I Love A Good Review.

And this is a very good one.

My story, Outside World, which was published in Aurealis #80 last week, has been reviewed on Tangent. And the reviewer had some nice things to say about my story.

This is a story that came about from thinking about a couple of other stories while I was climbing Little Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka. The original idea certainly wasn't fully formed and needed a lot of cajoling to become the story it is now. And some rewrites. But I'm pleased with how it ended up, and it pretty much holds true to my original vision.

The review?

"Outside World," by Steve Cameron, is an allegory for people who are forcibly dispossessed in the real world. Veronica, the narrator, is the last of a small community which has been ordered to vacate to make room for a colony of stranded aliens. The aliens don't want to have to do this any more than she does, but her town sat on a mine that, while mostly stripped-out, still contains enough ore for the aliens to build what they need to repair their crippled ship. Refreshingly, they are not portrayed as evil: the one that we see, Aldreth, is just a person who wants to go home. As with "Loyalty,” (the other story in Aurealis #80) it's a variation on a concept that has been done often already, but Veronica's grief is deeply convincing, her character complex despite the shortness of the story.

Yep. I'll take a review like that any day. Thanks, Tangent.

Outside World.

I'm pleased to announce I've finally made the pages of Aurealis. Issue 80 includes my story, Outside World.

I first picked up a copy of Aurealis way back in 1990 as I passed by a news-stand at the station. (Yes, I paid for it.) Issue #2, with artwork by Shaun Tan and stories by Damien Broderick, Rosaleen Love, Paul Collins and Stephen Dedman, among others. Little did I know that one day I would be writing and they would actually publish one of my stories.

But now they have.

Outside World is a story of immigration, a story that has its roots in two other tales I read. The Arrival by Jean Arasanayagam, and Sky Burial by Xinran.  

I was in Sri Lanka, climbing Little Adam's Peak and thinking about these stories when the idea for this piece popped into my head. Not fully formed, unfortunately. In fact it took a lot of consideration, several rewrites and a major change in the ending after critiques from my friends at SuperNOVA writing group. It would have made a great story to tell at drinks if I'd been climbing Adam's Peak rather than Little Adam's Peak, for that is where Arthur C. Clarke was when he looked up and imagined space elevators for the first time.

Aurealis 80  is available here.