The above picture was taken on the day I was re-writing my picture book. I was working off the existing manuscript on my laptop screen and then writing (by hand) on paper the elements I wanted to keep, thus leaving a very different book than it was before. I can only do this with…
It was recently National Book Week. Unlike many schools in our area and over Australia, the school the kids’ attend did not have any kind of dress-ups, or parades, or any sort of concerted effort to acknowledge the event – at least, not that was communicated to the parents. I’m not going to turn…
It’s now officially spring! Hooray! Another thing that’s special about September is that it’s almost October – and this October is the fifth anniversary of the release of Surprise! Can you believe it? Five years. Incredible. Over that time, I’ve seen it on bookshelves around the country (and overseas) – in libraries, and in the home. I’ve…
I’ll begin with Night Games by Anna Krien for several reasons. First because I think it is an important book on an important subject. Second is everyone I know who has read it loves it. Third is because I have a crush on Anna; I think she’s terrific. Taken from The Monthly: Krien’s new book,…
This is going to be a quick update today – it occurred to me that I’ve not said I’m a guest of the Melbourne Writers’ Festival in a couple of weeks. On Saturday 24th August I’ll be over in Ballarat at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka (M.A.D.E), which has just opened and by all…
Gracious, it’s been forever since I’ve participated in an old-school meme. Laurie tagged me the other week and because we are friends and, well, I wanted to, I’m going to do it – because yay! books. Book Q&A Rules 1. Post these rules 2. Post a photo of your favourite book cover 3. Answer the…
The folk over at Meanjin asked if I wouldn’t mind writing a ‘What I’m Reading’ post for them, so that’s what I’ve done. Pop on over and have a read!
The Joker’s obsession (at least in the 1989 Batman film) with creating/curating, such as you see in the scene above, resonates with me at a time when I have not had the time to do anything similar, such is the nature of blogging in certain respects. He is interested in a specific kind of aesthetic…
I took this photo just moments before the audience were asked to return to their seats ahead of a panel I was speaking on this past Saturday called ‘How to find and refine your voice’. The panel convenor was Wendy Tuohy and my co-panellists were Kate Forster and Lou Pardi; they are all fabulous, talented…
