SQ Mag - Cover Illustration

SQ Mag, is a speculative fiction magazine produced by IFWG Publishing. They publish bi-monthly on-line editions, and an annual best of print anthology full of sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories and reviews.

The May edition of the magazine has just gone live. This issue contains tales of Psych Horror, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy and Science Fiction. There is also a review of Brett J Talley’s horror novel “That Which Should Not Be”   The winner of the 2011 JournalStone Horror Writing Contest. 

The other great thing about this issue of the magazine – and I have to disclose a vested interest here – is that I did the cover illustration.

I received an email from one of the magazines editors tonight passing on some amazing feedback received for the cover art.

In his words,

“I can’t tell you how much positive feedback has been given for the cover, including from some luminaries in the writing field. Over a small space of time we got 200+ hits, and I am sure your work has contributed to it. Much heartfelt thanks.”

I recommend taking the time to look at SQ Mag – and not just for my creepy artwork. However, if it is my artwork you are checking out, I also did the illustration for the magazine’s  science fiction serial, “Avoiding the Searchers” by MF Burbaugh.

The link to get to the magazine is:  http://www.sqmag.com/sq-mag-edition-2.html

Getting My Geek On

I stumbled across a reference to this years Supernova Expo. I was going to go last year but life got in the way and I only remembered it was on when I saw a story about it on the news. It was too late to get tickets.

The Sydney Supernova Expo is on the 15th - 17th of June. I'm getting my geek on and have already put the date in my calendar.

There is a huge line up sci-fi and fantasy stars from Movies, TV, Books and Comics to tease out the nerd in all of us.

Here is the full list of stars.

Movies and TV

• Christopher Lloyd - the very popular Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown from Back to the Future
• Yvonne Craig - from the Golden Age of television, Batman’soriginal Batgirl and an original alumni from 2002
• Michael Rosenbaum - Smallville’s Lex Luthor and Justice League’s The Flash
• Hayden Panettiere - Heroes’ indestructible cheerleader & passionate activist seen in The Cove
• Callum Blue - The lovable Mason from Dead Like Me and the complex villain General Zod from Smallville!
• Mercedes McNab - This ‘Scream Queen’ is best known as Harmony from Buffy & Angel
• Natalia Tena - Harry Potter’s heroic ally, Nymphadora Tonks, and Osha from Game of Thrones.
• Colin Cunningham - From Stargate SG-1 to Falling Skies, with stops by The 6th Day and Elektra on the way!
• Bob Wall - World champion kickboxer who featured in Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon and Game of Death with Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.

Voice actors:

• Jennifer Hale - videogame superstar, Hale voices Shepard in the Mass Effect Trilogy and many other characters in Metal Gear Solid, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Vic Mignogna - fan favourite Vic voices Edward Elric in theFullmetal Alchemist anime series, Broly in Dragonball Z, Ikkaku in Bleach, and hundreds more

Authors:

• Christopher Paolini - the American novelist is best known for his Inheritance Cycle, comprising Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance.

Comic-book creators:

• David Mack - critically acclaimed comic-book illustrator and creator of the Kabuki series and another returning 2002 guest
• Jim Cheung, British illustrator renowned for his work on Marvel Comics’ Scion, New Avengers: Illuminati, Young Avengers, and Avengers: The Children’s Crusade

PLUS Seattle’s own fabulous Nerd Rock band, KIRBY KRACKLE - see kirbykracklemusic.com

 
I must have brought up my sons the right way because they are as excited as I am.

New Blog Site

Hi to everyone who is following my Words and Pictures Blog.

I would love to invite you to come across and take a look at my NEW Blog -

The Fairy Book Reader

http://thefairybookreader.wordpress.com/

I will still be making general posts here on this blog but most of my posts, particularly those about writing and children's books will now appear on        The Fairy Book Reader blog. 


This new site is purely about children's books, children's writing and anything relating to children's literature. It will contain book reviews, author, illustrator and editor interviews, news, views, articles, poems, contests and what The Fairy Book Reader recommends.


I hope to see you all there.




Jeff

The Year of Jeffery

I was swapping emails with my writing friend Mo Johnson over the New Year break. We were catching up with what we had been up to. I mentioned a couple of thing that I was excited about, finishing the first draft of my new novel, winning some prizes with two of my stories published in Narrator Magazine, selling quite a few pieces of my art and getting some illustration work.

Her reply was, "It sounds like it's going to be the Year of Jeffery."

I thought about Mo's comment and decided that she was right, and that I was going to make 2012 the Year of Jeffery.

I have a number of manuscripts that I am sure are ready to find a home. I have a new manuscript with a storyline that turned out much better than I originally planned - with some serious editing it could be something special. And I have been doing some artwork that I am really delighted with. So this year is definitely the time to do something serious about it.

While looking at some publisher websites researching the best fit for my stories, I found one publisher based in Melbourne that publish speculative fiction novels, a magazine and a small number of children's book each year. One interesting thing about IFWG Publishing's site was that they have a list of their artists. I queried to see if they were interested in considering my chapter book ' Paper Magic' when they opened their books for submissions in March, and I also asked how to apply to become one of their illustrators. I left a link to my web gallery just in case.

I received a reply the same afternoon with an offer for an illustration job. It was an internal colour illustration showcasing a serial novella, 'Avoiding the Searchers' which will feature in all five issues of SQ Mag this year. The Editor loved the illustration and asked if I wanted to submit a illustration for the cover of the May edition.


SQ Mag is a speculative fiction magazine that prints science fiction, fantasy and horror stories. The last few covers have been sci-fi and fantasy oriented so I thought I would do an atmospheric horror based illustration. I emailed a copy off today and received a reply about ten minutes later. They loved the illustration and if approved by the magazine's Chief Editor, it looks like I'll have another illustration credit to my name.

Hopefully, they will also love 'Paper Magic' when I send it through at the end of the month.

Reviews of My Stories from Narrator Magazine

I received an unexpected email from the staff at Narrator Magazine on Thursday night. It was part apology and part notification.  The email went like this.

Good afternoon,

Just a quick email to let you know we haven’t forgotten about you! Congratulations on your piece winning a prize in our Spring edition! We’ve had a busy week, so we’ve not had a chance to send your certificates and magazines through the post, but not to worry, we will have them in the mail for you first thing tomorrow morning.

Kind Regards

Leah

Hey, I was happy enough that both of the stories I submitted to the magazine were accepted for publication. I didn’t really expect to win any of the prizes.

Needless to say, I jumped onto the website to see which one of my stories won, and which prize it was. I certainly didn’t expect what I found.

Both of my stories placed in the judge’s choice prize. “Always the Children” placed second and “The Dancing Suit” placed third. I was blown totally away.

Today, we had our Writers’ Group meeting and one of the group members congratulated me on the great review of my stories in the latest edition of the magazine.

I’ll add another needless to say here. I came home from the meeting and fired up the computer to check out the reviews for myself.

“Always the Children”

-         A moving, heartfelt story. The life of an ambulance officer is sympathetically drawn and the unimaginable grief of dealing with the loss of a child is beautifully evoked.

“The Dancing Suit”

-         The characters of Robert and Beckett are strongly detailed to create a rich descriptive air of the period. A seemingly innocent and charming anti-hero soon becomes the readers worst nightmare in a surprising twist in the tail story.

They were a little off the mark with the first review as it was the life of a police officer but still, I don’t think I could have asked for a better review.

As an added bonus, I discovered that the prize not only consisted of a certificate but there was a monetary component as well. So this makes these two stories my first official payed literary endeavours. I don’t think I’m anywhere near ‘in profit’ yet, but when the editor loves my new novel once I finish editing it, I may just be on my way.

If you want to check out the review visit:   http://www.narratormagazine.com.au/index.php 

You can also read the stories online at the same site. Just click on the "Central Tablelands – Spring Edition" icon or the "Best of the Best 2011" anthology. The stories are in both.  Let me know what you think. 

Bathurst Arts Trail Launch

BATHURST ARTS TRAIL  READY TO LAUNCH: (Back row) Rachel Ellis, Karin Smith,  Colin Fenn, David Lake, Cathie Hale,  Anne  Glendenning Walton,(front row)  Mary  Cuppaidge, Merilyn Rice, Louise  Ranshaw,    Marjo Carter are part of the  Bathurst Arts Trial.  BATHURST has A wealth of talented artists and their works are coming to life with a new  Arts Trails initiative. The Arts Trail will operate on the first weekend of each month  starting on November 5-6 and operating once a month until May next year. The idea behind the trail is the opportunity for local residents and visitors to engage with  the artists, speaking with them about their inspirations and work processes and seeing  their work in their own surroundings. Arts Trail chair Louise Ranshaw said in the light of promoting Bathurst as a desirable  Evocity, it is important to demonstrate to potential residents that there is a cultural heart  to this city, which we residents live with all through the year. Thirty-one local and surrounding artists have taken the idea and will link in with  winery cellar openings to give people a greater variety when discovering Bathurst and the  local area. The launch was held on October 25 in preparation for their first trail on November 5th. “We had more than 50 people attend the launch,” Ms Ranshaw said. “Everyone was excited to have arrived at this stage and were able to examine a proof  of the brochure/map which will be placed at the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre  and various cafes and public spaces in and around Bathurst.” Brochures will be developed and Bathurst Arts Trail website website will launch in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for the flags and signs. Drop in and say hello to an artist.

What I've Been Reading # 8

Hal Junior - The Secret Signal
By
Simon Haynes
Bowman Press 2011
ISBN978-1-877034-07-7

Hal Junior – The Secret Signal is the first children's book from WA author Simon Haynes. The book is a prequel to the humorous adult Sci-fi, Hal Spacejock series. Older Hal is good natured, confident in his abilities but an utterly clueless trouble magnet. It was interesting to glean a little insight into Hal’s formative years.

Hal Junior is good natured, confident in his own abilities, an utterly clueless trouble magnet, but he is a well meaning and likable dreamer. The story opens with Hal dangling upside down in a garbage chute by his elastic shoelaces trying to retrieve the only homework he has actually bothered to do. The antics continue from when his mother, the head of station research, gives him a secret signal for help, right to the climax where his earlier misadventures give an idea that might just save the day – or destroy the entire station…

This is a brilliant easy to read but exciting and funny story, perfect for reluctant boy readers. The humour is not as sophisticated and obscure as Simon’s adult series but I still caught myself chuckling out loud while reading the book. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.