Gillian Polack's Blog, page 300

gillpolack @ 2010-08-18T15:56:00

Class this morning was wonderful. I looked around at how tired everyone was and decided that we needed lots of words, so we played with metaphor and simile and other ways of describing things. "I don't have a big vocabulary" one student said, and then, a half an hour later "It's much bigger than I thought." He's an artist, and hadn't thought of using his art-words in his writing. They complained when we ran out of time. This is always good.

Not so good is the amount of information I've rec...

National Science Week

I've taught 2/3 of my workshops for the ACT Library Service and they have been so much fun. Bright and thoughtful people who are very willing to fall in love with my way of using books for story development. Tonight's group was the 15-18 year olds and I couldn't help but wonder what the mother thought who picked up her teenage daughter and had to wait for her to check out two very big bags of books.

I managed to fit in world building, character development and adding tension to the plot, all...

Jennifer Fallon's Baggage

We're into countdown time for Baggage, so you need another interview.

Do I need to introduce Jennifer Fallon? Do I need to tell you that Sharyn Lilley - Eneit Press owner- interviewed her instead of me? (Why delegate downward when you can delegate upwards?) Or that Jenny bought sheep and then moved to New Zealand? Or that she's a writer and I love her books? Which is why, when I was offered a Jennifer Fallon short story for Baggage I pretended to um and ah (self-respect must be placated, ...

gillpolack @ 2010-08-15T10:33:00

Sharyn's also blogged about the food at the Baggage launch, explaining the whys and wherefores: http://www.eneitpress.com/blog.php?journal=2 I think she and I are lost causes on matters related to food and books.

gillpolack @ 2010-08-14T22:09:00

I have an update on the launch of Baggage*. Drinks will be tea and coffee. Food will be proper countryside (Victoria-NSW) CWA afternoon tea. It will most definitely sustain people through the launch, the AussieCon opening ceremony, and a half dozen other activities to boot. It will even help with jetlag**.

Rural Australian cooking is in keeping with the theme of the book, but it's also in keeping with the baking proclivities of the publisher. What's more, the baking is very likely to actual...

gillpolack @ 2010-08-13T15:06:00

I haven't received a single how to vote card or party leaflet in my letterbox this election. We have a possibly swinging Senate seat (and possibly not a swinging Senate seat) and no-one has tried to convince me that they're in need of my vote! Neglect. That's what it is.

This lack of paper in my letterbox is a source of great sadness to me. I normally gather all the wonderful political statements and promises and embarrassing quotes and send them to a victim. No, cut that last word. Preten...

gillpolack @ 2010-08-12T13:16:00

Today is supposed to be mundane, but it keeps forgetting that. For instance, it just came to me that this is the first time that anyone who has wrestled a kangaroo in his underwear has ever been up for a Ditmar. Part of the et al for the Conflux Banquet is the chef, who is rather well-known for this feat. I wonder if anyone will refuse to vote for the banquet for the same reason they dislike the idea of a fannish cat ie SF should be serious. If they do, I want to take them to the hotel and...

Baggage interviews and more

I forgot! (magpie brain at work again, as ever) Elizabeth (my Baggage sub-editor) has kindly pulled together all the interviews with Baggage writers. All that and what she thought of the Conflux banquet. I never told her that I made all those cakes and then only had a very small piece myself, which left a lot for other people. I am really not a big eater-of-cakes. You can find both her posts here: http://www.eneitpress.com/blog.php?journal=1

gillpolack @ 2010-08-11T17:21:00

My students derived much merriment from me today. I am bereft of commonsense, you see and I kept taking the class in odd directions. Our word of the day was 'capricious,' which might explain it.

I did too much on Monday and almost enough yesterday and today all I want to do is waste time. It's the wind off the snow. Biting cold. It twists my brain into warped (and possibly winsome) icicles. It also means that Spring is creeping up on us, probably from Sydney.

I keep wanting to write about...

CONFLUX CANBERRA 'SPACE' TOUR

In case you were wondering what was happening with Conflux this year:

All welcome to join us for a tour of space related sites in Canberra ACT.

Date: Saturday 28th August 2010
Time: 8am to 5pm
Cost $50 (Questacon entry and lunch included)

Program (times are approximate):

8am Departs Woden (pick up at Tuggeranong) for Honeysuckle Creek.
Damper and refreshments at Honeysuckle Creek.
Honeysuckle Creek is the site of a space tracking station which played an important role in supporting Project Apollo. T...