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December 31, 2005
New York Times Discovers West Oz
Get thee hence here to read a New York Times feature article (with photos) all about Western Australia (painless free registration involved for access; failing that there's good old Bug-me-not). I'm gobsmacked, to say the least, to see WA written about at such length (5 pages), and so vividly.
Posted by adrian at 06:28 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 28, 2005
First Review!
This just in from Yet Another Book Review Site. I've quoted one of the best bits:
This is a relentless story, pounding the reader into sensory shock as we witness the never ending plight of our poor protagonist. But, author Bedford deserves maximum kudos for not stopping there. He also imbues Officer Dunne, with a realistically sympathetic personality and history, that when confronted by the afore-hinted at atrocities, reacts in ways that the reader can't help but empathise with. Throw in a some unrealized love aspirations...that are beautifully underplayed, and ECLIPSE, becomes one of the best SF stories I have read in a long while.
This is the kind of thing that even makes having a nasty headache seem kinda worthwhile.
Posted by adrian at 06:24 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 24, 2005
Merry, er, Hmm, oh bugger it, Christmas! There, I said it
Merry Christmas to you and your family and friends! 'Tis the season to be joyful, and I hope you have good reasons, despite everything, to feel at least pretty damn good. Right now, 6:54pm on Christmas Eve, I'm feeling pretty joyful because for the first time all week I haven't got a headache. That Botox stuff I told you about? That was supposed to kick in a week after the shots?
I had a massive screaming headache this past Tuesday, and every day since--except today. Not that I'm bitter about what the stuff cost or anything. [cough]
I'm also feeling good because, on balance, things are going well for we Bedfords of Ballajura. My current book continues to chug along, the little sf novel that could, and I've set off some pretty good Improvised Explosive Plot Devices and Our Synthetic Hero is in the process of reeling from the impact. He ain't seen nothin' yet. Michelle's quest to become the Number One Dr Who Fan Girl, at least in this country, is well on track. Today, with some timely Christmas money from her parents, she snaffled up the absurdly expensive Season One DVD Boxset--and it is big and boxy, it must be said. Other Dr Who-flavoured gifts are coming her way, too, only she doesn't know this yet. Heh.
And on that note, I'm off to the couch to join Michelle in watching the enormous accumulation of Classic Dr Who of this past week. Ten episodes! There may be such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Thank you for stopping by, particularly to you sturdy, brave souls who have hung in there with me all this time, reading this site, listening to my wibble, supporting my creative efforts. Your companionship means the world to me.
Posted by adrian at 06:06 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 15, 2005
Botox Bedford in "Interesting Times"!
This past Tuesday morning saw Michelle and I front up to the office of a neurophysiologist here in town. Michelle was there for support purposes. I was there to have my forehead injected full of Botox (20 separate shots!). Yes, you heard that right. My neurologist surmised that my endless bloody headaches are caused by spasming of various forehead muscles, so by effectively paralysing them with Botox, the headaches might stop, possibly for up to three months. Which, if it happens that way, will be bloody brilliant! The kicker is that the stuff takes a week to start working, which means that I can still pull funny faces for a few days yet.
* * *
I wrote earlier that I was "Stuck, stuck, stuckety-stuck". No more. I sat down and thrashed out some notes, in which all kinds of plot goodness came pouring out. There is now a clear way forward, and even a few leads for possible end-game scenarios. What's more worrying is that so far the book is really lacking the heavy-duty conflict/drama in ECLIPSE. I have a feeling my choice of protagonist is the fundamental problem. On the other hand, the plot machinery I've just dreamed up will supply quite a bit of conflict/drama. I plan to keep going, and see what I've got at the end.
* * *
In the news today was a note from the Director of the Aurealis Awards, who congratulated me for ECLIPSE getting itself shortlisted for this year's Awards, in the Best Australian SF Novel category. There are just four finalists this year in my category (out of a total of eight eligible works), and the other three authors are pretty heavy-hitters, one way or another. Eep. All the same, this is the second shortlisting in two years for my books. That's fab! (I'd link to the Awards site, but last time I checked, they hadn't updated the site with the finalists' details yet.)
* * *
Last, I wrote in the previous post that I was tensely awaiting an important phone call regarding something all mysterious and exciting. Instead I got an email, but the email informed me that this particular Very Important Person is off on holidays until after Christmas, and won't be deciding anything before then. [angst] I still don't want to jinx it by mentioning details or anything, but I might reveal that it involves an Australian publishing company whose name rhymes with "Sharper Pollens". This company might be interested in snaffling certain of my works.
The suspense is killing me. And, so far at least, I can still look like the suspense is killing me. Once the Botox kicks in, I won't be very expressive at all, so you'll just have to take my word for the whole killing/suspense thing.
Posted by adrian at 09:09 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
December 12, 2005
Stuck, Stuck, Stuckety-Stuck
The Damn Book has reached 59,500 words--and stopped. There's this neat bit I'm pretty sure I'd like to put in there, but I'm trying like crazy to figure out just how to make it work, and what, if I used it, that might do to the rest of the story. Just when I think I have to rule it out, I get a thought in which it could be made to happen. It's driving me bats. Tomorrow I think I'll just suck it up and bang out some notes to work through the whole problem. Often it's helped to think "out loud" like that rather than just lie in bed at night, tossing and turning, trying to figure stuff out.
Gadzooks, but I'll be glad when this one's over.
* * *
Meanwhile, it's hard to focus on pretty much anything at the moment because there's a Really Cool Possibility wafting about the edges of possibility right at the moment. It's *not* the Project Mimosa thing; this is something else, regarding ECLIPSE. I have to wait for a phone call. [chews knuckles] Since I heard about this last week sometime, it's pretty much all I've thought about, which is a pain in the arse--but when something you've wanted to happen for years and years, and which you've never previously been able to pull off, despite many valiant efforts, finally, achingly, looks like it just might happen this time, and you've never been closer, well, it's a mite distracting. Maybe this is why I haven't been sleeping these past couple of nights.
Posted by adrian at 08:00 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
December 02, 2005
Cruel Embrace
The fabulous Alethea sent me a link to this video. It shows, of all things, an octopus attacking and killing a shark. Admittedly, the octopus is quite large, and the shark quite small (3-4 feet, we're told), but all the same it's a strange thing to see. I've reached an age where I tend to shy away from the sorts of nature documentary that feature Predator A killing and munching Prey Creature B. When I was a kid I watched such things with a certain glee; these days not so much. It gives me chills.
This video inspires the same chills, but it's enthralling partly because you would never expect an octopus (no matter how many cheesy deep-sea diving movies you saw as a kid) to attack and kill a shark. It's shocking. Enthralling, too. The killing seems so intimate, with the octopus wrapping itself around the immobilised shark and just squeezing for all its worth. It disturbed me more than most film/TV murders--with the possible recent exception of the bit from Saving Private Ryan, where the German soldier has one of the American guys pinned in an upstairs room, and slowly, despite the American's resistance, forces his bayonet into the guy. The slowness of it is excruciating, and the actor playing the American does a great job conveying the horror of it. This is much how I felt watching this octopus murdering that shark.
Posted by adrian at 05:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack