Nothing much happening this end at the moment. At the same time, a writers’ life can be very interesting – so here’s what I’ve been up to this week. TEACHING Last Friday, I taught my Problems in Wonderland: Stories That Matter workshop at Manly Vale Public School. As always, I…
Last Thursday night, the NSW Writers’ Centre took their tutors out of their comfort zones and asked them to create a story, mashing together two very different genres. My challenge was to mash up…
Every now and then writers doubt themselves. Is this whole writing gig bringing my family enough money? Am I any good? I’m doing all the right things – so why aren’t my sales higher / isn’t my novel published yet? Every now and then, writers get spontaneous unprompted encouragement. Published…
A few days ago, I watched Bill Gates on Q&A (a high-brow Aussie talk show). On it, this very witty and down-to-earth man answered questions about wealth, charity, capitalism, the environment and technology. It was the questions about technology that of course got me sitting up in my seat. Here…
Chuffed. Last night, at the 18th annual Aurealis Awards held in North Sydney’s Independent Theatre, the Australian speculative fiction scene was chuffed… and proud. It all started with Scott Westerfeld’s inspiring opening address. He spoke of speculative fiction as the revitalising force of the movie, television and literary industries, and…
Squee: (verb) To squeal with glee Do you squee? Or does it irritate you to the point that you loathe those who do? Believe it or not, but there are some who’d like to remove the word from the world’s vocabulary by decree! But I still squee. And I believe…
How can I describe what it’s been like the last few days – being surrounded by 250 friends and like-minded people? The 52nd Natcon / Conflux 9 was just that. The layout of Rydges Capital Hill, Canberra, meant I could walk into any room, linger in any corridor, and be…
