Last November I took part in a panel discussing genre fiction in the digital age. We touched on whether genre fiction is more likely to thrive in a world of ebooks and podcasts. It was so long ago I don't particularly remember anything that was said, but I do remember enjoying myself immensely. Once I stopped sweating and shaking from nerves. (I'm pretty sure I spoke about both the Salmon and Dusk podcasts and my new book The Relic [out this August! Have I mentioned it lately?])

As a regular attendee of these talks I'm familiar with the deathless questions raised during post-session Q and As, but it was certainly a new experience being on the pointy end. As you'll see, the questions we faced were more than a little feisty.

You can view the video and others like it here: 

http://wheelercentre.com/videos/video/meanland-literature-genre-and-the-digital-age/

You can also subscribe to the video podcast here

I was recently asked to take part in HELL FOR HYPHENATES - a monthly film-discussion podcast based in Melbourne. Each month, film-related folk are recruited to talk about both the month's releases and the work of a chosen director. After much prevaricating, I decided to talk about Terry Gilliam, whose work probably helped me get interested in film in the first place. It surprised me then how much easier I found it to pick apart his shortcomings than sing his praises. At the end of the hour, I wondered if I'd said anything nice at all.

The problem, of course, is I love Gilliam's work. I love his idiosyncratic design, his cinematic flair, his blurring of lines between the real world and the imagined. I love the fact that he always sides with imagination over reality, from Time Bandits' Kevin despairing of his suburbanite parents to Parnassus fretting that nobody wants to hear his stories anymore. Watching Time Bandits again recently I was astonished how deeply it has informed - and continues to inform - much of my own work. Salmon & Dusk certainly owes the film a few drinks. There's still no other director I'd prefer to see take on a cinematic version.

But, as with anything (or anyone) you've loved forever, the flaws are generally the first thing you notice. It's the reason internet fan forums are so full of bile for the object of their desire. Certainly, rewatching Gilliam's oeuvre in a short period of time made me acutely aware of the niggles I have. In brief, I often came away wishing for more clarity and a little less narrative flabbiness. To me, there's a bit too much getting bogged down in world creation, a few films taking at least half an hour to get down to the business of storytelling.

I suspect, however, that most of my complaints say more about myself than they do about him. I'm currently arse-deep in the third draft of The Relic - a young adult book to be published August 2012. For the first time in my writerly life I'm working closely with someone - my wonderful editor - who truly knows what she's doing.  It's been a fantastic experience so far and a fascinating shift from working solo to a collaborative effort. I did consider throwing an artistic strop early in the drafting process, but never really found grounds. Well, not yet.

What I've found most rewarding about the edit is the need for clarity, paring back the prose until the sharpest of stories is revealed. As a result, it's pretty much all I'm currently looking for elsewhere, which probably didn't put me in the most receptive frame of mind to reassess Gilliam's freewheeling approach to film-making.

Ah, but these are excuses. I had a great time recording HYPHENATES, but did come away worried that I'm far too critical for my own good. Perhaps it's the curse of the professional reviewer, but I worry that I find it increasingly difficult to whole-heartedly embrace anything without inserting a caveat or two. (Breakfast - 3.5 stars! A little heavy on the yoghurt.) Perhaps some things really are too good for analysis.

I haven't listened to the podcast yet - I have issues with hearing my voice played back (which is probably a little odd for a podcaster) - but, if you do, and I seem to be unkind to Terry, just remember I do love him, really. Well, mostly. I mean, some of his films are quite good. Bits of them are brilliant, at least.

HELL IS FOR HYPHENATES

"Strangely, I never really worried that I couldn’t write, but I did worry the stories I was telling wouldn’t appeal to the arbiters of the publishing world."

I'm reflecting on my experiences podcasting fiction over at if:book today, in an article that explains how Salmon & Dusk arrived in your feeds and what happened next. You can find it here:

http://www.futureofthebook.org.au/featured-articles/a-less-lonely-pursuit/

"The tunes belong to pop songs, certainly, but the execution borrows wildly and freely from all corners of the musical map. The result is a record that sometimes feels strangely familiar and, at other times, wonderfully strange."

This week's column is now online at The Weekly Review

I am, let's be honest, thrilled about this.

From the Text Publishing website:

The winner of the 2011 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing is Myke Bartlett, for his adventure novel The Relic, in which mythological creatures invade suburban Perth and threaten the world.

A Perth-born freelance journalist based in Melbourne, Myke Bartlett has won $10,000 and a publishing contract. Bartlett first began his writing career online, publishing several highly successful podcasted novels. His prize-winning novel will be published in August 2012.

From his Melbourne home, Bartlett confessed, ‘I actually wrote The Relic specifically for the Text Prize.

‘A poster advertising the prize has been stuck on the wall above my desk for the past 12 months and I really can’t imagine better motivation for a first time novelist. That The Relic has now actually won the competition seems just a little bit incredible.’

Michael Heyward, Publisher at Text, commented, ‘Text look for books that are different, that take risks, that will entertain readers who are spoiled for choice.

‘Set in and around Perth, The Relic is a fantasy novel that will make its readers smile but may also scare them under the bed. At its heart is a quest to find the secret that will save the planet. Myke Bartlett has assembled a great cast of characters to tell his adventurous tale. We can’t wait to publish The Relic.

See more details here

The new issue of Dumbo Feather is now available in all good magazine-selling places. It features an interview with film and television producer Robyn Kershaw (I wrote that one) and three sub-features about the Belvoir Theatre, ABC TV Drama and the importance of seeing your hometown on screen (yes, I wrote those too). Apparently there are also other articles (which I didn't write) that are really rather excellent (I may be envious).

Dumbo Feather also has a very pretty new website which I encourage you to investigate.

Some exciting news! A new novel of mine has been shortlisted for The Text Prize, an award given for unpublished Young Adult manuscripts. If the book - The Relic - wins, it will see publication next year. Which would be nice, frankly. There's some stiff competition in the shortlist this year, however, with at least one nominee having publishing form. Still, fingers crossed!

The winner will be announced next Monday 25 July 2011.

SALMON & DUSK make a long-awaited return to Podiobooks with YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED, a collection of the podcasted tales featured on this site. In addition to remastered versions of Sideways, Out of the Picture, Yesterday Came Too Soon, Blue Valentine and Bury My Past In London Fields, the Podiobooks edition will exclusively feature Your Days Are Numbered, a reworked take on the long-lost tale My Chalk Outline. 

The collection is now available in its entirety, so there will be no waiting to hear the conclusion of the new tale. Head over to Podiobooks.com now, if you haven't already, to access a wealth of free podcasted fiction.

YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED at Podiobooks.com

SALMON & DUSK come to print - at last!

To celebrate the arrival of 2011, London's least trustworthy detectives finally arrive on the page in a bumper collection (516 pages!) of seven adventures.

THE BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON.COM HERE.

Included in this volume are:

1. Sideways
2. Blue Valentine
3. Yesterday Came Too Soon
4. Out of the Picture
5. Merry Christmas, Cartwright
6. Bury My Past In London Fields
7. Your Days are Numbered

The eponymous tale 'Your Days are Numbered' is a reworked version of earlier podcast 'My Chalk Outline'. All of the stories have been tweaked for print and are accompanied by black and white illustrations by Victor Wycoco.

The blurb follows:

DETECTIVES. THIEVES. TIME-TRAVELLERS.  
(REASONABLE RATES.) 
 
‘Somewhere in this city, there’s a hole in history, in reality itself, and it’s getting bigger. I’m the only detective in town who keeps an eye on what crawls through. Things that aren’t real. Things like whatever sneaked up on you and claimed you for its own.’ 
 
 Kilbey Salmon has charm, a quick gob and an instinct for self-preservation. 
 
Nero Dusk has a lot of patience, a grumpy demeanour and a way with his fists. 
 
Theo Cartwright is an Australian journalist who often wonders why she spends time with either of them. 
 
In their time-travelling London cab, they scrape together a living finding things that never existed and solving crimes that never happened for people desperate enough to seek their help. Mostly, they get themselves in trouble. And when there's trouble for Salmon & Dusk, it's the strangest sort of trouble London has ever seen... 
 
For a start, there’s the artist whose paintings are taking on a life of their own, there’s the client wanting to solve his own murder, there’s the ex-convict and his misplaced loot, and there’s a sociopathic vegan hunting a stopwatch that can wind back history itself. 
 
BASED ON THE POPULAR PODCAST SERIES THE TERRIBLE BUSINESS OF SALMON & DUSK, THESE TALES ARE A GIDDY FUSION OF RAYMOND CHANDLER, DOUGLAS ADAMS AND ROCK ‘N ROLL. 
 
‘It’s moody London at its best, it’s high concept Sci-Fi, and it’s thought-provoking human literature’ 
- Podiobooks.com review.

ORDER YOUR COPY HERE.

SALMON & DUSK haven't had a client in months, so when Morris Fitzgerald turns up at their door, asking them to solve a murder, they're happy to oblige. The only catch is, the murder they're solving hasn't happened yet. Can they find a killer before he strikes?

YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED is a three-part novella in the SALMON & DUSK series of podcasts. It is also a reworked, re-recorded version of the hard-to-find tale MY CHALK OUTLINE.