HorrorScope

Australian writer/bookseller Chuck McKenzie e-mailed me yesterday, telling me that he read an advance read copy of The Painted Man, and that he loved it. He even took the time to write it up in a stellar book review for the Australian dark fantasy blog HorrorScope. Not only that, but he said he’d be stocking copies in his store.

Chuck manages a Dymocks, which is the Aussie equivalent to a Borders. Harper Collins Australia, who have been amazing, sent him the ARC as part of their marketing campaign. The ARCs were printed in London and shipped down unda, so I figured the British had a week’s head start, but the Harper AU really shot out of the gate, at least in terms of generating feedback. So far all 7 online reviews I’ve gotten have been from Australia.

Anyway, Chuck’s letter was really gratifying, because he is in many ways the ideal critic. He lives on the opposite side of the planet, doesn’t know me from a hole in the wall, loves fantasy, and is experienced in both the creative and the professional aspects of publishing in general and the SF market in particular. The guy has no reason say he liked something he didn’t, much less go out of his way to say something nice and give a new writer with no resume a hand up on a personal level. But he did, and I really appreciate that.

Chalk up one more reason I want to go to Australia some day, even though the idea of that much time cooped up on a plane freaks me out a bit. Probably because of fricken’ LOST. I sure as hell ain’t flying Oceanic.

Posted on June 23, 2008 at 5:07 pm by PeatB
Filed under Musings, Reviews, World Traveler, Writing
7 Comments »

7 responses to “HorrorScope”

  1. The Land of Oz kicks butt, and not just because it has good folks in the SF scene. I really enjoyed my three weeks there. You should visit sometime.

    Posted by Jon S, on June 23rd, 2008 at 10:54 pm
  2. Sounds like a long trip for us is out there one day. I’d love to see the AUS sf & fantasy scene…we’ll get there.
    One nation at a time. Glad to get some validation that your friends aren’t just blowing smoke…

    Posted by jayf, on June 23rd, 2008 at 11:21 pm
  3. Joshua says Worldcon 2010 is supposed to be in Melbourne. We may have to go for… ahem, business reasons.

    Posted by Peat, on June 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
  4. Awesome! That means we can drink all the Fosters we want and it’ll all be a write-off!

    Posted by dani, on June 24th, 2008 at 10:19 am
  5. I have no idea where the hell I’ll be in 2010.

    Oh, wait. I’ll be in Melbourne.

    Posted by Myke, on June 24th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
  6. “Literally unputdownable” is certainly a better compliment than “Extremely readable.”

    Posted by matt, on June 26th, 2008 at 9:01 am
  7. I think they mean the same thing. Chuck just said it in an Australian accent.

    Posted by Peat, on June 26th, 2008 at 10:29 am