Aurealis #151

By Michael Pryor (Editor)

Aurealis #151 is bursting with mind expanding stuff, from the whimsical satire of ‘Convenience Viking’ by David Dick, to the moving and heartfelt ‘Ashes’ by Tania Fordwalker to the quirky and twisty ‘The Bedlam Undesirables’ by Julian Gyll-Murray. Our top class non-fiction comes from Nicholas Sheppard, Sarah Fallon and Rebecca Fraser, and we’re proud to have our incisive and illuminating Reviews section canvassing a multitude of speculative fiction offerings, plus our sensational internal art continues to break new ground. Aurealis—your F/SF heaven.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chimaera Publications
• Release date: Jun 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781922471178

Book preview

AUREALIS #151

Edited by Michael Pryor

Published by Chimaera Publications at Smashwords

Copyright of this compilation Chimaera Publications 2022

Copyright on each story remains with the contributor

EPUB version ISBN 978-1-922471-17-8

ISSN 2200-307X (electronic)

CHIMAERA PUBLICATIONS

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the authors, editors and artists.

Hard copy back issues of Aurealis can be obtained from the Aurealis website: www.aurealis.com.au

Contents

From the Cloud—Michael Pryor

Convenience Viking—David Dick

Ashes—Tania Fordwalker

The Bedlam Undesirables—Julian Gyll

Who Owns the Universe?—Nick Sheppard

Where Have All the Good Mums Gone—Sarah Fallon

Gateways to Horror—Rebecca Fraser

Reviews

Next Issue

Submissions to Aurealis

Credits

From the Cloud

Michael Pryor

For those of you considering writing, here’s a collection of what we call ‘one percenters’. They’re granular, nitty-gritty aspects of writing that can make a difference. We call them ‘once percenters’ because, individually, they might only improve your writing by a small amount but, in striving for the best writing possible, they’re worth considering.

• Avoid fluffy intensifiers (incredibly, amazingly, unbelievably).

• Be careful of ‘really’ instead of ‘very’.

• Adverbs can be problematic, especially an over-reliance on them.

• Use contractions for more natural sounding dialogue.

• Avoid sentences that start with ‘As you know, Brian …’ They’re likely to lead to an info-dump.

• Be careful with sentences that start with ‘There was …’ or ‘There were …’ They can produce passive sentences. Find more robust ways to start the same sentence by looking for the true subject.

• Avoid characters having names that start with the same letter.

• Get the main character’s name into the first paragraph.

• Don’t be afraid of using ‘said’ in dialogue attributions.

• Learn the difference between the comma and the full stop.

• Avoid taking the descriptive shortcut of comparing a character to a famous film star.

• In fact, don’t take descriptive shortcuts at all.

• Find ways other than using adjectives to describe.

• Be careful of using two ‘ands’ in a sentence. ‘He went down to the shop and saw a chook and he was surprised.’

• Avoid the overuse of alternative descriptors (Joe, the red-haired boy, Bill’s best friend, the joker).

• Be very, very wary of including a dream sequence.

• Watch out for the ‘somehow’ trap. If your hero ‘somehow’ gets out of a sticky situation or ‘somehow’ finds that very thing she needs, you’re taking shortcuts.

Like almost all writing tips, these are debatable, but even thinking about such things can lead to better writing.

All the best from the cloud!

Michael Pryor

Editor: Michael Pryor

Michael Pryor has published more than 35 novels and 50 plus short stories. He has been shortlisted for the Aurealis Award nine times, and eight of his books have

been CBCA Notable books. His website is www.michaelpryor.com.au.

Associate Editor: Scott Vandervalk

Scott Vandervalk has been a freelance editor for over 10 years, with projects ranging across the globe, from educational textbooks to novels, short stories, roleplaying games and boardgames, amongst other types of text. Scott has previously worked in science and education support, both of which have led to editing projects related to those fields. When not editing, Scott can also be found dabbling in gardening, cooking, writing or designing and playing games. Scott currently serves on the committee of the Bendigo Writers’ Council. Website: scottvandervalk.com.

Back to Contents

Convenience Viking

David Dick

It is the third day of being inside. I’ve done well to maintain a pattern of waking up early, performing a 20-minute HIIT routine, and then settling into my office with a coffee for the morning meetings.

Management has been insistent on us establishing routine to create a semblance of normality.

I have designed and arranged my working space in a manner that I believe is conducive to effective and efficient functioning. It is sparse and minimally distracting. I have removed all my literature and any other irrelevant paraphernalia. I have blocked various distracting websites—news and social medias, mostly. My leather office chair, keyboard, mouse, and dual screens are all ergonomically positioned precisely to my unique measurements. Although I didn’t obey any laws of feng shui or Zen, I was at least inspired by their basic tenets. The space is calm and ordered.

My Convenience Viking, Gunther, has been a great help in constructing my daily routine. He makes spectacular filtered coffee (made from single origin Tanzanian beans), provides an encouraging voice during my exercises, and knows exactly when I am between meetings to bring in my organic oats with natural honey.

I have been impressed by his sense of cleanliness too. He always puts his axe away when he dusts.

* * *

Often, I’ve been finding myself gazing absently out the window when one of my co-workers runs the figures or talks about risk, and my computer screen is filled with graphs and tables. I look down at the street from my tenth-floor apartment. It is mostly quiet. The few people around walk more quickly than normal.

The boutique clothing store that faces my building is closed. The wine shop next to it is shuttered. A small, locally run market has reduced its hours and mostly does click and collect. Its staff are always masked and gloved. They spend most of their time wiping down door handles and vegetables with disinfectant. Except for deliveries, there is little movement around the other apartments in the area. Occasionally, a tram sidles past, but I rarely see it stop for new passengers.

Gunther has taken to coming and staring with me. He grunts motivational messages about following the stars and waves, the beauty of straw huts aflame, the calming metronomic quality of oars splashing in a charge to the shore. This always helps centre me and I return to my work energised.

* * *

My brother called today to check in. We spoke about the situation and expressed concern, but also tried to maintain an optimistic outlook. We both believe that people can grit their way through this again.

I said that I have been trying to avoid reading too much. It’s too distracting.

He said that he’s worried about me living alone. He asked if I’d thought any more about maybe coming to live with him and his family.

I told him I was fine.

He asked if I was at least still seeing that girl.

I told him that she was already in a social bubble with her own family.

He said, okay. We can make our own little social bubble, you know? You, my wife, your niece. You got very lonely last time, he said.

I reassured him with my various strategies for coping: exercise, good quality food, focus, restful sleep.

After work, I watched Gunther practise his axe drills while he waited for the vacuum to recharge. It was better than the news or doing any more scrolling through social media.

Gunther says the only true freedom a person can have is at the stempost of a ship as it clears a towering wave. He demonstrates how to keep your feet in such a situation by clutching onto the kitchen bench and leaning into an imagined ascent. He is surprisingly nimble for such a big unit.

* * *

A little over a week or two in and I’m very happy with Gunther’s cooking. Tonight, he prepared ‘fire roasted wild boar’, which he served skewered on his extra spear (which I received with my pre-order) like a spit. The skin was crisp and perfectly seasoned, the flesh moist and tender. Really wonderful. Great comfort food for times like these.

Complements to the programming.

The ‘boar’ was truly free-range Berkshire pork loin I’d had delivered from Coles, which Gunther had cooked in my new convection oven.

The manual says it is really important to humour your Convenience Viking. It’s vital to their effective functioning.

I told him that it was delicious and succulent. He asked if I wanted to hear about the hunt for the creature I supped on. This sounded like a pleasant distraction. So, while plaiting his beard, Gunther told me all about the snow-capped forest he had roamed far and wide to capture the terrible beast that he served for my dinner.

* * *

Today, I got up, executed a nice lowkey workout consisting mostly of lunges and stretching (I’ve missed a few HIIT sessions and I need to work my way back up), and for the first time in a few weeks put on proper shirt and slacks for work, which I’d had Gunther iron