View from the transit lounge

I spent ages trying to think of a snappy heading for this post.

In the end I settled on ‘View from the transit lounge’, because as an aspiring author it’s easy to feel like you are always stuck in the transit lounge, feverishly clutching your manuscript like a boarding pass, watching other writers start or continue their literary journeys, while you… well, whatever, you get my general drift.

Moments of doubt aside, 2011 is shaping up to be a good year for me writing-wise.

Exhibit A is this website. If it’s your first visit, welcome. If you’ve been here before, you may notice that I’ve had a bit of work done. Actually, a lot of work.

Thanks to Rowan McKnaught from Studio Skiing for doing such a high quality, reasonably priced job, and for putting up with all my technologically illiterate questions.

I started Pulp Curry in mid-2010 to publicise the manuscript for my unpublished crime novel, Cambodia Darkness and Light. While that’s still a big part of why I’m doing it, the site has taken on a life of its own, getting quite a lot of traffic and giving me the opportunity to sound off on various obsessions about crime film and writing.

Time permitting (I’ve got a day job, you know), hopefully, it’ll go onto bigger and better things. I’d love to know what you think of the new site. Leave a comment, or if you’d like to write something for Pulp Curry or have a topic you’d like me to cover, please let me know.

My other big news is that I got a yarn accepted in the as yet unnamed Crime Factory short story anthology, due for release in the US later this year through New Pulp Press (no relation). This is a huge deal for me. I’ve seen the rest of the line up and there are some pretty big names in it.

You’ll be hearing more about that in the future. Hear about it? Shit, who am I kidding, you won’t be able to shut me up about it!

While I am on the subject of Crime Factory, I”m be taking over the reins as reviews editor for the magazine. I’m one of several new bodies joining the rapidly expanding Crime Factory firm and I’m looking forward to it.

Last, but definitely not least, I’ll be part of a panel for the Victorian Emerging Writers Festival, which runs from 26 May – 5 June. I’m on the genre crime panel on June 2, along with veteran Australian crime writer Kerry Greenwood and others.

That’s all for now, I’ve gotta go to the men’s room in case they call my flight.