Sinning across Sydney

My Saturday mornings have become mini-missions each weekend. I take Theo to kendo in Willougby, then set off on different adventures.

Today, my goal was to find ‘Sinning Across Spain’ by my most amazing friend, Ailsa Piper. I decided I had to build in a quintessentially Sydney walk, to honour the spirit of the book.

I parked in Kirribilli and walked across the Bridge and into the Rocks. I was disappointed to find that the Ariel Bookshop there didn’t have a copy (but they’re now getting the book in!), but took the opportunity to have a look at the remodelled Museum of Contemporary Art.

Here’s the view from the sculpture gallery and cafe on the MCA roof:

Then I strolled back across the Bridge ...

… drove to the Constant Reader bookshop in Crows Nest and saw …

So of course, I grabbed it and told everyone in the store that it was a must-read and that they’d better all tune in to LNL this Thursday, because Ailsa is going to be interviewed by Phillip Adams!

Enough for now … time to start walking with Ailsa …

Cooking with Hamlet with Harris

Do you find that things come in waves? Or, as is the buzz word at my workplace - there are synergies?
In a week where I heard from my publisher that they're going to remainder Cooking with Hamlet, I get a query from a young actor who wants to explore aspects of the Hamlet monologue. The words will live on ... and while I'm sad that the publishers won't be selling the book any more, I can see great potential to use the material in different ways, now that the rights revert to me.
Without sounding too Oprah-like, I hope, I am turning a disappointment into a possibility ...

Lines of communication

We email, blog, tweet, text - all excellent ways to send messages in their own way. My friend Ailsa has introduced me to the ultimate way to send a message: the chocogram.  Message received - loud and clear!

The good things in life

I've received  a lot of wonderful emails and calls about the LLL award. Thanks, everyone.

While it is a small award in an obscure corner of the wordy world, I'm ridiculously pleased about it.

As my lovely friend Dee says, we don't celebrate good news enough. Here's a photo of us after a very special celebratory lunch in Dee Why. Thanks, Dee, for reminding me that we should take time to enjoy the good things in life - especially good friends!

The WINNING Shot!

 

1 August 2010


The Language Learner Literature awards for 2010 have just been announced.






My editor at ILTS, James Bean, my hockey coaches in Vancouver and my sons all helped shape and improve the book. It was such a team effort - thank you all!


Writing for level 1 is like limbo dancing - it's very, very hard to get under that bar. It's so exciting to receive this honour for a level 1 book. 



All writers love being taken out to lunch by their publishers.
James and Gillian from ILTS took me out for a celebratory lunch - I loved every minute of it. 

On top of Oz

I recently spent several days in 'the high country', staying  at a lodge at Charlotte Pass with a large group of friends. We bush-walked during the day and ate and drank in the evenings. Bliss. This photo shows the at the top of Mt Kosciuszko. Not a scrap of snow, and warm enough for T-shirts and shorts. And the photo was taken for us by a couple who'd just got engaged!

News for readers in Europe

Divers in Danger is available now from Hueber Lekturen in Europe.Its stable-mate, The Winning Shot, is a finalist for an LLL award. It's a huge honour to be up for this award again - thank you to everyone who's voted for it. Fingers crossed!

And coming soon ... The Game. Dylan plays his new computer game every night - until he's pulled into the game himself. Can he find his way out again? This book is in the final stages of editing and is being illustrated by one of Australia's most exciting illustrators of fantasty: Craig Phillips. Check out his website: http://www.craigphillips.com.au/ - you'll be blown away!