Excuses, Excuses.

I had all good and honourable intentions of getting some writing over the summer. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, that has yet to occur.

I've been busy. Work and life got in the way. I'm going abroad on holidays soon. I must catch up on Battlestar Galactica (yeah, I'm more than a few years behind). I got distracted by Facebook/Wikipedia/reading articles.

I probably could have made some time if I wanted to.

I sometimes wonder whether I can be bothered writing again. Truth is I enjoy writing and being published but I'm never really sure who is reading my published work.

Someone obviously does. Publishers pay to print my words. I see reviews in Goodreads, Amazon and the occasional blog, but they almost seem removed, remote. There's little sense of immediate feedback.

It all comes down to priorities.

I have ideas still. I write them in my notebooks. And when I have the urge, I'm sure I'll start writing again.

With Infinite Complacency: Some Reviews.

Goodreads and Amazon have received excellent reviews for the Beautiful Lies, Painful Truths anthology of which I am a part. And I'm excited by the number of these that mention my name and story in particular.

Unlike the review of Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook in The Australian, Steve Connor doesn't make an appearance. These all get my name correct.

For those who missed the earlier announcement,  Left Hand Publishers describe this release as a collection of short stories from writers around the world, spanning different genres, to bring you a compendium of tales to provoke thought, entertain you, and even mystify your imagination.

My story, With Infinite Complacency,  is about Australian astronaut Amanda Jefferies, who finally makes it onto the International Space Station only to watch in horror as the apocalypse unfolds on the Earth below.

The publisher describes my story as a "sci-fi saga about the end of the world, cosmic lies, and bananas."

Some Goodreads and Amazon review quotes:

"Steve writes with authenticity about his characters and their true-to-life scientific environment."

"...there are some incredible pieces of short fiction in this anthology. Among my favorites 
     With Infinite Complacency by Steve Cameron ..."

"... With Infinite Complacency by Steve Cameron is a science fiction tale. ... I love the concept in this story and the twist at the end. I also loved the idea how would you feel if you were  alone in the universe?" 

"I enjoyed them all, but those that stick with me are Red Carnation, With Infinite Complacency, Death and the Horse, The Fall, and The Half-Dead Man." 

Thank you for the reviews, and thank you for reading our stories. 

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.

It's Full Of Stars

Last week I read where a writer was upset they'd only received a 3 star rating for a novel on Goodreads.

I love Goodreads. It's a fun site, and I use it as a guide when I'm researching books to read. But I also consider it to be wildly inaccurate at the same time.

Let's say a local author with a pretty good debut gets 5 stars. That's as high as the rating system goes. Really? It's so good that it can be compared with the greatest literature of our time?

Okay, so we liked the book, enjoyed it enough to consider buying the next offering. But 5 stars is too high, so we drop it down to 4.

Fair enough. Let's jump over to IMDB and check out some of our favourite TV shows. Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, West Wing - all sitting between 7.5 and 8.5. Hmm, so they're averaging (quick maths conversion) 4 stars.

Is our friend's debut as good as those?  To be honest, no. Those shows are amazing. Alright, so we have to drop it to 3 stars, if we're going to be fair. But now that's not looking so good. It's average. We don't love 3 stars, we think it's an OK rating reflecting an OK read.

We all get a bit hung up on ratings these days. And with good reason. With the increasing onus on authors to promote their own work, reviews and ratings seem to be one way to try and stand out above the crowd. These days, unfortunately it seems everything on Goodreads is above average.

I've seen poorly edited, poorly written self-published novels receive 5 stars. I've seen brilliant classics receive 1 star. I know we all have different tastes, but you have to question how much we can trust these reviews and ratings.

I've been fortunate enough to receive some 5 star ratings for my stories. (And no, it wasn't from my Mum - they were from strangers and even professional reviewers.) They made me very happy indeed, but I don't think I would compare my writing, which I consider to be still developing, to some of the all time greats.

Not yet anyway.

What Is The Measure?

Anyone who reads these posts regularly would be well aware that I am a strong supporter of small press, particularly here in Australia. I truly believe they are publishing some of the most interesting pieces around at the moment. And, importantly, they provide opportunities to emerging writers like myself.

I'm fortunate enough to have sold my work to Tasmaniac, FableCroft, eMergent and Coeur de Lion, amongst others, and I have other publishers, such as Ticonderoga and Twelfth Planet on my hit list.

It's an amazing experience when you see a TOC with your name listed among name writers. I'm thrilled to have work sitting alongside Kim Westwood, Robert N Stephenson, Richard Harland, Thoraiya Dyer, Alan Baxter, Margo Lanagan, Sean McMullen, Jason Nahrung, Lee Battersby, Brendan Duffy, Cat Sparks, Robert Hood, Simon Petrie, Brendan Duffy, Jason Fischer, Patty Jansen, Lyn Battersby, Nicole R. Murphy, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Dirk Flinthart - and those are only the writers whose work I previously had sitting on my bookshelf. Many are names I'd only heard of until a year or two ago, yet now I've met some of them and am starting to build a friendship.

So why is it so difficult to get anthologies reviewed when they contain names like this?

Keith Stevenson, publisher and editor at Coeur de Lion, recently posted lamenting the lack of recognition his fabulous anthology, Anywhere But Earth, has achieved. With the quality and reputation of many of the writers on the TOC, and the international critical, award and commercial success afforded his previous publications, such as X6, it's incredible that the book seems to have disappeared with little more than a blip on the awards and review landscape.

The Australian Spec Fic community is healthy. There is no doubt of that. There are many emerging writers, an 'old-guard' that continues to be produce fantastic work and is supportive of us 'newbies', and a number of small presses pushing boundaries, taking risks and being inventive.

Stevenson (and others I've spoken to) don't do it for profit. From my understanding most of these presses lose money with every publication. It would be a shame for us all if it became so untenable that they were to either reduce or stop production all together.

Post a review on GoodReads, Amazon, anywhere else you can. Promote and support the community.  It needs us all.