The familarrr
Edit: For those of you who keep telling me you wish you could make it to one of my Interactive Fiction workshops (I generally run one at Conflux every October long weekend), here’s a video course I made on udemy: Introduction to Interactive Fiction. It’s $20.
This was, of course, taken at the Pirate Ball & Book Launch last night.
Here’s some more:
Time for a rest!
My next public event is a talk/workshop on Interactive Fiction at the University of Canberra on Friday 2 March 5:30-7:30pm. It’s a rare opportunity to talk IF with me for free, and it’s open to the public.
If you read the dedication to Silver and Stone you’ll know that this group took me in when I was scrambling to write the second Antipodean Queen book. They’re a smart & friendly crowd and I recommend checking them out.
Their facebook page is here.
Monstrous Interviews
If you thought you heard me on One Way FM Canberra this morning, you’re quite right. Priscilla and I got on so well I’ll be returning on Thursday 22nd to talk about how the pirate ball went. And… I might just give a book away on air.
Here are some fun bits of online-only content linked to The Monster Apprentice!
Here is info on the Pirate Ball this Saturday. (Or here, if you prefer facebook.)
And here’s ANOTHER interview, this time by Megan Higginson, as a blog entry (rather than a podcast or radio interview).
I haven’t decided on my full outfit, but I’ll definitely be sporting a white puffy shirt and an ever-so-buckled overshirt.
The Monster Apprentice is available for pre-order through Odyssey Books, and I’ve also seen it for pre-order on Amazon Australia, which means it is or soon will be at all the usual online places, and will gradually trickle into some bookshops. You can order it into any bookshop or library.
ISBN: 978-1-925652-13-0 (pbk) | 978-1-925652-14-7 (ebook)
Monster Apprentice Easter Eggs
I was eighteen years old, sitting on a folding chair on a polished concrete floor in an Indonesian classroom. It was hot, and I was daydreaming, and I had an idea.
What if I invented a world complicated enough and rich enough that I could write all kinds of books in it? What if that world was different to all the straight-white-male-authored fantasy that I’d read growing up?
So I invented Rahana, a world based on Indonesia, where every island is physically and culturally different to the rest, where the weather is always tropical, and where magic is so common that physical strength is irrelevant.
Over the years since then I’ve written many stories set in Rahana, and expanded my horizons by travelling on the Young Endeavour sail training vessel. Now, almost twenty years later, my first Rahana book is about to be released.
I am absolutely thrilled that Tash Turgoose (author of “Makeshift Galaxy”, and now one of my “Murder in the Mail” writer/artists too) is doing internal illustrations for this series. These are some of the pictures that had to be left out for reasons of space:
And here is a real-world recipe for Toffee Fish:
Ingredients:
-Four salmon fillets
-Four tablespoons maple syrup
-One tablespoon sesame oil
-One tablespoon butter
-Four cups cooked rice
-One cup peas
-One cup corn kernels
-Two teaspoons sesame seeds
Method:
- Marinate the salmon in the sesame oil and maple syrup for up to twenty-four hours.
- Melt butter in a frying pan and add the rice, peas, and corn. Stir occasionally.
- Line a tray with aluminium foil and lay out the salmon fillets (skin side up if you are using fillets with skin), drizzling a teaspoonful of the remaining marinade mixture on top of each fillet. Cook at 180 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
- While that is cooking, add the rest of the marinade mixture to the rice mixture and continue cooking it until the salmon is ready.
- When preparing the plates, put the salmon on top of the rice (skinless side up if you are using fillets with skin) and sprinkle it with sesame seeds.
Serves four
A little piracy
Last weekend I ran a stall at CanCon for three days. It’s Canberra’s biggest board game gathering, and this was the 40th year.
I wore corsets! It was so exciting! And there was a T-Rex. I’ve already booked the exact same stall location for January 2019.
I also wore my pretty pretty princess outfit:
I didn’t actually take a proper camera. Most of these photos were taken on my kindle (NOT recommended, but awfully handy at times).
I’m uncommonly proud that I wore my hair three different ways over the three days. I’m often too tired to brush it before leaving the house.
My new and improved post-surgery body held up pretty well, although I was as careful as I could be while still staffing the stall. I rested a lot today, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t do any permanent injury to myself (I had a lot of ominous blisters and aches and suchlike, but luckily I have a lot of hospital-grade bandages which I used with great care, changing them every day). My wheelchair was handy because it made me feel comfortable sitting down (otherwise I’d feel rude), and because the armrests help support my back.
I sold a massive amount of books, and let a lot of people know about the free pirate ball happening on Saturday 17 February. My daughter also celebrated her 6th birthday on Saturday morning with a dress-up pool party (while my fellow author, Annabelle Lee, manned the stall at CanCon). Two of the younger siblings of her friends are BFFs with my son, so I took one of my favourite sets of photos ever:
These three boys are just as adorable in real life as they look in the pictures.
On the last day of CanCon I received the full set of illustrations for The Monster Apprentice! Tash Turgoose does photorealistic pencils and I’ve been dying to see her work. Here are three small versions of some important characters: Captain Sol, an evil pirate; the heroine, Dance, coming face to face with a heest monster; and Ransom, who. . . well, you’ll have to read the books to find out.
You can immediately see that the fantasy world of Rahana was inspired by Indonesia. And that asking to have Tash Turgoose illustrate the books was a genius move on my part. I saw her book, Makeshift Galaxy, and I’ve been in awe ever since.
Why YES, she is one of the authors (and writers for that matter) for Murder in the Mail. Incidentally, I’m already taking pre-orders for Murder in the Mail. Details in the forum here.
The Monster Apprentice will be launched at the pirate ball on Saturday 17 February. It’s Book 1 of the Heest Trilogy, which is suitable for 10-14 year olds (and also people like me, that just like a great story). It’s likely there are more Rahana stories to come after this trilogy, too.
Sandy Fussell is one of my absolute favourite children’s authors (I own the entire Samurai Kids series), so I asked her for a cover quote for The Monster Apprentice. She gave me a selection! Here’s one:
- The Monster’s Apprentice will transport you somewhere wonderful, unlike any world you’ve imagined. Caught between terrifying Heest monsters and murderous pirates, with only her name for a weapon, Dance must defend the ice island of Luar and its people.
She also said “I wish I had Felicity’s imagination” which is simply ludicrous. If you read any of her books, you’ll know why.
But I don’t mind a little flattery. I am a writer, after all.
And here’s the final trailer for The Monster Apprentice, for the three humans who haven’t seen it yet.
https://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U
Heest 1: THE MONSTER APPRENTICE
You can buy the first book here, and in all the usual places (both online and in stores).
The heest are enormous monsters that live in the magically-sustained ice of Luar Island. They are both more and less than they seem.
When I was eighteen years old and living in Indonesia, I invented a fantasy world called Rahana. It is a place with thousands of islands and millions of potential stories, where magic is considered to be just another trade. Rahana is like Narnia, but with pirates.
The HEEST trilogy is written for children (but is, as always, the kind of thing I love to read as an adult).
The first book is THE MONSTER APPRENTICE. All three books will be illustrated by the glorious talents of Tash Turgoose and Lucie Mammone.
You can order it into any bookshop or library, buy it on all the usual online retailers, or buy the physical book directly from me (signed*) here.
ISBN: 978-1-925652-13-0 (pbk) | 978-1-925652-14-7 (ebook)
The cover is here!!
FYI, if you haven’t read Sandy Fussell’s books, you’re missing out. I especially love the Samurai Kids series. She is also a fantastic human being, which doesn’t hurt!
Here’s the trailer, with sneak peeks at some of the glorious internal illustrations by Tash Turgoose:
And here’s the opening:
CHAPTER ONE
I awoke from a dead sleep – for once, a sleep without nightmares. My bedroom was pitch black and silent, but my heart was racing. Then the sound came again – a man shouting at the top of his voice. He pounded at my family’s front door.
“Elder!” The man’s voice was sharp with terror. “Elder, wake up!”
The night air was hot and still. My sheets lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. At the open window my curtains hung in unmoving black lines. No wind slid through to ease the stifling heat. My mane oflong black hair felt heavy around my head. I didn’t dare move.
Dad would check on me before he went to answer the yelling. Ever since my twin sister died, he was that type of dad. Whenever he felt worried about something, I was told to go to my room – to sleep, if it was night time. No matter how many nightmares I had.
He was forever telling me to be careful, – but I was definitely not going to miss out on the fun this time. So I remained curled on my side as if I hadn’t heard a thing. If he didn’t tell me to go back to sleep, sneaking out wasn’t disobeying him. Not exactly.
“Elder, please!” The man’s voice broke, and I recognised him. It was Watchman, who spent each night staring out over the sea. I felt my first delicious shiver of real fear.
Still I didn’t move. I stared at my curtains, since they were directly in front of me. The black stripes looked like prison bars. Everyone single person on the island had jail-bar curtains, since only one ship had brought curtains to Luar in twenty years. Dad could have organised more traders, but he chose instead to keep Luar Island as secret as possible. He wanted everyone to be safe.
Watchman hammered again on our heavy wooden door. I held my breath. Something was happening, and I was going to find out what it was – no matter what.
My bad eye skittered to the side, giving me half a view of the three carved masks hung on hooks on my wall – my most recent school project, worth a king’s ransom on any other island. Luar Island’s odd trees didn’t grow anywhere else – only magic could excuse the fact that explain how they grew at all – and as a result Luar’s art was more delicately carved than anywhere else in the world. And more valuable. We only used it for art – never for houses or burning. And on Luar, everyone was an artist.
“Elder!” cried Watchman. “Elder!”
“I’m here!” Dad called back.
The air tasted thick, like porridge. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of my own sweat, and listened to Dad’s measured footsteps. Dad never hurried anywhere. My door shushed in and out as he checked on me and then went to answer Watchman. Yellow light from his candle danced beneath my door, casting monstrous shadows.
After I counted three of his footsteps, I placed my own feet one by one on the cool trader wood of the floor. I slipped my shoes out from under the bed and put them on, lacing them tightly. Biting my lip, I ignored the clumsiness of my shaking hands.
If Dad called me I’d be dressed and ready: a proper daughter to Luar’s Elder. Just like my sister would have been.
If he didn’t call me, there was always the window.
The front door squeaked as it opened. Watchman stopped yelling. Usually he spent the night huddled on the far hilltop, keeping an eye out for the rare ships that knew to bring grain or cloth to trade for our precious carvings. It was his job to light the beacon fire to guide them to shore.
“Raise the village,” he gasped. “Pirates!”
My 2017: No wonder I need a lie down
What an epic year. I spent over 15 years of my life writing novels that nobody would touch, and now that it’s started to rain it’s pouring (which is a wonderful thing).
I spent vast amounts of time on the Tin Man Games “Choices That Matter” app (Google Play and iOS). It’s a story hub for serial interactive tales and it has over a million downloads of the free sample sections. The three stories so far are:
“And The Sun Went Out”
A near-future scifi which I co-wrote with KG Tan and Alyce Potter. It had 60 updates over 15 months, and clocked in at just over 600,000 words (longer than “War and Peace”). Each read-through is about 150,000 words.
“And Their Souls Were Eaten”
I wrote all of this one (edited by Phill Berrie and KG Tan), set in the same steampunk universe as my Antipodean Queen novels, but with a completely distinct magical problem (and taking place in Europe). The finished tale is 400,000 words long, and after that I had a nice lie down.
“And Their Heroes Were Lost”
Phill Berrie is writing, and KG and I are editing (oh how the tables are turned, hey Phill?) This is also sci-fi, but I don’t want to give away any more than that! Phill is still working on this story, and his fans are clamouring for each new update.
I also wrote, edited, and published the novel “Antipodean Queen 2: Silver and Stone“, and will be finishing that trilogy in 2018 with “Antipodean Queen 3: Iron Lights” (that’s right: the title has changed since Book 2 was published).
AND my actually-rather-good pirate fantasy trilogy for kids (like Narnia, but with pirates) that I wrote many years ago has been accepted for publication and shall begin release with a free pirate mini-ball (live music, prizes, costumes, and everything!!) on Saturday February 17th.
“The Monster Apprentice” is the first book. And it’ll be illustrated, too! Plus (shh don’t tell) one of my very very very favourite Aussie authors is going to read it and give me a cover quote!
And I have three other very exciting projects coming out in 2018! One I can’t talk about yet, one will be published on the premium label at Choice of Games (they pay VERY well for books that make the premium grade), and one is called “Murder in the Mail: A Bloody Birthday” and is a murder mystery told entirely through postcards, letters, objects, and art. That link is to the shiny new forum where readers will be able to talk to one another about who they think is the killer, and how much they love all the art I chose!
2017 was a great year for my writing, and 2018 is going to be even better.
I is happy.
Things are looking up.
Pirate Ball
It’s official. I can wear corsets again.
And with three book launches this year, it’s not a moment too soon.
Do you live in Australia?
Do you live reasonably close to Canberra?
Do you love the Narnia books?
Do you love pirates?
Do you love live music?
Do you love dancing (and/or watching others dance)?
Do you love dressing up (and/or seeing those who do)?
Do you love chocolate coins and fairy bread?
Do you love prizes?
On Saturday February 17th 2018, the first book in my tween magical pirate trilogy will be released with an enormous free PIRATE BALL hosted by the epic Earthly Delights Historic Dance Academy.
They have agreed to run a pirate ball for their monthly extravaganza (7pm-11pm, $25) AND a free mini-ball/book launch for me from 6:30-7pm with lots of great beginner dances for all ages. My kids will be there, that’s for sure.
There will be prizes for best dressed, and for the treasure hunt.
There will be live music.
There will be professional dancers scattered among the crowd.
There will be wonderful and enthralling outfits both piratical and historical.
There will be free food.
There will be my Rather Excellent fantasy pirate novel, The Monster Apprentice, on sale and ripe for signings (along with Heart of Brass and Silver and Stone, naturally).
Date:
Saturday February 17th 2018
Location:
Canberra Baptist Church Hall, Currie St, Kingston
Times:
Free book launch and mini-ball 6:30pm-7:00pm including prizes and activities.
$25 full pirate ball 7:00pm-11:00pm
Avast! Unlock yer daughters and belay any other plans!
Feel free to RSVP in the comments, and let me know if you’d like me to wrangle some discount ball tickets for you. I might just be able to find some… one way or another.
New News!!
To get discount tickets to the full-length ball (7-11pm), go to:
www.earthlydelights.com.au/upcoming
Adult Tickets are $25 at the door
Online Tickets are $22.50 for adults
If your friends buy online using the code PIRATES they can buy them for $20.00 each
Felicity Banks 