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Sydney Writer’s Festival, sore fingers and what’s coming next

5/19/2012

I spent Thursday and Friday at the Sydney Writer’s Festival. I had a great time at The Forest for the Trees session on Thursday and then at the Is Chick Lit Dead session on Friday morning featuring Toni Jordan and Kathy Lette.

I did a great blog post (well I don’t know if it was great but was informative) about all this and somehow the computer ate it. It’s gone.

I managed to rip off part of a finger nail yesterday which was I must say – very painful! Anyway it’s making typing very tricky indeed. So tricky that I honestly don’t think I have it in me to re-type it.

Instead I will share some random facts about my experience.

* Even though I have never submitted a short story to a literary journal I found the session about that very informative and interesting.
* I loved the session with Chad Harbach and Elliot Pearlman. I haven’t read any of their books but they were so lovely and generous with their thoughts and information I definitely will now.
* I caught the bus in to the city purely by chance, with author Ber Carroll. We had a great chat about publishing and I taught her a short cut from Wynyard to the Walsh Bay. I really am pretty good in the city. That must be why I am constantly stopped by tourists for directions.
* This was the third year I have ended up hearing Toni Jordan speak. She is a great speaker and if the characters in her books are anything like her you couldn’t help but enjoy spending time with them. (I am now reading her book Fall Girl).
* The trivia quiz at the Hoopla/Stella prize lunch taught me I have huge gaps in my knowledge of Australian women writers.
* Kathy Lette said I looked familiar. I said “Oh yes well in 1987 when you were about to write the Australian character Pippa for The Facts of Life you interviewed me and some other AFS exchange students about our experience. But I somehow don’t think that’s it.” We both shared a collective “that was a lifetime ago” moment.

This week
* I will add another chapter to the Art of Romance story.
* I am guest posting on another blog, run by the lovely Juliet Madison…so I will share that here. You will be able to read an extract from Mr Right and Other Mongrels.
* I have a couple of author interviews to post as well.

Comments
Rachael Johns
5/19/2012 05:45:51 pm

Thanks for sharing Monique. The SWF sounds fab and I hope to make it one day.

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