We came, we RORed, we conked out

Seeing as everyone else is doing it, I'd better mention the ROR weekend in Tasmania, which was long, luxurious and head-bursting in all the good ways, including shining a number of lights along possible paths forward in The Novel. (I'm already racing along a few of these, picking up interesting-looking objects along the way.)

We had the twin pleasures of Dirk Flinthart's cooking and Tansy's two-year-old daughter Raeli's conversation, as well as warm sunshine, cool breezes, a big old house, a spa, peacocks and horses to admire, a sky very full of stars at night, and a crit room full of light and comfy chairs, where you could look out over Bass Strait while you marvelled at how different, and how detailed!, your fellow workshoppers' comments were on the story at hand.

Trent Jamieson should have been there, of course, but he knows that now and he won't miss out again, if he knows what's good for him. Apart from that, it was a top weekend.