Writer. Critic. Author. Nursery hand (the garden kind, not the baby kind). Music lover. Working class intellectual. Energetic daydreamer. Outdoorsy bookworm.
happiness and sadness, optimism and pessimism, ennui and joy. His music made me smile and cry, sometimes simultaneously, in a way that no music had before.
Now, I feel a hole in my heart knowing that Brian is dead and that the world has lost a musical oracle, and I wonder...
Later in life, having grown up a fair bit and dropped any musical idea of "us vs them", I bought Pet Sounds and a greatest hits compilation on a whim, and was floored upon first listen by how Brian captured and blended the essential dichotomy of life: beauty and ugliness...
...myself in the alt-rock of the decade and the "weird s**t" I unearthed independently.
Obviously, to an outsider teen in a country town whose identity partly rested on the outsider-adjacent music they were obsessed with, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys were just a bit... naff.
My thoughts on the death of Brian Wilson:
I grew up a musical omnivore, coming of age during the 1990s. Back then, I devoured and contextualised the heavier 60s/70s rock, blues, soul and post-punk fed to me by my family as long as my memory stretches back, as well as losing...
Friends, acquaintances, friends and acquaintances to be: I'll be at Bendi-Con this Sunday, selling my books and talking the talk and walking the walk. Come say g'day!
Only a little over twelve hours until kick off. I'll be there, selling my books and talking all things Australian spec-fic, hopefully y'all will be there too.
๐โจ 2024 Clunes Booktown Program Announce! March 23-24, dive into a world of books, ideas, & culture in historic Clunes. Free entry, top authors like Helen Garner, Tony Birch & more! Panels, book bazaar and music await. Join us for a weekend in Victoria's literary heartland.
Damn, I've been away so long that the joint is full of cobwebs...
Anyway, I'm back with a bit of self-promotion for y'all - my first article of the year, proudly nestled here in the latest issue of Aurealis.
Dig in!
Stephen Higgins is at the helm of our first issue for 2024, Aurealis #167. In it you'll three top stories: Michael Gardener's unnerving 'Changeling', Arden Baker's immersive 'The Combat Pilot's Dictionary' and Christopher Yusko's suspensful 'Feeding the Trolls'.
#Aurealis
This scruffy, lazy-ish writer (writerus scruffii slackius) has decided to get off his derriere and sell/promote his works at another great SF market (and hopefully shoot the breeze with some lovely locals).
Come on down! Say g'day! Take a book or two away with you!
Get ready to immerse yourself in Clunes from cover to cover. Grab your tickets via the ๐๐or at the gate. Please remember there is NO cash at the gates, save it for buying books. There will be books, LOTS of books!
https://t.co/z5Tyq08yet
๐จ by Pauline O'Shannessy-Dowling
I've been very quiet here lately as I work to finish my next book, but with Clunes coming up I figured I'd better get back into it.
And so, without further ado, here's a recent article of mine which has just found a home on my website.
https://t.co/n7GMXjSNTk