Kerry Greenwood (author of the Phryne Fisher Mysteries) will be Launching the Twelve Planets Series this Sunday 26 August at the Yarra Building, Federation square, Melbourne.
You’ll also get a chance to meet some of the Twelve Planets Series authors( lovely people all)
It’s free. Yes free.
Check the postcard below:
Deborah Kalin is the sixth interviewee in my Snapshot Interviews, and a survivor graduate of Clarion South. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions Deborah.
After finishing Shadow Bound, I've mostly been working on an urban fantasy/detective novel, which I've finally dragged kicking and screaming into a zero-draft state and now I've hidden it in a dark drawer for a while. I fear there's something fundamental that's lacking still, but possibly a few months away from it will help with my perspective.
I've completed one story so far, called "The Wages of Honey", which explores the cost of truth but also relies on an atmosphere of the reader knowing very little, so I can't tell you too much more than that.
The story I'm working on at the moment is called "The Briskwater Mare", which so far as I can tell seems to explore the cost of empathy. I don't tend to plan my stories in advance to any great detail, but I think the other two stories in the collection will similarly explore themes of the costs of social constructs, and the idea of personality as fate. Or at least, that's the plan. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what I can pull out of my head for this collection.
Thank you! My fondest memory of writing those books was delving into Matilde's voice. She's such a headstrong, determined and yet outmatched girl, particularly in Shadow Queen, but she thinks on her feet and she always kept things interesting.
It was in the writing of The Binding books that I realised my deep-seated fascination for interpersonal politics, and the way people communicate and manipulate and manoeuvre each other. Shadow Bound I found more difficult to write, because I'd sold the book and committed to its publication before having written even so much as a word on it. I ended up putting a lot of pressure on myself that it be quality, which ultimately I think made me work slower than I normally would.
It's the age-old cry of the writer, as always: too many ideas, too little time! Honestly I don't think I'll ever stray too far out of the fantasy umbrella, in one form or another -- but then fantasy is such a broad genre, that's not really saying much. I do have another high fantasy storyline that might fill two or three books lurking in the back of my brain, but it's sharing space with a near-future apocalypse novel and a YA novel that explores the concept of sanity, to name but two.
The other book I'm keeping an eye out for is Penni Russon's "Only Ever Always". I'm very interested, lately, in the topic of mental health, and the myriad ways we've structured our society around simultaneously supporting and destroying it.
Two years already? I think one of the biggest changes is the rise of independent press. Australia has always had a very healthy small press scene, I think, but certainly in the last two years they've been rising to the forefront in terms of winning awards and gaining recognition and prominence etc.
I think the small press scene is now more visible, and I for one really appreciate the diversity it brings to the works available to me and my reading addiction.
Her two most recent novels are Shadow Queen and Shadow Bound from Allen & Unwin.
Please find for you listening pleasure Galactic Chat 13
Sean interviews Australian Novelist Deborah Kalin. They discuss her Binding Duology and her latest project, an as yet unnamed title from the Twelve Planets Series. Deborah also talks about her experiences at Clarion South and how the workshop was of fundamental importance to her career. The "dominance"by women of Australian fantasy gets a mention and they talk about the single mould approach to strong female characters.
You can download the podcast here
or play it in the player below
This review is part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012. Please check out this page for more great writing from Australian women.
…author Deborah Kalin has joined the Twelve Planets series with a collection featuring her beautifully horrific story, “Wages of Honey”. One of our authors has had to bow out of the project, but we count ourselves lucky to be able to include Deborah’s extraordinary stories.
“striking, infuriating, endlessly surprising and wonderfully disturbing”
1.In the interest of truth it long ago ceased being a pile↩
