scottVDV

Despite all the elements it had going for it, the end result felt a bit paint by numbers, sadly.

Time to showcase the sensational internal art from Aurealis #187, our first issue for 2026!
First up is Peter Allert's perfectly moody illustration for 'The Last Faithful Servant of the Empire' by Blaize M. Kaye.

More sensational internal art from Aurealis #187, our first issue for 2026!
Here's Andrew Saltmarsh's brilliant illustration for 'The Prince of Dogs' by Harry Goddard.

Showcasing more of the amazing internal art from Aurealis #187, our first issue for 2026! Here's Leah Clementson's superb illustration for 'With Teeth' by S.R. Kriger.

I like 1, then 3, but also agree with the handwriting possibly scaled back a little.

Yuck. A shame he's gone that way.

I'm really mixed on Season 5 so far -- there's much I like, but it's bloated and too much up itself in places.

I've been rewatching the earlier seasons in preparation for the new season. I feel Season 2 is still a pretty solid follow-up to Season 1 (it does enough different and is still nicely smaller scale, though it suffers with one character too distanced from the others for much of the time).

Our group played a lot of Cold City back in the day!

I was into indie RPGs about then. After heading to the US and GenCon in about 2006/2007, and meeting many indie RPG creators around that time, I ran 'Indie Sundays' for a while -- trying out all of those various games, seeing all the interesting mechanics and narratives we could experiment with.

Just knocked back an old contact, who'd come to me some years after previously editing a book of his. (Self-help book then, bit of a self-help book and spiritual guide now... I find it kind of ironic that someone promoting spiritual practices would use AI in this way.)

After at least one incident involving an author who'd used generative AI, I've started checking with authors regarding their use.

Man, the writing in those emails is some kind of (AI-generated) high-intensity purple corporate-speak!

I've signed!

Looking forward to reading this.

Just had to remove AI from Notepad... Notepad! It's like whack-a-mole.

Featured Guest – Kaaron Warren I had a chat with writer Kaaron Warren about writing, her influences and being drawn to dark things and themes. Her latest book is The Underhistory, details here. A few questions… with Kaaron Warre…

Breathing a bit of life back into my website!

I've put up a new 'Featured Guest' -- an interview with Kaaron Warren.

scottvandervalk.com/featured-gue...

Graphic with text as per the post. Graphic shows a computer screen with bin bags.

Macquarie Dictionary has announced 'AI slop' has been chosen by its committee and voted by the public as the word of the year for 2025.

AI slop refers to low-quality content created by generative AI which often contains errors and is not requested by the user, according to Macquarie.

Aurealis #186 Aurealis #186 offers more of the quality writing that our readers have come to expect. Plus you get useful reviews and provocative articles. It has it all!

The latest issue with me as associate editor is out now! (Goodness me, I've been editing for Aurealis for 14 years!)

www.smashwords.com/books/view/1...

Good literary translation requires understanding (language, culture, genre--on both sides of the translation) and an ability to write well. "AI" can't do that. There are no shortcuts. Treat your work and foreign language readers with the respect they deserve. You won't fool anyone with this.

Excellent!

I can still remember a handful of numbers from my youth also (home, several friends, first girlfriend's number before I got a mobile).

Aurealis #185 So rich, so rare, so exhilarating – Aurealis #185, our October 2025 issue, is all of that with exciting fiction from John Pegios, Ella T Holmes and Caroline Smith, plus fascinating non-fiction from Cl...

My latest issue of Aurealis as associate editor - out now!

www.smashwords.com/books/view/1...

Watched it again recently, and with my 17 yo as his first time. Such a solid movie.

Aurealis - a ten issue subscription for less than $4 per issue. Go to www.aurealis.com.au and sign on!

Aurealis #184, our latest issue, is chockers with fascinating genre related non-fiction: ‘Alienated Labour in The Substance and Mickey 17’ by Ani White, ‘The God Pan and English Fantasy’ by Emmet O'Cuana and an exclusive interview with SF legend Alan Dean Foster, conducted by Trevor Howis!

What I wanted to do with this story was try my hand at a more humorous piece - I found I was entertaining myself as I wrote it, but could I entertain someone else with the writing? (It seems so! The publisher loved it, and I've had some other nice feedback.)

www.suddenconflict.com/dogsbody

There were still a few kinks to sort out - implying what kind of animals the characters were without outright saying what they were, as my initial drafts had - 'boarish', 'doggish', etc. (The main character is a Shiba Inu.)

'Dogsbody' is the second of my short stories for the Sudden Conflict game.

This story came the easiest of the three - but I did a lot of thinking and pre-planning ahead of this one, so by the time I started putting pen to paper, it was more fully formed.

Aurealis Awards Australia's premier speculative fiction awards

Do you love reading Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror? The Aurealis Awards are calling for judges across all categories (novel, short story, graphic novel, and age categories) for the 2026 awards. Details below.