Last night, I was one of the invited author guests at Dymocks Tuggeranong’s VIP Booklovers night. To celebrate the end of the year, they have the store open for longer hours and invite their VIP Booklovers members to come along, buy books at bargain prices and meet some authors. There’s nibbles and drinks and it’s all very convivial.
These were SERIOUS bookbuyers, my friends – folks wandering around with baskets, stocking up for both their own reading and Christmas gifts. It was so fabulous to chat to booklovers – we talked favourite books, ebook readers, debated the merits of Twilight and so on. I met one woman who was just a couple of years ahead of me at school and we reminisced about about the monstrosity that was the building that housed Padua Catholic High.
I hand sold about twenty books, which I was pretty happy with. And hopefully encouraged a few more to think of me. Considering that I’ve been feeling a bit blue about the whole publishing process lately, it was a great pick-me-up.
Also, I wore my hand-made gadda earrings for the first time and they got a great reception, so will definitely work on refining and making more, as an added bonus for the books.
Thanks, Dymocks 
I’ve done some FABULOUS reading lately, and while I don’t normally plug books because I’m far from being a reviewer, when I come across books I just adore and I will tell you. So I’m telling you – get yourself out and buy both The Courier’s New Bicycle, by Kim Westwood and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin
Kim’s book is set in a near-future Melbourne and it deals with some really serious and thought-provoking topics, such as gender identity and animal rights. This is done within the story of a mystery that has somehow drawn bicycle courier Salisbury Forth in and which it seems only Salisbury can solve. It’s beautifully written and if you’ve never had a moment of doubting your sexuality and the place it gives you in the world, an eye-opening read.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is one of the THE award-nominated books from 2010 and the plaudits are well deserved. Jemisin takes the basis of epic fantasy and uses it to create a fascinating world, with wonderful characters and a threat that isn’t resolved until the very last – and even then, it’s just the resolution of one facet of the threat. I can’t wait to get my hands on the other two books in the trilogy.
Finally, about my writing. Today, I’ll be ticking over 50,000 words in the book that in my head I’m calling ‘Much Ado About Love’. At this point, it’s kinda divulging a bit from Shakespeare’s play because there’s a lot of stuff still to happen – danger, intrigue, lust – before everyone gets their happily-ever-after. I’m still having a wow of a time writing it – these characters are really interesting, and very active in their roles and that can cause me conniptions, but it’s a good thing.
At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
I’ve had some great feedback on a short story I’m working on, and I’ll be getting some more when I put it through the short story crit group next week. My plan is to have it available before Christmas as a thank you to the fans of the Dream of Asarlai series – I’m so chuffed that people out there have loved my books so much.
This weekend, I’m going to be working on a re-design of my website. I’m looking forward to it – it’s another form of creative challenge.
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