An idea squeezed into my head in 2023, after seeing so many of the book community gathering at conventions across the US and UK. And once my FOMO subsided, I got to thinking about who might be gathered together if we had similar conventions closer to home. Pending the master planning required to arrange a massive convention, I thought the next best thing might be to run an Australian & New Zealand author showcase. So, I sent out the call, with the only prerequisite for participating being the author had to have been born in either country or currently live there.
As we progress through 2024, the Aussie / New Zealand Author Showcase will carry on as I have had a few more authors contact me to say they are keen to take part. At this rate its threatening to become a year long event! So I will continue to post their individual showcases at regular intervals and hopefully you will enjoy these interactions with some very talented people. Please be sure to check out their work, sign up to their newsletters and follow them on their social media of choice. I make no apologies for any damage inflicted to your TBR’s!
Showcase No 23 finds me chatting to Aussie author, Calum Lott, whose debut novel A Dirge For Cascius is set to enter the world in 2024. Whilst you’re waiting for that to arrive be sure to sign up for his newsletter and receive a free short story each month. So onto the questions….
- Do you feel that being an Aussie / Kiwi (or residing there) influences your writing?
Yes and no. For me personally, the majority of the art (books/movies/TV/music) I consume comes from America or England, something I think is true for most Australians and even most of the world, so that has the greatest influence on my writing. However, I also feel as an Australian, where I live in a literal paradise, especially compared to some places of the world, that I have a privileged perspective which influences my writing both in an optimistic light (being so fortunate) and then in a bleak way (watching from afar all the troubles plaguing the world).
However, perhaps the biggest influence on my writing that has come from being an Australian is our country’s spectacular clear night skies in which we can see the stars. Staying out late at night (accompanied perhaps by some beverages), looking up and wondering, is why I started writing Sci-Fantasy. Furthermore, Aboriginal Australian culture and their belief and stories of the stars have also been a massive inspiration.
- What are some of the challenges being located so far away from the rest of the world, do have any tips for overcoming these?
With the internet and a plethora of new technologies, these barriers are not what they once were. In saying that, Australia is still an infant compared to the other major nations on Earth. I think more needs to be done to shine all the literary talent from Australia to its own people as well as out onto the rest of the world to make our country its own hub for authors so we are not so reliant on overseas markets. There are so many amazing authors here, but I feel like we are still beholden to the US & UK markets because of our drastically smaller population, yet still, I’d like to see us stand more on our own. So shout the names of Aus authors to all your neighbours! Insert sneaky shoutout: Josh Walker, Louise Holland, and Jonathan Weiss are just a few amazing Aus ones!
- How do you go about establishing connections in the book community? (any tips / suggestions)
It’s surprisingly easy. Just. Reach. Out. Fear is the mind-killer. All you have to do is overcome that fear or social anxiety and take the leap to just reach out. Who you know in this or any industry really is everything. Authors are particularly friendly kind who are always willing to help, especially in the indie scene. If you see someone posting about something you’re interested in, then start a conversation! If you see someone has a pic of a manga you like in their banner, reach out and chat about it! If someone is having a tough time or just needs help and you are able, then do so! If you want to find a close group of writing allies, then post about it, scour the social apps for other like-minded people and REACH OUT. Enough said.
- Do you have a favourite character to write? And conversely are there any of your characters that are the more of a struggle?
My debut novel, A Dirge for Cascius, only follows his POV. He is a 200-year-old detective in the vast galaxy I’ve created, addicted to reliving the sorrows of his past for pleasure. Now, I don’t necessarily resonate with that aspect, but I resonate with his struggling desire to change for the better – which is the heart of this story and why I wrote it. Something I think so many of us struggle with every day and don’t have clear answers for. “How do I change this negative part of myself? How can I better who I am?” Writing this character and pouring so much of myself into it has allowed me to learn things about myself I wouldn’t have otherwise.
Conversely, I definitely struggled with Kirella, who is his non-human partner. Writing about how a different sapient species behaves and thinks is quite the challenge. All those little mannerisms that we humans do don’t apply to a different species. Or, after thousands of years united in society do they blend together? Do their behaviours and thoughts take on human traits and vice versa? My brain hurts.
- So aliens finally reveal themselves to us and your work is presented to them as example of what humanity has to offer, what do you hope they will take away from this intergalactic exchange?
Have to state for the record, no, I don’t think aliens have come to Earth. To travel from so far away means they would be capable of immense technological feats beyond our current understanding. We would either easily be able to see this (not shotty footage sorry), wouldn’t be able to see them AT ALL, or we’d be easily destroyed from space, probably in minutes. Comforting.
If Aliens were presented with my work, assuming that they have some similar level of consciousness and understanding (I believe the Cosmological Principle, which is basically that the universe is uniform throughout), they would take away our species’ capability for compassion and love. That all the terrible things we are capable of are worth it for those things and that we are just the physical manifestations of the universe itself, manifestations of light and dark, good and bad.
- Tell us something about yourself that not many people know?
I’m a creature of learning and experiencing. As a result, I do far too many different things, somewhat adequate (hopefully, my writing is the one that I’ve come to excel in more than the others). I skateboard, surf, snowboard, and do all sorts of other sports. I play the guitar, and I create crazy stories in my head and try to express them in words. One thing that has been a significant constant is my love for gardening and trees. I’m about to move interstate, and my wallet is trembling in fear because my girlfriend and I know that I will be buying up the nursery and filling our place with plants. They give us life and let us breathe, so I can only try and return the favour.
- What would you say is the best thing about being an author and the worst?
The best thing is easily the creative freedom to do whatever I want. I struggled for a while trying to find what I should do with my life, my calling, if you will, and when I realised it was telling stories, it was the first day of my new life. Writing is, to me, how one of my favourite mentors in life, Carl Sagan, put it, “A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.” I can enter Marcus Aurelius’ mind from thousands of years ago, that is magic! I can only imagine if one of my stories survived for that long and was discovered by someone thousands of years in the future, what would they think?
The worst thing is also the best thing for me. Sometimes, trying to get all these ludicrous ideas out of my head into words is a frustrating challenge, and then to put them into nice-sounding words that are grammatically correct is nails on the chalkboard. I have often found that taking a break or walking without any distractions is often the remedy.
- Any other Aussie / Kiwi creatives you’d like to give a shout out for? (let’s spread the love)
I mentioned them before, but Josh Walker released his awesome novella “The Rest to the Gods” not too long ago! Excited for his debut novel coming soon! Louise Holland has “Spark of the Divine” based on her unhinged D&D campaigns, and Jonathan Weiss has his apocalyptic Sci-Fantasy Flux series; check out “Molten Flux”. Some other names to look out for are E.C. Greaves and Mark Timmony!
- What’s your favourite quote or passage from one of your books?
On and on, whilst time seemed to have failed, Cascius wearily clawed and hoisted himself up with each vertical step. The leaking blood from the staircase had now spread from his hands and feet to cover his entire body, as though he was some mutated infant corpse crawling through the womb of the cosmos itself. His exhausted breath turned into a mad panic, which devolved into uncontrollable weeping. Finally, the madness had become too terrible of a burden. He collapsed against the steep staircase of blood as a screaming fit of horror wholly took his body and Elan Vital. He could go no further.
- What can you say about your current project or what you are planning next?
A Dirge for Cascius will be released sometime in mid-2024, most likely around the beginning of July. It is the first part of a duology, which is a blend of True Detective, Hyperion, Dune, and, for video game fans, Bloodborne and Disco Elysium. Part II will then probably come in 2025. However, in the mean time, I will be releasing a FREE short story at the end of every month (beginning end of Feb) for those who sign up for my mailing list! Most of these stories will be set in the same world and even companions to these main novels, but not required for the full experience. This first short story will be about those whose job it is to destroy black holes. Cool.
Bonus Question: Lastly Vegemite* yes or no?
Yes, of course, Vegemite. I eat entire spoonful’s when I’m sick, haha. Although I don’t like it spread too thick on my toast, I’m not an animal!
* An iconic dark salty spread that (most) Australians slap on toast for breakfast (NB explanation for the rest of the world)
Author Bio:
Born and raised in Australia, Calum Lott is the author of the upcoming Science Fantasy Duology, A Dirge For Cascius. With inspiration from Hyperion, True Detective, Dune, the video game Disco Elysium, and, as always, Lord of the Rings, this will be the first of many tales set in the vast galaxy, Valsollas. In the meantime, you’ll find him adequately playing guitar, breaking controllers gaming, reading at a snail’s pace, watching movies (LOTR over and over), annoying his beautiful girlfriend or sitting at his laptop writing stories whilst getting a sore arse.
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