Archive for the ‘ Gary and Lissa ’ Category

The Next Big Thing

You may have seen the blog chain winding its links around the Australian writing community lately. Tansy Rayner Roberts tagged me (read her contribution here) and here is my effort at answering the standard questions. I actually have two concurrent projects (actually, three, but the third involves short stories, so I thought I’d leave them out of it) so it got a bit complicated. Apparently, complicated and way too busy is my thing. Free time is anathema to me.

What is the working title of your next book?

I have a couple of projects going simultaneously at the moment, which is madness, I know. Believe me. They’re not even the only two projects I’m developing.

One project is the third Gary/Lissa vampire novel, with the working title of Beyond Redemption. The new project is being developed under the title Kitty and Cadaver.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Kitty and Cadaver came about basically because I love books in which rock and roll saves the world from monsters. There aren’t nearly enough of them, so I decided to write one.

Beyond Redemption is the third in a trilogy and will finish the Gary and Lissa’s story.

What genre does your book fall under?

Both of them are urban fantasy books. Well, I suppose Kitty and Cadaver is urban fantasy come rock opera.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Toby Truslove

For Gary and Lissa, I’ve been thinking lately that Toby Truslove (Outland, Laid, The Strange Calls) would make a good Gary, if he chubbed up a bit. For Lissa, an actress named Maya Stange (Garage Days) has a great look.  (Actually, I think they’re both older than the characters, but they fit with my ideas of the characters.) Magda Szubanski was always the model for the vampire queen Magdalene, of course.

I haven’t got that far with the characters for Kitty and Cadaver yet.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

I will cheat by writing very long sentences.

Beyond Redemption: Gary is at the end of his tether, then he gets an idea that is either completely brilliant or completely stupid, particularly in light of the latest ructions in the vampire community and the return of Lissa’s mother.

Kitty and Cadaver: The surviving members of the rock band with a mission to save the world from monsters stumble across the zombie apocalypse in Melbourne, but need to find a new lead singer with a magic voice before they can confront the undead as well as their own demons.

Maya Stange

Maya Stange

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Beyond Redemption will come out with Clan Destine Press. I don’t know what will happen yet with Kitty and Cadaver. I’ll be approaching an agent when I have a completed manuscript ready to go, but Clan Destine has expressed interest in that as well.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I’m still working on them both, but first drafts usually take me 12 to 18 months, since I write them outside my day job hours. I’m hoping to go down to three days a week in day job hours in 2013, so maybe I’ll get these ones done more quickly for a change.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Obviously Beyond Redemption is on a line with the other vampire novels, The Opposite of Life and Walking Shadows.  Comic, non-romance urban vampire books in general, I suppose.

Kitty and Cadaver will be a bit like other rock ‘n’ roll saves the world books: Scott Westerfeld’s Peeps and The Last Days, and Emma Bull’s The War for the Oaks come to mind. (If anyone has recommendations for other books along these lines, I’d love to hear about them!)

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

For Kitty and Cadaver – Rock ‘n’ Rooooooooollllllllll!!

More helpfully: I’d been noodling about writing lyrics (and a bit of music, but it’s been a long time since I played an instrument) to stretch myself and I loved doing it. I last wrote songs for some Blake’s 7 filk about thirty years ago, though I’ve dabbled a bit in the interim. But I loved doing it so much that I wanted to do a story that used music a lot more.  Music, magic, monsters: a perfect combination, surely?

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Music will be an integral part of Kitty and Cadaver, and I’m working with my niece, who is a musician, on developing songs that will be used in the stories. So it’ll be a multimedia bonanza!! Woooot!

Read other Next Big Thing entries in the blog chain!

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, smartphone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

2012
12/05
CATEGORY
Gary and Lissa
vampires
writing
zombies
2 comments

The Mid Year Review

2012 has been an interesting year so far. By interesting I mean, of course, ‘astonishing’, ‘fantabulous’, ‘exhausting’, ‘exhilarating’ and, quite possibly, ‘TOTALLY ACE!”

2012, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

ONE. March 2012: Showtime

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned how excited I was to have Twelfth Planet Press invite me to submit to their Twelve Planets series. It was nothing compared to how excited I was to have my submission accepted. After months of work with the publisher, Alisa Krasnostein (a World Fantasy Award winner for her work with TPP) and my editor, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Showtime was released on International Women’s Day. It’s had some great reviews, but more importantly, I’m personally very proud of the work that went into those short stories. For fans of The Opposite of Life, there’s a Gary and Lissa story set at the Royal Melbourne Show. The book also contains a zombie story, a ghost story and a more traditional vampire story set in Hungary, inspired by my travels to that country in 2010.

You can buy Showtime from Twelfth Planet Press.


TWO. April 2012: Melbourne Peculiar

When I’m not writing fiction (or doing the day job) I’ve been known to create apps. My first one, Melbourne Literary, came out a few years ago. Clearly a glutton for punishment, this year I finally finished my second app – Melbourne Peculiar, a guide to everything that’s a little bit strange about this town.

I’m fond of the tagline: Melbourne is stranger than you know. Because it really is.

The app is a fairly personal collection of the things I find odd: things like floral clocks, and hidden anti-consumer messages in shopping malls, and arcane shops and memento mori jewellery. You can even learn about the resting place of the inventor of Vegemite, discover where to get spam, get eggs and truffle oil for breakfast or find a famous composer’s whip collection.

You can download Melbourne Peculiar for Apple iDevices or for Android devices.

THREE. May 2012: The Witches of Tyne

A little while ago, I had the great good fortune to win cover art by the fabulous Les Petersen. Since all my other projects already had covers in the pipeline, I thought it would be the perfect time to release a special omnibus edition of my out of print fantasy novels, Witch Honour and Witch Faith, which had been released in hardback in the US in 2005-2007.

So in between writing and editing books and apps, I set about editing the two novels (doing a bit of an adjective and adverb cull, since I’d become a more concise writer since these were published) and adding several short stories and even song lyrics as extra. The result is The Witches of Tyne. It looks terrific, and I’m proud of the result. Extras will be forthcoming in the shape of an actual song to go with the song lyrics, in due course.

In the meantime, you can get The Witches of Tyne from Amazon.com

FOUR. June 2012: Walking Shadows

And hello June! On Friday 8 June, Clan Destine Press and I will be launching Walking Shadows, the long-awaited sequel to The Opposite of Life.

Walking Shadows will be available as an ebook as well as a print edition: stay tuned for links post-launch!

The cover blurb is from Charlaine Harris’s blog about The Opposite of Life:

“A most unusual vampire novel…if you can get this book, do. It’s really a refreshing take on a common theme.”

Which is pretty darned cool.

So thank you, first half of 2012, for being especially fantastic. The latter half may be technically a little quieter, but I’ll be hard at work on the third of the vampire books, so with luck 2013 will contains booky goodness as well.

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

2012
06/06
CATEGORY
apps
e-books
Gary and Lissa
short stories
vampires
Walking Shadows
writing
4 comments

Book Launch 8 June: Walking Shadows

I’m very excited and pleased to announce the imminent launch of Walking Shadows,  and you are all cordially invited to attend!

Walking Shadows is the follow-up to my vampire novel set in Melbourne, The Opposite of Life (available in paperback at Dymocks on Collins Street and other bookshops, and as an ebook on Amazon.com and Booki.sh)

The launch will be held on Friday 8 June at 5.45pm at the Rydges Hotel in Carlton.

The launch is a free event, taking place at the Continuum 8 convention, but you don’t have to be a member of the convention to attend.

Get all the details by downloading the Walking Shadows invite.

Walking Shadows will be available at a special launch-only price on the night!

Feel free to share the invitation or to RSVP on the Facebook event page. I’d love to see you there!!

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

2012
06/01
CATEGORY
Events
Gary and Lissa
The Opposite of Life
vampires
Walking Shadows
writing
1 comment

Behold: The cover of Walking Shadows!

cover by Daryl Lindquist

The cover for Walking Shadows was unveiled officially at Supanova on Saturday 14 April! Isn’t it glorious? It’s still being finalised and polished, particularly the back cover, but this is it! The Melbourne Arts Centre spire! A new vampire character! Undead shenanigans!

I’ve just sent off the latest draft, and if there are no significant edits to come, and if things keep to schedule, you can look forward to this sequel to The Opposite of Life coming out in June 2012.

JUNE!

That noise you hear is me, squeaking excitedly.

Here’s a little about the story!

Walking Shadows

Lissa Wilson’s world turned upside-down a year ago. People she cared about – one she could have loved – were murdered. By vampires. They tried to kill her, too.

On the plus side, she made a new friend. Gary Hooper might be Melbourne’s (or maybe the world’s) least impressive vampire, but he may be her best friend, ever.

Without meaning to, he changed her and he taught her the value of her life.

Knowing Lissa has changed Gary, too, even though he’s not really sure what it means. It doesn’t mean that Gary doesn’t have secrets, though. Secrets that might end their friendship, if Lissa ever learned about the services he provides the undead community.

And what’s an ordinary geekgirl librarian to do when hardcore vampire killers begin killing off Melbourne’s vampire population, and her undead bestie is on the hit list? Should she throw herself in mortal danger, despite having no battle skills, let alone supernatural strength?

Lissa risks everything to protect someone who should be perfectly capable of protecting himself. And Gary finds that the ways he’s changing might make him more human – if they don’t get him killed.

Everyone has secrets; everyone gets trapped by their history. How many can learn how to change? How many will live long enough to try?

Look out for Walking Shadows in June 2012!

Visit Clan Destine Press and join the mailing list.

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

2012
04/16
CATEGORY
Gary and Lissa
The Opposite of Life
vampires
writing
2 comments

It’s Showtime!!

This week on International Women’s Day (8 March), Twelfth Planet Press announced the official release of my new short story collection, Showtime!

I’m so excited to be part of TPP’s Twelve Planets series. I’m also excited to bring you four domestic (but not domesticated) horror stories.

  • Stalemate
    - a kitchen ghost story
  • Thrall
    - a Hungarian vampire finds the 21st Century doesn’t agree with him, and all he has to help him remedy the situation is a dowdy middle aged mum. With allergies.
  • The Truth About Brains
    - a teenage girl’s little brother gets turned into a zombie, and she’s trying to fix him before mum finds out.
  • Showtime
    - Gary the vampire and Lissa the librarian from The Opposite of Life go to the Royal Melbourne Show. Lissa is annoyed to discover vampires up to No Good at the Haunted House. Terrified, but mostly really annoyed.

US Author Seanan Maguire wrote a magnificent introduction to the collection that makes me feel amazed that someone could like something I wrote so much, and see so much in it.

An e-version will be available in due course, but in the meantime buy Showtime from Twelfth Planet Press.

Some bookstores stock TPP books, too, including Embiggen Books on Little Lonsdale Street and Notions Unlimited in Chelsea, so check with them. If you want your own local bookstore to order it in, the details are: Showtime by Narrelle M Harris, published by Twelfth Planet Press, ISBN 978-0-9872162-0-5.

The official blurb:

Family drama can be found anywhere: in kitchens, in cafes. Derelict hotels, showground rides. Even dungeons far below ruined Hungarian castles. (Okay, especially in Hungarian dungeons.)

Old family fights can go on forever, especially if you’re undead. If an opportunity came to save someone else’s family, the way you couldn’t save your own, would you take it?

Your family might include ghosts, or zombies, or vampires. Maybe they just have allergies. Nobody’s perfect.

Family history can weigh on the present like a stone.  But the thing about families is, you can’t escape them. Not ever. And mostly, you don’t want to.

It’s a beautiful collection of pieces, each one utterly classic and completely new at the same time… In Narrelle’s hands, everything old is new again, and everything new has the weight of age.  There’s magic in that, and in this book. — Seanan McGuire

These Australians give me hope for the future of female, and even feminist, writers in SF. – Gwyenth Jones

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

2012
03/09
CATEGORY
Gary and Lissa
short stories
The Opposite of Life
vampires
writing
zombies
4 comments

GaryView: The Blood Countess by Tara Moss

Gary and LissaLissa: Given your usual misgivings about how vampire books are nothing like actual vampires, what’s the verdict

Gary: It was okay.

Lissa: I really liked Pandora English. She’s smart, capable, funny and I liked that she wanted to be an investigative journalist, not just write fluff pieces about fashion. Her Aunt Celia was a good character, and I liked her friendly Civil War ghost. Luke was a sweetie.

Gary: The ghost was okay.

Lissa: It was pretty funny in parts, and the mystery was good. It’s that Hitchcockian theory of suspense, when you know more that the protagonist.

Gary: I suppose that was okay.

Lissa: The writing style flowed really nicely too. It was fun and easy to read, which I like sometimes.

Gary: It was a fast read, yes.

Lissa: …You didn’t really like it, did you?

Gary: It was fine, for a light read. I did like the writing style, really. It’s very cinematic. It’s easy to see how it would look as a film.

Lissa: What didn’t you like about it?

Gary: I didn’t not like it. It just… had a lot in it about clothes. And shoes. What’s a Mary Jane shoe anyway?

Lissa: Sort of like what I’m wearing now, but with a chunkier heel.

Gary: And that’s what Pandora was excited about?

Lissa: Mary Janes are comfortable but still pretty.

Gary: …oooookay.

Lissa: Actually, the scenes with the vintage fashion dress-ups were some of my favourites! It would be nice to have an exotic former designer of a great-aunt giving me tips and nice shoes to make my way in New York.

Gary: You would?

Lissa: Yeah. That Chanel outfit sounded nice. The black pants suit.

Gary: I didn’t think you were very interested in clothes.

Lissa: I’m not obsessive about them…

Gary: Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Lissa: What do you mean?

Gary: I mean that I didn’t think you were into shoes and stuff that much.

Lissa: Why?

Gary: Well…

Lissa: Just because I don’t go on and on about fashion, it doesn’t mean I don’t like nice things.  I like nice clothes. I have my own style.

Gary: (nods vigorously, like he’s understood) Yes. Your librarian style.

Lisa: What’s that supposed to mean?

Gary: (uncertain) Ah….

Lissa: Sartorial criticism coming from a man who wears the Hawaiian shirts his mother bought for him in a job lot at a fire sale in the early 80s isn’t really my idea of expert comment.

Gary: I’ve said something wrong and I don’t know what it is.

Lissa: What does ‘librarian style’ even mean?

Gary: I just meant… you’re a librarian and… that’s how… you dress…? Should I have said Lissa style? You dress like you. Is that… how is that a bad thing?

Lissa: It’s…ah… not.

Gary: Would it help if I said sorry?

Lissa: You don’t know what you’re apologising for, do you?

Gary: … no…

Lissa: (sighs) Don’t worry. It’s nothing. It’s just… someone at work yesterday said I dressed like a hippy.

Gary: I knew hippies at uni in the 1960s. You don’t dress like them. Anyway, I like what you wear. I like the colours.

Lissa: You don’t think it’s too… old fashioned?

Gary: I think you look nice.

Lissa: Oh. Well. Thank you.

Gary: You’re welcome. (pause) What’s wrong with my Hawaiian shirts?

*For newcomers, the GaryView is a review of books/films/TV/entertainment carried out as a conversation between Lissa Wilson (librarian) and Gary Hooper (vampire) , characters from my book ‘The Opposite of Life’. Visit my website for more information.

2012
02/13
CATEGORY
Gary and Lissa
Reviews
vampires
Leave a comment

GaryView: Death and the Spanish Lady by Carolyn Morwood

Gary and LissaLissa: That was a bit of a history lesson. I remember reading about a flu epidemic after the First World War, but I had no idea that it was so bad, or that it shut Melbourne down like that.

Gary: Yeah. I think one of my dad’s uncles died of the flu around when this book is set.

Lissa: This book really brings it home, doesn’t it? The historical setting really works, and I liked Eleanor as well. She’s working through all this grief, but she really wants justice, whether or not the dead guy deserves it.  I like it that the truth was more important to her than staying comfortably out of it.

Gary: You don’t think she should have left the murder for someone else to investigate?

Lissa: I think I have amply demonstrated that keeping out of things isn’t always an option.

Gary: I guess you have. I liked Sister Jones too, though that might be because she reminded me of my mum. Mum was a nurse too.

Lissa: A nurse detective?

Gary: Not that I know of, but I wouldn’t have put it past her. My mum was pretty cool in a crisis. That’s how she met Dad, actually. During the war, she was stationed in Greece. Dad had been wounded and she looked after him on the ship during the evacuation from Crete. They kept writing after he was shipped home, and when she got back to Australia they got married.

Lissa: That must have been hard for him, waiting for her.

Gary: They never talked about it much. Not to me, anyway. Dad had got shot in the leg, though, and they wouldn’t let him stay in the army. He went home and did his teaching degree instead, so he’d have a steady job for when Mum got back.

Lissa: Every time you tell me about your folks I think how awesome they were.

Gary: This book made me think of both of them. They both went through a lot. For years as a kid, whenever I saw someone my dad’s age, or my grandad’s, I wondered whether they had bullet scars too. My mum kept on nursing, too. She used to say the only thing worse than the old air raids was working on the children’s wards.

Lissa: I bet.

Gary: Yeah.

Lissa:. So. Death and the Spanish Lady. Did you work out the killer before the end?

Gary: No. I never do, though. Not even when I was alive. I used to try making notes as I read to see if I could work it out, but I never could. Mum said it was because I wasn’t devious enough.

Lissa: I guess crime stories aren’t really like maths equations. Otherwise all crimes would get solved by the scientists.

Gary: All crimes are solved by the scientists on some TV shows.

Lissa: I like this kind of murder mystery better. And it’s not as gritty and realistic as all those Underbelly-type stories, so I like that better too. I have enough gritty realism in my life. But this has a different kind of realism. That sometimes you succeed in something but it’s not necessarily a triumph.

Gary: I know all about that, too.

Lissa: You and me both. Hey, how about we cheer ourselves up with a musical. <grins at the look on his face> Or a werewolf movie.

Gary: Can I vote for a werewolf movie?

Lissa: Only if it’s the original Teen Wolf.

Gary: Teen Wolf it is.

* *

You can get Death and the Spanish Lady in paperback from Readings, or as an ebook from Booki.sh or Amazon.com.

2011
10/24
CATEGORY
Gary and Lissa
Reviews
3 comments

GaryView: Death and the Spanish Lady by Carolyn Morwood

Gary and LissaLissa: That was a bit of a history lesson. I remember reading about a flu epidemic after the First World War, but I had no idea that it was so bad, or that it shut Melbourne down like that.

Gary: Yeah. I think one of my dad’s uncles died of the flu around when this book is set.

Lissa: This book really brings it home, doesn’t it? The historical setting really works, and I liked Eleanor as well. She’s working through all this grief, but she really wants justice, whether or not the dead guy deserves it. I like it that the truth was more important to her than staying comfortably out of it.

Gary: You don’t think she should have left the murder for someone else to investigate?

Lissa: I think I have amply demonstrated that keeping out of things isn’t always an option.

Gary: I guess you have. I liked Sister Jones too, though that might be because she reminded me of my mum. Mum was a nurse too.

Lissa: A nurse detective?

Gary: Not that I know of, but I wouldn’t have put it past her. My mum was pretty cool in a crisis. That’s how she met Dad, actually. During the war, she was stationed in Greece. Dad had been wounded and she looked after him on the ship during the evacuation from Crete. They kept writing after he was shipped home, and when she got back to Australia they got married.

Lissa: That must have been hard for him, waiting for her.

Gary: They never talked about it much. Not to me, anyway. Dad had got shot in the leg, though, and they wouldn’t let him stay in the army. He went home and did his teaching degree instead, so he’d have a steady job for when Mum got back.

Lissa: Every time you tell me about your folks I think how awesome they were.

Gary: This book made me think of both of them. They both went through a lot. For years as a kid, whenever I saw someone my dad’s age, or my grandad’s, I wondered whether they had bullet scars too. My mum kept on nursing, too. She used to say the only thing worse than the old air raids was working on the children’s wards.

Lissa: I bet.

Gary: Yeah.

Lissa:. So. Death and the Spanish Lady. Did you work out the killer before the end?

Gary: No. I never do, though. Not even when I was alive. I used to try making notes as I read to see if I could work it out, but I never could. Mum said it was because I wasn’t devious enough.

Lissa: I guess crime stories aren’t really like maths equations. Otherwise all crimes would get solved by the scientists.

Gary: All crimes are solved by the scientists on some TV shows.

Lissa: I like this kind of murder mystery better. And it’s not as gritty and realistic as all those Underbelly-type stories, so I like that better too. I have enough gritty realism in my life. But this has a different kind of realism. That sometimes you succeed in something but it’s not necessarily a triumph.

Gary: I know all about that, too.

Lissa: You and me both. Hey, how about we cheer ourselves up with a musical. Or a werewolf movie.

Gary: Can I vote for a werewolf movie?

Lissa: Only if it’s the original Teen Wolf.

Gary: Teen Wolf it is.

* *

You can get Death and the Spanish Lady in paperback from Readings, or as an ebook from Booki.sh or Amazon.com.

2011
10/24
CATEGORY
Gary and Lissa
Reviews
4 comments

GaryView: Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Raynor Roberts

Gary and Lissa*For newcomers, the GaryView is a review of books/films/TV/entertainment carried out as a conversation between Lissa Wilson (librarian) and Gary Hooper (vampire) , characters from my book ‘The Opposite of Life’. Visit my website for more information.

Lissa: I hadn’t heard of Lamia’s before. How did I miss the fact that Keats wrote poems about vampires?

Gary: Lamia’s aren’t really vampires. They’re not really real, either. I think.

Lissa: Neither are manticores or basilisks, I take it.

Gary: Not that I’ve ever seen.

Lissa: Well, given that fiction is usually a case of Epic Fail when it comes to accurately describing vampirism as you know it, did you like the book?

Gary: Oh, she got the attitude of vampires spot on. And I really liked the Roman theme park and especially the airship in the last story.

Lissa: I bet you just wished there was a lot more about the engineering.

Gary: I know a lot about how airships worked. I was a bit obsessed with the idea when I was nine and read a bunch of books about the Hindenburg and stuff. My granddad still had newspaper cuttings from the papers from the disaster. I once met a vampire who said she’d been on an airship once. Sounded terrific. Well, except for the high volatility and risks of burning to death.

Lissa: A design flaw that sucks equally for humans and vampires. I really loved the idea of a Roman re-enactment town in the middle of the Australian bush. Someone should actually do that.

Gary: I’d love to see that. The Romans had some incredible engineering. Not just the aqueducts. They had hyraulic mining, water wheels, even ways of getting ducted heating into buildings.

Lissa: I have a sudden image of you in a toga supervising the building of bridges.

Gary: A toga?

Lissa: And sandals.

Gary: And you’re not laughing?

Lissa: I thought it would be rude. (giggles)

Gary: Getting away from your images of me in ridiculous costume…

Lissa: At least I didn’t picture you as a Centurion… oh dear… (giggles some more)

Gary: Getting away from that… what did you like?

Lissa:  My god, there were a lot of fearsome women in this book! I loved all of them.

Gary: Clea reminded me of my mum.

Lissa: Really? Don’t tell me she had a long-term friendship with an immortal…

Gary: Apart from me?

Lissa: Oh, there is that, isn’t there. Don’t tell me she fought monsters, too?

Gary: No. Well, she did once throw a cup of hot tea into Mundy’s face and tell him to bugger off.

Lissa: Your mum was clearly awesome.

Gary: Yeah. She was.

Lissa: Wish I’d known her.

Gary: She’d have liked you, I think.

Lissa: Her name wasn’t Julia, by any chance?

Gary: Dot. Dorothy.

Lissa: But a Julia in spirit, eh? The Julias in this book were all brilliant. If I ever have a daughter, I’m going to call her Julia, and she’ll be mighty.

Gary: I suspect any kid of yours’ll be pretty feisty.

Lissa: Though it seems that Dots are fairly mighty too.

Gary: And they make a mean lemon delicious.

Get Love and Romanpunk from Twelfth Planet Press. The book is the second of TPP’s Twelve Planets series.

2011
08/15
CATEGORY
Gary and Lissa
Reviews
writing
2 comments

GaryView: Beauty and the Beast Pilot Episode

Gary and LissaGary: That wasn’t very plausible.

Lissa: A cat-faced man forming a strange and intense friendship with a plucky gal with a regular job?

Gary: For a start.

Lissa: Says the vampire who is friends with a librarian.

Gary: … I suppose when you put it like that…

Lissa: (laughs) Only you never read me poetry.

Gary: No. Not likely to either. My high school English teacher made me promise to never read aloud again.

Lissa: Oh, that’s mean.

Gary: Yeah. But. You know. Warranted. Not everybody has a voice like a cat-faced man from New York.

Lissa: (a little wistfully) He does have a very nice voice.

Gary: Are you telling me you liked all that schmaltz?

Lissa: … It’s not that schmaltzy.

Gary:  Say that again without sounding defensive.

Lissa: Okay, so it’s a bit schmaltzy. And also a bit creepy, having a secret boyfriend who beats people up.

Gary: Oh, I hadn’t thought of that bit. That is creepy.

Lissa: But I love this show anyway. I watched it when I was a little girl. I used to dress our cat in a little teatowel cape and made him listen to classical music with me. I made my sister Belinda find all the poems and read them to me and Kate at bedtime. We didn’t know what half of it meant, but we loved the way the words sounded. A few years after Belinda died I found the series on videotape and watched it all again. I went and found all the poems and music from it. It reminded me so much of her…

Gary: (a little panicky)  I’m sorry. Don’t cry. I’m sorry I said it was schmaltzy.

Lissa: (taking big breaths) Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean to get all… sometimes it gets me like this. I’m okay. I just… I miss her so much, sometimes. I miss the things we did together, even the fights we had. Belinda should have been a great writer, and instead she… she… (gulps down a breath) I even miss talking about her. We stopped doing that at home. It made the sadness unbearable.

Gary: I’m sorry you’re sad.

Lissa: Me too. So this show, and the poetry in it, it’s like, it’s something Belinda gave me.

Gary: Um. The poetry is… very pretty. And the music’s nice.

Lissa: (sniffing) Yes, they are. This show is one of the reasons I became a librarian, in the end. I spent so much time in libraries finding all the texts, I liked being in there much more than I liked being at home. I always felt safe in libraries. And close to Belinda.

Gary: Libraries are great. I usually hang around the non-fiction section myself, or look for the SF.

Lissa: (calmer) You should try some of the great poets one day.

Gary: Maybe. I’ve certainly got the time to read them nowadays.

Lissa: So. Right. Seeing as it’s schmaltzy and a little creepy, I take it you’re not keen on watching any more.

Gary: I don’t mind creepy. But is this whole series a split between poetry and violence?

Lissa: … You know, I rather think it is. Though there is some great world-building later on, about the society that lives in the tunnels below New York. You might enjoy watching some of the things they do to jury-rig technology.

Gary: Oh, that would be interesting.

Lissa: It’s funny how Vincent lives below the city, but he likes to climb up the buildings to look at it from above too.

Gary: If I was forced to live in a cave, I’d probably like to go roofless for a bit too.

Lissa: I guess so. Hey, do you ever climb onto rooftops to look at the city at night?

Gary: Not really. Though I did climb to the roof of Council House Two a few times to look at the yellow turbines up there, and how the shutters work. You know the place, with all that climate friendly engineering?

Lissa: (laughs) That’s your kind of poetry, huh?

Gary: I guess so. I made some sketches and tried to do some reading on the engineering principles, but I had trouble with some of it. (shrugs off the limits of his undead brain)

Lissa: Have you ever thought of going up to just… look at the view?

Gary: No. Is it a nice view?

Lissa: Probably. It looks pretty from my apartment block in South Melbourne. The night sky and the city lights are very forgiving to the Yarra River. I bet it would be even nicer from higher up.

Gary: Would you like to see it? I can take you up if you want.

Lissa: I’d like that.

Gary: I’ll… even let you read me some of that poetry you like, if you want.

Lissa: Are you sure?

Gary: I like your voice. That would be okay. You can explain all the things I don’t understand, too.

Lissa: I’d be delighted to, Gary.

Gary: Good. Maybe… if you miss talking about Belinda. You could tell me about her too. If you want.

(Lissa stares at Gary a moment, then lunges at him, hugging him fiercely. Gary, not sure what he’s done right this time, pats her on the back.)

*For newcomers, the GaryView is a review of books/films/TV/entertainment carried out as a conversation between Lissa Wilson (librarian) and Gary Hooper (vampire) , characters from my book ‘The Opposite of Life’. Visit my website for more information.

2011
05/22
CATEGORY
Gary and Lissa
Reviews
The Opposite of Life
vampires
2 comments
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