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

Inner Peace Blog

Inner Peace Blog
Awarded by Joanna Fay. Click on the image to visit her lovely website!

Versatile Blogger Award

Versatile Blogger Award
Awarded by Kim Falconer. Click on the pic to check out her Quantum Astrology blog!

Fabulous Blog Award

Fabulous Blog Award
Awarded by Kathryn Warner. Click on the pic to check out her Edward II blog!

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Saturday 30 October 2010

Fifteen Novellists

Another meme! Instructions: take no more than 15 minutes to compile your list of fifteen authors who’ve influenced you. I’ve put mine in chronological order on the timeline of my life before the age of 40. Other authors have influenced me since, of course, but the works of the names below are woven into my psyche and no doubt always will be.

You don’t have to list your authors chronologically, of course – you can organise your collection however you choose!

I had to leave one author off because he would have been one too many, but let me acknowledge the debt I owe to A.A.Milne, whose Winnie-the-Pooh books formed the basis of my library between the ages of two and six!:-)

1. Enid Blyton: Part of the fabric of my childhood! Between the ages of 6 and 13, I read and re read the Famous Five and the Adventure Series until the covers were falling off!

2. Rudyard Kipling: Likewise, The Jungle Book and Just So Stories were favourites that I read again and again.

3. J.R.R. Tolkien: In grade two our teacher read The Hobbit aloud. It terrified me! I first read LOTR in my teens and have owned several copies since. Don’t tell anyone, but I liked the films better!

4. Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series was much loved, too, although I don’t think I ever owned all of them.

5. Rosemary Sutcliff: I first read The Eagle of the Ninth when I was eleven and have re-read it many times since, along with Sutcliff’s other lovely historicals. I’ve never succeeded in collecting the complete set, however.

6. Elizabeth Goudge: An historical writer with an eye for the mythical and mystical who was my favourite author when I was a teenager. I would like to read her books again. (On the to-do list!)

7. Daphne du Maurier: I read her avidly in my teens, too, but have never re-read her work. I should, because she must have had an influence on my own writing!

8. Anya Seton: Another historical author whose work I relished as a teenager, especially, of course, her famous Katherine.

9. P.G. Wodehouse: another author I should re-read. I spent many happy hours in my teens rolling with laughter over his stories.

10. L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt: As with Wodehouse, it was their humour, typified by The Incomplete Enchanter and The Castle of Iron, that hooked me. Later, I came to prefer Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, but de Camp and Pratt showed me that humour in speculative fiction is not only possible, but great fun.

11. A. Bertram Chandler: The first Australian SF author I read. My favourite was False Fatherland, which won Chandler one of his several Ditmars.

12. Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke: I’m cheating by lumping the “Big Three” together. As for many fans of my generation, these guys were the saints of SF and their work was Holy Writ.

13. Mary Stewart: The first historical fantasy author I read. I re-read The Crystal Cave every few years and still love it.

14. Anne McCaffrey and Roger Zelazny: Another cheat, because I discovered these authors about the same time, and different though they are from each other, they have both influenced my own writing. The first two books about the Pern Dragon riders and the first five books of the Amber series are still among my favourite re-reads.

15. Ursula K. Leguin: The Left Hand of Darkness is one of my favourite books of all time in any genre.

So, take the meme and run with it, if you like. Let me know when your list is up because I’d love to read it!

3 comments:

Ragged Staff said...

Interesting list, Satima. I love the unpredictability of these things - there are always surprises.

Jo said...

So many of your choices are mine too. Elizabeth Goudge, Mary Stewart, Isaac Asimov, Anya Seton, Daphne DuMaurier, Ursula K. LeGuin. I still have books by several of them in my personal library although I shed thousands of books when I came back to Canada.

Satima Flavell said...

Sorry for the delay in moderating comments. I thought Blogger would inform me when comments were waiting, but apparently not!

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