A Couple of Things Before We Move

For those who don’t know — and apologies to friends/family if this is the first you’ve heard; the whole House-Buying Adventure was a bit of a drama and finished all in a mad rush and we haven’t really said much to many people in case it Fell Through — we’re moving. To Ballarat. Exactly one week from now. Eeek. Jason has more to say about the house and the move here, if you’re interested. I’m sure there will be many more posts on the topic — he’s much better at blogging that sort of stuff than I am. Allow me just to say: Boxes. There are many. Here’s what our living room looks like right now:

And that’s just the tip of the boxy cardboardy iceberg.

But before I finish packing up the computer, here’s a couple of things I wanted to share in case — very likely — I’m not properly back online for a while.

First, the lovely Michael Keyton has interviewed me as part of “The Rack” series over on On Fiction Writing. I chat about influences, writing rules (or lack thereof), fairy tales and other sundry matters. It was a fun interview and there are a lot of great authors already in The Rack archives, including a bunch of recent Australian additions — Lisa Hannett, Kaaron Warren, Felicity Dowker, Alan Baxter and Angela Slatter to name a handful. Oh, and some guy called Jason Nahrung. He looks kinda cute.

Secondly, the NSW Writers Centre is hosting their Speculative Fiction Festival on 16 March 2013. Directed by the inimitable Kate Forsyth once again, the day will feature a wealth of Aussie spec fic authors, editors and publishers including Juliet Marillier, Ian Irvine, Marienne de Pierres, Alison Croggon, Richard Harland, Melina Marchetta, Lisa Hannett, Garth Nix, John Flanagan, Cat Sparks, Kim Wilkins, Sophie Masson, Russell Farr, Dionne Lister, Pamela Freeman, Belinda Murrell, Ben Chandler, Kate Forsyth,  Robert Hood, Jason Nahrung — there’s that guy again — Kirstyn McDermott, Angela Slatter and Dirk Strasser. You can download the program and book tickets here.

And finally, GenreCon13 has just been announced, with the first two guests being Anita Heiss and Chuck Wendig. I attended the inaugural GenreCon last year and had a blast, so I’m quite down-in-the-mouth about not being able to go this time around, due to being over in the UK for the whole of October in the lead up to World Fantasy Con. (Yes, it’s a terrible, terrible thing. I will graciously accept your condolences.) But if you won’t be in the UK for the whole of October, you should definitely look at making your way to Brisbane for GenreCon. It’s an exciting, inclusive and all round brilliant weekend for anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of genre writing and publishing.

Okay, it’s back to the Battle of the Boxes for me. Now with added shredded cuticles and bruised biceps. Hmm, the next time I post here, it will be from my new house. In Ballarat. Which I will own. (The house, not Ballarat. Well not even the house, but My Name is on the title that The Bank currently holds.)

If I say it often enough, it must be true. Right? Right?

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