Blurbs. Yes, you read correctly. Blurbs. Might seem that the writing of the novel itself is the difficult bit. Nah. It’s the blurb. (And the acknowledgments pages – another story told on another post). How to package an entire story in a handful of digestible, enticing and intriguing sentences? Nightmare. In the film and tv …
True story. Here’s something I heard from colleague working on what will be an extremely high-profile local TV production. One of the actors involved is rather extensively covered in tattoos. No biggie, right? Wrong. The production has to seek permission from each and every one of the skin artists who has worked on the actor’s …
And who writes the book of rules? The older I get, the more I come to accept the conventional wisdom that the most important person to please is yourself. Don’t get me wrong. Not talking onanism here (don’t google that one…. dictionary only). And I’m certainly not advocating narcissism. Just that as we enter this …
So, when I heard tell of this popping up in Surry Hills opposite one of my favourite Sydney eateries, Porteño, I thought someone was pulling my leg. But no. It’s for reelz. Turn up with your favourite bottle of plonk and consume said plonk while a professional artist guides you through the process of whipping …
Sure, cheap and easy interstate travel is a convenience that allows me to do the up-and-back-in-a-day trips that mean I can work with Sydney-based production companies and networks. But sometimes I pine for a touch of the olden days romance of air travel. There’s nothing that differentiates this from any other commute. Which I suppose …
Another writer’s conundrum rears its ugly head. So, I’m playing around with my cerebral literary babies, trying to decide which one takes my fancy (see: previous post on the difficulty of choosing a favourite – not advisable with your own human offspring, but quite OK with your story-babies.) Here’s the thing. The one that keeps …
Massive nerd alert! Is it just me, or does anyone find it mind blowingly exciting that the WORLD. JOUSTING. CHAMPIONSHIPS will be staged in Victoria in June? Hell, the history obsessive in me is excited that world jousting competition exists in the first place! Then again, perhaps it’s just me. And, yes, that is a …
As I tackle my review of the ‘pages’*, as they’re called in the publishing biz, for my next novel, ‘The Emerald Tablet’ (unapologetic plug – to be released by Pan Macmillan at the end of June), my mind turns to what I’m going to embark upon next. Yes, it’s unbelievably exciting to see my words …
It’s a perfect Melbourne autumn day. And I’m sitting in the perfect spot to clear the cobwebs and get the writing brain ticking over. A short stroll has brought me to the Elwood foreshore to hang with these fine, feathered friends. Bliss. Loving the new ‘hood. Interesting aside – until Europeans visited Antipodean shores, they used …
Bear with me. It’ll be worth it, I promise (she says with unjustified confidence). See that hand on the end of your arm? Well, consider this. Every cell in that hand was once part of something else… part of lots of things, actually. Everything that exists in the material world, from the loved ones we …