Satima's Blogspot: September 2010

Sunday, 19 September 2010

New Furry Friends

Sunday, September 19, 2010 |

Posted by Satima Flavell

I am currently house-sitting for a friend who lives in the tiny historic township of York, which lies 97km inland from Perth, Western Australia. It is the oldest inland township in the state, having been founded in 1831, only two years after Perth itself was settled in 1829. For the first few years it was merely a collection of scattered farms, but in 1836 an army barracks and store were built, and soon a thriving little community took shape.

York is still the centre of a farming district today, and is a popular "tree change" village for people moving here from Perth. Many of these are artists or hobbyists, and the place is replete with things like an automotive museum, art galleries, and arty gift shops jostling with farm supplies and real estate agents.

It's very cold here in winter

by Australian standards, and winter has lingered this year. Only in the last few days have we been frost-free in the early mornings. Yet there has been little rain, and my friend's fledgling garden requires constant watering. We are promised maxima in the mid-twenties Celsius later this week, which will be nice for me but not for the water-starved plants.

My family of four-legged fosterlings comprises a little shaggy dog named Gizmo and three cats - a haughty Burmese named Foxy and two young tabbies, Dasher (she was dumped on a vet's doorstep at Christmas time along with her litter mates, and they were promptly named after Santa's reindeer!) and Kitteny. The two look very alike, but Kitteny is slightly darker than Dasher. Name notwithstanding, she is the elder of the two, but she still enjoys a kitteny game with Dasher now and then. Gizmo quite enjoys a game of tug-of-war, too, but Foxy is far too dignified for such goings on. Foxy has habit of not quite closing her mouth, so her incisors

show, making her look like a vampire, but try as I might, I couldn't catch her doing this on camera.

I'll be here for another few days and then I go back to Perth to stay with some other friends of the winged persuasion! House-sitting is nothing if not varied:-).

(The pets are shown here in order of age - Gizmo, Foxy, Kitteny and Dasher, who is taking time to smell the flowers.)

Labels: cats, dogs, pets |

2 comments

Monday, 6 September 2010

A worldcon is a wond'rous thing, God wot!

Monday, September 06, 2010 |

Posted by Satima Flavell

Aussiecon4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention, has just ended. An amazing and sometimes overwhelming experience, it has been a once-in-a-lifetime event for me, since the “Worldcon” is only held in Australia about once in a decade. The four held here so far have all been in Melbourne

The event was both exhilarating and frustrating: exhilarating because of the combination of guests from all over the world, a huge array of panel topics and panellists and activities that included kaffeeklatsches with, and readings by, dozens of writers; the opportunity to buy books and other fan-pleasing merchandise from a veritable army of dealers, and the possibility of falling over a favourite author in the bar or in an elevator.

And the frustration? It just wasn't possible to take advantage of even a tenth of the offerings. Several times I found myself sitting in the foyer, poring over the program, unable to make up my mind which panel or kaffeeklatsch to go to and ending up so paralysed that I did none of them, opting instead for the comfort of a hot coffee or a turn about the dealers' room! Nevertheless, I did attend about a dozen panels, four or five kaffeeklatsches and about the same number of readings. Some of my favourite authors, including Glenda Larke, Juliet Marillier and Karen Miller, sat on panels,and I even took part in one myself. It was about YA paranormal romance, which I list among my least favourite sub-genres, while I was overlooked for all the reviewing panels. Obviously the mode of allocating panellists to panels is beyond my comprehension. However, my fellow-panellists – Crisetta McLeod, Amanda Pillar and Tehani Wessely (who is an awesome moderator) - covered up for any deficiencies I might have!

There were glittering social events, too, and. I was lucky enough to be invited to two of them. The first was a fifteenth birthday celebration for HarperCollins's spec-fic imprint, Voyager. No less a personage than George R R Martin himself cut the cake, to the accompaniment of a blaze of exploding torches outside the windows framing the dais in the Crown Entertainment Complex. Mr Martin joked about authors who do not submit their books on time, to the amusement of those of us who have been awaiting the appearance of his long-delayed opus, A Dance with Dragons. (Perhaps next year, in Reno, brethren...) The second event was a pre-Hugo awards party, kindly put on by the Orion imprint of Hachette Livre. This was another stupendous event, in which artist Nick Stathopoulos proudly showed the shining throng his beautifully crafted award statuette. It incorporated elements of Art Nouveau and Aboriginal creation stories, a mix that shouldn't have worked but did, and that right wonderfully.

Later in the evening, the Hugos were presented. There was one Aussie among the winners – artist Sean Tan, a Perthite now living in Melbourne. Tan is highly regarded, not only for his art but also for his writing and his personal popularity as a humble and generous all-round Nice Guy. Aussie editor Jonathan Strahan just missed out on an award, but I hasten to add that to be shortlisted for the Hugos is as prestigious in the SF world as is being shortlisted for the Oscars in the realm of cinema, so we in Aussie fandom are very proud of both these talented men.

I had hoped to catch up with many of the friends I've made online, and indeed I did manage to kaffeeklatsch with some of my fellow webzine workers, not only those on The Specusphere but others including Nyssa Pascoe, Phill Berrie, Crisetta McLeod, Chuck McKenzie, Simon Petrie, Helen Stubbs, Damien Smith, Brendan Carson and Catherine Gunson. I also managed quick schmoozes with many others including Sally Beasley, Sue Bursztynski, Michele Cashmore, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Edwina Harvey, Judi Hodgkin (a lovely surprise, that, for I hadn't seen ex-WAAPA buddy Judi since 1990!), Heidi Kneale, Dean Laslett, Dave Luckett, Ian McHugh, Nicole Murphy, Ian Nichols, Gillian Polack and Monissa Whiteley. Plus, of course, my dear friends from the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre: Sarah Parker, Andrew Partington, Carol Ryles, Helen Venn and Jessica Vivien. There were, in fact, well over a hundred Perthites among the membership, perhaps more per head of population than any other city in the world!

What's more, I made many new friends and acquaintances, not least my room-mate at the Melbourne Central YHA hostel, Ruth Anne from San Francisco. I also had the opportunity to consult with the London literary agent who had been kind enough to read the opening pages of my trilogy. He was very encouraging and offered me the opportunity to submit again when I've made some improvements.

There is so much to say about Aussiecon4 that I feel I should stop waxing lyrical about it lest I bore you, since only being present at such an event can give a true idea of its wonder and complexity. There will be plenty written about it elsewhere, and I will probably write more myself for The Specusphere. But let me register here my profound thanks to Sue Ann Barber and the rest of the hard-working team who put the con together. It was an amazing achievement!

I return to Perth tomorrow for another round of housesitting, so I should have pictures of some new furry friends to share with you next time!

Labels: Aussiecon4, conventions |

2 comments

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