Sep 29

In Newcastle

So I’ve arrived in Newcastle, avoiding the weather chaos in Melbourne, which I understand has stranded a number of NYWF artists there. Sadly, the crazy weather has also reached us in Newcastle, and it almost feels like Melbourne up here–four seasons in one day. Seriously looking forward to meeting even more awesome people, and getting into the swing of things up in Newy (as Newcastle is affectionately known).

I’ve also been roped into a few other events. The first is the Small Press Status Update:

Monday 3rd October: Small Press Status Update


Panel: 12:00-13:00
Location: Festival Club, The Great Northern Hotel, 89 Scott Street, Newcastle East

Printing options? Funding structure? Every small press is different and we want to know how. If you don’t work for a small press, here’s your chance to find out what the deal is. And if you do, NYWF is here to give you a cuddle and a big cup of milo.

Facilitator: Greg Gould (Blemish Books)
Artists: Voiceworks; Simon Gray; Matthew Lang…and everyone else

I’m possibly also appearing on Writer Wants a Wife, assuming enough other men who like men sign up as prospective dates. So if you know anyone who wants a chance to go on date with Mr Fantastic Me, get them in touch with the NYWF team and who knows, you could watch it all get video taped and put on youtube. Which would certainly be interesting.

Of course, it’s rather late notice, so nothing may come of this at all, but who knows. Life is all about surpises after all! Cheers to everyone I’ve met so far and here’s to a fantastic festival!

Sep 14

It’s Official!

The program is up and the verdict is in: Yes Matthew will be appearing in Newcastle at the National Young Writers’ Festival, doing two panels and one reading. All events are free, so there’s no excuse not to attend!

Fri 30th September: Super Sad Pomo Love Story: Writing Earnest Fiction in the Ironic Age


Panel: 16:00-17:30
Location: Customs House, 1 Bond Street, Newcastle East

Let’s Talk About Sex. Or not. Who’s writing the Love Stories of our generation? And why are they bothering? Sentimental enthusiasts and cynical deniers take on the biggest theme of all.

Facilitator: Alice Gage
Artists: Naomi Stekelenberg & Matthew Lang & Chad Parkhill

Sat 1st October: Boy Meets Boy, Girl Meets Girl and then meet Boi: Queer Young Adult Fiction


Panel: 12:00-13:30
Location: The Royal Exchange, 32-34 Bolton Street, Newcastle East

Writers of LGBTQ YA fiction and queer theory buffs talk about hitting the double whammy of coming-of-age and coming out, school censorship and the dangers of getting pigeonholed

Facilitator: Matthew Lowe (BURN Writers’ Collective)
Artists: Alasdair Duncan & Chad Parkhill & Matthew Lang & Brendan Lindsay (BURN Writers’ Collective)

Sun 2nd October: Here’s Where I Think I Went Wrong


Panel: 21:30-23:00
Location: The Royal Exchange, 32-34 Bolton Street, Newcastle East

Our own NYWF artists read stories about that fatal turning point where things went from bad to really really bad.

Artists:  Matthew Lang & Patrick O’Neil & Simon McInerney

Aug 28

Mr. Perfect now out as a standalone short!

Mr PerfectSo it’s taken me a while to get on board with the whole ebook self publishing thing but I’ve finally taken the plunge and made my first short story, Mr. Perfect, available as a stand alone ebook over at Smashwords. Originally published by banQuetpress in their 2011 Men Anthology, Mr. Perfect was my first published short story and, having placed equal second in the 2010 Midsumma Sex Write Off, was the first story I ever made money from–unsurprisingly, it holds a rather special place in my heart. Special thanks to Richard Stansfield for the awesome cover art.

Mr. Perfect rather sarcastically follows the story of one Alexander “Lex” Cranbourne, a somewhat jaded geek attending a Live Action Role Play event at a local bar–and his encounter with another attendee that turns out to be a lot more than he bargained for.

Available for USD $4.99 at Smashwords, Mr. Perfect will hopefully soon be available on the rest of Smashwords’ premium distribution channels, but in the interim, I’ve giving anyone who gets a copy from Smashwords in the next week a discount–just use the coupon code KL92M when ordering a copy and get 20% off the purchase price, so USD $3.99.

Aug 16

Autographed Kindle eBook(s)!

One of the long standing issues with ebooks, is that to date it’s been very difficult to get them personalised-i.e. signed and autographed-by an author. I’ve already posted about Autography, but now there’s one for the Kindle.  I’ve just popped The Secret of Talmor Manor onto Kindlegraph, which will allow anyone who wants an autographed Kindle format ebook to request a digital autograph–simply search for the book on Kindlegraph and click the button to make a request-yes it is that easy!

Hope to see your requests soon!

Matt

EDIT: Alternatively you can visit my Kindlegraph Author Page!

Jul 26

Congratulations

Big congratulations to Aquarian Dancer for winning a copy of The Secret of Talmor Manor over at The Romance Reviews‘ Sizzling Summer Reads event. There’s still a few more books and prizes up for grabs so if you’re at all interested, head over and check them out!

Jul 08

Visit TRR to win a Talmor Manor eBook!

Sizzling Summer Reads @ The Romance Reviews

So The Romance Reviews are currently running a month of erotic and GLBT Sizzling Summer Reads (well, okay, it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere), and the important news is that in about ten days, you could win an eBook copy of The Secret of Talmor Manor, or indeed some other awesome book on offer. The best way to do that is to visit TRR, sign up as a member (it’s free) and start answering questions. There’s also some massive prizes above and beyond books, such as tickets to RomCon 2011 and a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate.

If any of that sounds interesting to you, head on over and best of luck!

Matt

Jul 01

The Secret of Talmor Manor @ Top2Bottom

The Secret of Talmor Manor Cover

Kathy of Top2BottomReviews has had a squizz at The Secret of Talmor Manor, and she’s given it a rating of four kisses (out of five) and the cover four out of five as well!

“It didn’t take very long for me to find myself lost—all in the best way of course—in Matthew Lang’s The Secret of Talmor Manor. And lost is a good description, because it’s not just us, but Jake as well, struggling to discover what is going on. What’s better is that we have front-row seats to the untangling of the mystery. And tangled it is! Lang does a fantastic job keeping—okay me, he kept me—guessing right up to the end.”

 

There’s also a bit of an interview over here, if you’re interested in seeing what goes on in my strange mind at any given point in time.

Jun 14

Festivals and Rumours

Big shout out to the crew of the Emerging Writers’ Festival, which saw little me take to the stage for my first ever festival appearance and panel chat. Also, I’d really like to say thank you to Carmel F, who was my pen pal artist sponsor, and in no small part responsible for the wide range of artists present at the EWF.

I’m taking a break from public appearances, and will be getting back to what I’m meant to be doing, which is putting on a cabaret writing my next novel. However, there have been some rumours floating around that I may be heading up to Newcastle for the National Young Writers’ Festival. Exactly what I’m doing up there well… predictions are welcome.

May 21

Thank you

Matthew Lang with Kaye Sera

Matthew Lang with Kaye Sera

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came along to the launch of my book last night at Hares&Hyenas. If you missed it… well, we packed out the bookshop, had more than a few drinks and had some amazing entertainment from Kaye Sera and the Melbourne Rainbow Band. Massive shout out to them for coming along to perform and support the ALSO Foundation, and to Fei Mok for bringing along three beautiful pieces of art for auction, all of which sold well.

I saw quite a number of books being sold, along with at least a few CDs, so hopefully we’ll have a bit of money to give to ALSO. It probably won’t be anywhere near the $500,000 or so that they need, but if we can put a small amount in, that’s a small amount towards fixing their problems. And more importantly, if everybody puts a small amount in, there won’t actually be any problems and the ALSO Foundation will be around for years to come.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who came along, and here’s to the next one…whenever that is!

Matt

May 18

Launch Artwork: Sneak Peek

I can’t believe the launch is only three days away, and things are looking good. The print copies of The Secret of Talmor Manor arrived in the warehouse last Friday and should be in Hares&Hyenas shortly–and most importantly, in time for Friday. And I’ve got my hands on a little preview of some of the artwork pieces Fei Mok will be auctioning off in support of the ALSO Foundation, and I thought I’d share them with you here (click the images for a larger view).

I Believe in Fairy Tales by Fei Mok (2011)I Believe in Fairy Tales

To Love Life by Fei Mok (2011)To Love Life

To Love Life Detail: Poem (Art by Fei Mok, 2011)To Love Life–Poem detail (poetry by Ellen Bass)

See you at the launch and remember, all proceeds from the auction will be going directly to the ALSO Foundation, along with a portion of all book and Melbourne Rainbow Band CD sales.