I’m booked to run two spec fic master classes for Writers’ Victoria in September. Sign up now, or miss out. Course outlines below:

Spec Fic Masterclass

(Londsdale Street, Melbourne)

Sunday 28 September 2014, 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Presented by: Marianne de Pierres
Rating: Emerging and Established
Type: Masterclass

Address some of the key issues in writing speculative fiction, including how to build convincing worlds, maintain narrative drive, and effectively mix sub-genres. Get an up-to-date insight into the industry, explore the concept of creating adaptable content for New Media and how to survive in the brave new world of publishing.

Learning Outcomes 
• Excellence in world-building 
• How to maintain narrative drive 
• How to successfully mix speculative fiction genres 
• How to create speculative fiction for the new world of publishing 
• Current industry insight

Marianne de Pierres is a multi-award winning Australian author of novels written in the science fiction, fantasy, crime, and young adult genres. Over the eighteen years Marianne has been a professional writer, she’s acquired a wide skill base and knowledge about the craft and business of writing. Marianne is currently tutoring in writing at the University of Queensland and is the Project Manager for WRITE101x, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) being developed by uqX as part of the edX consortium.

Marianne will also be giving this workshop in Geelong on Saturday 27 September.

This tour is made possible by the support of the Australia Council for the Arts in collaboration with the national network of State and Territory Writers Centres.

Book online now.

 

Spec Fic Masterclass

(Geelong)

Saturday 27 September 2014, 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Presented by: Marianne de Pierres
Rating: Emerging and Established
Type: Masterclass

Address some of the key issues in writing speculative fiction, including how to build convincing worlds, maintain narrative drive, and effectively mix sub-genres. Get an up-to-date insight into the industry, explore the concept of creating adaptable content for New Media and how to survive in the brave new world of publishing.

Learning Outcomes 
• Excellence in world-building 
• How to maintain narrative drive 
• How to successfully mix speculative fiction genres 
• How to create speculative fiction for the new world of publishing 
• Current industry insight

Marianne de Pierres is a multi-award winning Australian author of novels written in the science fiction, fantasy, crime, and young adult genres. Over the eighteen years Marianne has been a professional writer, she’s acquired a wide skill base and knowledge about the craft and business of writing. Marianne is currently tutoring in writing at the University of Queensland and is the Project Manager for WRITE101x, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) being developed by uqX as part of the edX consortium.

Marianne will also be giving this workshop in Melbourne on Sunday 28 September.

This tour is made possible by the support of the Australia Council for the Arts in collaboration with the national network of State and Territory Writers Centres. It is presented in collaboration with Geelong Writers and Belmont Library.

Book online now.

Haven’t I been raving about Canadian TV for a while? Well, Orphan Black really seals it for me. What a great show! I’ve just watched season 2 which contained, what I think is, my favourite ever scene on TV–the clone dance.

For those of you who don’t know the series, this is the gist from wiki:

Orphan Black is a Canadian science fiction television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett, starring Tatiana Maslany as several identical people who are revealed to be clones. The series focuses on Sarah Manning, a woman who assumes the identity of one of her clones, Elizabeth Childs after witnessing Childs’ suicide. The series raises issues about the moral and ethical implications of human cloning and its effect on issues of personal identity.

There are so many good things to say about Tatiana’s acting, and how she gives such defined and individual characterisation to each clone. Never once, do you feel like you’re watching the same actor switching parts. It’s quite a remarkable feat.

Tatiana is well supported by Jordan Gavaris as her foster brother Felix, and some other great actors: Maria Doyle Kennedy, Matt Frewer, Michale Mando, and little Skylar Wexler, who is quite astounding as Sarah’s daughter Kira. (Go ‘neting and you’ll find her singing a simply amazing version of Rolling in the Deep by Adele. Stunning.) Some of the minor characters have great impact as well… Kristian Bruun as Donny, Michael Huisman as Cal, and Michelle Forbes as Marion Bowles stand out.

So, to the clone dance. I kind of had shivers watching the scene below, where Tatiana is choreographed in a complex pattern of movement so that they can splice together what seems like the four clones dancing with Felix. Aside from the fact that it’s a funky little remix–Music by Adham Shaikh, “Water Prayer”: Mat the Alien Remix.–the distinct dance styles and the sense of love on the dance floor is unbelievable. I’m lost for superlatives.

Much has been made of the fact that Tatiana has been snubbed at the major awards. My response is fairly blunt: what a bunch of douchebags that they can’t acknowledge the power of what she has achieved. Did she not go to the right acting school or something?

Risk taking, meaty content, great dialogue, mostly fab acting and a fresh and energetic cast puts Orphan Black in a class of its own. Bravo BBC America!

Clone Dance Party

 

Season One Trailer

 

Season Two Trailer

I was thrilled to learn FableCroft Publishing had picked up Book Three in Jo Anderton’s Veiled World Trilogy – Guardian.

I’d already read and loved books one and two– Debris and Suited—and was really looking forward to finding out how Anderton would manage to tie up such a complex storyline. But before I begin, a little disclaimer–I’m intentionally vague with this review. Being the last in the series, it’s all too easy to drop spoiler-bombs for the first two books, and these stories are far too good for that.

The Veiled World trilogy is big. I don’t necessarily mean in page numbers (though they’re all decent sized books, just not door-stops), I mean in the sheer scope of story. I’ve mentioned before that Anderton is a master world-builder, and she well and truly proves it here in the final instalment when protagonist Tanyana begins to slide across the veils–or through the doors–to even more worlds: worlds that are still connected to the one she shares in Movac-under-Keeper with Kichlan and her Debris collection team–Tanyana’s home.

As with Suited, Jo Anderton kicks this novel off with a deft recap of the last book. Rather than a “Previously…in The Veiled Worlds” type of summary, she manages to give the reader swift and unique catch-up by means of a report from a character whose thoughts we don’t usually get much of. Not only is this a clever tool to jog the reader’s memory, but it places the story smack into what we once believed was nothing more than the mythology of the Veiled Worlds.

In my review of Suited, I wrote about the fantastic character development from book one to two. So many novels with complex world building drop the ball when it comes to giving the reader characters they can really care about. Anderton has again pushed further than I expected. I felt comfortable with both Tanyana and her supporting cast–maybe too comfortable–and loved the way I was propelled forward alongside the characters as they were forced to keep moving, keep fighting, with little more than hope to keep them going. The Veiled World trilogy is written at a frantic pace, and the character development keeps up with the plot. These are people who can’t be unchanged for what they have seen and endured, both mentally and physically (oh, the physical!) Even after a long break between reading books two and three, I slipped straight back into an emotional investment in Tanyana and…and I’m so not going to say who else (I did say no spoilers).

Tanyana herself undergoes the biggest changes, and it is her strength and growth of character that impressed me most. Over the course of three books, she has grown from a talented and privileged member of society (though maybe a little too privileged?), to scraping the bottom of that same culture, to becoming the strong and deserving champion.

I felt Guardian was more science fiction than fantasy, and definitely more cyber than anything else. This is a little change from the first two books, though the mythological elements still hold this story together at the end of the day. Jo Anderton slips the reader information like jellybeans (or Lindt chocolate–whichever is your poison), only the smallest morsel at a time, which makes it hard for the type of reader who likes to problem solve ahead of time. I found the author to have great control over what she wanted us to know and when we could know it.

My single frustration with Guardian was with the evil Puppet Men. As antagonists, I found them to be a little too nebulous–though that could well have been Anderton’s intention, as I’m sure Tanyana felt the same.

There’s tragedy, relief, and still plenty of ‘a-ha!’ moments. I’ll give fair warning…there will be tears, so have the tissues handy. After three books, it’s impossible not to lose it a little when a story like this comes to an end. For this reason, even though Guardian could possibly be read as a stand-alone novel, to get the most from it, I recommend reading Debris and Suited first if you haven’t already done so.

 

Guardian

Book Three of the Veiled Worlds Trilogy

By Jo Anderton

Fablecroft Publishing 2014

ISBN – Print: 9780992284442 (RRP: $16.99)

ISBN – ebook: 9780992284459 (RRP: $7.99)