Willy Fest

Had fun at Willy Fest on May 1 with a group of writers armed with paper, pen and ready to write. I rarely get to this part of the world and I was struck by how gorgeous it is. A nice sunny day, the sun glinting off the waves, and some sail boats showing off their snowy white sails. As always, the festival volunteers were fab and all deserved medals. What a nice way to spend the day.

In Short

Okay, going to break my rule of never responding to book reviews.

After a nice review for Short and Scary in The Sunday Age, Young Lit section several weeks ago, I was surprised to see a review in today's Sat Age.

The readership for the anthology was years 8 - 14. There is no mention of this in the review which is flanked by adult titles such as The Woman Who Shot Mussolini and 35 Arguments for the Existence of God.

The idea for the short series was a mentoring program, matching established authors and illustrators with emerging talent, both young and old. There is no mention of this in the critique either. (Although there was mention of one contributor's poem as mediocre will probably have the 16 year old author running for cover.)

Feedback from teachers and readers about the short series has been positive. It is a smorgasbord of stories and poetry that young readers can dip into. That's what makes it work for young readers. Perhaps the reviewer is better suited to reviewing adult books...?

Is this your little one?

Someone thrust a copy of The Sunday Age magazine at me the other day and said, 'Is this yours?'
I felt like a proud parent — there was Short and Scary, a nice big cover, and a lovely review from Frances Atkinson.
No, not mine, but a proud parent nevertheless.
The illustration here is from Tegan Bell, a student who is interested in pursuing art as a career. Congrats to Tegan and the other students who made the final cut.

Sshhhhhhh

Went to the local library for a change of scenery armed with laptop and water bottle. Turns out it was preschool Monday, with singing (The Wheels on the Bus go round and round), excited tots and one emotional boy who didn't want to be there and then didn't want to go. At some point, though, it just became a white noise and I tapped away at my keyboard until the strains of Twinkle Twinkle filtered through and it was time to go home...

Oh, so that's how you do it

In an effort not to repeat the excruciating writing effort of the day before, I shunned the office and laptop yesterday, changed locations to the lounge room (best room in the house), and grabbed loose lined pages and a fine Bic pen and wrote. Hmmm, that seemed to work. No way I could check my emails or any of those other things I do online.
Whatever works.

So how's the writing going...?

Got up early for some serious writing.
But first, to the emails.
Then made brekky for the teendults, took the teen to the station and got back to get into it.
Made my own brekky first, made a coffee, dishwasher, load of washing, tidy up, made bed,
sat down to get on with it.
Opened up file (good move).
Who wrote this rubbish. Edited last chapter.
Updated story dictionary.
Back to the story.
And so on.
Even moved lounge room furniture around.
Spoke to fellow author about various topics
ranging from life to death and everything in between.
So now, sitting at computer, not leaving until I have 2,000 words.
(I wonder if deleted words count?)
But first I'll just fill my water bottle...

Hidden Gems

Congrats to Lili Wilkinson on the inclusion of Angel Fish in the Notable Books section of the CBCA awards announced recently.

Angel Fish follows the journey of Gabriel and the Children's Crusade as a group of children set out to liberate the Holy Land from the Infidel. The voice of Gabriel is authenticate and evocative of a time and place long past. As with all good historical fiction, it is relevant to today's readers as it raises issues of belonging, blind faith, jealousy and betrayal.

Another gem which many have yet to discover is Scatterheart, another historical fiction from Wilkinson. The book has recently been released with a new jacket which I would buy just to because it would look so good on my bookshelf. Fortunately, the story is also a great read, set in the time of convict transportation to Australia. This would be a great companion book for students studying Australian History. I also think it has cross-over appeal to the adult market and would make a great book club read. Check it out.