Demolitions

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People have shit taste. Not just other people, but everybody. You, me, even the President. My theory? Everyone’s got a … unique set of preferences, and they’re all wrong. Hold up, I’m going somewhere with this. You may have heard that I finished up work last Friday, and I wanted to take a week or two off before picking up the pen on Night’s End again. Unfortunately I have this thing where I can’t actually do nothing, which is probably going to cause all sorts of problems. But not today! Enter: the outdoor room. This was a kind of semi-enclosed veranda the previous owners of our villa put in. Every side was enclosed in cheap panelling: the wood untreated, the fibralite of the cheaper variety so that it’s not, as you can attest, see-through. Because it was a shitty place to hang out unless you Read More …

Being Equal

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We’re right on the edge of something particularly awesome. I know this is probably the view of anyone at any given time in history – you know, that guy who’s sitting around the first human-made fire. Screw collecting burning trees struck by lightning and trying to keep ’em burning: this dude’s rubbed some sticks together or whatever, he’s got fire on demand, he’s getting warm, and that dude’s saying, “Man, being a human is awesome, and we’re right on the fucking pinnacle of achievement here.” The more specific awesome thing I’m talking about here is equality, but we’re not quite there yet. I think we all have a part to play, through our own personal platforms. You can help. Yeah. You’ve got a platform. You might not know it, but you do. My most obvious one is books, but I Read More …

Getting Crafty

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Hello, Internet. My friend Jane from Three Hats Ltd and I are on a quest: Right every wrong. Propagate peace and understanding to the farthest corners of the universe. Source a locally-made craft beer in NZ that doesn’t taste like the sphincters of recycled hops. These are not in priority order. The genus of #3 came from my sojourn to North America, where it seems that both the US and Canada make excellent craft beers (lagers, ambers, whatever) that are smooth, creamy, rich, almost sweet. I’ve drunk a lot of beer – a) I’m a New Zealander and b) I live in New Zealand, basically it’s our cultural identity and religion in one – but my quest for craft beers has turned up nothing but sharp, acerbic shit. I appreciate that these comments may be divisive. Having said that! If Read More …

The Same Standard Distribution of Asshats

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I realised today that not *everyone* is an asshole. Bear with me. This might take a while to break down. You know how people are getting depressed or anxious more in today’s world, right, this isn’t exactly news. There have been more meds proscribed for more conditions than ever before, and if you don’t know someone suffering from depression or anxiety you’re probably an insensitive jerk or living in the woods wearing nothing animal skins, and if it’s the latter you’re probably not reading this anyway. I’m wondering, you know, about why this is. People are talking about how it’s the way we live life, the pace of it, or the transitory nature, or the lack of creativity, which I think are all true. These things make sense – if you’re just sweating behind a desk for The Man, you’re Read More …

Finding a Refuge

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It’s a funny world, and I don’t mean ha-ha funny, but epic-small funny. Stephen Dillon crossed my radar as a radical giver-of-time-for-stuff-bigger-than-himself by way of us both knowing Lee Murray. He’s the brains – and, let’s be honest, pretty much the muscle too – behind The Refuge Collection. Besides being an excellent collection of genre fiction set around a mythical town called Refuge, it’s a project that’s attracted a great many authors and artists to his banner to help out charity. Before we hit the pimp my ride part of the show, let’s do some quiet introductions… First up, tell us a little about how you got into this publishing-for-charity gig. Did you approach it as a writer, or from a different angle? Where did the idea come from? I was writing a bunch of stories at the same time, which Read More …

Getting High

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I mean, drug high. We’re having our kitchen countertop resurfaced. It’s impacted the writing a little — I’m either writing a lot worse than before, or my judgement’s improved — but we’ve got a finished product now. Here’s what it looked like about half-way: Aside from feeling permanently high on Jesus, it’s been fun trying to work out how to, say, make a cup of coffee without, uh, anything. Coffee cups, coffee machine, and heck, even the coffee itself. But it’s done now, and here’s the finished product. I can taste tomorrow’s coffee already.

First Review … as a Series

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Lee’s posted an excellent review up on SQMag. I think this is the first review someone’s done of Night’s Champion, as a series. Now, I need to complete the trilogy. Leave that one with me. https://sqmag.com/2016/08/31/edition-28-book-review-nights-champion-series-by-richard-parry/

Interview: Lee Murray

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I like to read. I think it’s a natural condition for those of us in the human race — we like stories. My reading pile (more or less a pile of shame: so many promising books I haven’t got to yet) grew by one. I had a nibble on the sample, grabbed it, and finished it in less than a week (meteoric for me — and only possible because of a last burn to a 3am finish). That book was Into the Mist, a new release from Lee Murray. Not content with the substance of my review, I pestered Lee until she agreed to do an interview. I think she did this to shut me up, or maybe it was out of pity; she’s too polite to say. If you haven’t already, go grab that sample; it’s worth your time. Let’s do Read More …

Movie Reviews from the Front Line

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Actually, from the plane. I was in the Philippines again this week, doing some fun work with excellent people.  Seriously, that place rocks, and I don’t get why they’re not all 180kg because the food there is amazing. One of the things about business travel, aside from it lacking any sort of glamour, is that you get to see a lot of movies.  Here’s my review cycle for this latest trip.