Andrew J McKiernan

Aussiecon4 - the 68th World Science Fiction Convention - is approaching fast and the preliminary program of panels and events has just been released at: http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/index.php?page=26

I'm making appearances on a few panels, a reading, a signing and plenty of book launches. And that's not to mention all the other events I'll be attending, such as the AHWA's Nightmare Ball, the Ditmar Awards and any number of other panels such as 20 Years of Aurealis and the Classic Australian SF series panel.

And, in between all the panels, workshops, ceremonies and launches hopefully there will still be time to grab a coffee, go out to dinner, or just sit in a bar and chat. It is going to be great, but also (I think) exhausting keeping up with everything that is happening. Come along if you can, say hello, because it would be great to put faces to names for all those I know online but have never met in the real world.

Below is my current appearance schedule:

Thursday 2nd September - 1pm Borders Southbank

Book Launch: Baggage

From Eneit Press, edited by Gillian Polack. Humankind carries the past as invisible baggage. Thirteen brilliant writers explore this, looking at Australia's cultural baggage through new and often disturbing eyes.

Thursday 2nd September - 3pm Room 210

Why Australia is more horrifying than anywhere else

Alan Baxter, Will Elliott, Kirstyn McDermott, Chuck McKenzie, Andrew J McKiernan

The weather, the reptiles, what it took to get here today—the tallest tales and most salacious facts, for the edification of our overseas guests.

Thursday 2nd September - 5pm Room 207

Reading

Andrew J McKiernan, Kate Elliot

Not sure yet what I'll be reading from, but it will probably be from my novelette "All the Clowns in Clowntown" which will be appearing in the Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears anthology (see launch details below).

Friday 3rd September - 10am Room 219

Artists writing fiction / Writers making art

Karen Haber, Andrew J McKiernan, Cat Sparks, James Daugherty

How does the creative process of writing fiction compare to that of painting a picture, making a sculpture, taking photography, or any other number of fine arts? How does it compare in the opposite direction? Do writing and art stem from the same creative impulse, or are they distinctly different and unrelated pursuits? For those who write and produce art, what are the merits of each and where do they intersect?

Friday 3rd September - 4pm Room 203

Book Launch: Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears

From Brimstone Press, edited by Angela Challis and Dr.Marty Young. Explore Australia's dark literature past, present, and future all in one landmark anthology! From the very earliest colonial ghost stories through to grim tales of modern life, Macabre will take you on a journey through the dark heart of Australian horror. With classic stories from Australia's masters of horror alongside the best of the new era, Macabre is set to be the finest dark fiction anthology ever produced in Australia... and I've got my novelette "All the Clowns in Clowntown" appearing therein!

Saturday 4th September - 11am Room 203

Book Launch: Scenes from the Second Storey

From Morrigan Books, edited by Amanda Pillar and Pete Kempshall. Each story in the Scenes from the Second Storey anthology was inspired by a track from The God Machine’s album. Quirky, dark, insightful and sometimes downright disturbing, these tales reflect the emotions and images our authors experienced when they heard ‘their’ song from Scenes from the Second Storey. My story, and song, was "The Desert Song" and it is a tale of post-apocalyptic Australia and a battle between ignorance and rationality.

Sunday 5th September - 11am Room 203

Book Launch: Classic Australian SF series

From Chimaera Publications. Welcome to Australia's past and Australia's future. In these six novels of speculative fiction, Chimaera Publications has unearthed and reanimated a series of forgotten classics. Ranging from the 1880s to the 1930s, this selection shows the vital contribution that speculative fiction plays in Australia's literary history - an influence that continues until the present day.

Monday 6th September - 10am Room 204

From Ideas to Images: Illustrating SF

Andrew McKiernan, Nick Stathopoulos, Shaun Tan, Bob Eggleton, Jonathan Walker

When creating illustrations to accompany prose fiction, the artist is given a balancing act between finding a way to accurately express the author’s prose in visual terms and expressing his or her own creativity and artistic style in the same way. How do different artists approach the art of illustrating fiction, and what are the benefits and drawbacks of that collaborative process?

Just a reminder for you all to check out the excellent posts made over at Sinister Reads concerning the Australian assault on the upcoming Bram Stoker Award recommendations.

Here is a full list of the posts:

Anthology/Collection Recommendations, including Amanda Pillar & Jennifer Brozek for Grants Pass, and Paul Haines ~ Slice of Life

Recommended for Short Fiction, including Joanne Anderton, David Conyers & Brian M. Sammons, Jason Crowe, Miranda Siemienowicz and Felicity Dowker.

Recommended for Collection, for Shane Jiraiya Cummings and SHARDS: Short Sharp Tales - I'm especially happy for Shane on this one as I was heavily involved, being the illustrator for all 39 of the stories included in the collection.

Recommended for Long Fiction, including Felicity Dowker (again!), Matt Venne, and me for my story 'The Message' from Midnight Echo #2.

First Novel Recommendations, including Kaaron Warren for Slights, and Stephen M Irwin for The Dead Path'.

Non-Fiction Recommendation, for Rocky Wood's Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished.

Thanks to Juliet Bathory and the Sinister Reads team for making these posts available and keeping everyone updated and informed on the efforts and achievements of Australian authors and editors in these most prestigious awards.

So, what are you waiting for? Get over there and check out how well all these Aussies (and a couple of non-Aussie collaborators) are doing on the International scene!

Just thought I'd post a quick 'Work in Progress' image of the illustration I'm doing today. It is one for Richard Tierney's forthcoming poetry collection 'SAVAGE MENACE' . This is the illustration for the title piece of the collection. Still a ways to go yet, and I should be finished tonight or early tomorrow.

Click on the image for a larger view.

I don't often get the urge to start a new blog. More often, I'm likely to be seen shutting them down these days - my daily allowance of goof-off time has depreciated greatly over the last year or so.

But, the other day I was asked to supply an author photo to help better promote my stories and illustrations through the Australian Horror Writers Association. I've never been the most photogenic of people. I don't think many author types are - except for the Self-Help crowd who seem to revel in caked on makeup and op-shop clothes under blinding studio lights. So, in preparation for my own photo, I thought I'd hunt the web and see what other authors have been doing over the years.

Looking through the results of a google image search, it didn't take me long to realise just how bad the 'art' of Author Photography is!

Generally there is a huge lack of originality. Most poses and looks are the same fake-smile-head-titlted-chin-resting-on-hand look. But, sometimes, you come across a real corker. The sort of photo where you really wonder what they were thinking - they being: the author, the publisher and the photographer!

But hey! We buy books for the words, not the author photos...right?

Yeah, that's right. But still, just as a bad cover design can be a detriment a book's marketability, so I think can a bad author photo.

With that in mind, over the next few days, weeks, months, I'll be posting some of those author photos that I've found most curious, bizarre, surreal, embarrassing and just plain amusing over at:

Bad Author Photos (http://badauthorphotos.blogspot.com)

Keep your eye out for the first couple of posts while I sort through the pile of doozies I've already discovered. No author is safe! And, I expect, my own author photo will be no better.

If you have any contributions of your own to make - be it author photos you've seen on the web or a dust-jacket, or maybe a copy of your own author photo - you can email a link of the image to badauthorphoto@gmail.com