Adventures of a Bookonaut Podcast Ep 1

 

Play direct through the player below or download direct as an mp3 or via iTunes ( you will need to go to the podcast home page and click the subscribe to iTunes link).

 

Episode 1 Show notes

In Episode 1 Sean interviews Luke Preston author of Dark City Blue, Joelyn Alexandra, Singaporean crime writer and academic and author of The Secret Feminist Cabal, Dr Helen Merrick.

 

Luke Preston has recently released his crime thriller through Momentum books. In the interview they discuss the process of being published through a digital first publisher, the impact film and the study of scriptwriting has had on Luke’s noel writing and what the near future holds for Bishop, Preston’s hard as nails hero with a heart. You can purchase Dark City Blue through all good digital retailers with the added benefit of no DRM.

 

 

Joelyn Alexandra flew all the way from Singapore just for this interview (no not really). Sean and Joelyn talk about her writing, the Speculative fiction scene in Singapore and dispel some misconceptions about Singaporean writers. The interview was recorded live so apologies for the sound quality.

Joelyn mentions some fine folks in the interview some links to their writing are given below:

Wena Poon - http://www.wenapoon.com
Joyce Chng - http://awolfstale.wordpress.com
Dave Chua - http://davechua.wordpress.com

People in Happy Smiley Writers Group Projects
Sarah Coldheart - http://www.seriouslysarah.com/blog
Raven Silvers - http://www.ravensilvers.com/blog
Lina Salleh - http://lookykrill.wordpress.com
JY Yang - http://www.misshallelujah.net
Yuen Xiang Hao - http://www.opendiary.com/notkieran
Rosemary Lim - http://www.twotrees.com.sg

Graphic Novelists/ Artists:
Cheeming Boey - http://www.iamboey.com
Max Loh - http://paperperil.tumblr.com

 

Dr Helen Merrick is senior lecturer in the Department of Internet Studies at Curtain University, she’s taught cyberculture, women's studies and history.

In addition to teaching in the Department of Internet Studies, Dr Merrick supervises PhD students, and researches feminist theory, science fiction, feminist science studies, sustainability and online cultures.

In this interview Sean and Helen discuss her book, the current state of Feminist SF and consider what men in the genre, might be able to do help cultivate a healthy respect for female writers and feminist science fiction history.

Some of the links mentioned in the interview:

New Eves

Pamela Sargent

Thank you for listening, you may leave audio feedback at https://www.speakpipe.com/Bookonaut, or you may leave written feedback on Facebook, the Podomatic page, or below.

Music: Music featured in this podcast is from the song Voodoo Machine by Lavoura downloaded from the Free Music Archive and Licenced under these conditions

Voodoo Machine (Lavoura) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

 

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eBook Review–Dark City Blue by Luke Preston

Dark City Blue is a fast paced crime thriller published by Momentum, the digital offspring of PanMacmillan.

What can I say about Dark City Blue that others haven’t said already?

It’s the cage fighting equivalent of a police procedural: violent, gaudy, and packing heat.” – Trent Jamieson, author of the Death Works trilogy

” … noir on No-Doz … ” – Fair Dinkum Crime

To tell you the truth it was Trent Jamieson’s quote that hooked me.  I trust his taste and Dark City Blue didn’t disappoint.  The idea – maverick cop goes undercover to expose graft and corruption in the police force, is not new.  Indeed were this set in America I think you’d already have cast Bruce Willis for the lead.

It’s mature stuff, breaking a ring of child abusing pornographers and unearthing the police presence in the running of teen brothels.  The violence is bloody – the main character gets beaten with a bag of crushed glass and shot. But there’s also heart and depth to our main character Tom Bishop, a man whose still keeping his head above water, despite what life has thrown at him.

It’s more Jack Irish, than Underbelly: The Unwatchable.

Where Preston shines is in his ability to pull off a tale that is set in Australia while staying true to the hard boiled, thriller paced genre that has its genesis in American pop culture.  Dark City Blue feels very comfortable in its own bruised and bloodied skin.

Now, while I believe Dark City Blue to be Preston’s first published novel, he’s also received an inside film award for an unpublished screenplay.  The writing is tight, and the pacing superb and I can’t help wondering if the skills he’s developed in scriptwriting have bled over into writing a well structured novel.

Sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to produce one of quality. I’d easily drop dollars on the sequel.

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