Last fortnight on AustCrime again included a lot of new / upcoming releases and acquisitions, and some reminders of reviews - #Fiction and #NonFiction

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/last-fortnight-on-austcrime

#Books
#CrimeFiction
#AusCrime

@bookstodon

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.02.12 — How unique is the setting of your current WIP?

Very unique yet not unique at all. This is to say that the POV largely describes a world that, in their idea of what's commonplace, is easily mistakable as our own. The stories take place typically in an urban urban milieu; people live lives a lot like ours, but with totally different underpinnings. It takes the POV to notice something in their context that conflicts with our context for it to become apparent. Describing all the details would cause spoilers, but since I've stated a few things previously I'll repeat them: A subset of humans have wings and can fly on a world that could very well be Earth. Same gravity. The temperature is hot, very hot, and always hot. People are only interested in the relative humidity forecast, because it can kill you. People sweat, but it's unremarkable and people deal with the ramifications, only noticing under special circumstances.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory

#PennedPossibilities 929 What is your MC's country or place of origin, and where do they currently live?

Home (the planet) has various autonomous regions†, some less autonomous than others thanks to bad behavior. There is no concept of a sovereign state. Where Bolt comes from the forest and cliff cities known as Mountain Sea, which is simply a different place with a majority population of day angels, otherwise nothing special except to those who live there. It's somewhat traditional, with a hidebound culture. Everything is connected through high speed rail, and roads. Bolt currently lives in Home City, the world's capital, which is a daemon majority city but still a melting pot with a population of every type of human, and a vibrant day angel food culture which matters to Bolt when she can save coin to sample it.

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† There is the Wild, also, but that's beyond the scope of this question.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory

Big Quarry Literature and Settlers Caught on Screen
The complex anxiety of quarry noir

"We dig holes in Australia...It’s what we do. It’s all we’ve ever done, we’re just the world’s quarry, an enormous pit, ever since we struck gold a hundred and fifty years ago." >>
https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-australias-quarry-noir-mines-our-anxiety-about-our-biggest-industry-239523

"Dr James Finlay reflects on how Australia’s convict past has been represented on screen, tracing shifts from early cinematic melodrama through to television drama and contemporary film, and considering how these visual narratives continue to shape national memory." >>
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/history-now-caught-on-screen-australias-convict-history/id1674476464?i=1000749142755

James Findlay, Caught on Screen, Australia’s Convict History in Film and Television, 2025 >>
https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/caught-on-screen-9798765100523/

#mining #extractivism #Literature #film #screen #culture #SettlerSociety #convicts #history #Australia #fiction #narratives #QuarryNoir #BigQuarry #books #NationalAnxiety #criminality #FirstNationsPeoples