I'm fairly time-poor at the moment, but I wanted to at least make a small note about a couple of books I've read lately in preparation for the Sydney Writers' Festival next week! The Fine Colour of Rust, PA O'Reilly, Blue Door, 9780007434930, March 2012 (buy paperback, ebook) I'm a big fan of Paddy O'Reilly's … Continue reading Recently read: The Fine Colour of Rust by PA O’Reilly & What the Family Needed by Steven Amsterdam
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog wins ‘words’ category in 2012 Best Australian Blogs comp
The winners of the 2012 Sydney Writers' Centre Best Australian Blogs competition have been announced. Once again this year I was the judge of the 'words' category. I also helped to choose the overall winner. The winner of the 'words' category is, happily, Lisa Hill's ANZ LitLovers LitBlog. If you've been reading Australian lit blogs for a … Continue reading ANZ LitLovers LitBlog wins ‘words’ category in 2012 Best Australian Blogs comp
LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part five)
Terri-ann White asks: 'How often does a new writer blow your mind? Can this still happen when you are doing it as a full-on venture?' Often it's not a new writer but someone who is new to me. For example, I was just blown away by The Forrests by Emily Perkins, and now I want to read all of her books. … Continue reading LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part five)
LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part four)
Amy Espeseth asks: 'Has/how has your fiction writing changed since you started LiteraryMinded?' and John (Musings of a Literary Dilettante) asks: 'how has reviewing books helped your own creative writing?' Five years of regular writing—fiction and nonfiction—has made me a better writer. I hope I keep getting better. Five years of reading, close reading and reviewing, has … Continue reading LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part four)
LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part three)
Katy McDevitt asks: 'I’d love to know what your "big-picture" plans are for the blog—will you be blogging a book, for example?' I don't think I'll ever blog a book, that only really works for established authors like Max Barry (as with his novel Machine Man.) Video content is something I've been wanting to do for ages … Continue reading LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part three)
LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part two)
See part one and what this is all about here! Glen Hunting asks: 1) How did you become a Bowie fan, and what is your favourite Bowie song? How I came to love Bowie is explained in detail in this post but in short, I was in year 12 when I connected with his music, his … Continue reading LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part two)
LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part one)
Well, LiteraryMinded is five years old today, with an average of 2.2 posts per week since she began. That's a lot of words. I've asked y'all to provide questions and prompts in order to spend the day writing a series of self-indulgent celebratory blog posts! Thanks so much for all the love. Here we go... Kathy Charles: … Continue reading LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary spectacular! (part one)
LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary tomorrow
Tomorrow will be five years since I started LiteraryMinded. Will you help me out with a fun, self-indulgent blog post to celebrate my years of steady blogging? Please ask me one question or send one prompt (ie. a picture or link) for me to respond to in a blog post tomorrow. You can leave your qs/prompts in … Continue reading LiteraryMinded’s fifth blog anniversary tomorrow
Closer to Stone by Simon Cleary
UQP, March 2012 9780702239229 (buy paperback) A few years ago I read and enjoyed The Comfort of Figs by Simon Cleary, and I was excited to receive his new book Closer to Stone in the mail. It's about a young Australian man who travels to Northern Africa in the mid '90s in search of his missing brother. As I … Continue reading Closer to Stone by Simon Cleary
Token Miles Franklin shortlist blog post
The Miles Franklin Literary Award 2012 shortlist has been announced. And I have absolutely nothing controversial to say about it! Despite the amount of Australian fiction I read (more than almost anyone I know) I haven't read them all. I'll at least get to the winner (after I hopefully find time to read the 2012 … Continue reading Token Miles Franklin shortlist blog post