for the fact that this is going to be a *very* long book. So far my longest work has been 115,000 words (the still unpublished Ink Black city, Mocklore #3) and The Creature Court is looking to be something like 200,000. Finally an epic to sink my teeth into!

The novel separates into four distinct sections, and I want to get the first good and ready for the mini-RoR critiquing session I’m going to before Conflux this year. It’s something so new and different to what I’ve written in the past that I really want to see what the RoRettes (Rowena, Marianne, Margo, Maxine & Trent) think of it. At the rate I’m going I’ll probably have three full sections done by the proper RoR we’re planning in Tasmania this October.

I’ve been trying to listen to the right kind of music to give me the feel of Aufleur (my new city) and its society. So far my historical influences have ranged from 1700-1920’s (not counting the Ancient Roman stuff of which there is, naturally, lots) but a lot of 1930’s jazz is starting to creep in. It suits Delphine, one of my main supporting characters, and I’ve got myself addicted to Gershwin. I’ve never really used music before to support my writing, mainly because I’ve never listened much to music for the sake of music before (unless it has a story, hence my love of musicals). Interesting. I must be growing up.

Applications for the EnVision novel writing workshop are now open. Check out www.sf-envision.com

And a Happy New Year!