Dancing With Myself: GUY SALVIDGE interviews GUY SALVIDGE

What’s this ‘Yellowcake’ business? You mean yellowcake as in uranium?

Indeed. Yellowcake Summer is a dystopian novel set in Western Australia around fifty years from now. In it, a Chinese company called CIQ Sinocorp has bought up a vast tract of the state and set up a nuclear reactor town, Yellowcake Springs, there. The region has been deemed a ‘Protectorate’ not subject to Australian law, and not everyone is happy with that.

Hang on a minute. This is a sequel, isn’t it? 

It is. The first novel, Yellowcake Springs, won an Australian competition called IP Picks and was subsequently published by IP in 2011. The novel was later shortlisted for the Norma K Hemming Award in 2012.

Right. So what happens in Yellowcake Springs?

In Yellowcake Springs, we follow the lives of three people in vastly different situations in the year 2058. Sylvia Baron is an advertising rep living an affluent life in Yellowcake Springs. Rion is a vagrant from the ‘Belt town of East Hills, trying to scrape out a living. Jiang Wei is a young Chinese man recruited by CIQ Sinocorp to work at Yellowcake Springs. The lives of all three become intertwined partly through the use of Controlled Dreaming State, a sort of advanced virtual reality. Sylvia’s husband heads up a secret environmental (or ‘mental) group known as Misanthropos and the group stages an attack on the reactor complex.

Sounds dicey. So what happens in Yellowcake Summer?

By the time of Yellowcake Summer, three years have passed since the events of the first book. Sylvia Baron is getting out of prison for something that happened in the first book, Rion is about to be conscripted into something called the Civilian Police Force, and our third viewpoint character Jeremy Peters is about to be promoted to Director of Security of Yellowcake Springs.

Am I going to have to wait for Yellowcake Winter to find out how it all ends?

Tempting title, but no. The story is complete in two volumes.

Got anything else coming out, an anthology of post-apocalyptic noir perhaps?

As a matter of fact, yes! A couple of years ago, I read a novel called Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat by an ex-pat Aussie called Andrez Bergen. Mad book, a mish-mash of detective and science fiction. Lots of fun. Anyway, I wrote a review of that and Andrez ended up inviting me to write a story for something he was putting together called The Tobacco-Stained Sky: An Anthology ofPost-Apocalyptic Noir.

 

I can’t help but see your name on the front cover there. Am I blind?

No, what happened was that the whole project was crying out for someone to edit the prose fiction. Someone innovative, someone handsome, someone –

— we get it, sheesh. So it’s a good book, is it?

Fantastic book. It has some amazingly entertaining and well written stories in it by people like Josh Stallings, Chad Eagleton, Julie Morrigan and Nigel Bird. Plus a whole bunch of comics, artworks, you name it. The Tobacco-Stained Sky will be out very soon, on August 26^th.

So you managed to get a short story published in an anthology that you edited? *slow hand clap*

Wait a minute, I had the story in there before –

Never mind. I take it you have some other stories doing the rounds, then? 

My story in The Tobacco-Stained Sky, “The Dying Rain”, turned out to be the first in a series of stories featuring Tyler Bramble, a Seeker living in post-apocalyptic Melbourne. These stories are in the Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat universe. The second Tyler Bramble story, “Blue Swirls”, was published in a new Australian magazine called Tincture Journal and will shortly be featured in the second issue of Canadian anthology, Warpaint. I’ve written a third Tyler Bramble story, “A Void”, which might come out sometime next year, with a bit of luck.

Is that it?

No-o. I had a story, “The Last First”, in Another Sky Press’ Alien Sky anthology earlier this year.

Wait, you didn’t edit that as well, did you?

No, it was edited by a very nice man named Justin Nicholes. We aren’t even related.

Working on something else, are you?

Right now I’m writing a crime fiction novel called Dan: A Cautionary Tale. Earlier this year I was lucky enough to be selected as a Writer-in-Residence at the KSP Writers’ Centre in Perth, so I had four solid weeks to make a start on the novel. I’m about half way through.

So you write full time, do you? Raking in the big bucks just like F. Scott Fitzgerald?

Um, not quite. I have a day job, of sorts. You know, teaching high school English and all that.

But you’ll be able to give that away soon, won’t you? Just as soon as Yellowcake Summer hits the big time like that crime novel by that guy who turned out to be that lady, what’s her name?

…

Sleeps With The Fishes

Do you know, I think I've managed to avoid too much self-promotion for a while and I'm happy that way.

Even so, I'd like to share a nice review for Sleeps With The Fishes (US).  Here's the review from 3rd August as spotted today:

'Written as a memoir of life in a dystopian future where a fascist regime has taken charge employing extreme scapegoating tactics and brutality, the protagonist is in hiding awaiting discovery. When the end comes you have a complete picture of the story so far and are as anxious yourself as he is. The writing is economical and every word gives its full weight to the story. Amazingly the author manages to include some amusing and pithy lines into a dark and sombre tale. This is an extremely well written short story and is well worth a look.'

There have been some others too:

'A great concept for a novel and would like to read more please! It was short but interesting read, which left me hungry for a bit more.'

'This short story is both atmospheric and claustrophobic. It features a man who has spent 18 months hiding in a basement from the authorities because of an accident of birth. A new government has decreed that people with the wrong birthsigns are to be done away with. I love a story that makes me think, 'What if..?' If it were proved that more criminals had one birth sign than another, would that be a reason for condemning all people born at that time of year? Of course not, but could a cunning politician or two make people believe it?

Nigel Bird's writing is conversational in this short story, but perhaps because of that, it is very direct. The story portrays an uneasy future which made me shudder. We often think, 'That couldn't happen' but we've been wrong before. A very good read. '

and

'I'm not a great fan of science fiction but Nigel Bird's tense, humanist short story is gripping.Great writing about real people. '

If the Amazon link doesn't thrill you, you can get it for free via WHSmith (courtesy of Kobo).

Thanks all.

One Man's Opinion: A BOUQUET OF BULLETS by ERIC BEETNER

Eric Beetner is a brilliant story-teller.  Apart from his skill in terms of craft, he possesses a great imagination that can turn almost normal situations into crime stories.  He has the ability to draw out the most from an idea by working in the ingredients of situation, gore, violence, tension, character and humour in just the right quantities for each individual piece.

The tales here are varied in terms of situation and voice and there are some rather substantial pieces included here.  Each is rounded off with a punch of the correct weight and all of them left me feeling satisfied. 

When put together, these stories form a mighty collection that provide ridiculously good value for fans of crime fiction and fans of engaging short fiction. 

Jump on and enjoy (but be warned – watch your fingers).

I also happen to love the cover on this one – quite stunning.

 

Ace.

Bouquet Of Bullets

Bouquet Of Bullets (US)

One Man's Opinion: BLOOD ON BLOOD by FRANK ZAFIRO and JIM WILSKY

Gar’s a cynical, cold jailbird who’s dying in a prison hospital.  He’s hard and mean right up to the end.   

Before leaving this world, he asks his doctor to set up a visit from his 2 sons so that he can rest in a kind of peace.

His sons are an interesting pair and they can prove or disprove nature-nurture theories in any way you like, given that they were born to different mothers.

Mick is the Irish son, Jerzy is the Pole.  Mick was once a cop and might have a soft side well hidden somewhere, but in truth the pair are just about as stubborn, brutal and mean as their father.

When they are reunited in the hospital it’s the first time they’ve seen each other in many years. 

Gar gives them a mission that will force them together for a short while.  Is he intending to bring his progeny back to the glory days of youth in a Coupe-De-Ville style journey as his final act?  That would be a noble final act from any man, I’d say.

Thankfully, the 2 men have little on their plate other than a turf war assassination and a competition where they’re both fishing for the heart (and body) of the beautiful Ania.

All the strands fizz and eventually the fuses blow to ignite a dynamite ending. 

Explosive and engaging right from the off and another success for the gritty and blossoming Snubnose Press.

Blood On Blood

Blood On Blood US

One Man's Opinion: STEEL HEART by THOMAS PLUCK

Good short story writing is a real art form and Thomas Pluck might easily be considered to be a Michelangelo of Flash Fiction.
 
His palette is perfectly maintained, containing all the colours, shades and tones anyone could wish to see. He has thick brushes for the broad strokes to give the arc of a tale. There are brushes with single hairs for the fine detail. There's a blade for when the action needs to be laid on thick and fast.
 
Throw in the skills to create a real sense of perspective, the odd trompe l'oeil and a dash of the abstract and you're looking at something really tremendous.
 
Here are some tales of revenge. And how sweet they taste.
 
Pluck serves them up cold, just as he promises in the title.
 
Strange then, that as in all the best tales, it's not the chill that remains once the last full-stops have been read. Rather, for me, it's the warmth that emanates from the stories.
 
The characters are richly drawn and the settings as diverse as can be imagined. By the end of each story, not only will you have been on a journey through a pivotal moment in someone's life, you'll also have a sense of why they ended up the way they did. Why they had to behave the way they did. That they have hot red blood in their veins, however it may be spilled.
 
As for a Steel Heart (US), this guy never misses a beat. Truth is the steel's all for show. If, like me, you're a lover of the short story, I can guarantee that this guy Pluck is going to be stealing your ticker as soon as you set eyes on his work.

One Man's Opinion: GUMSHOE by PAUL D BRAZILL

 

In Gumshoe (US), Paul Brazill takes the idea of a cool Private Eye and turns it upside down and inside out in his creation Peter Orb.  One of the few things that Orb has in common with the done-to-death PI is that he’s a drinker and that life has been unkind to him.

This book reminds me of a Naked Gun/Airplane move as it’s packed with jokes, puns and whiplash humour, whether it is spawned by character, setting, dialogue or just because a word can become entertaining with a simple twist in a sentence.  It’s also worth mentioning the Albert Finney movie of the same name (Gumshoe!) as a possible inspiration and reference point.

The northern English slant is refreshing and its appeal should be universal.

A thoroughly enjoyable read which begs the question, who’ll play Orb on screen?  Something to tease you as much as the build up to the new Dr Who revelation later this weekend.  Answers on a saucy postcard please.

And speaking of Saucy, there’s more than a squirt of ketchup in this freebie.

 

Off you pop.

 

 

One Man's Opinion: HELL ON CHURCH STREET by JAKE HINKSON

I’m swimming against a big tide on this one.  Not against the tide exactly, more across it.  Hell On Church Street (US) has a mass of excellent reviews and it may well be that they offer a more rounded opinion than I can.

I did enjoy the read and think the idea for the story is really strong.  A tough man, down on his luck, returns to crime to support himself.  He waits patiently for a soft target and finds him in a flabby slob with poor personal hygiene.  He takes the slob to his car and they drive off, the slob with a gun to his head.  Tables are turned when the driver put his foot to the floor and keeps it there.  It turns out that the soft target is only soft on the outside and we hear his very dark story as they drive along.

Geoffrey Webb’s the name of the driver.  He was a non-descript student who saw an opportunity to use his intelligence to take up and exploit a position in the church.  He becomes a youth minister, but falls in love with the minister’s daughter and a catalogue of disasters ensues.  There’s no doubt about it, it’s dark, edgy and well written.

My overriding feeling is that it’s the relationship between the 2 men in the opening and closing scenes that held most of my interest.  Hinkson’s twist is really smart.  For that reason, I’d have preferred it if the central piece (the bulk of the tale) had been trimmed and feel that this would have made an outstanding short story of decent length rather than a good novel the way things are.  I see it like a sandwich where the meat’s on the outside and the bread’s in the middle, if you can imagine such a thing.

Yes, it’s pretty good and I liked it.  I’d recommend it as a read and feel that the weight of opinion in its favour amplifies that thought tenfold. 

Take a look. See if you know what I mean.