Friday Finds

In one of those stranger twists of fate, I have two short stories out in two different publications this week, 'Undertow', which is out in the latest Sleepers Almanac and 'Christchurch' which is out in Volume 6 of The Suburban Review. Funnily enough, they're both old stories which went through a LOT of rejection before this point, so it's a thrill to see them in print after so long. Anyway, you should pick them up! Have a read! Let me know what you think.

Otherwise, you should check these out instead -


WATCHING

I am so excited for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It's like Buffy meets, well, Jane Austen, and that is definitely up my alley.

The 50 Best Movie Documentaries of All Time! There's a lot here to add to my to-watch list!




READING

I've long been a bit obsessed with ballet, and this piece on what happens after ballerinas retire is a fascinating look at the devotion it takes to be one and the lack of identity when you can't be one any more.

This piece on the history of female anger is similarly fascinating.

And I am lusting HARD after these new Shakespeare covers. Can't wait to get my hands on them!

Sadder in tone, but beautiful is this piece on the new Final Girls film and reconciling yourself with the loss of a parent. 

These Harry Potter costumes no one wants you to dress in for Halloween are hilarious and heartbreaking.

And feel a little spooky this Halloween with these monsters in literature.

Friday Finds

Hey! It's been a few weeks since I did one of these! Expect a bunch of posts in the next week or so since I got back from America. This felt like a good place to start though.

- RIP to Ann Rule too, a terrific true crime writer who passed away last week.

- Your week in trailers: Room looks incredible. Digging for Fire looks really interesting. I love a good revenge story too, so am really interested in The Revenant. Queen of Earth looks AMAZING and totally up my alley, as does Legend. The Good Dinosaur looks, well, pretty darn good.

- 25 boss women on being the boss.

- Best retro movie screenings in Brisbane! I think I've been to all of these at some stage or another.

- This tumblr for the signs of Springfield from The Simpsons is basically the best.

- Strapped for time? Check out these books you can read in under an hour.

- This comic on privilege is heartbreaking.

- Comic book author, Kelly Sue DeConnick continues to be my straight up fave.

- And some weekend reading for you: I think everyone should read NY Mag's moving and revealing article talking to 35 of Bill Cosby's accusers.

Friday Finds

- 10 LGBT films you might have missed.

- And hey! A new one which looks like the best sort of wonderful garbage romcom.

- Men starting unnecessary conversations in Western art history. This series is honestly my fave.

- Where would you work at in Diagon Alley? I got Flourish and Blotts

- DC's new interactive project for girls, Super Hero Girls looks like it could be awesome fun for little girls interested in superheroes.

- How gorgeous are these literary maps?

- These 25 women on the best advice they've ever received is a lot of food for thought.

- Even more amazing LEGO ladies.

- I continue to be totally obsessed with the Hundred Years of Beauty series on YouTube. The new one is on Russia and is pretty fascinating.

- And for your 'to read' list - check out these Australian YA reads based on your favourite American titles!

Friday Finds

It's mother's day this weekend! My mother is leaving town only a few days (if it was possible to do a sad exclamation mark, it would be here.) We're spending Sunday together along with my sister which should make for a pretty fun day though.

Do you have any plans for mother's day? 

Your week in trailers. Ricki and the Flash looks delightful. Unexpected looks compelling. Also Digimon Tri trailer. Shaking and crying rn.

- These photographs of Russian models posing with bears are pretty magical.

- Feminist alphabet!

- These cards for people suffering from cancer are everything you wish you could say.

- This bra ad is amazing. 

- Gemma Correll's comic on beach bodies is the best.

- The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea are two of my favourite animated movies, so it's awesome to see the creative team developing a series, Ellie the Ace.

- The Star Wars Vanity Fair spread is pretty terrific too.

- Harry Potter gifts! I'll take five of everything pls.

And lastly, I'll leave you with one of my favourite televised motherhood moments from The Simpsons episode, 'Moaning Lisa'. 

Friday Finds

The last couple of weeks have been monster ones and it's left me scrambling a bit to catch up with things that aren't the day job. I got off to a good start on Wednesday, finishing off two new short stories which always gives me the best feels. My time doesn't seem to be getting any less busy though - I'm going to a masterclass on Saturday with science fiction writer, Glenn Morgan and the start of the IRL Festival next week too.

How about you though? What are you up to at the moment?

Your week in trailers: The Gallows trailer gave me a huge fright at the end! I am tentatively excited for the new Fantastic Four. I am insanely excited about When Marnie was There which looks stunning (as Studio Ghibli films usually are), and also already casually getting crushed by The Little Prince trailer. Nightingale looks powerful too. Also Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell has me making all the heart eyes.

- Even the implication of a Ms. Marvel miniseries makes me SO HAPPY.

- Brisbane's getting a new film festival in the form of the Queensland Film Festival!

- I am completely in love with this editorial done in the style of Picnic at Hanging Rock.

- Lady bachelor paper dolls!

- The Hot Topic Avengers collection is everything I want. I'm lusting after the Stark Industries bomber jacket.

- This animated history of hairstyles is very cool.

- Anime and manga for beginners.

- These 25 famous women talking about female friendships are pretty wonderful..

- Amy Schummer, Tina Fey, Patricia Arquette and Julia Louis Dreyfuss talking about their last fuckable days is pretty magical.

- The Stella Prize winner has been announced! Congrats to Emily Bitto!

- How to tell if you're in a Shirley Jackson story.

- This (kind of) long read on asshole's in prestige drama is pretty great too.

- Kelly Sue DeConnick continues to be my straight up fave while talking woman rage and body autonomy in context with her new comic book series Bitch Planet.

Friday Finds

The last few weeks have been crazy stressful for me and they don't really look to be slowing down. It's not exactly a good thing or a bad thing, just something that's keeping me very busy. In some ways, it's been good because it's making me re-evaluate my priorities again. Making me think about where I am now and where I want to be, which are starting to look like very different things.

But that's a whole other conversation. Have this week's Friday Finds instead.

- Your week in trailers: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl looks straight up terrific. True Detective season 2 should be interesting. This Amy Winehouse documentary looks amazing and heartbreaking.

- These 10 lady podcasts you should be listening to are definitely going onto my list!

- This video on Steven Universe and created families is everything I love about the show.

- This cover of Creep is straight up amazing.

- A SAILOR MOON CAFE EXISTS, GUYS.

- These PMS ice-cream containers are the best things I've seen all week.

- ten gorgeous photos of artists and their cats.

- The best literary references in Mad Men. I'm so sad for the series to end!

- How stunning are these European libraries? I want to visit them alllll.

This post on the women dominating this summer movie season has some fascinating insight.

This piece on disability in pop culture and particularly in relation to Batgirl is a terrific read. 

Nicki Minaj and the Inevitable Politicisation of Celebrity Abortions is another great read and sheds a compelling light on it.

Friday Finds

This has been such a slow week for this blog, sorry! I did have things scheduled, but I've been distracted trying to finish a YA manuscript to submit to The Text Prize. It's one I've been working on for quite a while, but I made the questionable decision to make some drastic changes. It's been good, and ambitious, and good, and I'm really happy with the direction of it, so fingers crossed, right?

Anywho, your Friday Finds.

- Your week in trailers: I'm loving that the rom-com seems to be making a comeback. Man Up looks like a pretty delightful entry into the genre too! Every trailer for Dope makes me want to see it more and more. Plus, how great does Slow West look?

- Species in Pieces is a pretty remarkable and beautifully designed site on endangered animals.

- This day in the life of Alaskan sled dogs are giving me a serious case of heart eyes.

- On that note, these photographs capturing the lives of Reindeer People are also pretty amazing.

- Rihanna's new song is awesome. 

- These Orphan Black dresses over at Hot Topic are giving me life too.

- This tumblr devoted to teen bedrooms from movies is everything.

- These vintage wedding photographs are beautiful and full of so much history and personality.

- Five ways to tell if he's into you: the animalia edition

- This dude's fake self-help books are basically the best.

- As are these classic novels redesigned as food cans.

- This list of awesome female protagonists are adding a lot of books to my to-read list!

- This interview with Janelle Asselin who's currently kickstarting a new romance comic imprint is a delightful and interesting read into the medium. And hey! You should totally help Kickstart it. I know I have.

- This article on rape in art and why it's not a justification for it as a narrative tool in comic books is a fascinating and compelling read.

Sydney + All About Women

It’s been almost eight years since I last went to Sydney. That trip was a highschool graduation present from and with my mum. We ate pancakes and had our fortunes read and went to Supanova Pop Culture Expo and it was basically the best.

So it was weird in some ways to go back now, so much older. I don't know if I'm wiser, but it was with different eyes that I saw Sydney. Of course, I was going at a very different time too. It was the final day of Mardi Gras when I arrived, and the second day was the All About Women conference at Sydney Opera House, so in a lot of ways it was a weekend of gender and sexuality, unfolding loudly, with bite and shine and fury. 

It was escalated in some ways by the heat. Australia's been pretty hot generally lately, but to head to a cloudless Sydney with an unrelenting sun made a lot of the weekend feel like a boiler pot. It gave the conversations a little more sweat, and meant a lot of the walking my friend and I did between venues and bars was a wee bit more intense.

But hey. Enough about that.

All About Women

While the conversation is one that I'm always interested in, I'd really been drawn to All About Women this year because of the guests. Roxanne Gay, Anita Sarkeesian, Jane Caro and Clementine Ford are all brilliant women apart of dynamic and important dialogues internationally, and they really demonstrated that in full over the day.

But let me backtrack for a second. All About Women is a conference held out of Sydney Opera House and focuses on issues concerning or related to women. I went to three panels throughout the day, How to Be a Feminist, with the pretty stellar line up of Clementine Ford, Celeste Liddell, Roxanne Gay, Tara Moss, Anita Sarkeesian and Germaine Greer, Gamergate & Beyond: women in pop culture and video games with Anita Sarkeesian again and lastly What I Couldn't Say with Tara Moss, Randa Abdel-Fattah, Jane Caro and many more.

It was pretty terrific across the board, and raised really compelling questions about the nature of feminism in modern society and how it interacts and opens up things from pop culture to other forms of discrimination and bigotry, where we've been and where we've still got to go.

You can watch a selection of the panels over on the Sydney Opera House YouTube channel, which I'd totally recommend doing. It was a pretty impressive day and one really worth the trip.

Friday Finds

- Your week in trailers: Veep season 4!!! The Connection looks really good. The cinematography in the trailer's sublime. Tomorrowland looks like a lot of fun. The new Inside Out trailer is infinitely better than the first. I am getting progressively more and more excited for Netflix's Daredevil. Roar looks kind of batshit. This new Kurt Cobain documentary looks moving. Adult Beginners looks good too.

- This Cinderella versus Belle rap battle is giving me life right now.

- I am totally obsessed with The Madonna Inn, captured over at A Beautiful Mess.

- These forty pictures in forty years are a beautiful and moving project in aging and growing up.

- The Baileys Women's Fiction Prize longlist has been announced! 

- So has The Stella Prize shortlist!

- And on a related note, 12 empowering children's books to give to little girls.

Pioneering woman surfers in Iran!

One of the things that got me into superheroes and geek culture was watching the Teen Titans series when I was a young teenager. Starfire was always my fave, which is why it's been a little rage-inducing to see her character so poorly treated recently in the comics. Her new costume though is certainly a step in the right direction. There's a great #longread on her history over at Women Write About Comics which I totally recommend everyone read. 

Friday Finds

I'm heading to Sydney this weekend for the All About Women conference at Sydney Opera House. I'm ridiculously excited for a couple of reasons - one, travelling to Sydney's always pretty fun, the guests are amazing and I'm ticking off another of my 24 Before 25 items - going to a festival for a festival and not to work at it. I'll be livetweeting over on my Twitter too, so feel free to follow me.

Also the Gold Coast Film Festival released it's program this week and it is a total killer. Check it out here.

- It's International Women's Day this weekend! Celebrate with this feminist ranking of female superheroes.

- Your week in trailers: more Orphan Black!! I'm counting down the days! Mr. Holmes looks like a really interesting take on a story that's been told to death recently.

- This article on 10 films that inspired Mad Men is pretty fascinating.

- An Adventure Time movie! Sign me up!

- Accidental wolves are the best sort of pet!

- This Wes Anderson-esque X-Men is giving me life right now.

- Start your weekend by reading 8 of the 10 Oscar nominated screenplays.

- Which book should you read next based on your zodiac sign?

- Which Hogwarts House were you ALMOST sorted into? From Pottermore, I know I'm a Ravenclaw, and apparently now an almost-Slytherin.

- This tiny, mobile library is basically all of my retirement plans.

- Book mugs!

- Book jewellery! 

This piece by the ever wonderful Catherynne M. Valente on writing strong, kick-heart characters is awesome and has me fist pumping like crazy.

The nameless narrator may have been around forever, but it's hard to argue the narrative tool is on the rise these days. This piece in The New Yorker talks about it pretty poetically.

Friday Finds

So this has been a pretty big week! I received the first round of dollars as a part of my Queensland Literary Fellowship (!!) and was accepted into Tin House Summer Writers Workshop in Portland, Oregon (!!!!). So lots of writing news. It's good in a whole lot of ways. I've been hitting goals left right and centre so far in 2015, so hopefully I can keep that momentum going.

How about you though? How are your resolutions keeping?

- Parks and Recreation finished this week and I have all the sads. To feel a little better, check out these eight life lessons from Leslie Knope.

- These 22 pets who have no intention of letting you read is basically every time I pick up a book at home.

- One of my favourite books recently has been Where'd You Go, Bernadette?so I'm pretty thrilled to hear the wonderful Richard Linklater's adapting it for film!

- 11 powerful messages from women in Hollywood.

- This perfectly preserved 1950s kitchen is everything.

- Which female literary character are you? I got Jo March!

- Harry Potter themed cocktails! I want to try them alllll.

- This article on women in horror is terrific, and particularly covers the wonderful Jennifer Kent's The Babadook.

- Also awesome is this piece by Jessica Alice on men who pose as feminist allies to fetishise and prey on women. 

Friday Finds

Weather's a bit monstrous here in Queensland today with Cyclone Marcia raising her head. If you're in the state, please be safe!

- Your week in trailers: Crimson Peak basically ticks all my boxes. Spring looks like an interesting take on horror tropes. Far From the Madding Crowd looks gorgeous. Maps to the Stars is totally batshit? But awesome? The Falling is everything. 

- Ladies totally done with red carpet / press junket sexism are awesome.

- You'll soon be able to get a patronus on Pottermore!

- These old Australian mugshots look like a high fashion shoot.

- And hey, have a dose of animals with these tumblr posts.

- This new Infinity Gauntlet story line from Marvel Comics looks amazing.

- Futurama funko pops! I really, really want the Leela one.

- Pics from the final eps of Mad Men! I am getting insanely excited. Also sad, because this show is my jam.

- Sleater-Kinney's new video stars the Belcher kids! 

- This longer piece on Fifty Shades, Amazon and romance self-publishing is a fascinating dissection of many recent successes in romance and self-publishing.

- A Day of Firsts for Women in Politics is a great feature exploring why this election and new cabinet are so darn important. Yay for new government! We sure as hell have needed it.

Friday Finds

In very sad news, one of Australia's most prominent and influential authors, Colleen McCullough, passed away. She wrote some really formative works that, I believe, are a key part of Australia's literary canon, so it's heartbreaking to see her go. 

In flat out awful news, The Australian's obituary of her focuses not on her talent as a writer, or even as her skills as a neuroscientist, but on her weight. Way to go, guys.

What a way to end a week.

- Which secondary Harry Potter male character is your soul mate? I got Bill Weasley, so win! On that note, have some Harry Potter quotes that double as dating advice.

- THERE'S GOING TO BE A BOB'S BURGERS COOKBOOK!!

- These abandoned greenhouses are wonderfully inspiring.

- Tiny Grand Budapest Hotel bird house!

- Your week in trailers: new Hannibal!! New Agents of SHIELD!! Timbuktu looks incredible. Turbo Kid looks crazy fun! Fantastic Four! Which...might be good? I really enjoyed Chronicle at least.

- The all ladies Ghostbusters cast has been announced and it is awesome.

- I adore X-Men (even if I've never been a big fan of the films), and the promise of a new live action TV-series is promising? I hope!

- How delightful is this dance?!

- First book board game!

- These 14 novels about Muslim life give me a lot to add to my reading list!

- ALL the Jane Austen themed gifts!!

'Razors Pain You: what Dorothy Parker teaches us about our addiction to female suffering' is a really fascinating piece unpacking the nature of tragedy, pain and mental health concerns many women writers fall prey too. 

More of a #longview than a #longread, but the ladies at Sundance Film Festival panel is awesomesauce, particularly if you're interested in working in film and TV as a creative. 

Friday Finds

- Broad City Season 2! Ahh! Pitch Perfect 2 trailer too!!! 

- This Frozen/Breaking Bad mash up is amazing.

- So are these photos of Steampunk Superheroes!

- 14 famous authors and their drinks of choice.

- How to survive a zombie apocalypse according to Margaret Atwood.

- Women on the rise in Sci-Fi.

- These book covers are gooorgeous.

- As is this trailer for the new Cinderella.

- And to take you out for the weekend, check out these 35 clever gifts for book lovers!

Friday Finds

- The most feminist moments in science fiction history.

- Nick Cave on the creative process.

- The whole of Harry Potter in one handy illustration!

- A Supergirl tv-series! Colour me excited.

- Lena Dunham offers up some pretty great advice.

- This article on the 100 best Simpsons episode is giving me insane doses of nostalgia. It's a pretty awesome list though.

- Last Week with John Oliver's segment on the Miss America pageant is pretty perfect.

- And to take you out for the weekend, new Big Hero 6 trailer!

Friday Finds

It's a bit of a short one today, guys, as I'm hangin' at this awesome thing. Have a great weekend. :-)

- New (well, previously unreleased) Adele songs! *chinhands*

- Playboy's chart on whether or not you should catcall someone is pretty much perfection.

- These photos by Lissie Elle are gorgeous.

- 8 bit Miyazaki! 

Friday Finds

Triple J's Unearthed competition runs annually and serves the purpose of, well, unearthing new Australian talent in music. The big catch is that all entrants to the main competition are highschoolers. So far, it's track record is pretty remarkable - perhaps the biggest winner being Silverchair back in the day, and this year's winner, the dreamy, surreal Japanese Wallpaper is a pretty stirring entrant into the winner's circle. This song, Breathe In, is particularly lovely.

- This video about geek girls acting like geek guys killed me.

- These tampon ads from Carefree are pretty darn delightful (glitter cave! Crimson companion!)

- Nude photos where the photographer is nude and the subjects are fully clothed are basically the best.

- A lot of the new Amazon Prime shows kind of look amazing? I'm particularly excited for Transparent and Red Oaks!

- And to take you out for the weekend, check out these eight short story masterclasses care of Aerogramme Studio.

It's Queensland Poetry Festival this weekend! I talked about it a bit over here, and will be there most of Sunday at this rate. What are your plans for the weekend though? Anything exciting?

Friday Finds

- There's about a million movies I'm excited for coming out in the not too-distant future, including Guardians of the Galaxy which I've posted about a gazillion times, Horns , and The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears, Big Hero 6!

- On a similar note, what even our best summer blockbusters are still getting wrong about women.

- I'm tentatively excited for the Locke and Key movie. The graphic novel series is one of my favourites, and I live in a hope of an adaptation that does justice to it.

- Oscar-winning screenwriter, Dustin Lance Black, talking about his creative process is a fascinating watch.

- This broken down bungalow getting a makeover is basically my dream home.

- These harsh actor insults are mostly just hilarious.

- These redesigns of Austen book covers are lovely. As are these illustrations of mysterious islands by Yvan Duque.

Friday Finds

This is basically my favourite thing of the week.

- This new study on slut shaming as a class issue, not a sexuality one is both awful and really interesting.

- On a more positive note, a brief history of female comedies!

- To say I'm pretty darn excited for the Studio Ghibli documentary, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, is a pretty big understatement.

- Also pretty darn excited for Gotham, particularly with this early buzz! And this teaser!

- This retro-themed, Batman engagement shoot is totally charming.

- 29 times tumblr raised serious questions about Harry Potter is super, super great too.

Friday Finds

I love a good cover song and only recently got exposed to The AV Club's Undercover series. The Decemberists' version of Sugar's If I Can't Change Your Mind has basically been my jam all week.

- The erasure of Maya Angelou's sex-worker history is an important read, and a good one for the weekend.

- As is the drama surrounding E3 Ubisoft's decision on stopping a female character in the new Assassin's Creed.

- Boxtrolls! I love both Coraline and Paranorman, so am pretty stoked for Laika's newest output.

- On the awesome animated movie front, Lauren Faust is doing a Medusa movie! Ahh! I'm super excited.

- Straight Boys Texting might actually be my new favourite thing.

- No, wait, Art History: 500 Years of Women Ignoring Men is my new favourite thing.