About Me

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia
I am based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website.

My books

The first two books of my trilogy, The Talismans, (The Dagger of Dresnia, and book two, The Cloak of Challiver) are available in e-book format from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. Book three of the trilogy, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below - as well as well as a few poems in various places. The best way to contact me is via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/satimaflavell

Buy The Talismans

The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. However, The Dagger of Dresnia and The Cloak of Challiver are available as ebooks on the usual book-selling websites, and book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans
Available as an e-book on Amazon and other online booksellers.

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon. Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.

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Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong,  Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've Lived - Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium - my old school

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Blue Lake

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
From Kings Park

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
From Kings Park

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Versatile Blogger Award

Versatile Blogger Award
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Fabulous Blog Award
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Sunday 19 October 2008

Icing the WIP - and another great little con


Time, I think, to set the WIP aside for a few weeks. It's all down except the two sex scenes, which have got to be so special I really don't want to tackle them without adequate thought and preparation. You can see that I'm already over my projected first draft target, and I suspect that the book will eventually come in at about 130-odd thousand words. In the meantime, I'll start outlining book two.

But not just yet! This next couple of weeks are going to be busy. I have loads of critting to catch up on, including half a Fat Fantasy I'm beta reading (more on that another time: for now, just be assured it's a great read!) and there's a Specusphere deadline looming on the first of November, which means there are books to review and reviews to edit. What's more, it's tax time, so there's a busy fortnight ahead of me.

Having finished my Freddie-minding for now (although I hope to do more of it next year) I'm back with my son in Mount Lawley for this week. Next weekend I shall move to Subiaco to house sit for friends who are off to India for a month. I'll probably be doing quite a bit of socialising over the next few weeks as I won't see my Perth friends again for several months after I head back to Mount Gambier on 23 November.

I'll be taking some super memories back, though. Today I was at the Wastelands Convention, which was organised by fannish friends John Parker and Sarah Parker. Helen Venn and I were on a panel with John and Sarah about running a small convention. We all agreed that it's hard work but very, very rewarding. Carol Ryles, a very talented lady who plays a mean game of Scrabble, read a paper on Steampunk (the theme of the con) which she is researching for her PhD thesis. Sadly, I couldn't get there yesterday but I'm told Carol was right on form.

I'm really pleased to see that there are at least two genre writers, including Juliet Marillier and Anthony Eaton , short-listed for this year's Western Australia's Premier's Award for Literature. I'd like to think that attitudes towards genre writing are slowly changing as people realise that genre and excellence in writing can often be found within the same covers. Certainly this is true of Juliet Marillier's Cybele's Secret, a historical fantasy full of intrigue and mystery that appeals to real grown up readers, not just its target audience of Young Adults. I haven't yet read Anthony Eaton's offering, but I do plan on rectifying that asap.

There is little doubt that we are spoilt for talent here in the West. I feel privileged to know so many gifted and enthusiastic people.

14 comments:

Jo said...

I wish it were possible to get some of these books you mention. Sounds like you have a busy time ahead of you.

Sorry to hear about your shoulder.

Satima Flavell said...

You should be able to get Juliet's books in Canada, Jo. I don't know about Anthony Eaton since I haven't yet read him myself, but most things published here in Oz seem to find their way to the UK and North America through one route or another - often though, not for a year or more after they come out in Oz.

The shoulder will recover within a few months (or years!) but I can't do Yoga in the meantime, which is really disappointing as it's my favourite form of exercise. I can't raise my left arm more than 45 degrees in any direction and I ceertainly can't take any weight on it. And there won't even be any more dog-walking until next March, when the next house-sit is booked:-(

Carol Ryles said...

Hey Satima,

Glad you like my scrabble skills :) Thanks for the other kind words as well. It was so fun, sorry I couldn't stay to the end. I ended up with a bit of a migraine and got home just in time to stop it from taking hold. See ya Sunday.

Jo said...

Some of the books make it here, but some just seem to stop at the UK for some reason.

hrugaar said...

Does that mean you're visiting the son who has Fenris the Furred? :)

I'm not sure I want to ask how ones 'prepares' for writing sex scenes ... some things are perhaps best left as mysteries of our craft ...

Satima Flavell said...

Carol, great day at the con, eh? CU Sunday!
Jo, I think it depends on the publisher whether you get the UK or the US versions of books in Canada. I seem to remember reading something about some kind of international agreement whereby Canada got divvied up:-)
Ru, I'm talking serious research here. A friend who writes erotica has sent me e-copies of her work. Trouble is, it's M/M gay erotica, and the nuts and bolts are obviously different from M/F. The bells and whistles, however, are pretty much the same, I'd imagine, so will concentrate on those;-)

Satima Flavell said...

Oh, I forgot - the son I'm staying with is Scott, my youngest, who lives here in Perth. Kurt, Erinn and Fenris the Furred live in Canberra.

Jo said...

For a woman who has been married twice I cannot believe you really need to do research in order to write sex scenes. It seems to me the thing you need to do is take the restraints off your own experience, which I agree is very difficult to do and I would have problems with. But reading someone else's erotica probably won't help.

Satima Flavell said...

Heh heh - not only have I been married twice, Jo, but I've had more lovers that one could shake a thingumajig at. The sex isn't the problem; it's the characters' motivations and hidden agendas and the effect of the relationships on their personal growth that interest me. My character has a relationship with an woman who is using him. She is not just in control; she actually has him under a spell. He finally sees through her and leaves, and takes up with a younger woman whose only previous sexual experience was a rape. I need to show the second relationship as being a real eye-opener for both parties as they realise that it's possible to have sexual relations as an equal partnership without any power struggle or mind games. If I can't do this then there's no reason for the sex scenes even to be included. But if I can swing it will be a huge step forward in my writing and will add an extra dimension to the book.

Jo said...

Aaaah, now I understand. Left yourself with a couple of difficult scenes to write. All the best for it.

Marilyn Z. Tomlins said...

Satima --

You should write about your travels ... Do however work on those sex scenes.

Marilyn

Satima Flavell said...

I gues travel - and any other experience - feeds into our fiction writing. Any actual travel book I could write has already been written - e.g "Holy Cow" "Eat, Pray, Love" were written by people whose backgrounds and experiences were similar in some ways to mine. In fact, after my 3 year backpacking, casual working and dharma-buming stint in the mid 90s, I full intended to write a book - but fiction took over and that book remained in the realm of good intentions!

Glenda Larke said...

Great news about Marillier and Eaton! And I envy you the Wastelands...

Satima Flavell said...

Oh, I dunno, Glenda. I'm sure I'd rather have gone on your American trip:-)

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