{"id":23086,"date":"2013-11-28T06:30:12","date_gmt":"2013-11-27T17:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=23086"},"modified":"2013-10-29T22:38:41","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T09:38:41","slug":"heres-specficnz-wellington-featuring-richard-parry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2013\/11\/28\/heres-specficnz-wellington-featuring-richard-parry\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHere\u2019s SpecFicNZ\u2013Wellington\u201d: Featuring Richard Parry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I am currently running a blog \u201cmini-series\u201d titled \u201cHere\u2019s SpecFicNZ Wellington\u201d<\/a>in which my fellow members are introducing themselves using a series of\u00a0 common headings:<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Who:<\/strong> a short, first person introduction to the member
\nHere\u2019s Why:<\/strong> the member writes or works in speculative fiction
\nHere\u2019s What:<\/strong> an example of the member\u2019s work
\nHere\u2019s Where:<\/strong> you<\/em> can find out more about the writer and their work\u2014and I really hope you will!<\/p>\n

And now I am delighted to welcome this week\u2019s guest, Richard Parry.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s SpecFicNZ\u2013Wellington: Featuring Richard Parry<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here\u2019s Who:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

I used to tell people I was an actuary, because telling people I worked on the statistics of when they were likely to die seemed better than admitting to my actual job.\u00a0 The thing about working in IT (which I won’t admit to, usually) is that it’s worse than being a plumber: only one in ten people has a broken toilet, but everyone<\/em> has a broken computer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cool part is, now I tell people I’m a writer<\/strong>.\u00a0 It’s even mostly true – my debut novel, Night’s Favour<\/em>, has been pretty well received.\u00a0 It \u2013 exceptionally briefly \u2013 made it into Amazon\u2019s top 50 in its genre.\u00a0 When that happened, I felt a bit like a superhero.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, every superhero needs a day job, so let\u2019s just agree that I\u2019m not an actuary.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Connor McLeod would say, I\u2019m from lots of different places<\/em>.\u00a0 Born?\u00a0 Philippines.\u00a0 Raised?\u00a0\u00a0 US of A, until 7 or 8.\u00a0 Cultivated?\u00a0 New Zealand.\u00a0 Travel?\u00a0 Yes, through America, Japan, Australia, Italy.\u00a0 Living?\u00a0 The Hutt Riviera.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m at work on my second novel, Upgrade<\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Also, I do karate.\u00a0 This helps more than you know.<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Why:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Speculative fiction is an amazing genre.\u00a0 It\u2019s where we get to set an artificial premise \u2013 aliens, killer attack dogs, zombies, superheroes, star ships, dragons, whatever \u2013 for our characters to act against.\u00a0 We get this chance to ask questions against a different backdrop.\u00a0 What if the world was this way?\u00a0 What would it mean for the people in it?\u00a0 What would they do?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Stories are about people.\u00a0 Imagining people against these fantastic backdrops is plain fun.\u00a0 It\u2019s exciting to write, and it\u2019s exciting to read.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine writing in another genre.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny \u2013 the SpecFicNZ group I have coffee with talks about those other genres sometimes.\u00a0 You know \u2013 like crime fiction.\u00a0 Or romance.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy those genres exist \u2013 I enjoy a good crime fiction novel like anyone else (you\u2019re totally on your own with romance).\u00a0 But the stories that come into my head don\u2019t fit into those categories.\u00a0 It\u2019s a curse: all my ideas come into life in realms fantastic.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a neat curse to have.<\/span><\/p>\n

Really, I like telling stories.\u00a0 And I like telling stories about people \u2013 but with something a little less ordinary thrown in.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to keep on writing speculative fiction, because there\u2019s no other genre that fits so well.<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here\u2019s What:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve included a sample from Night\u2019s Favour<\/em><\/strong> below.\u00a0 You can get an ebook sample from Amazon too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDoc!\u00a0 Stay down!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Phillips looked at him, his mouth open.\u00a0 \u201cI \u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDown!\u201d\u00a0 Val grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing him \u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Friend.\u00a0 Wise one.\u00a0 Guardian.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 gently to the ground.\u00a0 He swept an arm across Phillips\u2019 desk, scattering notes, books, and the computer to the ground.\u00a0 Then he grabbed the desk in both hands, the muscles of his arms and shoulders bunching under his shirt.\u00a0 Leaning back, Val turned around and \u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Strength.\u00a0 By rock and stone and the ground that shakes.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 heaved the desk at the wall.\u00a0 It punched a hole through the wall, lodging half in and half out of Phillips\u2019 office.\u00a0 Val took two steps towards it and \u2014 keeping his momentum up \u2014 put a foot against it, kicking it out and through the wall.\u00a0 Sun broke through, catching dusty motes as they drifted through the air.\u00a0 He turned to Phillips.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDoc.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to run.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI \u2014 of course.\u201d\u00a0 Phillips got up, and started to walk towards the door to his office.<\/span><\/p>\n

Val grabbed the back of his shirt.\u00a0 \u201cNot that way, Doc.\u00a0 Through the wall.\u201d\u00a0 He nodded at the hole in the building.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about \u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll get them.\u201d\u00a0 Val guided him to the hole in the wall.\u00a0 \u201cJust go.\u00a0 Get away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere will I go?\u201d\u00a0 Phillips looked lost.\u00a0 \u201cWhat \u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There was a scream from the waiting room, cut off by a blast of gunfire.<\/span><\/p>\n

Val looked at him.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s no time.\u00a0 Call the police.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOf course.\u201d\u00a0 Phillips started through the hole in the wall.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about you, Valentine?\u00a0 What about you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Val flexed his hands in front of him.\u00a0 He could see the feet of the dead man in the corridor outside Phillips\u2019 office.\u00a0 He looked at the hole in the wall, and the sunlight streaming in.\u00a0 A smile lit up his face.\u00a0 \u201cYou know?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s cancer, doc.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll be fine.\u201d ‘<\/span><\/p>\n

(c) Richard Parry<\/span>
\n .<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Where:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

My Internet \u2018hood is found at www.rage.net.nz<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 I keep the usual accoutrements of a writer there, and if you care deeply you can read my blog.<\/span><\/p>\n

The best place to find Night\u2019s Favour<\/em><\/strong> is on Amazon<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 You can get a digital version for almost anything that carries electricity, or a paper version if that\u2019s your thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, my Internet homegirl Cassie Hart has recently put up an interview with me on her blog<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

The \u201cHere\u2019s SpecFicNZ\u2013Wellington\u201d series will be posting every Thursday for the next four weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am currently running a blog \u201cmini-series\u201d titled \u201cHere\u2019s SpecFicNZ Wellington\u201din which my fellow members are introducing themselves using a series of\u00a0 common headings: Here\u2019s Who: a short, first person introduction to the member Here\u2019s Why: the member writes or works in speculative fiction Here\u2019s What: an example of the member\u2019s work Here\u2019s Where: you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-other-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23086"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23098,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23086\/revisions\/23098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}