Contemporary Authors

• The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales Ticonderoga Publications (Greenwood, WA, Australia), 2010
• Midnight and Moonshine Ticonderoga Publications (Greenwood, WA, Australia), 2012
• Sourdough and Other Stories Tartarus Press (Leyburn, England), 2012
• Of Sorrow and Such Tom Doherty (New York, NY), 2015
• A Feast of Sorrows Prime Books (Germantown, MD), 2016

none

• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Slatter

  Angela Slatter is an award-winning writer based in Brisbane, Australia. Primarily working in the field of speculative fiction, she has focused on short stories since deciding to pursue writing in 2005, when she undertook a Graduate Diploma in Creative Writing. Since then she has created an extensive portfolio of short stories, many of which were included in her two compilations, Sourdough and Other Stories (2010) and The Girl With No Hands and other tales (2010).

  Contents [hide]
  1 Education
  2 Writing
  3 Reception
  4 Bibliography
  4.1 Novels
  4.2 Collections
  4.3 Short stories
  4.3.1 Anthologies
  4.3.2 Magazines and journals
  4.3.3 Flash fiction
  4.3.4 Articles
  5 References
  6 External links
  Education[edit]
  Slatter is graduate of Clarion South 2009 and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop 2006. She has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing. In 2013 she was awarded one of the inaugural Queensland Writers Fellowships.[1][2][3]

  Slatter occasionally teaches creative writing at the Queensland University of Technology.[4]

  Writing[edit]
  Angela Slatter's short stories have appeared in anthologies and journals in Australia and internationally. Her work has been listed for Honourable Mention by Ellen Datlow, Gavin Grant and Kelly Link; and she has been nominated three times for the Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story.[5][6][7] Along with the Aurealis Awards, Slatter has been nominated for the Ditmar Award on two occasions: as Best New Talent in 2008, and for Best Short Story in 2010.[8][9]

  In 2010, Slatter published two short story collections: Sourdough & Other Stories with Tartarus Press (UK) which received a Starred Review at Publishers Weekly,[10] and The Girl with No Hands & Other Tales (Ticonderoga Publications).[11] She is currently working on a "duopoly" consisting of the novels Well of Souls and Gate of the Dead.[12][13]

  In 2016, her first solo full-length novel Vigil was released. She is currently working on its sequel Corpselight and the final book in the "Verity Fassbinder" trilogy.

  Reception[edit]
  Slatter's works have been well received. She has received praise from Publishers Weekly for her "evocative and poetic prose" in Sourdough & Other Stories,[10] and her writing garnered similar comments from Jeff Vandermeer, who described it as "brilliant, muscular, and original".[14] In particular, Slatter has received critical acclaim for her style of retelling or "reloading" fairytales.[15][16][17][18][19][20]

  Individual short stores have, at times, been highlighted by reviewers: in particular, her story "The Jacaranda Wife" was perceived as one of the best stories in Jack Dann's Dreaming Again anthology by The Australian, as well as being praised by The Cairns Post and The Sydney Morning Herald, who wrote: "The collection's trump card is the quality of its new writers, many of whom produce stronger stories than some of the veterans ... Particular standouts are ... Angela Slatter's haunting The Jacaranda Wife, set in colonial Australia, seems to build towards a climax truly sinister, yet instead leaves you with beautiful imagery that is as otherworldly as it is strangely touching."[21][22][23] Similarly, Scoop Magazine described her collaborative story, "The February Dragon" (with Lisa L Hannett) as being a "highlight" of Scary Kisses.[24]

  Kim Wilkins has cited Slatter as a SF author of note in a forthcoming chapter in the Cambridge Companion to Creative Writing.[citation needed]

  Slatter was the subject of an extensive feature in Issue 21 of Black Static Magazine, which had her photograph on the cover.[25] Its review of Sourdough and Other Stories states, "The effect is almost as if Quentin Tarantino had decided to write fairy stories instead of scripting Pulp Fiction." (page 44)

  Her collection, The Girl With No Hands and other tales was a finalist for the 2010 Australian Shadows Award for Long Fiction, and her story "Brisneyland by Night" is a finalist for Short Fiction.[26]

  In May 2011, Slatter was the winner of 2010 Aurealis Award for Best Collection with The Girl With No Hands and other tales and Best Fantasy Short Story for The February Dragon, co-written with L.L. Hannett. This award was jointly awarded to Thoraiya Dyer for Yowie.[27]

  Her collection, Sourdough and other stories was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award.

  Slatter was awarded the British Fantasy Award in 2012 for her short story "The Coffin-Maker's Daughter".[28]

  The collection, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings was co-winner of the World Fantasy Award, Best Collection, 2015.[29]

  Bibliography[edit]
  Novels[edit]
  Vigil, Jo Fletcher Books, 2016 ISBN 978-1-78429-402-1
  Corpselight, Jo Fletcher Books, 2017 ISBN 978-1-78429-434-2
  Collections[edit]
  Sourdough and Other Stories, Tartarus Press, 2010 ISBN 978-1-90578-425-7
  The Girl With No Hands and other tales, Ticonderoga Publications, 2010 ISBN 978-0-980628-87-6
  Midnight and Moonshine, with Lisa L. Hannett, Ticonderoga Publications, 2012
  The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, Tartarus Press, 2014
  Black-Winged Angels, Ticonderoga Publications, 2014
  The Female Factory, with Lisa L. Hannett, Twelfth Planet Press, 2014
  Short stories[edit]
  Anthologies[edit]
  "The Curious Case of Physically-Manifested Bedsheet Mania & Other Tales", co-authored with Lisa Hannett, in Jeff Vandermeer's and Ann VanderMeer's Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded, Tachyon Publications, 2010.
  "Genevieve and the Dragon", Worlds Next Door, 2010.
  "The February Dragon", co-authored with Lisa L. Hannett, Scary Kisses, 2010.
  "Brisneyland by Night", Sprawl, 2010.
  "Sister, Sister", Strange Tales III, 2009.
  "Light as Mist, Heavy as Hope", Needles & Bones, 2009.
  "The Piece of Ice in Miss Windermere's Heart", New Ceres Nights, 2009.
  "The Jacaranda Wife", Dreaming Again edited by Jack Dann (HarperCollins), 2008. Honourable Mention, 2008 Year's Best Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow).
  "I Love You Like Water", 2012.
  "The Nun's Tale", Canterbury 2100, 2008.
  "Sourdough", Strange Tales II, 2007. Honourable Mention, 2008 Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant).
  "Lavinia's Wood", She Walks In Shadows, 2015 (ed. Silvia Moreno-Garcia)
  Magazines and journals[edit]
  Of Sorrow and Such, A Tor.Com Novella, 2015
  "The Chrysanthemum Bride", Fantasy Magazine, December 2009
  "Words", The Lifted Brow # 5, June 2009 issue, shortlisted for Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story 2009
  "Frozen", Mort Castle's Doorways Magazine, Issue 8, April 2009
  "The Girl with No Hands", Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet No. 23, 2008
  "Dresses, three", Shimmer 2008. Short-listed for Best Fantasy Short Story Aurealis Award 2008. Honourable Mention, 2008 Year's Best Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, 2009)
  "The Hummingbird Heart", Shimmer 2008. Honourable Mention, 2008 Year's Best Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, 2009)
  "Skin", The Lifted Brow #3
  "Little Radish", Crimson Highway, 2008 Honourable Mention, 2008 Year's Best Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, 2009)
  "Pressina's Daughters", Winter 2007/2008, issue No. 71 of ONSPEC: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic.
  "The Danger of Warmth", Crimson Highway 2007.
  "Cedar Splinters", Artworker Magazine, October 2007.
  "The Little Match Girl", Shimmer #3, 2006. Honourable Mention, 2007 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant).
  "Bluebeard", Shimmer #4, 2006. Honourable Mention, 2007 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant).
  "The Angel Wood", Shimmer #5, 2006. Short-listed for Best Fantasy Short Story Aurealis Award 2007. Honourable Mention, 2007 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant).
  "The Juniper Tree", Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #18, 2006.
  "Red Skein", Walking Bones Magazine, 2006.
  Flash fiction[edit]
  "Inheritance", The Daily Cabal, June 2009.[30]
  "Brisneyland by Night – Part Four", The Daily Cabal, June 2009.[30]
  "Aeaea Street", The Daily Cabal, May 2009.[30]
  "Lantern", The Daily Cabal, May 2009.[30]
  "Brisneyland by Night – Part Three", The Daily Cabal, May 2009.[30]
  "Brisneyland by Night – Part Two", The Daily Cabal, April 2009.[30]
  "The Impatient Dead", The Daily Cabal, April 2009.[30]
  "Hermione's Farewell", The Daily Cabal, April 2009.[30]
  "Red New Day", The Daily Cabal, March 2009.[30]
  "Foundation", The Daily Cabal, February 2009.[30]
  "Beggar-maid", The Daily Cabal, January 2009.[30]
  "Sunday Drivers", The Daily Cabal, October 2008.[30]
  "Things Best Left Alone", The Daily Cabal, October 2008.[30]
  "Seek", The Daily Cabal, November 2008.[30]
  "Brisneyland by Night", The Daily Cabal, December 2008.[30]
  "The Problem of Thorns", The Daily Cabal, December 2008.[30]
  "Binoorie", The Daily Cabal, December 2008.[30]
  "Little Green Apples", Microfiction Antipodean SF, issue 110
  "Crush", Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 103
  "Swept Off Her Feet", Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 74
  "Mating Season", Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 72
  "Shades and Shadows", Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 71
  "The Halite Chronicles", Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 70
  "Midnight Swim", Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 69
  "Icon of the Underworld", Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 67
  Articles[edit]
  "Finding a Literary Agent: The Ugly Truth", in The Australian Writer’s Marketplace, 11th edition, 2011/12, August 2010.
  "Getting Published: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", feature article with Katherine Lyall-Watson, November 2008 issue of Writing Queensland.
  "To Review or Not to Review", feature article, October 2007 issue of Writing Queensland.
  "Zen and the Art of PhD Maintenance", Issue 4 of The Definite Article, October 2007.
  "Little Red Riding Hood: Life off the Path", Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest, Volume 1, Issue 12, 2008.
  "Tin House: What I Did On My Summer Vacation", feature article, October 2006 issue of Writing Queensland.
  "Postcard from Tin House", June 2006 issue of Writing Queensland.
  "Kim Wilkins: Brisbane Gothic", Feature Article in Antipodean SF, issue 75
  References[edit]
  Jump up ^ "Biography". Angela Slatter. Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ "Black-winged angels : theoretical underpinnings". QUT ePrints. Queensland University of Technology. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ "Angela Slatter home page".
  Jump up ^ "Short Story Clinic led by Angela Slatter, Brisbane". Queensland Writers Centre. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ "2010 Aurealis Awards". The Locus Index to SF Awards. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ "2009 Aurealis Awards". The Locus Index to SF Awards. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ "2008 Aurealis Awards". The Locus Index to SF Awards. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ "2008 Ditmar Awards". The Locus Index to SF Awards. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ "2010 Ditmar Awards". The Locus Index to SF Awards. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  ^ Jump up to: a b "Sourdough and Other Stories", Publishers Weekly, 25 October 2010
  Jump up ^ "The Girl with No Hands (and Other Tales)", Publishers Weekly, 13 September 2010
  Jump up ^ Vandermeer, Jeff (September 2009). "Mammals Underfoot! An Interview with Emerging Writers". Clarkesworld Magazine (36). Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ Jones, Jeremy L. C. (September 2010). "Each Facet Intensely: A Conversation with Angela Slatter". Clarkesworld Magazine (48). Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ Vandermeer, Jeff. "Books of Present and Future: Angela Slatter's Sourdough and Steampunk Reloaded". Ecstatic Day. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ Marshall-Jones, Simon. "The Girl with No Hands, by Angela Slatter". Beyond Fiction. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ Guslandi, Mario. "The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales". SF Site. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ Baumann, Rebecca (30 October 2010). "Review: "The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales" by Angela Slatter 2010". Dirty Sexy Books. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ White, S. S. (1 December 2010). "Slatter, Angela: The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales". Fantasy with Bite. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ "Review: The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales by Angela Slatter". Dreams and Speculation. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ Johnston, SM. "Angela Slatter: Australian Short Story Queen". Down Under Wonderings. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ Williams, George (26 July 2008). "Imagination that deftly defies northern gravity". The Australian. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ Bruce, Niki (15 July 2008). "Bible of Australian fantasy fiction". The Cairns Post. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ Elliott, Will (19 July 2008). "Sinister plots outdo the past". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ "Scary Kisses". Scoop. Summer: 68. 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  Jump up ^ http://ttapress.com/blackstatic/
  Jump up ^ http://australianhorror.com/index.php?view=256
  Jump up ^ http://www.aurealisawards.com/winners2010.pdf
  Jump up ^ "Brisbane fantasy writer wins top British award" (5 October 2012), ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Accessed 5 October 2012.
  Jump up ^ World Fantasy Awards Recipients: 2015
  ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Angela Slatter". The Daly Cabal. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  External links[edit]
  Angela Slatter's Home Page
  Angela Slatter interviewed by Alisa Krasnostein
  Angela Slatter interviewed by Charles Tan
  Angela Slatter at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

• Girlie Jones LiveJournal - http://girliejones.livejournal.com/1553106.html

  2010 Australian Specfic Snapshot: Angela Slatter

  Feb. 15th, 2010 at 11:06 PM
  coffee
  Angela Slatter is a Brisbane-based writer and 2009 graduate of the Clarion South program. She has a Masters (Research) in Creative Writing, which produced Black-Winged Angels, a short story collection of reloaded fairytales. She is now working on a PhD in Creative Writing, whilst also working at the Queensland Writers’ Centre. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies such as Jack Dann’s Dreaming Again, Tartarus Press’ Strange Tales II, Twelfth Planet Press’ 2012 and New Ceres Nights, Dirk Flinthart’s Canterbury 2100, and in journals such as Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Shimmer, ONSPEC and Doorways Magazine. Her work has had several Honourable Mentions in the Datlow, Link, Grant Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror anthologies #20 and #21; and two of her stories have been shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards in the Best Fantasy Short Story category.

  1. It looks like you are coming up for a really big year this year with not one but two single author short story collections! What will be in each of them? Will they have different focusses and if so, have you approached the writing for these collections differently?

  Well, the first collection, Sourdough & Other Stories, is through Tartarus Press in the UK. They’d taken one story of mine (“Sourdough”) for their Strange Tales II anthology, then approached me about submitting another for Strange Tales III (“Sister, Sister”). I had several stories set in the same universe as those two and asked Rosalie at Tartarus if she’d be interested in looking at a collection. To my surprise she said ‘yes’ and so I sent her the stories I had and then wrote the last four I’d planned for the cycle. There are four stories that had been previously published in the collection and the rest is new work. I had the idea of interconnected stories moving across time, with some characters appearing in different stories at different points in their lives. I’m very fond of these stories, they’re mostly my own fables and I loved creating them.

  The second collection is coming out via Ticonderoga Publications – Russell B Farr emailed me and asked if I’d be interested in doing a collection of reprints in time for WorldCon in Melbourne this year. The answer was ‘hell, yeah’. It will be mostly reprints of selected pieces I’ve done in the last five years and two new works that haven’t seen light yet. I think the title we’re looking at is ‘The Girl with No Hands’ at this point. Because these are mainly reprints, this is more an exercise in selecting stories and seeing how they fit together – more like putting a jigsaw puzzle together than the natural accretion of writing stories for a theme. In some ways it’s easier, in some ways more difficult.

  2. I know that you are also working on a novel. How does writing a novel vary from writing short stories? How do you see your two collections helping the development of your career as a writer?

  Argh! The novel question. The short story is relatively easy for me now as I’ve been doing it for five years. I know its shape and its rhythm. I know I can finish it quickly so there’s an immediate gratification side to things there. The novel is the long haul, it’s the endurance race; it’s about keeping yourself interested in the story for a longer period of time. If you as the writer can’t stay interested then how do you think your reader is going to stay interested? Shifting to the novel is a huge change for me.

  Having the short story collections out feels like I’ve got a bit of a breather from them, as if I’ve gotten the ones out that I needed to get out at this stage in my career. Now it’s time to shift to the Big Project. I spent most of last year, post-Clarion, trying to split my brain between short stories and novel writing and it did not work. The lesson for me was that while I can work on more than one short story at a time, I can’t work on two different forms at a time. As for how the collections might help the development of my career, well, I can only hope they will help make a bit of a buzz and people will be looking for my novel after reading my short stories.

  3. What goals do you aspire towards as a writer? And what drives you to achieve them? What are you currently working on?

  Um, I don’t know that I think of writing in terms of goals. I get an idea and I want to get it on paper. I guess what I demand of myself is that the language is as beautiful as it can be, even if I’m describing something awful :). I want there to be a rhythm and cadence to my work and for it to give the reader ‘pictures in the brain’, I guess :). When I read my own work I want to feel that I placed every word in the right place – and not to cringe if I’m reading it a few years down the track.

  At the moment, I am working on a novella, Ragged Run, which is a follow-on from the story “Brisneyland by Night”, which will be in Twelfth Planet Press’ Sprawl anthology. It features the character of Verity Fassbinder again, and looks at Brisbane’s Weyrd underbelly. And in a few weeks I’ll be on the re-working of “Well of Souls”, which is the novel.

  4. Which Australian writers or work would you like to see on the Hugo shortlists this year? What have you enjoyed reading?

  Peter M Ball would be a definite for the Hugos, for Horn is an awesome piece. Deb Biancotti’s A Book of Endings also deserves a jersey.

  5. Will you be at Aussiecon 4 in September? If so, what are you most looking forward to about it?

  Yes, I will be there – I really should seeing as there will be a book launch of my book – it seems only polite to go! I haven’t really thought about what to look forward to at this point – it still seems far away and I have a lot on my plate in between now and then. I guess the buzz that can be created when we have so many people around, having the chance to get a lot of internationals in a room with the Aussie crowd is always welcome and I think it has the potential to be really productive and inspiring to all get together and share ideas and beers.

  To read all the 2010 Snapshot Interviews hot off the press, check these blogs daily:

  http://random-alex.livejournal.com/
  http://girliejones.livejournal.com/
  http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/
  http://www.mechanicalcat.net/rachel
  http://tansyrr.com/
  http://editormum.livejournal.com/

• Bibliophile Stalker - http://charles-tan.blogspot.com/2010/01/interview-angela-slatter.html

  Tuesday, January 26, 2010
  Interview: Angela Slatter
  Angela Slatter is a Brisbane-based writer of speculative fiction. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies such as Jack Dann’s Dreaming Again, Tartarus Press’ Strange Tales II, Twelfth Planet Press’ 2012, Dirk Flinthart’s Canterbury 2100, and in journals such as Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Shimmer, ONSPEC and Doorways Magazine. Her work has had several Honourable Mentions in the Datlow, Link, Grant Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror anthologies #20 and #21; and two of her stories have been shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards in the Best Fantasy Short Story category.

  Hi! Thanks for agreeing to do the interview. First off, what got you interested in speculative fiction?

  I've always had a lot of fantasy/science fiction in my reading lists. I blame my mother for starting me on fairytales as a child and the traumatising effects of 'The Little Match Girl' . A few years ago when I was looking for a topic to do my Masters (Research) on, I thought about the idea of reloading fairytales as Angela Carter did in the seventies ('The Bloody Chamber' in particular) and Emma Donoghue ('Kissing the Witch') did recently - and as a lot of women have done over time. Those two were simply the ones I decided to study for the exegetical component. The creative work was a collection of 9 reloaded fairytales, called 'Black-Winged Angels'. I guess you just find your natural genre and this seems to be mine. I love the interplay of reality and confounded expectations, of imagination and flights of fancy that make up the spec-fic field. It's exciting to take a holiday in someone else's head!

  What made you decide to transition from reader to writer?

  I've scribbled all my life. I moved to Sydney at one point for 4 years and didn't write at all - but I guess it was just a long period of percolation! I moved back to Brisbane to "be a writer" and started a graduate diploma in creative writing - so I officially made the shift in 2004. Why did I do it? I was just in love with writing (still am) and making stories and I don't think I ever thought I'd be published, I just wanted to write and get the stories out. I wanted to learn how to mould the story into the right shape; I supposed getting published was just jam! :-) And maybe, I just had to get the stories out to stop my head from exploding :-)

  How has living in Sydney and Brisbane influenced your writing?

  I don't know that it has, honestly. Mostly when I write I use a kind of a European setting. I don't think I took much in from my Sydney period. Although, Brisbane has produced/influenced two stories, I guess: 'The Jacaranda Wife', in Jack Dann's Dreaming Again anthology (the jacaranda tree in my backyard was the inspiration); and 'I Love You Like Water', in the Twelfth Planet Press 2012 anthology (which was inspired by the awful drought we were experiencing - and looks like we'll experience again soon - in Southeast Queensland).

  What made you decide to apply for Clarion?

  Ah, the first time around it was my Masters supervisor encouraging me. I got in for the 2007 round of Clarion South, but couldn't go due to work and financial pressures. The second time because Kate and Rob the convenors yelled at me until I did it :-). So I did CS in 2009. It was a unique learning experience and the chance to be a writer fulltime for 6 weeks were, I guess, huge motivating factors in applying.

  What was the most important lesson you learned at Clarion?

  What advice to listen to and what advice to ignore. That sometimes even if you really don't agree with something, if 3 people or more have made the comment then you should probably look at it and consider making some changes. When to recognise that a comment is about making the story better technically or whether it's simply another person's preference for how they would have either written or liked to have had the story end.

  What would you say is the biggest difference between you as a writer pre-Clarion and post-Clarion?

  Oh, awful question. It's not been a year since I got out of Clarion South. When I first came out (which sounds like getting out of therapy, I guess), I'd say I was a less confident writer - the 16 extra voices in your head make things a bit difficult. I'd say now that I'm a more confident writer and that I have a great ability to write a story from a much slimmer idea or inspiration than I used to have. Maybe it's like a 'write on command' thing?

  Heh. Does that mean it's easier for you to write nowadays? Or did you stop believing in "Writer's Block"?

  Honestly, I don't think I ever really believed in "writer's block" - I think it's a blanket term for "lazy and/or scared". As a writer, you're always worried you'll get it wrong ... but that's what drafts and the editing process are for, to craft and re-work your prose. I think it's Kevin J Anderson who says "You can edit shit, you can't edit nothing", so even if the inner critic is saying "OMG, that is the worst sentence in the history of writing", just keep writing. You can always go back and edit it on the next pass. And when it's actually on paper or screen it's much easier to see what's wrong with it. And the bottom drawer technique also helps to give some perspective - put your story in the bottom drawer for a couple of weeks, work on other stuff, don't think about the story because things will be percolating in the back-brain. Then when you come back to it, you'll often find things are a lot clearer "Oh, of course, that's what I need! A pony with fangs!"

  How about the Internet, how has it affected your writing career, or keeping in touch with your fellow Clarion students?

  Mmmmm, it's certainly put a lot of carrier pigeons out of work and now you can get rejected faster! Internet has meant that there are extra markets in some ways - but with the recent closing of a lot of print mags, I'm starting to wonder if all we'll be left with are the Internet magazines. In terms of keeping in contact with fellow Clarionites, it's very handy. Also for keeping in contact with friends who are scattered across the world, again, very handy. And there is of course the weird sensation of making friends with people you've never physically met - like t'inter-friends. Sometimes I do make a point of actually picking up the phone to talk to friends so my social skills don't atrophy entirely. I think it's important to do that so when you do actually see someone face-to-face you remember how to talk to them with your mouth and not just by typing something witty.

  Uh oh. I guess that means I should brush up on my social skills! Anyway, a lot of your published work is short fiction. What's the appeal of the format for you?

  Ah, I suppose it's what I cut my teeth on. Also, when I get an idea, it's generally one I can see the end of - that is, I know how the story finishes. I enjoy the challenge of honing fiction down to being able to do the most with the least number of words. That's kind of why I enjoy doing The Daily Cabal stories - it's always a challenge to get a 900 word story down to a 400 word story and still keep a workable narrative intact. Why did I start on short stories? They just seemed manageable! But now in order to go on to the novel, I've realised I need to forget most of what I know about writing and start learning again - except for the spelling and the grammar parts.

  Since you brought up the novel, what made you decide to finally start writing one?

  Ah, the idea I came up with was too big for a short story or a novella. It keep pushing out the boundaries every time I thought I'd stuffed it into the shape I wanted. And the characters kept talking and meeting other characters ... it's become like an out of control New Year's Party you have when your parents are away. Maybe it was that the picture I had in my head for the beginning was so different from what was in my head as the ending ... on a chessboard you start out in one place, end up in another ... the novel is like a really big chess game with extra squares.

  What are some examples of the adjustments you had to make when transitioning from writing short stories to novels?

  Digging down into characters' emotions. I had a chat with the awesome Karen Miller who read over the first draft of part of the novel and she showed me the spots where I'd missed those emotional depths. In a short story - it's like an impressionist painting - you sketch details and let the reader's imagination work on the hints you've given (or maybe that means my work is actually best viewed from a distance, squinting!). With a novel, it's a Renaissance masterpiece, everything is carefully detailed (in a "showing-not-telling" manner, of course :-)) - you dig down and excavate the layers of the tale and of the emotions of your characters much more deeply. At least, that's the adjustment for me. And I'm still adjusting and learning as I go. I think writing a fantasy novel is a very steep learning curve for me - some days I think I'm trudging up Mt Doom carrying both Sam and Froddo - and they've both been eating a lot.

  You seem to be connected with various Australian publishers. What's the publishing industry there like?

  Oh that's a big question. I will try to give a small controlled answer! We have arms of the big publishers here (like HaperCollins, Hachette, Random House, etc), we also have some awesome smaller presses like Sleepers and Scribe. The issue for Australia is our smaller population - we just don't have the same size market as the US, so that contributes to books being a bit more expensive here. That said, we are one of the highest book buying per capita countries in the world - which is nice.

  We have a few good little spec-fic presses, like Twelfth Planet, which regualrly punches above its weight. There is also Pulp Fiction Press, which is awesome - I do some work for them at the end stage of a book's journey. I am variously known as The Polisher or The Eviscerator. Why do I work for them? Because I admire their commitment to producing the best book they can and making sure a story is the best it can be in and of itself.

  It's a healthy industry, I think is what I'm saying! And no, I'm not saying anything about the recent parallel imports debacle as it's been widely and openly discussed for months. Okay, I will say "In your face, Productivity Commission!"

  Any projects that you're currently involved with?

  Yes, but if I told you I'd have to kill you.

  Any advice for aspiring writers?

  Learn your craft. Take advice. Learn that a worthwhile, well-considered crit isn't about you, it's about making your story the best it can be. Read a lot because it's part of the learning process, but make sure you work out how to write your own thing, using your own voice instead of re-writing The Lord of the Rings.

  Anything else you want to plug?

  Did I plug something before? Nope :-) But thanks so much for the chance to do an interview! And thanks for questions that made me think - although I know it's hard to tell! :-)
  Posted by Charles at 4:00 AM
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• ISFDB - http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Angela_Slatter

  Author: Angela Slatter Author Record # 118842
  Birthplace: Australia
  Birthdate: 1967
  Language: English
  Webpages: angelaslatter.com, austlit.edu.au, Goodreads, Twitter, Wikipedia-EN
  Author Tags: horror (3), modern fairy tales (1), fantasy (1), norse mythology (1), science fiction (1), historical fantasy (1), witches (1), shapechangers (1), motherhood (1), fairies (1), urban fantasy (1), dark fantasy (1)
  Showing all translations. Never display translations Registered users can choose which translations are shown.
  Other views: Awards Alphabetical Chronological

  Fiction Series
  Verity Fassbinder
  1 Vigil (2016)
  Brisneyland by Night (2010) [SF]
  Collections
  Black-Winged Angels (2010)
  Sourdough and Other Stories (2010)
  The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales (2010)
  Midnight and Moonshine (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett and Russell B. Farr [only as by Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter]
  The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings (2014)
  The Female Factory (2014) with Lisa L. Hannett
  A Feast of Sorrows (2016)
  Winter Children and Other Chilling Tales (2016)
  Chapbooks
  Home and Hearth (2014)
  Of Sorrow and Such (2015)
  Finnegan's Field (2016)
  Short Fiction Series
  New Ceres
  The Piece of Ice in Miss Windermere's Heart (2009)
  Short Fiction
  Red Skein (2006)
  The Little Match Girl (2006)
  The Juniper Tree (2006)
  Bluebeard (2006)
  The Angel Wood (2006)
  Pressina's Daughters (2007)
  The Danger of Warmth (2007)
  Sourdough (2007)
  The Jacaranda Wife (2008)
  The Nun's Tale (2008)
  Dresses, Three (2008)
  Little Radish (2008)
  Skin (2008)
  I Love You Like Water (2008)
  The Hummingbird Heart (2008)
  The Girl with No Hands (2008)
  Words (2009)
  Frozen (2009)
  Light as Mist, Heavy as Hope (2009)
  The Chrysanthemum Bride (2009)
  Sister, Sister (2009)
  The February Dragon (2010) with Lisa L. Hannett [also as by L. L. Hannett and Angela Slatter]
  Genevieve and the Dragon (2010)
  A Good Husband (2010)
  A Porcelain Soul (2010)
  Ash (2010)
  Dibblespin (2010)
  Gallowberries (2010)
  Lavender and Lychgates (2010)
  Lost Things (2010)
  The Bones Remember Everything (2010)
  The Navigator (2010)
  The Shadow Tree (2010)
  The Story of Ink (2010)
  Under the Mountain (2010)
  The Bone Mother (2010)
  The Dead Ones Don't Hurt You (2010)
  The Living Book (2010)
  Sun Falls (2011)
  Rising, Not Dreaming (2011)
  The Coffin-Maker's Daughter (2011)
  The Hall of Lost Footsteps (2011) with Sara Douglass
  Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (2012)
  Prohibition Blues (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Bella Beaufort Goes to War (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Burning Seaweed for Salt (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Kveldúlfr (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Midnight (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Of the Demon and the Drum (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Seeds (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Seven Sleepers (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  The Morning Is Wiser Than the Evening (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  The Red Wedding (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  The Third Who Went with Us (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  To That Man, My Bitter Counsel (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Warp and Weft (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  By Blood and Incantation (2013) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Cuckoo (2013)
  By My Voice I Shall Be Known (2013)
  Flight (2013)
  By the Weeping Gate (2013)
  The Burning Circus (2013)
  The Song of Sighs (2013)
  Only the Dead and the Moonstruck (2014)
  The Badger Bride (2014)
  St Dymphna's School for Poison Girls (2014)
  Home and Hearth (2014)
  The October Widow (2014)
  Now, All Pirates Are Gone (2014)
  Spells for Coming Forth by Daylight (2014)
  Terrible As an Army with Banners (2014)
  The Bitterwood Bible (2014)
  The Burnt Moon (2014)
  The Maiden in the Ice (2014)
  The Night Stair (2014)
  The Undone and the Divine (2014)
  The Way of All Flesh (2014)
  Winter Children (2014)
  All the Other Revivals (2014) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Baggage (2014) with Lisa L. Hannett
  The Female Factory (2014) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Vox (2014) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Bearskin (2015)
  Bluebeard's Daughter (2015)
  Ripper (2015)
  Lavinia's Wood (2015)
  Of Sorrow and Such (2015)
  Finnegan's Field (2016)
  Change Management (2016)
  The Tallow-Wife (2016)
  What Shines Brightest Burns Most Fiercely (2016)
  Neither Time nor Tears (2016)
  Pale Tree House (2016)
  The Red Forest (2016)
  The Heart Is a Mirror for Sinners (2017)
  Essays
  Little Red Riding Hood—Life off the Path (2008)
  Afterword (The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales) (2010)
  Afterword (Midnight and Moonshine) (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Glossary (Midnight and Moonshine) (2012) with Lisa L. Hannett
  Author's Note (The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings) (2014)
  Introduction (At the Edge) (2016)
  Afterword: Author's Notes (A Feast of Sorrows) (2016)
  Reviews
  Jasmyn (2009) by Alex Bell
  Interviews with This Author
  Mammals Underfoot! An Interview with Emerging Writers (2009) by Jeff VanderMeer (co-interviewed with Genevieve Valentine and Tessa Kum and Meghan McCarron and Jeremy C. Shipp and Shweta Narayan and Jesse Bullington and N. K. Jemisin )
  Author Spotlight: Angela Slatter (2009) by Molly Tanzer
  Each Facet Intensely: A Conversation with Angela Slatter (2010) by Jeremy L. C. Jones
  An Interview with Lisa L Hannett and Angela Slatter, the Authors of Midnight and Moonshine (2013) by Kate Forsyth (co-interviewed with Lisa L. Hannett )
  Author Spotlight: Angela Slatter (2013) by Erika Holt
  Author Spotlight: Angela Slatter (2013) by Amber Barkley
  Interview: Angela Slatter (2016) by Lisa Morton

• Author Homepage - http://www.angelaslatter.com

  Angela Slatter is the author of the urban fantasy novels Vigil (2016) and Corpselight (2017), as well as eight short story collections, including The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales, Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, and A Feast of Sorrows: Stories. She has won a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar, and six Aurealis Awards.

  Angela’s short stories have appeared in Australian, UK and US Best Of anthologies such The Mammoth Book of New Horror, The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, The Best Horror of the Year, The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror, and The Year’s Best YA Speculative Fiction. Her work has been translated into Bulgarian, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Polish, and Romanian. Victoria Madden of Sweet Potato Films (The Kettering Incident) has optioned the film rights to one of her short stories.

  She has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing, is a graduate of Clarion South 2009 and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop 2006, and in 2013 she was awarded one of the inaugural Queensland Writers Fellowships. In 2016 Angela was the Established Writer-in-Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre in Perth.

  Her novellas, Of Sorrow and Such (from Tor.com), and Ripper (in the Stephen Jones anthology Horrorology, from Jo Fletcher Books) were released in October 2015.

  The third novel in the Verity Fassbinder series, Restoration, will be released in 2018 by Jo Fletcher Books (Hachette International). She is represented by Ian Drury of the literary agency Sheil Land for her long fiction, by Lucy Fawcett of Sheil Land for film rights, and by Alex Adsett of Alex Adsett Publishing Services for illustrated storybooks.

  Awards

  2016 Aurealis Award for Best Collection: A Feast of Sorrows: Stories.
  2015 Ditmar Award for Best Novella: Of Sorrow and Such
  2014 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection: The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings.
  2014 Aurealis Award for Best Collection: The Female Factory, co-authored with Lisa L. Hannett.
  2014 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story: “Home and Hearth”.
  2014 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story: “St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls”.
  2012 British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story: “The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter”.
  2010 Aurealis Award for Best Collection: The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales.
  2010 Aurealis Award Best Fantasy Short Story: “The February Dragon”, co-authored with Lisa Hannett.
  Short-listings

  2016 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella: Finnegan’s Field
  2016 Aurealis Award for Best Collection: Winter Children and Other Chilling Tales
  2016 Aurealis Award for Best Collection:A Feast of Sorrows: Stories
  2016 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story: “The Red Forest”
  2016 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel:Vigil
  2015 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novella: Ripper
  2015 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella: Of Sorrow and Such
  2015 Ditmar Award for Best Novella: Of Sorrow and Such
  2014 Norma K. Hemming Award: The Female Factory, co-authored with Lisa Hannett. Honourable mention.
  2013 Aurealis Award for Best Collection: The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings.
  2013 Aurealis Award for Best Collection: Black-Winged Angels.
  2013 Aurealis Award for Best Collection: The Female Factory, co-authored with Lisa Hannett.
  2013 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Story: “St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls”.
  2013 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story: “The Badger Bride”.
  2013 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story: “Home and Hearth”.
  2012 Aurealis Award for Best Collection: Midnight and Moonshine, co-authored with Lisa Hannett.
  2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection: Sourdough and Other Stories.
  2011 Australian Shadows Award for Long Fiction: The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales.
  2011 Australian Shadows Award for Short Fiction: “Brisneyland by Night”.
  2010 Aurealis Award for Best Collection: Sourdough and Other Stories.
  2010 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story: “Sister, Sister”.
  2009 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story: “Words”.
  2008 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story: “Dresses, three”.
  2007 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story: “The Angel Wood”.
  Media

  Press Kit (3.76MB .zip)

  13 December 2014 – The Weekend Australia
  http://m.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/writer-of-dark-fantasy-carves-out-magical-niche/story-fn9n8gph-1227152772454

  18 December, 2013 – Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews
  http://darkwolfsfantasyreviews.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/interview-with-angela-slatter.html

  August, 2013 – Author Spotlight at Lightspeed Magazine http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-angela-slatter/

  April, 2013 – Author Spotlight at Nightmare Magazine http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-angela-slatter/

  11 March, 2013 – Kate Forsyth http://www.kateforsyth.com.au/kates-blog/interview_angela_slatter-_co-author_of_midnight_moonshine

  29 October, 2012 – ABC Radio National, The Drawing Room with Waleed Aly
  http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/the-drawing-room3a-personal-fantasies-and-fantasy-writing/4339972?site=brisbane

  8 October, 2012 – UQ News http://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2012/10/fantasy-writer-first-australian-awarded-top-british-prize

  6 October, 2012 – Herald Sun
  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/aussie-wins-british-fantasy-award/story-e6frf7kf-1226489575705

  6 October, 2012 – Sky News Australia
  http://www.skynews.com.au/showbiz/article.aspx?id=802682

  5 October, 2012 – ABC News online
  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-05/brisbane-fantasy-writer-wins-british-book-award/4298334

  5 October, 2012 – QUT News
  http://www.qut.edu.au/about/news/news?news-id=51941

  5 October, 2012 – The Hoopla
  http://thehoopla.com.au/hoopla-literary-society-october-5/?cpg=2

  24 August, 2012 – COSMOS
  http://fgdfgfd.cosmosmagazine.com/features/qa-with-angela-slatter/

  29 September, 2011 The Compulsive Reader
  http://www.compulsivereader.com/2011/09/29/an-interview-with-angela-slatter/

  3 October, 2010 – The Fringe Magazine
  http://thefringemagazine.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/angela-slatter-interview.html

  3 September 2010 – Gary Kemble
  http://www.angelaslatter.com/interview-from-worldcon-with-gary-kemble/

  26 January 2010 – Bibliophile Stalker
  http://charles-tan.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/interview-angela-slatter.html

  ===

• NIghtmare Magazine - http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-angela-slatter/

  NONFICTION
  PURCHASE ISSUE
  Author Spotlight: Angela Slatter
  by ERIKA HOLT
  PUBLISHED IN APR. 2013 (ISSUE 7) | 986 WORDS | RELATED STORY: THE COFFIN-MAKER’S DAUGHTER
  In what time period does “The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter” take place? Are the superstitions and attitudes described typical of the time?

  The time period is a kind of fugue—when I created this world (for the Sourdough and Other Stories collection) I had a mix of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and Victorian era, all jammed together, bringing the ideas and superstitions of their own times into the one place. When I wrote “The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter,” I was using the Sourdough world, but this story had a much more Victorian feel to it. As with all my writing, I’m a bower bird, picking over superstitions from a range of places and remaking them into something new.

  What interests you about writing from the point of view of a disturbed, murderous protagonist? Is it important that such a protagonist have sympathetic aspects in order to engage the reader?

  Hepsibah, the protagonist of this story, owes a lot to Shirley Jackson’s Merricat from We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I’m utterly fascinated by how Jackson got the reader in with sympathy for her narrator, and then deftly turns that on its head as the truth of Merricat’s personality and deeds start to seep through like dark ink through thin paper. I wanted to do something similar with Hepsibah, to have a sympathetic character that you gradually realized was quite dangerous—but for whom you still had a skerrick of sympathy.

  Your bibliography is impressive—you’ve garnered awards and critical acclaim while also being quite prolific. What’s your secret?

  A lot of hard work and determination, and very thick skin! I sometimes get referred to as a “newcomer,” but I’ve been writing and publishing since 2006! Awards are nice, but they’re just jam—no one should write in order to win awards, and if you expect to win awards and are disappointed when you don’t . . . well, you’re a bit of an idiot. You can’t control the competition, you can’t control the judges, you can’t control individual tastes—so while winning is nice, it should always be a surprise and not an expectation.

  I’ve always maintained a submission schedule and I’ve always kept writing and researching appropriate markets. I’ve been lucky enough to get some stories published in very visible markets, and I’ve also been lucky enough to make contact and network with some great editors and other writers, which has helped a lot. Basically, I’ve tried to balance being an “artist” with being a “business,” and hopefully managing to be a professional somewhere along the way!

  As a genre writer who has both a Masters and PhD in Creative Writing, do you have any thoughts on the literary versus genre divide? Did you write horror and dark fantasy while completing those degrees and, if so, how was this received?

  I have a lot of things to say about the Great Genre Divide and the “ghettoization” of speculative fiction! Unfortunately a lot of the words I use for that are fairly profane. You talk to a lot of Literary writers and you can see their eyes glaze over at the mention of genre fiction, then when they focus again there’s the gleam of contempt as if you can’t possibly be a real writer because you might actually sell books! I once had a lecturer say, “So your work contains traces of the supernatural,” in the same tone as someone with a peanut allergy would say, “So, this meal contains traces of nuts?”

  For my MA, I wrote ‘reloaded’ fairy tales and examined the idea of a reversal of agency in the feminist fairy tales of Angela Carter and Emma Donoghue—which was acceptable as the examination of fairy tales and feminism is an accepted field of study in academia. With the PhD, I wrote the Sourdough collection (which was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award), and the exegesis looked at ideas of fairy tales, involuntary memory, and mosaic novels. So again, enough academic stuff to get it through with minimal eyebrow lifting.

  The main thing for me is: is the story good? Is it well-told and well-written? Is the reveal well-balanced, are the characters and the world believable? Is the storytelling seamless and does the writer keep the reader’s interest? Those are the only things that count, whether the genre in question is a navel-gazing examination of someone’s marriage breakdown/sexuality/life-changing experience OR a quest to find a magical artifact that will save the world from evil/darkness/destruction. Whether it is Literary or Genre should not matter.

  Do you gain more satisfaction from writing or teaching?

  I think there’re different kinds of satisfaction to be gained from each activity. I mostly teach short workshops or critiquing clinics, and there’s a great joy when you can see people just getting what you’re talking about—they’ve been stuck on things for a while and finally made the decision to take a class and you can see that moment when they’ve learned something and made a break-through.

  But I love writing the most—it’s what I do. Being able to create worlds and characters, and have other people enjoy them and find them memorable, that is the best feeling.

  Tell us about your current projects.

  At the moment I’m three-quarters through editing an urban fantasy novel, Hallowmass, (the first of a trilogy, followed by Vigil and Corpselight), and I’m also halfway through writing a new collection, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, which is a prequel to the Sourdough collection. Along with some festival appearances, that is pretty much my year for 2013!

  Share
  Spread the word!

  Erika HoltErika Holt
  Nightmare assistant editor Erika Holt lives in Calgary, Alberta, where she writes and edits speculative fiction. Her stories appear in several anthologies including Not Our Kind, What Fates Impose, and Evolve Two: Vampire Stories of the Future Undead. She is also co-editor of two anthologies from EDGE and Absolute XPress: Rigor Amortis, about sexy, amorous zombies, and Broken Time Blues, featuring such oddities as 1920s burlesque dancers and bootlegging chickens. Find her at erikaholt.com or on Twitter as @erikaholt.

• Clarksworld Magazine - http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/slatter_interview/

  Each Facet Intensely:
  A Conversation with Angela Slatter
  — by JEREMY L. C. JONES —
  Australian fiction writer Angela Slatter has two beautiful story collections out, Sourdough & Other Stories (Tartarus Press [UK]) and The Girl with No Hands & Other Tales (Ticonderoga Publications). They are beautiful inside and out — both the stories that make up the books and the books themselves.
  Slatter's stories are startling and exuberant and they will remind you why the short story form is so powerful.
  "Angela Slatter writes fiction like an artist turned poet," said Ann VanderMeer, editor-in-chief of Weird Tales. "Her stories are lyrical and, more important, vividly human. The brilliantly drawn images in her first collection will deliver a satisfying shock of recognition to any reader."
  Slatter's stories posses a primal magic. They make you hold your breath. They stop your heart. And they open moments wide enough to fill whole worlds.
  "[I write about] fairytales and fear — and sometimes overcoming the odds ... in fairytales," said Angela Slatter. "I enjoy writing about really engaging characters — who are terribly flawed but still bring the reader along with them. I do like fairytale themes as my jumping off point because they're so universal; they're what we hear in the cradle."
  Below, Slatter and I talk about the short story form, ebooks, and learning patience.

  How does a short story work on the reader? What should a short story do?
  I had a lot of chats with Sean Williams about this at Clarion South last year over chocolate frogs and herbal tea ... a short story should show a slice of life at a particular moment — a reader is sucked in and then thrown out again, with head spinning — a bit like a trip with a malfunctioning vortex manipulator. It's holding a gem up to the light and looking at only one facet really intensely. Whereas the novel needs lots of nice workmanlike narrative prose to move the story along — the river of brown — and float your golden boats of highlight moments on, a short story needs to be all gold. A reader shouldn't feel that any word is out of place or wasted. It should also (in my opinion) leave a reader feeling that there's other stuff that's gone on that they haven't been told ... that there's another story, an "under-story" that still remains hidden. It's about a subtle layering that leaves a sense of unease even after a satisfactory conclusion. Finally for me, a short story should be about the three C's: crisis, choice, and consequence.
  What comes first — character, setting, plot, image, sight, sound, or something else?
  It really depends. One of the stories in the Sourdough collection, "Sister, Sister" has a couple of sparks: one is a book of Norwegian folktales that belonged to my Mum about trolls and changeling babies; the other is from reading in Miéville's Perdido Street Station a description of a pub Isaac goes into and thinking "There should be a crèche in there". Another story, in the Sprawl anthology, called "Brisneyland By Night" came from an INXS song that contains the line "I'll make wine from your tears." Or I might have a character popping up and demanding attention: Patience Sykes in "Gallowberries" is such a one (also in the Sourdough collection). Yes, it's a strange place in my head.
  Is there a landmark story in your career?
  Argh! That's really hard: it could be the first story I sold — which was to Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet ("The Juniper Tree"), because it was such a lovely high profile market and I thought "Hey, maybe I can write." Or maybe "The Jacaranda Wife," which was for the Dreaming Again anthology that Jack Dann edited, because it was my first really big sale and my first Australian sale. Or maybe it was Sourdough because it started the cycle of stories that ultimately became the Sourdough & Other Stories collection. Too hard to choose!
  Which stories in Sourdough & Other Stories and The Girl with No Hands & Other Tales gave you the most trouble? And did any of them come easily?
  With Sourdough & Other Stories, Gallowberries took four years to write. "Lost Things" didn't fall into place until I'd worked out how to connect it with "Ash" and "The Story of Ink". And "A Porcelain Soul" made me seriously grumpy until a chat with Alison Goodman about reverse engineering for writers made me look really closely at what a secondary character wanted and then I was able to pull everything together at last.
  The Girl with No Hands ... was a bit different because most of those tales are early work and I love the collection as a map of my journey as a writer. I suppose the hardest ones were "The Jacaranda Wife" and "Dresses, three" because they were both written with some pressure - the first one because Jack had liked but refused my first sub for Dreaming Again and asked "Do you have anything else?"And when Jack says that, you damn well write something! And the second one because it was written for an Art-themed issue for Shimmer and I wanted to do justice to Chrissy Ellsworth's gorgeous artwork! A lot of sweat went into those stories.
  Were you pleased with how Sourdough Dough & Other Stories turned out? A special edition like this really reminds me how great a book as an object can be.
  I think it's glorious — I never thought I would have a book like that! It makes me feel so humble and grateful to be with a publisher like Tartarus for my first ever book because they love the book as an artifact and a thing of beauty as well as a means of transmitting the stories. I have also been very, very fortunate in that I have two short story collections out this year, The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales is also beautiful and comes in a paper back and a limited edition hardcover version too. Russell at Ticonderoga also shares the same aesthetic sense of how lovely a book can be!
  Any thoughts on ebooks?
  Ebooks ... keep in mind that I am a Luddite and well, it doesn't feel the same as curling up with a nice book that smells like ink and paper. It doesn't feel right to me and the glow hurts my eyes still. I think of them as expensive coasters. But I also know that they're a great new income stream for writers and we need to know how to leverage the potential for multi-platform storytelling and reading — the book is also now a tool for social networking, which it was before in its old form with book clubs — now it has the potential for an online book club with many, many, many members.
  But still, they don't look as nice as a hardcover book. And if I drop my book on my head when I fall asleep at night, it may hurt but it won't cost a packet unlike the ebook reader that will surely not bounce very well and need to be replaced.
  How are the novels coming? What do you prefer about the longer form? The shorter form?
  The novels are slow, because I am also working on a PhD and working part-time to make ends meet. I like the shorter form because it can be quicker to finish and I generally know how I want it to end and I can imagine its shape. Novels take a lot more perseverance and it's just a new form for me. I feel at this point that I'm kind of transitioning ... but I need to learn to be patient and learn.
  What's next for you?
  Finishing the first book of the duopoly, Well of Souls ... then the second book, Gate of the Dead ... and I would really like to do another collection of stories in the Sourdough universe, because I still have more of those stories buzzing around in my head ... I want to examine what happens to Selke, and Patience and Theodora and I want to write more about Rilka.

• Fantasy Scroll magazine - http://fantasyscrollmag.com/article/interview-with-author-angela-slatter/

  Interview with Author Angela Slatter
  By Amber Neko Meador
  Published on April 2016 in Issue #12 | Author Interviews, Non-Fiction
  1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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  Specializing in dark fantasy and horror, Angela Slatter is the author of The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales, Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, and Black-Winged Angels, as well as Midnight and Moonshine and The Female Factory (both with Lisa L. Hannett). She has won a World Fantasy Award, five Aurealis Awards, and a British Fantasy Award. Her short stories have appeared in Australian, UK and US Best Of anthologies, and her tale Of Sorrow and Such was one of the first releases from Tor.com’s new novella imprint. Angela has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing, is a graduate of Clarion South 2009 and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop 2006, and in 2013 she was awarded one of the inaugural Queensland Writers Fellowships.

  Vigil is Angela’s debut novel (based on the short story “Brisneyland by Night”), and will be followed by the sequels, Corpselight and Restoration in 2017 and 2018 respectively, published by Jo Fletcher Books in the UK, Hachette in Australia, and Quercus in the US.

  Website: http://www.angelaslatter.com/
  Blog: http://www.angelaslatter.com/blog/
  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angelaslatterauthor
  Twitter: @AngelaSlatter
  Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1Wjzb7v
  Amber: Thank you for taking a little time with me today. It’s always appreciated. Let’s start where most of these do. Who are you? Where did you grow up? What would you like inquiring readers to know about Angela Slatter that isn’t necessarily about your writing?

  Angela: Oh, wow. Not about writing? That’s kind of a shock since I’m a full-time writer so that’s all I think about really! I grew up in a few different places because we moved around with my Dad’s job (he was a cop for 38 years), so I’ve lived in Brisbane, Ipswich, Cairns, and Longreach—none of which means much to anyone except another Australian! I’ve worked as an administrator in several universities, as an article clerk, as a print project manager, a membership services coordinator, and freelance editor among other things. I occasionally teach creative writing and do mentoring … there you go, back to writing. I have no cat, does that mean I’m not a real writer?? I like cats, my sister has many cats (possibly even my share of them), but at the moment there’s no special cat in my life. I have a husband, though, I’m very fond of him. I love reading, writing, watching movies, walking, and not having to cook my own dinner, so very fond of eating out. I cannot knit, although I can crochet. My mother taught me never to darn socks, to just buy new ones. I love caramel fudge. I drink my coffee black. I have accepted all of my writing awards while wearing evening gowns and no shoes.

  Amber: Your writing intrigues me, and as with most writers that intrigue me, I’m always curious as to what it was that made you start writing? Was it teachers, mentors, friends, family, an important event, or was it simply a passion you decided to pursue on your own?

  Angela: Thank you! My mum tells the story of how, when I was in primary school they’d changed how they taught English and my spelling was atrocious—so she gave me books. And she kept giving me books, and I never stopped reading. It was also how I learned spelling and grammar. I just loved stories (especially fairy tales) and even when I was little I’d make up alternative endings in my head to books I’d read or shows I’d watched.

  So, I always scribbled, but I didn’t really decide to be a writer until about twelve years ago. I was really unhappy with life and thought “I don’t want to get to forty and not have tried this! I don’t want to die and think ‘I wish I’d tried writing!'” So I threw in a highly paid job and went back to university to do a writing course. It kind of started there; I began publishing what I was writing for university in 2006 and just kept going.

  Amber: I do find some of your writing to be a little on the dark side, even for someone who is known for writing such. And I’m wondering what the inspiration was for that darkness. Was it movies, books, television, another writer, or something else entirely? Where did your unique take on fiction come from?

  author-angela-slatter-03
  Angela: My mum would read me fairy tales and if you read them yourself you realize how dark the original ones are—I did my MA research on them! I remember Mum reading me “The Little Match Girl” for the very first time, and bursting into tears when she finished, because it was so awful and cruel. My first experience that life wasn’t fair—a small child died because no one would care for her, and she’d done nothing wrong! So, I’ve always been aware that there’s a lot of darkness in the first tales we’re told, which are often the tales we remember most because we hear them repeated in childhood so they get kind of embedded in the subconscious.

  Apart from that, I was always fascinated by crime and horror as well. My dad was a policeman for 38 years, he was a homicide detective who spent his days finding murderers and digging up bodies, then coming home to his family. I used to read a lot of historical true crime, like Jack the Ripper books—imagine what I was like when the Yorkshire Ripper popped up in the 80s! I’m fascinated by what makes one person dehumanize another to the point where they can murder them; also what such a person gets out of that activity. Given that women and children are the victims of crime, I’m quite fascinated by the innate horror in that.

  Amber: Let’s talk about your novelette Finnegan’s Field for a few moments. First, I loved this. My question is about how you came up with the story. Was it based on actual folklore, or a legend? What was the inspiration for such a dark piece about a child who has gone missing, and comes back as something else? I’m certain this story would give my mother nightmares.

  Angela: It would give my mother nightmares too! It gave my sister nightmares, she couldn’t sleep for ages after she read it and she texted me to tell me I was insane plus brilliant. It came from … I’d been thinking about but not writing anything down about ideas we have about the fairies in folklore, and how they’ve been changed in pop culture, how people somehow think it’s great to be taken away by the fairies. And I’d read a Sheridan Le Fanu story called “The Child That Went With The Fairies” as the basis of a tale for a tribute anthology … I wrote a story called “Let the Words Take You” that flirted with ideas about children being taken away. I guess I hadn’t finished with it, though, because I kept thinking ‘What happens if the kid comes back and what if it’s not the kid? What happens to all the grief and joy the parents feel … What if only the mother knows something’s wrong, and what if she has to deal with the problem?’ I wanted to walk the story very close to the edge without pushing it over into something especially gruesome … although there are gruesome bits I didn’t want the story to rely on that for the horror, I wanted the human tragedy to have the greatest impact.

  Amber: Also, the scene where we first see the child ‘transform’ is very visceral, but you somehow manage to convey it in a very lean way on the page. Most authors tend to use a lot more words to accomplish the same. What’s your secret?

  Angela: I’d say that’s my short story training! I’m always really aware that I need to be economical with my words so I must choose the best description possible for maximum impact. Also, I love a good vocabulary; it pays to spend time with your thesaurus and learn how to use it judiciously to enrich and texture your writing. As I said above about not having the gruesome stuff overwhelm the human tragedy, that’s very much down to being careful and mindful with your words, knowing what they mean and weighing which word or phrase you go with. For example, do you go with ‘sad’ or ‘dolorous’, ‘creepy’ or ‘macabre’, ‘happy’ or ‘ecstatic’. Whatever you choose will feed into tone and the reading experience, so it’s not just about getting the words on the page, hitting your word count, or telling the story—it’s about how you relate the story, the weight and meaning of your words.

  Amber: I want to poke at Of Sorrow and Such for a moment. Not only did I think it was made of this beautiful dark magic substance that you seem to produce, but it continued a previous tale, and gave us some more info from characters and story lines that we’d read before. This isn’t something I see very often in short fiction, but I love it. I suppose this is a two part question. What made you want to go back and explore more from some of the shorts you wrote in Sourdough and Other Stories? And what was it about Patience that made you want to give us more of her?

  Angela: With Sourdough and Other Stories (and also The Bitterwood Bible) I created this mosaic of short stories that intersected at some points, and some characters reappeared throughout the books. With Patience, she first appeared as the sixteen-year-old viewpoint character in “Gallowberries”, and then again as a secondary character as an old woman in “Sister, Sister”, and I always wondered what had happened in the middle! But Sourdough wasn’t the place to write that story. When I was finishing of The Bitterwood Bible collection, I’d started thinking about Patience again, what she was like in her middle years, and about other characters who appeared in Sourdough, like Selke and Balthazar Cotton; I was thinking about how the sins of our past can appear at any moment, how we often try to do good acts as penance but if we try to hide the original thing we’re feeling guilty about it will often raise its ugly head. Bitterwood wasn’t the place to revisit Patience as it’s a prequel, but Lee Harris at Tor.com invited me to submit to their new novella line … and there was Patience. And all these other ideas that I’d carried around for thirty or forty years, gleaned from reading folk tales, and all these other threads from Sourdough that were just waiting to be woven in.

  As for why Patience … I just find her really interesting, she’s practical and ruthless, kind and generous, but she knows where the line is and heaven help you if you cross it or her. She’s very clear-sighted and I love watching how she jumps, the choices she makes. I love having been able to visit her in the three phases of her life, maiden, mother, and crone. She can always surprise me … I never want to write her death scene, I must tell you, I just prefer the idea of her as a kind of Old Woman of the Woods, outsmarting everyone who tries to injure her.

  Amber: Everything I’ve read of yours is all short story or novella format. Is there a particular love that you have for the short form? Plus, is there any chance we’ll ever see anything novel length from you?

  Angela: I started out with short stories and that’s how I honed my writing craft. I really love the skill that goes into a short story, how it’s just this really intense slice of a bigger picture that you hint at but don’t show. But my work’s been getting longer and longer over the years, which is a good thing as I scored a three-book deal with Jo Fletcher Books last year! My debut novel, Vigil, will be out in July this year, so at the moment I’m going through the final rounds of proofing, getting cover quotes, making lists of reviewers, etc. Vigil is different from the Sourdough universe stories, it’s urban fantasy set in modern day Brisbane. I’m working on finishing the sequel Corpselight right now, and when I turn that in I’ll have to start the third and final book in the trilogy, Restoration.

  Amber: You’ve released several collections. At this point, which one would you recommend a new Angela Slatter reader start with?

  Angela: Gosh, I think probably Sourdough and Other Stories (Tartarus Press) if you’re going to dive into the world I’ve created. Other works in that world are the novella Of Sorrow and Such (from the Tor.com novella series), and The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings (Tartarus Press) … and I’ve got a third collection called The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales, which finishes off that Sourdough cycle (for the moment), but I’m still editing that one. If you’re looking for a more of a sampler collection, then try The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales from Ticonderoga Publications.

  Amber: You’ve been writing fairly steadily for years now, and you’ve got a fan for life with me. But, I have to ask, what can we look forward to next? And will we see more returning characters in the future?

  Angela: Thank you! As I said above, there will be the Verity Fassbinder series coming out this year, starting with Vigil. I’ve got a mostly reprint collection coming from Prime Books in the US in October this year, A Feast of Sorrows: Stories, which has two brand new novellas in it (including “The Tallow-Wife” novella from the Sourdough world). I’ve also got a novella called The Briar Book of the Dead, which needs editing, and several commissioned short stories for various editors that I need to write. There are several other tales I’d like to pursue in the Sourdough world, ones that follow up several mysteries from The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, but they all have to stand in line until I get these novels out of the way. As for what comes next … it will depend entirely on how well the trilogy does and whether I get another novel contract!

  Amber: I want to thank you again for your time today. But, before we go I’d like to ask if you have any advice for the future writers of the world?

  author-angela-slatter-02
  Angela:

  Keep writing.
  Learn your craft and never, ever think you know it all.
  Develop a thick skin, but realize that story criticism is aimed at making the story better, not at making you feel bad about yourself. Find people whose opinions you respect and trust.
  Remember: it’s always better to have someone find problems with a story before you send it out into the world.
  Networking is about building mutually beneficial relationships with other writers and publishers, not just about you getting what you can.
  Find below a selection of publications by Angela Slatter:

  end article
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• Shimmer Zine - https://www.shimmerzine.com/authors/author-page-angela-slatter/interview-3-with-angela-slatter/

  INTERVIEW 3 WITH ANGELA SLATTER
  Angela SlatterAngela Slatter’s short story, The Angel Wood, appears in the Autumn 2006 issue of Shimmer.

  Questions About the Story

  Where did the idea come from?
  Two sources – I was watching one of those British crime movies (as is my wont) and a murder was set in a place called the “Angel Wood”, and I thought “cool name”. So that was floating around in my head as a title; then a couple of nights later I couldn’t sleep, so got up for some appalling late-night TV watching. There was a program about the Black Death in London in the time of Charles II, and they’d done these excellent re-enactments of how life was then: how the sick stayed in doors during the day but came out at night for some fresh air, while the well stayed inside their locked houses. So, the two ideas came together, about a wealthy family fleeing the disease, basically going back to the mother’s old home, which she’d never spoken to her kids about. I liked the idea of it being a homecoming for the kids even though they’d never known about the place – it’s sort of a story about finding home wherever it happens to be.

  How did the story change as you developed it?
  I sliced off the first three hundred odd words which basically covered the escape from London – it set the atmosphere really well and I loved it, but in the end it was not really necessary to the rest of the story. I was sad to see it go, but the story stands better without it, it’s much tighter. I also had a character called Melisande, who was the great-grandmother and Sybilla was an aunt (like a bride and a handmaiden), but a friend pointed out that they were really just reflections of each other, so I cut Meilsande out (she was slightly malign anyway), and made Sybilla a more rounded character. She works much better.

  You know the advice “Sometimes you have to kill your darlings.” Was there a scene or line that it really hurt to cut, but cutting it made the story stronger?
  Sure, here t’is:

  We escaped London almost intact. Only my father, virulent blossoms decorating his body like funeral wreaths, succumbed. He was one of the last to have a proper funeral, all the pomp and ceremony quite pointless; it was, by then, obvious that wealth and power held no sway over the disease.

  Our flight was organized in a rush, with my mother paying off the remaining servants and sewing her jewellery into the hems of our cloaks. When we walked the fabric drifted heavily, like a slow snowfall. Jeremy-Charles, only three, wailed as Mother gutted his favourite bear and stuffed pearls into the cavity. When I handed it back to him he sniffed suspiciously at the new stitching before snuggling up to it and firmly lodging his thumb in his mouth. The twins, Millicent and Mathilda, sat quietly, self-contained, until asked to do something. They helped at once and, when finished, sat again and waited patiently.

  Our single trunk we heaved into the carriage, too anxious to bother with tying it to the roof. Mother and I each had a set of Father’s pistols snugly sitting under our cloaks.

  The carriage ride through London that evening was like traveling down a reeking tunnel. At night, the well and the as-yet-not-ill hid inside their homes so that the already ill and the soon-to-be-dead could roam the streets and take in what passed for fresh air. Mother drove, whipping the horses until we’d left the plague-infected city and its walking corpses behind.

  Now, with the city just a memory, the air is so sweet it creeps up our nostrils and makes us sneeze at its strangeness.

  How is this story like your other work?
  It’s like the rest in that it taps into that folkloric kind of pool that I’m interested in, but it isn’t based on any particular fairytale. I guess the green man idea is an old one but I didn’t write the story for it to be a re-written fairytale. It was more about the idea of coming home, of your family always being part of your blood, even the family you don’t know.

  Questions About Writing

  How long had you been submitting before you made your first sale?
  Um…probably only a few months. I was very lucky that my first sale was to Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and my second to Shimmer, and those were within a couple of weeks of each other. Those two sales have been so fortuitous because other magazines see Shimmer and LCRW on you writer’s bio and they go “oooh!” and are much more inclined to view your work with a tender eye, rather than a harsh one. It was weird – my first story to be sold was the one I thought no one would buy. So, what do I know??

  Do you work with a critique or writers group?
  My Masters supervisor is also a writing buddy, and I have about 8 readers. Four are other writers, so we work in a group; the other four are avid readers, so I get both perspectives on my work: the technical p.o.v. and the readerly p.o.v., which I find really valuable in developing my work.

  What authors, if any, have had the most influence on your work?
  Um. Angela Carter and Emma Donoghue are both superb fairytalers. I love John Connolly’s work, which mixes fantasy and crime and some seriously scary stuff all together – his writing has a superb voice, it’s cleverly written, great pace, and has a real depth of knowledge behind it. I really admire that. I don’t know if that makes them the ‘biggest influences’ – they are certainly writers I admire. I think your influences change over the years and it’s a hard question to answer!

  Favorite short story you’ve read recently?
  Two by Aimee Bender in Her “Willful Creatures” collection: “The Meeting” and “Ironhead

  Random Questions

  Do you believe in ghosts or the supernatural? Why?
  Yep, because I have relatives who are still hanging around! Science kids itself that it has the answer to everything and that everything’s logical. It’s not, end of story, get over it! You can’t explain everything.

  Fast food: Yea or Nay?
  Damn it. Like everything, it’s okay in moderation. But, please, McDonalds as a health food joint?!

  Name one place in your hometown that you love to go to and would recommend to others to visit.
  Avid Bookstore at West End, coz it’s cool.

  Is there anything that you would “sell your soul” for?
  Donuts…

  Do you have a secret skill that you never get to show off?
  No, no skills at all. Or none I’m admitting to.

5/8/17, 10)41 AM
Print Marked Items
A Feast of Sorrows: Stories
Publishers Weekly.
263.35 (Aug. 29, 2016): p73. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* A Feast of Sorrows: Stories
Angela Slatter. Prime, $15.95 trade paper (296p) ISBN 978-1-60701-474-4 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Australian speculative fiction author Slatter's U.S. debut is a compilation of her most notable stories along with several new ones, all of which showcase her incredible talent for enlivening fairy tale and folkloric fiction. Some, such as "Light as Mist, Heavy as Hope," rework familiar tales, often bringing female figures into the limelight as the protagonists. Others, such as "The Coffin-Maker's Daughter," feature women struggling against those who have wronged them. The bonds of family are sometimes treacherous, as in "By the Weeping Gate" and "Sister, Sister." Slatter's prose is reminiscent of oral storytelling; there is a sense that these stories are legends that have been handed down from generation to generation. But the women who star in them feel like real people, not mythic figures, and are agents unto themselves, with a variety of flaws and skills that shape them into fascinating characters. Slatter's worlds are many and diverse but feel somehow linked, and she renders them vividly. Her fiction will appeal to readers who enjoy highly inventive fantasy rooted in age-old tradition. Agent: Ian Drury, Shell hand Associates (U.K.). (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"A Feast of Sorrows: Stories." Publishers Weekly, 29 Aug. 2016, p. 73. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA462236455&it=r&asid=d2ed6cd95ba1c883da710eb356e408b4. Accessed 8 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A462236455
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Midnight and Moonshine
Publishers Weekly.
259.38 (Sept. 17, 2012): p37. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Midnight and Moonshine Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter. Ticonderoga (www.ticonderoga publications. com), $14.99 trade paper (324p) ISBN 978-192185-730-0
In "Seeds," the opening story of Hannett and Slatter's innovative dark fantasy collection, Mymnir, Odinn's white raven, flees the Ragnarok, "an apocalypse for the gods alone," and comes to the New World. There she creates a Fae kingdom in the image of Asgardr, transforming herself from a thieving, neglected raven into the fearsome, immortal Fae Queen. Though each story in this collection is self-contained and varied in tone and setting (Mymnir's Fae Court, Prohibition-era Charleston, the present, to name a few), each one builds upon its predecessor, with multiple generations of protagonists and recurring objects, characters (especially Mymnir, whose desires and memories, over the centuries, bring her to the cusp of another Ragnarok), and themes. Marked by imagery both beautiful and grotesque, and unnerving twists that recall the uncanny horror of original fairy tales, this collection contains a unifying, multilayered plot that draws upon Norse mythology to take the reader on a thrilling, unsettling journey. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Midnight and Moonshine." Publishers Weekly, 17 Sept. 2012, p. 37+. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA303755480&it=r&asid=83caa788457c4a38fc8cb484e8dd8c62 Accessed 8 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A303755480
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Of Sorrow and Such
Publishers Weekly.
262.35 (Aug. 31, 2015): p66. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Of Sorrow and Such
Angela Slatter. Tor.com, $12.99 trade paper (160p) ISBN 978-0-7653-8526-0
In a land much like medieval Europe, at a time when witches are burned for their talents, Patience Gideon lives the life of a humble herbalist in the town of Edda's Meadow, keeping the extent of her powers to herself. When her quiet life is disturbed by Flora, a fellow witch who has been attacked, Patience risks her life and her sanctuary to save her. Unfortunately, Flora is small-minded and vain, and her foolishness leads to Patience's capture and the end of her peaceful time in Edda's Meadow--and nearly costs Patience her life. This short novel bridges the events of two other stories, "Gallowberries" and "Sister, Sister" (neither included in this volume), and feels more like part of an ongoing series than a stand-alone tale, perhaps because it hints so well at adventures past and more yet to come. But it's a quick, fun read: enthralling, clever, and deliciously complex. (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Of Sorrow and Such." Publishers Weekly, 31 Aug. 2015, p. 66. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA427664828&it=r&asid=066064d101b44157e836cf670231f40a. Accessed 8 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A427664828
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Dead Red Heart: Australian Vampire Tales
Publishers Weekly.
258.12 (Mar. 21, 2011): p60. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2011 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Dead Red Heart: Australian Vampire Tales Edited by Russell B. Farr. Ticonderoga (www.ticonderogapublications.com), $24.99 trade paper (454p) ISBN 978-0-9807813-1-1
Ticonderoga publisher Farr (Fantastic Wonder Stories) collects 32 stories of horror and dark fantasy that acknowledge the undead as ineradicable members of Australian society. The best selections twine the vampire incursion with Australian history, as in Shona Husk's "Mutiny on the Scarborough," whose vampire narrator reveals himself to have been one of the earliest convicts transported Down Under. Angela Slatter's "Sun Falls," about a luckless vamp dependent upon his smartaleck human slave, and "The Tide," a multiauthored story that charts vampires' rise from second-class citizen to the nation's ruling elite, mix horror with humor. Unfortunately, most of the more serious stories aren't particularly innovative, but there are still many solid tales to satisfy vampire fans. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Dead Red Heart: Australian Vampire Tales." Publishers Weekly, 21 Mar. 2011, p. 60. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA252447559&it=r&asid=ac449842ccbd41ceb45ebb30c1d8c28a. Accessed 8 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A252447559
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The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 7
Publishers Weekly.
262.23 (June 8, 2015): p43. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 7
Ellen Datlow. Skyhorse/Night Shade, $15.99 trade paper (412p) ISBN 978-1-59780-829-3
Datlow continues her annual series with this excellent anthology of horror stories in a variety of styles. Standouts include Angela Slatter's "The Winter Children," a short but sweet twist on the idea of fairy tale children seeking revenge as adults; Genevieve Valentine's "A Dweller in Amenty," in which a modern-day sin-eater shows how she copes with her burdens; and John Langan's "Ymir," which mixes crime, combat-related PTSD, and ancient gods into a unique tale of dark horror. Not every tale feels like it belongs in a year's-best anthology; stories from the usually reliable Garth Nix and Gemma Files are underwhelming. Worse, Alison Littlewood's "The Dog's Home" contains an act of cruelty that is stomach-churning and vile without any redeeming sense of catharsis or literary merit, substituting transgression for style and horrific deeds for a genuine sense of horror. That one large blemish aside, Datlow shows a great sense of the scope and quality of the genre, adding (as always) superb year-in-review notes on horror markets large and small. Agent: Sarah Nagel, Writers House. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 7." Publishers Weekly, 8 June 2015, p. 43. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA417571512&it=r&asid=89995b16990b5aa46bcea1f9639c7553. Accessed 8 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A417571512
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"A Feast of Sorrows: Stories." Publishers Weekly, 29 Aug. 2016, p. 73. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA462236455&it=r. Accessed 8 May 2017. "Midnight and Moonshine." Publishers Weekly, 17 Sept. 2012, p. 37+. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA303755480&it=r. Accessed 8 May 2017. "Of Sorrow and Such." Publishers Weekly, 31 Aug. 2015, p. 66. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA427664828&it=r. Accessed 8 May 2017. "Dead Red Heart: Australian Vampire Tales." Publishers Weekly, 21 Mar. 2011, p. 60. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA252447559&it=r. Accessed 8 May 2017. "The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 7." Publishers Weekly, 8 June 2015, p. 43. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA417571512&it=r. Accessed 8 May 2017.

• Sydney Morning Herald
  http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/vigil-review-angela-slatter-creates-a-seriously-weird-version-of-brisbane-20161020-gs6rv4.html
  Word count: 664

  Vigil review: Angela Slatter creates a seriously weird version of Brisbane

  Rjurik Davidson
  FICTION
  Vigil
  ANGELA SLATTER
  HACHETTE, $32.99

  Angela Slatter won the World Fantasy Award for The Bitterwood Bible and other Recountings, a collection of rich and dark fairytales. Since then readers have eagerly anticipated a novel. Slatter's debut, Vigil, is a sidestep from fairytales into "urban fantasy", a sub-genre often featuring sharp-tongued detectives operating in a paranormal world hidden in the interstices of the real one.

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  Author Angela Slatter creates a seriously weird version of Brisbane.
  Author Angela Slatter creates a seriously weird version of Brisbane. Photo: Michelle Smith
  Descended from Victorian detective stories, this modern sub-genre usually involves some kind of magical murder that leads the detective into the shadowy fantasy world hidden beneath ours. Vigil reworks these urban fantasy tropes into an Australian setting.

  A "weird" Brisbane is populated by fantastical creatures: bird-like Sirens, distant and imperious Angels, and deadly Golems. These are creatures from European myth and the Judeo-Christian tradition.

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  Vigil, by Angela Slatter.
  Vigil, by Angela Slatter. Photo: Supplied
  Verity Fassbinder's father was a Kinderfresser, a "child-eater" from German myth, who was later condemned for his crimes. From him she inherited immense strength. However, her mother was a "normal". Thus Verity feels out of place in both worlds, though able to pass between them. Sardonically witty and perceptive, damaged and yet caring, Verity acts as a detective for the denizens of the magical world.

  At the beginning of the novel, two things have upset the relationship between the worlds. First, children are disappearing and a cruel magical wine made from their tears hits the market. Then Sirens start being murdered. Verity sets out to investigate, a path that leads her back into the murky pasts of broken families and to the upper echelons of the weird world.

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  There can be little doubt that we are in the hands of a first-rank storyteller. Slatter's voice, which underpins Verity's, is striking. Alternately witty and forthright, Verity leads us into the weird world with rare and ironic assurance. Slatter handles the interaction of the modern digital world with the lost world of myth with considerable control. More than anything, her talent is for scene and dialogue, character and mood. On the strength of these alone, Vigil will find many fans.

  Slatter holds back from providing too strong a sense of Brisbane. She sets the story in winter rather than summer, when Brisbane is beset by sweaty heat and late afternoon storms. Missing is the alienness – to Europeans at least – of the Australian landscape and its exotic flora and fauna.

  One reason for this reticence might be that the closer one gets to Australian geography and history, one has to face the fact that Australia has its own Indigenous myth. For non-Indigenous writers this provides a particularly difficult dilemma: one risks facing accusations of whitewashing history or criticisms that one has appropriated Indigenous culture.

  Slatter could have impressed upon us her world view a touch more. She might have used a sense of place to explain to us: look this is the nature of the world and these are the kinds of things that happen. In this case, to solve the crime is to unveil the true relations of things, the real and hidden power structure of the world.

  Whatever the case, Slatter will gain yet more fans from this novel. It's a wonderfully entertaining book. Two more Verity Fassbinder novels are in the works. We can only wait to see in which directions Slatter develops.

  Rjurik Davidson's most recent novel, The Stars Askew, is published by Tor.

• Hellnotes
  http://hellnotes.com/a-feast-of-sorrows-book-review/
  Word count: 355

  A Feast of Sorrows
  Angela Slatter
  Prime Books
  October, 2016
  Reviewed by Mario Guslandi
  Here it comes, at last: the first Angela Slatter book published in the USA. An excellent Australian writer whose superb dark stories have appeared in various British anthologies and collections, Slatter is known as the author of a genre of fiction lying somewhere between horror and fantasy, often taking the shape of adult fairy tales.
  A Feast of Sorrows assembles fourteen stories, two originals and twelve reprints, which provide a fascinating showcase of Slatter’s extraordinary talent as a gifted storyteller and a devoted scholar of the mysteries of human soul.
  “Sourdough” is a delightful fable where true love triumphs over evil and witchcraft, while “Dresses, three” is a gentle yarn about love and overwhelming desire, served with a touch of magic.
  The delicious “The Badger’s Bride” features a girl whose task is to copy a mysterious, ancient book, and the vivid “By My Voice I Shall be Known” depicts a case of cheated love ending with a terrible vengeance.
  “Bluebeard’s Daughter” nicely revisits the old pirate’s tale by elaborating on the deeds of his last wife and her son, while “Light as Mist, Heavy as Hope” provides an enchanting new version of the classic Rumpelstiltskin story. In the powerful fantasy piece “Sister Sister,” a former princess is abandoned by her husband and bewitched by her wicked, inhuman sister. The British Fantasy Award-winning “The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter” masterfully blends death and lust within the frame of the professional duty of a dismal job. Part of a forthcoming new collection, “The Tallow-Wife” is a remarkable narrative tour de force — it’s a dark comedy portraying the downfall of a family, some members of which hide unspeakable secrets. One of the sequels to that novelette, the offbeat “Bearskin,” is also included in this volume.
  A Feast of Sorrows is a real treat for the reader fond of great storytelling on the dark side of life. Needless to add, it is highly recommended.
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