The Beast’s Heart
Page 35
A big shout out to the mighty hive mind of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild, the best writing tribe a starry-eyed, wannabe writer could ever fall in with. In particular I have to thank the novel critiquing circle of 2012 who saw the very first, inadequate incarnation of this story. Ian McHugh, Robin Shortt, Chris Andrews, Alexa Shaw, David Beveridge, David Coleman, Robert Phillips: thank you for your insight, frank criticism and encouragement. Especially thanks to Ian for asking if it was ready when it really wasn’t and Robin for letting me be part of his own first novel journey. Thank you to Craig Cormick for his early encouragement in that first Year of the Novel course and for his ongoing mentorship, and a huge thank you to Russell Kirkpatrick for incisive critique of the penultimate draft and knowing how to say exactly what I needed to hear. And to Robert Hood, who offered a second pair of eyes on the final proof: I owe you a drink.
Thank you to Fiona McIntosh for the crucible of her 2013 Masterclass, and the knowledge, friendships and opportunities I’ve gained through that. I also want to acknowledge Bernadette Foley, formerly of Hachette Australia, for her generous feedback and valuable advice on an early draft, and the wonderful Jane Ainslie who also read an early draft and helped me pull it into much better shape.
I’m also grateful for the opportunity I had to participate in the ACT Writers Centre’s HARDCOPY 2016 programme, supported by the Australia Council and convened by the delightful Nigel Featherstone, for fortifying me with some incredibly valuable industry knowledge and introducing me to another great bunch of Australian writers. Thank you to Alex Adsett, as well, for her assistance in negotiating the legal side of things.
Finally, to my beautiful family, who patiently listen to my tortured explanations of plot and point out the holes, leave me alone to write for hours on end while they all play computer games, bring me cups of tea and tell me they’re proud of me: Dennis, Nyssa and Ronan, thanks guys, I love you to bits.