Plans for 2010: The Space Opera Novel

I don't really know what to write about as an end of year post, but feel that I should do one. Why? Even that question I can't answer. With so much going on in my life outside writing from starting a new job in a new state in the New Year, writing and editing has taken a back seat. When I'm not writing I'm thinking about writing, and currently my thinking has been along the lines of how much I miss writing when I'm not doing it, like the last few months. So I'm looking ahead, to 2010 and what I want to achieve, when I'll be writing again.

So far I have two books lined up to edit for the New Year, both horror, one gaming and one fiction, and both with US publishers. I'll also continue reviewing speculative fiction books for Albedo One and already I have a few I should be emailing to the team in Ireland. I also have a few short stories I want to finish and send off to various magazines to see how I go, mostly science fiction. All of this, well it's happening, what's not happening is... the novel.

Over 2009 I've been reading a lot of new space opera, particularly Alastair Reynolds, and find that although I've always been reading this subgenre of science fiction for a long time, there are always ideas here that excite me even after thirty years of familiarity with the setting. It's what I love reading and what I love writing.

So I've decided 2010 is the year I really need to give my new space opera novel a go, get it done and out to agents and/or publishers. That's the plan, write the novel. It's what every author needs to do if they are ever to become professionals in this game. Will I succeed? Who knows, but with the experience I've had since the last seven years since I wrote my last 100,000 word manuscript, I feel I'm in a much better place to give it a go.

Anyway, I hope everyone out there has the successes they hope for in the new year, and that the future will be exciting and rewarding. And perhaps I'll get to know a whole lot more of you in the writing/editing game now that I'm moving to a new state.

There you go, 2010 is looking great already.

Les Secrets du Kenya

I've just discovered that I've now been translated into French, with my Secrets of Kenya book for the Call of Cthulhu game out as Les Secrets du Kenya.

Unforunately I don't have my author copy to contribute much more here, but the cover does look nice. It seems to include all four scenarios from the original, and many of my photographs as well as historical photographs I found. Appartently my interior artwork is gone, with new art to replace it.

That's all I know for now.

Second Review for "The Octagon"

I have to be happy about this review, from Rod MacDonald at SFCrowsnest:

David Conyers is a rising star and I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more about him in the future. He certainly hasn't let us down with this offering entitled 'The Octagon'. So good are the scenarios he dreams up that I'm beginning to wonder if he is really a time traveller from the future.

I've said it before, Jupiter Magazine is going from strength to strength and I'm glad to be a part of it, especially when the review says this about the magazine:

'Jupiter' has now reached its 26th edition! This magazine continues its high standard of Science Fiction literature with four readable short stories which will undoubtedly entertain you. ... All in all, a very rewarding edition of 'Jupiter'. When you've read a copy of this magazine, you are always looking forward to the next.

The 2009 Scorecard

I've decided at the end of each year I will summarise what I have achieved in writing, as a record as much for myself as to share with those who read my blog. I did the same last year, and comparing the two my output in 2009 was slightly better than last year, although no novel yet.

All of my new short stories this year were published overseas, and included:

• "Six-Legged Shadows" with Brian M. Sammons in Monstrous (Permuted Press)
• "Black Water" in Jupiter 24
• "The Octagon" in Jupiter 26
• "The Garden Fortress" in Thrilling Tales #4 (Rainfall Books)
• "The Lord of the Law" in The Fourth Black Book of Horror.

Reprints include:

• "Subtle Invasion" in Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror Vol 3 (Brimstone Press)
• "Homo Canis" in Midnight Echo #2 (Australian Horror Writers Association) also received an honourable mention in Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the Year Vol 1
• "Stomach Acid" with Brian M. Sammons in Cthulhu Unbound 2 (Permuted Press).

Other publications include:

• "Virtual Worlds and Imagined Futures" an interview with Greg Egan in Albedo One 37
• "The Burning Stars" Call of Cthulhu scenario in Terrors from Beyond (Chaosium) which is gaining incredibly positive reviews and feedback from gamers everywhere
• Several reviews for Albedo One.

Other achievements include a Ditmar nomination for my science fiction tale "Soft Viscosity" in 2012 (Twelfth Planet Press), I attended GenConOz as a guest, and I sold several stories to various magazines and anthologies, one of which is a science fiction tale appearing in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. I'm also editing a new anthology of Cthulhu Mythos tales with Brian M. Sammons that will be published by Permuted Press, and I'm editing a collection of Call of Cthulhu gaming scenarios for a yet to be named publisher.

Several books with my stories which didn't come out this year but might in 2010 included:

• "Emergency Rebuild" in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 43
• "Sister of the Sands" in Cthulhu's Dark Cults (Chaosium) (which I incidentally edited way back in 2007)
• “Subtle Invasion” in Best New Tales of the Apocalypse (Permuted Press)
• "Dream Machine" in Scenes from the Second Storey (Morrigan Books)
• "The Hag of Zais" in Eldritch Steel (Elder Signs Press)
• "Sweet as Decay" with David Witteveen in Macabre (Brimstone Press)
• "The Swelling" reprinted at Innsmouth Free Press
• A new Harrison Peel tale has also been sold, but I've been asked to keep closed lipped about this one until the publisher makes an announcement.

I had hoped to output more this year, but a redundancy and now having to change states for financial/work reasons, I guess has affected my output. Hopefully once I'm settled in Sydney in the new year, that will all change.

A Detailed Review of Terrors From Beyond

Just noticed this review for Terrors from Beyond, which featured my scenario "The Burning Stars" for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. This is what the reviewer said about my scenario:

Superb! One of the most unusual premises for any scenario I've read in the entire hobby. Beyond that, phenomenally well-executed; a treat to read, and one that the players will definitely never forget.

Read the rest of the review here.

2009 Aurealis Awards Finalists Announced

The finalists for the 2009 Aurealis Awards have just been announced here. Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated. It is especially nice to see that Peter M. Ball has as many nominations as he does. His novella Horn was the most original speculative fiction story I read by an Australian this year. Greg Egan also has a nomination for Best Collection with Oceanic, so it is good to see him back in the awards again.

First Review of "The Octagon"

Jupiter magazine keeps doing well with positive reviews and so I'm always honoured to be a part of any issue that comes out. The latest release, 26, featured my novella "The Octagon" which received a postive review on SFRevu by Sam Tomaino, along with the rest of the magazine. This is what Sam said about my story:

The Octagon in the story of the same name by David Conyers is an alien artifact on which the ultimate reality show is filmed. Two colonies on this artifact have disappeared. Now, in 2280, it's the location of a Survivor-type show in which the contestants aren't voted off, they die, taken away by some native things called geotherms. We are introduced to the last contestants and the producer of the show in this grim, but effective, tale of a nasty future.

Moving to Sydney

Well, it's official, I'm moving to Sydney permanently with a new job there over the Christmas and New Years period. I'll still be checking in on my emails over that time, but I may be out of touch for long perioeds until I'm settled. Now the fun of finding a house, packing up here in Adelaide, driving over to Sydney, unpacking and settling in.

Sydney was where I was born, and I've spent a lot of time there with work. However this will be the first time I've lived there if you don't count the first two years of my life, which I don't.