tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146149382012-01-31T01:41:24.595+11:00Because talking is hard enough without all those 'st'sAmong Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.comBlogger7771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-75239738618365795892012-01-29T16:02:00.002+11:002012-01-29T16:06:48.793+11:00

Look at this, my very first book trailer! I promise, I don't take up all the screentime; there are some very decorative, tantalising bits at the beginning!

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-1702298306660766452012-01-26T07:20:00.004+11:002012-01-26T07:38:50.162+11:00

If you're in Hobart next Thursday night, 2 February, please feel free to turn up unannounced and un-RSVP'd to the double launch of Sea Hearts and Tansy Rayner Roberts's Reign of Beasts at the Hobart Book Shop in Salamanca Square.Rowena Cory Daniells will launch Reign of Beasts, the final book in Tansy's The Creature Court trilogy.Richard Harland, Worldshaker author, will launch Sea Hearts.The fun

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-91706495703761178792012-01-26T06:57:00.004+11:002012-01-26T07:17:56.294+11:00

Artist Jackie Morris blogs a Brides review with a difference. "The character of Misskaella who exacts a terrible revenge on the men and the women of Rollrock with a simple act of magic and how this balances in her own life and story."The powerful ‘seeing’ of the thin veils between worlds."The description of how Misskaella finds the creature inside the seal and pinpoints the star like marks of

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-42343170821776619372012-01-26T06:48:00.003+11:002012-01-26T07:19:21.506+11:00

Over here at Maggie Stiefvater's blog, she hosts not one, not two, but TEN writers; we each take a chunk of our own novel or story, scribble all over it and explain why we revise the way we do. It's fascinating for anyone interested in the close work of revision.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-70662869843052749752012-01-24T03:28:00.003+11:002012-01-24T11:23:18.120+11:00

Just a few reviews have started to trickle out, getting the world ready for publication day (1 Feb here in Australia, 2 Feb in the UK). The Bookbag, in the UK, says that Brides is"powerful, beautiful, dangerous, unsettling, truthful, earthy, challenging, poetic, wonderful, absorbing. I can't recommend it highly enough. Margo Lanagan has a unique, uncompromising and lyrical voice and she brings it

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-13082471204779309152012-01-05T10:14:00.003+11:002012-01-10T15:36:59.056+11:00

For my own and others' reference, here are the stories I published last year:'Catastrophic Disruption of the Head' (9800 words), in The Wilful Eye, vol. 1 of Tales from the Tower, ed. Isobelle Carmody and Nan McNab, Allen & Unwin 'The Proving of Smollett Standforth' (4800), in Ghosts by Gaslight: Stories of Steampunk and Supernatural Suspense, ed. Jack Dann and Nick Gevers, HarperCollins'Mulberry

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-36570428345129217312012-01-03T07:52:00.005+11:002012-01-03T08:00:38.087+11:00

Translated by Nadia Sechkina—we corresponded by email during the translation, and at the end she wrote me a lovely email saying: "You know, I had not shed a tear during the 4 months of translation, but I really wept over the book, several times, when I was editing my work as if I was reading about Liga and her daughters for the first time."So you can be sure it has lost none of its

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-84853566394298431832011-12-31T08:40:00.002+11:002011-12-31T09:30:43.508+11:00

So, my 2012 looks like this.Publications:The selkie novel, in February: in Aus. Sea Hearts, in the UK The Brides of Rollrock Island. The US will also use the Brides title, when the book's published there in September. I've just sent off the copy edits for that edition, and received early copies of the printed Australian and UK editions, both very pretty.The Twelfth Planet Press collection of four

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-79496499041493872552011-12-30T18:12:00.003+11:002011-12-30T18:18:32.640+11:00

This, from over here, struck me as spot on for grant applications:The thing to avoid is the “To whom it may concern….” person appearing. It’s amazing how many people when they sit down to write down something become someone else. The “To whom it may concern” person suddenly appears. You don’t talk like that. So don’t [write your application] like that. Make sure that you can see you in your [

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-46314588537167830362011-12-20T07:18:00.004+11:002011-12-20T07:36:41.508+11:00

Right now, from, say, Readings or Avid Reader, you can buy an e-copy of Tender Morsels, bundled with the Black Juice story 'Singing My Sister Down'.That's two World Fantasy Award winners in the one bundle, and for only $9.99.Make someone you love cry this Christmas—in a good way.I'm just about to sign an agreement to have my whole Allen & Unwin backlist come out as e-books within 12 months or so.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-78933933190983744502011-11-28T07:41:00.002+11:002011-11-28T07:59:39.467+11:00

...has whizzed by, hasn't it? I've been doing NaNoWriMo(nth-and-a-half), hoping to finish a scratchy first draft of a novel by mid-December, for workshopping purposes (well, I'm hoping ROR will reveal to me the novel towards which this draft is directing its stabbings-in-the-dark), and I'm up to nearly 40K—I definitely won't make the 50K needed to 'win', but I will have 40K+ words on a new novel

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-33205810964987708922011-11-09T06:07:00.003+11:002011-11-09T06:25:21.409+11:00

Yes, so I think the title-wrangling is all done with now, and that the selkie novel will be called Sea Hearts in Australia, and The Brides of Rollrock Island in the UK and the US. Here is the British cover, and appropriately bridely it is, no?Apologies for a slack month's no-blogging. Was I really that busy? Well, there were the two book talks, both of which went off very well. There was the

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-54395140206070061302011-10-11T16:02:00.002+11:002011-10-11T16:07:28.031+11:00

Whatcher reckon? :)

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-37149799862601901392011-10-07T09:02:00.004+11:002011-10-07T09:13:37.619+11:00

If you're going to be in or near Newtown on Monday night, you must book yourself in for the Better Read Than Dead launch/conversation of Krissy Kneen's new hottie, Triptych: an erotic adventure. Yes, you must! Click on the left for embiggenment and info.For a different, altogether moodier, more mysterious and fantastical event, please come and see me in conversation with Mette Jakobsen about her

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-81689488969357899952011-09-30T06:08:00.004+10:002011-10-06T05:27:57.799+11:00

I haven't blogged a lot here lately, but I've been on other people's blogs a bit. Click on these.Here at because writing is my vice I talk about reading and writing, and list some favourite books.Over at Ripping Ozzie Reads I talk about judging literary competitions and grant applications.And very soon I'll be appearing in the Fablecroft blog's series of posts about indie presses.In other news,

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-42376709140846223852011-09-13T07:51:00.002+10:002011-09-13T08:14:16.759+10:00

I did two days on the schools program at the BWF this year, and had a terrific time. I was on 2 panels, one with Peter Stanley, author of Simpson and his Donkey, and Maggie Steifvater, author of the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy—the third book of which is my commuting book for this week. We talked about writing from animals' points of view, which was a great topic and one I hardly ever get asked

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-91888646988409042102011-09-05T08:21:00.003+10:002011-09-05T08:30:18.480+10:00

including this one from Count Gore (Judy Comeau):I have been reading and enjoying the anthologies edited by multiple award winning editor Ellen Datlow for more decades than I care to confess, and her newest volume is an absolute stunner. These seventeen stories push the boundaries of vampirism to the very edges of contemporary imagination; you’ll find no creaking coffin lids or moldering castles

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-29863086519409475082011-09-02T04:52:00.002+10:002011-09-02T05:00:24.514+10:00

Ellen Datlow's anthology Blood and other Cravings comes out in less than a fortnight now, but Rich Horton's already onto it in the latest Locus. And he likes my "mulberries".The theme is vampires, but often not traditional vampires: rather they are creatures which feed on or crave a variety of essential substances, not just blood. The mode is generally horror, and as we certainly expect from

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-39456708851394871952011-08-31T09:46:00.003+10:002011-08-31T09:51:54.782+10:00

Kaaron Warren is running a great series called 'Sparks' over at her blog, all about how different authors' stories/novels got started, the things that set them off, started them wondering. She's just now put up my spark, which is the story, simple enough, of how my Hansel-and-Gretel story 'The Goosle' began. How one small dictionary entry could turn into so much unpleasantness...I know, it's

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-18661012877955307042011-08-19T17:38:00.002+10:002011-08-19T17:46:55.174+10:00

As seen on Amazon UK. Noice, innit. :)

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-59836619517273140332011-08-19T17:28:00.002+10:002011-08-19T17:38:34.661+10:00

in a New Yorker article (from June), 'Trading Stories: Notes from an apprenticeship':It was not in my nature to be an assertive person. I was used to looking to others for guidance, for influence, sometimes for the most basic cues of life. And yet writing stories is one of the most assertive things a person can do. Fiction is an act of willfulness, a deliberate effort to reconceive, to rearrange,

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-37777009520921373982011-08-18T16:52:00.002+10:002011-08-18T17:00:01.195+10:00

If you're a Writers' Centre member, you'll already know about this panel. This is just a nudge to remind you that it's happening tonight, in an hour and a half, in fact. And look, free drinks and light refreshments at the end. So get your skates on.Writing Genre: is it all about the rules? Thursday 18 August, 6:30pm-8:30pm After crime writer Peter Temple won the Miles Franklin Award his book,

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-44174974017067998172011-08-17T07:24:00.005+10:002011-08-18T20:58:14.041+10:00

Because they've sent me some pix and info expressly for this purpose, let me tell you about the Brisbane Writers Festival! Main news—I'll be there! I'll be there for two days of Word Play with the younger readers of Brisbane and surrounds, talking about how to think like an animal, build a fantasy world and write a short story. Here's the Festival's text about themselves: Brisbane Writers

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-34685926302590144432011-07-29T11:47:00.004+10:002011-07-29T12:05:32.192+10:00

It's been a long, travelaceous time between blog posts and there is no excuse except that the days are not long enough.I'm home in Sydney now. The US trip was brilliant. The writerly bit with the Clarion West students was inspiring and intense; the touristy bit was also inspiring, awe-inspiring a lot of it (America, you do things so big!), and the meeting-tweeps bit was a whole bunch of fun.Now I

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-23647896560950644432011-07-06T01:31:00.002+10:002011-07-06T01:35:50.275+10:00

Come if you can!

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-90945719530263995542011-06-24T11:46:00.002+10:002011-06-24T12:06:11.700+10:00

Well, what do you know, here I am in Forks, Washington. I'm not even a Twilight fan, but it's fascinating to see how the books have invaded the town. I'm staying in the hotel that says "Edward Cullen did not sleep here!" so I should be pretty safe from infection/attack. We arrived yesterday, and explored the Hoh Rain Forest and Second Beach at La Push today. Tomorrow we'll move on south.All this

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-37635544543878934332011-06-11T08:50:00.002+10:002011-06-11T09:17:25.481+10:00

Very soon, I'll be flying out to the US to begin ambling slowly towards Seattle, where from July 4-8 I'll be teaching a week of the six-week Clarion West workshop, which is an honour and a thrill—this is the workshop I attended back in 1999 (an age and just a minute ago), and I'll be coming after Paul Park, whose A Princess of Roumania series I am in awe of, and Nancy Kress, who taught the first

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-87697690688834137982011-06-04T09:08:00.003+10:002011-06-04T09:20:00.090+10:00

Last night in a fit of insomnia, I finished the last tweaks to the selkies-novel manuscript, entered the corrections to the second half, and sent it off—yes, even though all the editors and the agent had closed up shop for the weekend. Now, because the applications I was supposed to be reading haven't turned up (this does not bode well for next week, as I work Mon-Wed and the assessment meeting

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-51877524308629961472011-05-23T20:53:00.003+10:002011-05-23T21:18:34.231+10:00

...came and now is all but gone. The rest of Auckland Festival (nice ambitious blog post below—what about Days 2 and 3 and the rest, Margo?) was fantastic. The school session went really well, and on the weekend I talked on stage with Meg Rosoff and Paula Morris, and then Paula wrangled me again, along with Elizabeth Knox (whose The Vintner's Luck and Dreamhunter I ate up while I was away, whose

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-13484581486196009892011-05-12T05:35:00.000+10:002011-05-14T06:25:01.565+10:00

First session in Auckland today: "Margo talks about the exhilarating ride that is short story writing, and how it's different from the long but glorious [well...] slog involved in completing a novel. She invites you into some of the weird, wonderful and sometimes slightly icky worlds she's created, and lets you in on a few secrets of writing, and of living the writer's life." For Years 10–13 (

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-4924566110540886942011-05-02T07:41:00.000+10:002011-05-02T07:42:10.349+10:00

Please, God, let it be final.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-64184612838722509492011-04-23T07:21:00.004+10:002011-04-23T08:43:37.015+10:00

Actually, April's kind of a slog, I have to say. Brilliant autumn days that I mostly can't go out in, except to the dayjob.Here I am on the third day of my Easter-weekend all-but-final-assault on the novel revisions. Have had one ordinary day, one good day and one very faffy morning. You, dear blog readers, are being faffed at right now. I am boring (yes, that's the operative word) through to the

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-24287636443893933252011-04-09T10:04:00.001+10:002011-04-09T10:06:45.155+10:00

the zombies won. Less said the better about that, don't you think?

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-70734902156686721382011-04-09T09:45:00.003+10:002011-04-09T09:58:16.569+10:00

So says Delia Falconer in the Australian this morning, of Yellowcake....the overwhelming strength of Lanagan's writing is its pungent physicality. Like good animation, these stories are feats of magical imagining that live through their precise feel for objects' movement and weight. In 'Night of the Firstlings'...the mephitic wind that kills the unprotected first-born brings death with all its

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-90006719525677355362011-03-26T10:50:00.003+11:002011-03-26T11:12:12.944+11:00

This coming Thursday night, if you're in Sydney and feeling like a good tussle, come along and watch Justine Larbalestier, editor (with Holly Black) of the YA anthology Zombies vs. Unicorns, and three of her contributors (Scott Westerfeld on the zombie side, Garth Nix and me for the unicorns) 'in a short-story feud that pits horned beasts against the shuffling undead', as the SMH's Planner column

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-48008716344571990322011-03-26T10:43:00.005+11:002011-03-26T11:11:56.465+11:00

...is how Angie Schiavone's review of Yellowcake in the Sydney Morning Herald today is headed, and she urges you to take your time reading them:As with Lanagan's previous collections, Yellowcake is not a book to rush through or read in one sitting. Her day-job as a technical writer requires clear, unambiguous writing but Lanagan adheres to no such constraints when it comes to fiction, gliding

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-36310771588787494892011-03-25T17:50:00.003+11:002011-03-25T17:52:13.311+11:00

...is online.Margo Lanagan always seems to be a couple of steps ahead of us, like a tricksterish lightning bug that is never in the jar you thought you’d put it in.:D

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-8723971998091542542011-03-22T18:50:00.003+11:002011-03-22T18:55:25.787+11:00

In this excellent company of YA stories:'Inksucker', Aidan Doyle, Worlds Next Door, Fablecroft Publishing'One Story, No Refunds', Dirk Flinthart, Shiny #6, Twelfth Planet Press'A Thousand Flowers', Margo Lanagan, Zombies vs Unicorns, Allen & Unwin'Nine Times', Kaia Landelius and Tansy Rayner Roberts, Worlds Next Door, Fablecroft Publishing'An Ordinary Boy', Jen White, The Tangled Bank, Tangled

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-26481033029316811402011-03-18T18:19:00.003+11:002011-03-18T18:57:14.465+11:00

I had 3 weeks (i.e. 9 working days) off the dayjob. The first week and a half was all about preparing for, and then attending, Perth Writers Festival, as detailed in the previous post. It was a beautifully organised, nicely paced program that allowed me to take in a few panels other than my own, and to catch up with Perth friends—hi Sal, hi Jonathan and Marianne, hi Lynn, hi Alisa and Tehani!All

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-36222270581505586322011-02-28T18:26:00.002+11:002011-02-28T18:34:40.937+11:00

Off to Perth tomorrow, for the Perth Writers' Festival. I'm doing a couple of sessions on the Schools Program (one with Melina Marchetta and one Yellowcake-based, solo) and also the following:TheMagic of OzIs there a uniquely Australian fantasy voice? Margo Lanagan, Anthony Eaton and Will Elliott consider how living in Australia influences their writing.Chair: Helen MerrickUniversity Club Banquet

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-51385225842785660222011-02-23T11:32:00.001+11:002011-02-23T11:33:41.635+11:00

...and asked me five questions, over here.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-63040645860882924822011-02-17T16:32:00.002+11:002011-02-17T16:46:40.026+11:00

Allen & Unwin wrote to me today to let me know that my two YA novels from the mid-1990s, The Best Thing and Touching Earth Lightly, are now available as print-on-demand books. They can supply you with a high-quality printed book within 14 days of ordering,You can order from a bookshop or direct from Allen & Unwin. You can add The Best Thing to your basket here, and Touching Earth Lightly here.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-13762584286728556382011-02-03T05:06:00.007+11:002011-02-03T07:38:40.899+11:00

In the last day or so, controversy involving three YA novels, Jackson Pearce’s Sisters Red, Elizabeth Scott's Living Dead Girl and my own Tender Morsels, has arisen in several places online. The main one is the Bitch Media site, where these three books were first included on a list of ‘100 Young Adult books for the feminist reader’, then, on the strength of comments made ‘and emails received’,

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-58898708792158963962011-01-28T18:12:00.002+11:002011-01-28T18:29:59.186+11:00

Charging into the deadlines here like a bull into a brick wall. *does not whinge about deadlines she brought on herself* *really, does not* *NO, Margo*I hope you are all well.The James Franco was a good read. I see a lot on Twitter about how pretty he is and where you can find pictures of his bottom, but you know, his brainbox isn't all that bad either. He has a strong stomach and a nice tight...

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-16878148193970643522011-01-14T19:37:00.003+11:002011-01-14T19:41:22.978+11:00

Writers from Sydney and surrounds, take a look at this wonderful thing: the Faber Academy’s ‘Writing a Novel’ course. If you’re a novelist, either developing or fully fledged, who needs a kick in the pants—well, several kicks in the pants by the sound of it—and some extensive hand-holding over a whole SIX MONTHS of Tuesday nights and Saturdays, you couldn’t do much better.Thirty people will get

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-86068990912609458162010-12-29T13:57:00.007+11:002010-12-30T18:54:23.283+11:00

There will be publication:Yellowcake short story collection (in Australia)—Marchthe selkies novel (in Australia)—Septembera quartet of stories from Twelfth Planet Press—not sure when.There will be writing:yes, that quartet—it's one-quarter done, kinda2 other short stories by end January (both drafted)one other short story by end February (drafted but in need of remaking, not completely from

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-83834691232001097152010-12-27T14:36:00.002+11:002010-12-27T14:52:40.578+11:00

We left all the wrapping paper lying about for a couple of days to make it look as if we still had children, but now it's tidied away, and the presents too, pretty much, and there's only the tree and the hangovers to remind us that Christmas was here. The tree, decorated by our nieces who visited the week before Christmas, is glowing gently in the corner now—it's an artificial one, about 20 years

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-32871762659232865862010-12-15T16:18:00.002+11:002010-12-15T16:28:25.069+11:00

The selkies novel trudges on. It's just applying bottom to seat on a regular basis at this stage. I wouldn't call it a 'death march', but it's definitely a bit, you know, sloggy.All the short stories I owe in January are tantalising me over the Christmas/New Year horizon. I'm looking forward to them; they're so...short. And different from each other. *whispers* I am a leetle bit over

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-7411372182067379262010-12-04T16:29:00.004+11:002010-12-04T17:04:16.290+11:00

I have a thumping great deadline (on the novel revision) on 31 December. I had another thumping great deadline then, which I've managed to push back a month (along with three smaller deadlines *nervous laugh*). I have no choice but to meet the TGD, and I think I probably have paced the revisions okay and won't need to pull any caffeine-fuelled all-nighters to bring it to a satisfactory

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-62711764091252302332010-11-25T08:10:00.002+11:002010-11-25T08:25:41.442+11:00

Right. So. Reading: Leanne Hall's This is Shyness. Finished Tove Jansson's Fair Play and The Summer Book—both brilliant.Ann and Jeff VanderMeer's Steampunk Reloaded arrived (with 'Machine Maid' in it, and a whole lot of other (more) interesting (to me) stuff. Also the audio book of Zombies vs Unicorns, and the Australian paperback edition from Allen & Unwin. It's enough to make a person think

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-56201980712760282282010-11-14T08:55:00.003+11:002010-11-25T08:10:18.575+11:00

For the last couple of weeks Steven and I have been staying in a 26th-floor apartment in Kings Cross, looking out over Sydney Harbour and (if you dare to go out on the balcony) the whole city from the mountains (between the city towers) to the sea (beyond the Heads). Most mornings I've been getting up early and working while the sun comes up and the view changes from twinkling city lights to

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-40577793557843014972010-11-01T13:45:00.002+11:002010-11-01T13:53:19.848+11:00

I'm so pleased about this - it makes it look like such a good idea to expand this novella into a full-blown novel. When I'm up to my ears in revisions, I need all the reassurance I can get.In case you're wondering what 'Sea-Hearts' is all about, there are now two places where it can be found: in its original publication, Keith Stevenson's/coeur de lion's novellanthology X6, and in Paula Guran's

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-8419226943091003152010-10-31T17:06:00.003+11:002010-10-31T17:35:53.454+11:00

More books read:Anonymity Jones, by James RoyGravel, by Peter GoldsworthyThe Three Loves of Persimmon, by Cassandra GoldsBooks begun:So I am Glad, by A. L. KennedySixty Lights, by Gail JonesAs for writing, I've mostly revised the first of the 3 sections of The Brides of Rollrock Island, and started in on the middle section, which is where all the major revisions have to take place. So far I've

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-73545074412830868402010-10-21T09:09:00.002+11:002010-10-21T09:15:56.712+11:00

Tove Jansson, The True DeceiverLloyd Jones, Mr PipJoanne Horniman, About a Girl Gail Jones, Black MirrorJames Bradley, The ResurrectionistCassandra Golds, The Three Loves of PersimmonGil Adamson, Help Me, Jacques CousteauHm, now I just need to write some.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-37411732122454393042010-10-13T06:02:00.002+11:002010-10-13T06:06:51.218+11:00

Here is Zoe Sadokierski's lovely cover for the collection, due out from Allen & Unwin in March next year. Weird and wonderful, no? Just like the contents! I'm very happy with this.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-18353670801730399712010-10-08T09:05:00.003+11:002010-10-08T09:11:25.125+11:00

Sydney people! I'm running a writing workshop, 'Leaping in the Dark: The Craft of Story', at the NSW Writers' Centre on Sunday week. It's six hours' worth of inspiration and hard work.It's the last workshop I'll be doing for a while—I'm taking at least a year off from workshopping after this—so get in while you can. Bookings are 'strong', they tell me, but there are still some places left.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-28005593186706012232010-10-08T08:52:00.002+11:002010-10-08T09:05:35.102+11:00

Well, so. Yesterday I finished the lovingkindness story for Yellowcake; it's very loving and kind, but a little sad, too. I took off its broken wing completely in the end, and fattened up its middle. Now it just needs to sit and prove in a corner for a day or two before I read-through-and-fix it and send it off. And then I'll have finished, not just a story, but a whole BOOK!The design of which (

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-52508820791060150552010-09-28T07:33:00.002+10:002010-09-28T07:45:32.058+10:00

I re-did the back end of the story that needed it and sent it off for feedback from the editor. So far have heard good things, but more notes are to come. One product of this crazy rash of deadlines I'm trying to meet is that I find I'm allowing/asking editors to have a say on stories, whereas before I'd just battle through that stage stories sometimes pass through where they have to shatter and

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-88809003080098846902010-09-19T18:33:00.002+10:002010-09-19T18:47:10.121+10:00

...from time at the beach, up the country and visiting family. While I was away I finished one short story, realised that the back end of another needed chopping off and rewriting, and eyed another drafted one from an amiable distance.I also received an email from my two wonderful editors at Allen & Unwin, with extensive-but-not-frighteningly-so notes on The Brides of Rollrock Island (possibly

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-84607246020312721112010-09-16T15:57:00.002+10:002010-09-16T16:02:34.351+10:00

Thanks for all your comments here - I've had time to glance at the class blog, but I'm travelling right now and unlikely to be able to answer your comments fully before next week.One thing I can quickly say is that 'Singing My Sister Down' takes place at no particular historical time, except that it must be a time where trucks and pistols are available. It also takes place in no particular

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-6331750438779576882010-09-02T19:22:00.002+10:002010-09-02T19:37:35.620+10:00

The Literature Board met today and finished the assessment of the individual New Work grants, which is one part of the obligatory reading that's been taking up my every waking hour since late July. There's a little more business to take care of tomorrow, and then I'll have a weekend to come to grips with the next short story deadline off the rank; we'll see if I can switch hats quickly, from the

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-19133521497619241632010-08-25T06:01:00.003+10:002010-08-25T06:07:55.475+10:00

Yes, it's true! And in fine company. Congratulations to all nominees.One of my big jobs for August is done. The Australian/Vogel Award is judged, to all three judges' and A&U's satisfaction. Now we just have to all keep the result under our hats until May next year.The next week and a bit will be wall-to-wall grant applications. Possibly the weekend after next I'll get to work on a short story.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-47934109876930732552010-08-17T16:29:00.003+10:002010-08-17T16:35:46.212+10:00

...of Vogel reading (2 more MSS to go!)....of Lit Board application reading, thwarted slightly by me dropping my laptop, so I'm continuing on my son's high-school-issue ThinkPad with about an eighth of the screen display missing....of the day-job, which now looks to be going on until Christmas...of socialising, though I'm not complaining about that, or about weekends at the beach. That's a good

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-43033865699771398132010-08-08T19:21:00.002+10:002010-08-08T19:37:18.224+10:00

I filled up this 4-day weekend by:drafting one short story to the end, typing it up and printing it out for (probably quite a bit of) further workprobably half-drafting a second story which I'm rescuing for a previous draft, which I wrote right to the end but which somehow never really got up from the page and started breathingreading several manuscripts on the Vogel longlist—I've now got 2

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-23585268559656237922010-07-30T19:33:00.002+10:002010-07-30T19:40:21.125+10:00

I'm happy to announce that next July, I'll be teaching the third week of Clarion West, the 6-week speculative-fiction writing workshop I attended as a student in 1999.Although I probably won't do more than glimpse them, I'm very pleased to be in the company of the other instructors, Paul Park, Nancy Kress (who also taught me back in '99), Minister Faust, L. Timmel Duchamp and Charles Stross. What

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-80425782412150036992010-07-29T20:03:00.007+10:002010-07-30T19:43:08.966+10:00

The title means 'The Girls who Dreamed of Bears'.(courtesy Guerra & Paz Editores)

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-14374888315320160572010-07-29T10:22:00.005+10:002010-07-29T10:26:43.835+10:00

Just realised the email announcing the play had a poster attached!(Designed by Lucy Tann.)

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-55165828816648357822010-07-26T16:21:00.004+10:002010-08-12T20:18:38.584+10:00

SUDS presents a dramatic adaptation from Sydney writer Margo Lanagan's award-winning book of short stories for young adults, Black Juice.Wed–Sat, 11th–21st August, 8pm.Cellar Theatre, under the Holme Building, Science Road, Sydney University.Admission: $2/3/4/5.'In the winter you come to the pit to warm your feet in the tar. You stand long enough to sink as far as your ankles—the littler you are,

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-15749045041410677452010-07-26T12:15:00.003+10:002010-07-26T14:37:59.265+10:00

The short (1000-3000 word) piece that's due on Friday is rough-drafted and I'm looking at it sidelong, thinking it needs to shape up a bit.I started the final short story that's to go into Yellowcake, the collection that's coming out next March from A&U, and who-knows-when from the US and UK; those contracts and schedules aren't quite sorted yet. Anyway, this story is supposed to help lighten up

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-78887818929813891352010-07-20T14:22:00.004+10:002010-07-20T14:29:26.831+10:00

...and just over a year on, and I'm stuck at work tooling around on the Internet, here's M. T. Anderson's brilliant speech from the Printz Awards last year, about how smart children and teenagers are. And he's no dummy himself.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-59753932245762960612010-07-14T13:07:00.002+10:002010-07-14T13:13:44.743+10:00

Not much to report here - still working on a short story (but that'll be a given for the next 6 months). This one was due last weekend; I think I'll have it done tomorrow. I just have to ramp up the tension in the second half, so that it's more of a surprise when the little guy kills the overbearing one.Must get this story and another (a shorty - only 3000 words!) completed by the end of July.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-39244772129579738122010-07-08T09:41:00.003+10:002010-07-08T09:43:13.429+10:00

Spike/Meanjin takes you there, as well as for a short, sweet tour around the inside of my head.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-55005052737996327192010-07-06T18:47:00.002+10:002010-07-06T18:55:58.712+10:00

Catherynne M. Valente says what I think (except I never could have dreamed up the ghostpigs on their guitars) over here. She writes about the horrors of reading boring beginnings in a way that makes it sound almost fun. But it isn't; those of us with obligatory-reading responsibilities know. Thank you for speaking our minds, Catherynne.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-59472589924067261552010-07-03T10:12:00.003+10:002010-07-03T10:23:55.869+10:00

I see that I was not very prolific blog-entry-wise during June. Apologies. I was run off my feet.I went to my grant assessment meeting, and then I read more applications for another, bigger assessment meeting. That one's done now, so I'm only doing 2 jobs (tech- and story-writing) from now until near the end of July, when the next, huge, batch of applications, and the Vogel longlist, will hit and

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-82925315377949579932010-06-18T07:34:00.004+10:002010-06-18T17:03:03.934+10:00

Yes, two actual weeks have passed since I updated. And not because nothing's been happening. I've been working my three-days-a-week job, reading grant applications like a machine (an intelligent, discerning machine, natch), and hacking apart a short story and putting it back together.When I sent it off, this story, I thought it was done. (This has happened with whole novels, too.) I thought it

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-86593719485886415372010-05-29T11:51:00.006+10:002010-05-29T13:16:46.782+10:00

Well, it worked, pretty much, for NotNessie: "If you're up for a bittersweet and emotionally difficult read, you should give this one a try, it's worth it."Book Addiction loved the beginning, hated the middle, liked the ending: "And the multiple points of view (constantly changing without rhyme or reason) sort of annoyed me. And confused me. Also, I missed hearing so much from Liga – she was

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-23371748183427729432010-05-28T20:22:00.002+10:002010-05-28T20:40:54.090+10:00

Today I got my copy of Picture This 2 from Pearson Education, to which I contributed a story, along with every children's and YA writer in the known universe, it seems (well, the Australian bit of the KU, anyway). We each had a picture to start from, and we had to write a story sparked by the picture, and then a short piece for teachers/students about how we got from picture to story, which was

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-7846420144603018242010-05-23T20:11:00.001+10:002010-05-23T20:16:39.756+10:00

With Simon Schama and Lydia Wevers at Radio NZ!

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-12140157408346016092010-05-23T20:09:00.000+10:002010-05-23T20:10:57.801+10:00

Over at Marianne's blog!

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-42984368446039558092010-05-18T13:46:00.004+10:002010-05-18T14:08:09.696+10:00

With apologies to Justine - she hates these review entries.I just happened to be over at Amazon, and while I was there I jumped over to TM's site and checked out the recent customer reviews. There is the widest range of opinions you'll find of any book, I reckon.'I don't know HOW an author could produce a book like this and feel good about it. WHY an author would write such a book is unknown to

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-78302049504839527732010-05-17T07:23:00.003+10:002010-05-17T07:49:48.784+10:00

Over at Keith Stevenson's Terra Incognita (The Australian Speculative Fiction podcast), and also syndicated to iTunes, you can get a taste of the world in which my next novel (and 'Sea-Hearts', my only novella so far) is set, but with an adults-only slant.I'm reading out 'Flower and Weed', a story set on Rollrock Island; selkies are in the background, but this is a story of a liaison between a

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-40041354164769347322010-05-09T07:55:00.003+10:002010-05-09T08:33:40.233+10:00

Both the Supersessions and the Master Class at Byron Bay went well. The individual sessions were pretty intense, as you can imagine, but in a good way!, and the workshop on Thursday was a whole lot of fun. I got 6 more people addicted to using scrapbooks to work their way into stories. I managed to get in a walk along the main beach on Wednesday night, so that I registered that I wasn't in Sydney

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-324657340516445692010-04-26T22:29:00.002+10:002010-04-26T22:35:56.529+10:00

Hosted by Northern Rivers Writers Centre, I'll be running a couple of workshops at Byron Bay next week.The YA supersessions are happening on the Wednesday. Not sure if there are any places left for these. You get 40 minutes' consultation on your project-in-development, of which I'll have seen the synopsis and first chapter beforehand.On Thursday I'll be running a 6-hour workshop called Twist in

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-40986642981368779162010-04-12T12:18:00.002+10:002010-04-12T12:25:43.796+10:00

Bit of a gap since my last post; can you tell I was a bit blogged-out, after the blog tour? I had nothin’, for a while there.Now I’ve got something, but it’s secret. Perhaps you’ll twig to it if I tell you I have to wait until 15 April to tell you (but if you do twig, I can’t confirm it).But something else is happening on 15 May that I can tell you about, and that’s the uploading of a podcast at

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-75062675744551306762010-03-23T05:49:00.008+11:002010-03-28T06:05:28.819+11:00

I will, someday, finish the saga of my NZ travels, but in the meantime, this week you can follow my adventures all around the internets, as I take blog after blog by storm (heh, mistyped that 'story' at first) on my Tender-Morsels-purty-new-editions Blog Tour!So, I start out over at Through A Glass Darkly, getting, ooh, almost spiritual. O.O Plus, Kari's offering book giveaways! You too can

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-18798959949042083022010-03-19T05:54:00.002+11:002010-03-19T05:59:17.403+11:00

Actually, I'm in Christchurch now, but here's a blog entry I wrote up a few days ago and haven't had a chance to put up: Woke up this morning and looked out at the view, which was unimpressive last night, all grey horizon.Overnight a mountain range had sprung up across half the view, and there was a tiny sprinkling of snow on the topmost peak. And then (so unexpectedly! :) ) the sun came up and

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-39648196108737070942010-03-15T15:12:00.003+11:002010-03-15T15:39:20.376+11:00

Let me think, now. What's happened since Friday?Well, the session with Simon Schama was good. I had been warned that I would need to be assertive to be heard at all, but fortunately our chair, Lydia Wever, directed enough questions my way for me to get a word in here and there. I don't think I actually interrupted Simon at all - if you have ever heard him public speak, you will know that he's too

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-69098337662996723862010-03-14T10:41:00.001+11:002010-03-14T10:41:55.553+11:00

Wow, it’s so cold, now! There was a fire evacuation from the hotel yesterday—the quickest evacuation and return I’ve ever experienced—and the people who’d had to come from the restaurant (unlike us who’d been lounging in our rooms with jackets and bags nearby) were all huddling together out in the car park, so as not to die of exposure in the five minutes it took the NZ Fire Service to determine

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-5492350797385419582010-03-14T06:33:00.003+11:002010-03-14T06:38:28.356+11:00

But someone is hogging the program I need to copy it across from:So, briefly, Writers and Readers Week commitments fulfilled. Schama panel dazzling—excellent crowd and top chairing by Lydia Wevers. Lovely party last night up the hill. Katherine Mansfield's birthplace today. Weather's looking promising. Back soon with details when you-know-who lets the rest of us into our Word docs. :D

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-32136995969517708312010-03-12T16:00:00.001+11:002010-03-12T16:02:02.605+11:00

Yes, so a couple of hundred people came and spent An Hour With Margo Lanagan (and Eirlys Hunter) this afternoon, at the Downstage. It was a great session; Eirlys’s questions were interesting without being curly or putting me on the spot, and ; people responded to everything pretty well—no heckling, you know; no hurling of missiles.Weather, though; weather is happening in Wellington. Nothing wild

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-6492283406956406642010-03-11T07:07:00.001+11:002010-03-11T07:08:40.595+11:00

A few clouds around today, but yesterday was fine, all fine. After a morning’s internetting (hotel + Starbucks), we hunted down a hair salon that could fit us in (we were turned away from two places, though—Wellington hairies do a brisk trade on a Wednesday morning, for some reason), and we both had haircuts. Then we took our newly neatened selves up (and up, and up—they do good up-ness here in

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-57158636161024193482010-03-10T06:32:00.001+11:002010-03-10T06:33:58.496+11:00

We faffed around too much yesterday to complete everything we wanted to do, but we did manage the cable car/Botanic Gardens bit. We learned how all these Wellingtonians keep themselves looking so trim and Antarctica-ready—place was full of mad people running up and down those hills we were taking at our leisurely pace with occasional rest map-reading stops.On the way back from the Cable Car

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-64004262118044265852010-03-09T08:46:00.002+11:002010-03-09T08:49:54.858+11:00

Here we are, then, in Wellington. I’ve been in a position to almost trip Audrey Niffeneger up on the way out of the lift; also I’ve seen Sarah Waters in the hotel lounge. Writers are gathering, rumble-rumble.The Gala Opening is tomorrow night, by which time Steven and I plan to be worn out from a cable car trip, a Botanic Gardens walk and a choof around the harbour on a ferry. A bit of gala-ing

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-77361470610414345382010-03-04T07:42:00.002+11:002010-03-04T07:48:53.859+11:00

For my 'Blood, Boggarts and Battlestars: An Introduction to Speculative Fiction' workshop at New South Wales Writers' Centre this Saturday, if you haven't already (and quite a few people have, so get in quick!).

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-21851635997555641472010-03-04T07:36:00.001+11:002010-03-04T07:42:40.793+11:00

...here.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-65697912247127584052010-03-01T07:58:00.003+11:002010-03-01T08:08:21.745+11:00

I'm coming down there on Wednesday to lecture to you all, you lucky things, at the University of Canberra. I'll be talking about my creative process, such as it is, for short stories and for Tender Morsels, also about the difference awards make.This talk is part of the Faculty of Arts and Design’s Art, and other Questions lecture series. Follow the link to book in.I'm told the extra-big lecture

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-484445858322432672010-02-27T07:54:00.002+11:002010-02-27T07:56:08.969+11:00

Yes, I will be doing a live cross to Radio NZ this morning, between 9 and 10, to talk about the upcoming Writers and Readers Week in Wellington. Listen in - I will try to sparkle.

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-53556705278525259452010-02-15T20:06:00.005+11:002010-02-15T21:07:48.864+11:00

I will be live on ABC Radio, talking about the upcoming Wellington Festival, on Saturday morning, 27 Feb—details when I know them.I'll be giving a lecture that's open to the public on Wednesday, 3 March, at the University of Canberra, as part of the Faculty of Arts and Design’s Art, and other Questions lecture series—some of the uni's Bachelor of Writing students will also be in attendance. I am

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-84079717091322671792010-02-04T19:10:00.003+11:002010-02-04T19:23:31.471+11:00

News of Tender Morsels' WFA win was apparently broadcast on 2CH on 8 November last year.The author has responded [to the 'sordid wretchedness' accusation] by questioning the assumption that children have the luxury of an innocent childhood. Her aim, she says, was to equip readers for life by showing them “the sorts of issues other people encounter.” [What I actually said was: "How on earth do

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14614938.post-19522393211003192332010-02-02T22:11:00.003+11:002010-02-02T22:14:06.245+11:00

And, cool! The Australian Book Review's poll of 290 favourite Australian books, voted by the magazine's readers, includes Tender Morsels!

Among Amid Whilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02904936537950038300noreply@blogger.com1