Has it really been a month since my last post? Yes, yes I believe it has. I’ve been on the road for most of that month, travelling to Adelaide, Noosa, Brisbane and Sydney, with a stop back in Melbourne for WorldCon somewhere in the middle of all that. And I am sick with one of the worst cases of flu I’ve ever had. Three visits to three different GPs in three different cities and my ears are still blocked with fluid. Seriously, it’s been like living underwater for the last couple of weeks, except without the wrinkly fingers and toes. But enough talk of illness.  Instead, let’s have a whirlwind catch-me-up for all that’s happened in the past month combined with a mammoth Closing of Tabs Session. Buckle up, dearhearts, I shall be using bullet points . . .

• Adelaide. Flew over, drove back with a couple carloads of friends through the Barossa and along the Great Ocean Road. Bought and drank lots of wine. My beloved started to get ill somewhere in the middle. Hmm, pre-WorldConFlu?

• Melbourne, WorldCon. Lots and lots of fun, for the most part. Spoke on scheduled panels about horror, Australian Gothic, vampires and 3D cinema. Was shanghaied onto a very cool panel about gender and sexuality by innocently asking a question from the audience. Sat in on other panels of varying interest, attended a few delightful book launches, swanked around at a couple of parties (thanks Voyager and Orbit!), drank far too much with lots of lovely people in the Hilton Bar. Was hit by The Flu Truck on the Monday morning of the Con, and have been struggling through various degrees of ickiness ever since. Thus ends my Con Report. It’s not much of a Con Report, but hell. I’m in not much of a state for reportage right now. Other people have been far more fluent and effusive than I would be. Google them.

• Noosa. Supposed writers retreat with a swag of clever and talented people, including Jack Dann and Rob Shearman in the role of Tutors Extraordinaire. Spent three days in spent instead, curled up with antibiotics, tissues, codral and neurofen (yes, yes, I know about the risk of strokes associated with that latter, conveniently announced just when I needed it most; do not email me). Managed to drag myself from the plague house long enough to socialise a little and have a novella critted. For extra special fun, spent one day with conjunctivitis. Not. Pretty. Have never been so Not Pretty in my life. Bought a new black dress as we were leaving Noosa to cheer myself up. Partially worked.

• Brisbane. Signed some books for folks at Pulp Fiction, left more signed copies in Dymocks in the Queen Street Mall (just in case anyone’s interested). Sick and mostly still deaf with ongoing tinnitus. Caught up with some lovely people for dinner and did not drink alcohol. Apparently, this is possible.

• Sydney. Very worried about how ears would cope with flight so procured EarPlanes to help equalise pressure.  Amazing little things. No pain at all. Considered having a first born just so I can call her/him EarPlane. Lunch with my publisher and editor. Was assured that extension of deadline for Novel the Second would not be a big deal. Was told that the creative process should not be rushed. I heart my publisher. Very, very much. Caught up with other writerly friends at my agent’s annual seminar and dinner event. Managed to give a brief scheduled talk without coughing up a lung, although it was touch and go there for a bit. It was a fun trip, in a weird, too-sick-too-care-about-being-too-sick kind of way.

Now I’m back home. Still sick, as is my beloved. But we’re getting slowly better and hopefully the latest round of medication prescribed by our Melbourne GP will finally kick this thing in the guts once and for all. And I’ve just realised that this post has gone on for far too long, and that it’s been pretty much all about being sick, and that I’m yet to close a single tab. Blurgh, redux. My apologies if you actually made it this far — my next post will contain something a bit more substantial. Promise.