Introduce yourselves! Showing 3,151-3,200 of 9,625

[Tony]

Well, if I start now it should take me... what? 300 years? So don't hold your breath... :0)

[Tracey]

There's actually a castle built here in QLD near Canungra - not terribly impressive but still a castle. There's also one in Bli Bli which is a medieval museum, all reproduction stuff but still worth a look.

[Darren]

Hi, I'm Darren and I live on the Gold Coast. I've been writing since 1984, when I started getting some articles accepted by magazines and newspapers. My passion has always been writing fiction. With the opportunities the internet now offers authors, I'm able to sell my work in many forms and on different platforms. I think these are exciting times for readers and writers alike.

It's great to be part of an Aussie group on Goodreads :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Welcome Darren, it's lovely to have you with us:)

[Deb]

Hi, I'm Deb and I live in Perth. I'm currently reading Pig Boy by JC Burke. Was fortunate to attend a conference recently and heard her speak.

[Graham]

Tracey wrote: "There's actually a castle built here in QLD near Canungra - not terribly impressive but still a castle."

I live near Stanthorpe and we have two castles right here. One is the Castle Glen Winery, which is vaguely castle-shaped, but looks like it is made out of MDF. The other is Donelley's Castle, which borders my property and isn't a castle at all, just a large pile of house-sized granite boulders.

So that's 4 castles in Queensland - and counting...

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Deb wrote: "Hi, I'm Deb and I live in Perth. I'm currently reading Pig Boy by JC Burke. Was fortunate to attend a conference recently and heard her speak."

Welcome Deb, lovely to have you with us!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Haha! Interesting to read about all of our Aussie castles;) lol

[Tracey]

Welcome to Darren and Deb :)

Fancy Queensland having that many castles - maybe we found the old English/Scottish heritage a bit hard to let go of?

[Graham]

Tracey wrote: "...maybe we found the old English/Scottish heritage a bit hard to let go of?"

Try Irish/Italian, Tracey. That's mostly what the settlers here were. You frequently hear Italian spoken all over Stanthorpe.

[Sean C]

Hi all....

I'm Sean from country Victoria. A high school teacher of English and English Literature and a newbie to GR. Love to read and am saddened to realise that, even if I were to live to 200, I will never get to finish everything I wish to read....*sigh*.....Am looking forward to participating in discussions etc. I am a science fiction tragic and a fantasy devotee but am not confined to those genres. If it's quality literature I'll read it.....and just between you and me....sometimes even if it's not quality I'll still give it a go....

Greetings....

[Norain]

The header is gorgeous! May I ask where the picture was taken?

[Readers]

HI My Name is Miranda
l run Australian's only online Literary Gift store at www.readersniche.com.au. Its all about celebrating the writer. l am massive book lover, my favourites are the Russian Classics and a really good horror story.
Love the Group
Cheers

[Michael]

Welcome Miranda

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Welcome Sean and Miranda...lovely to have you with us:) Have fun browsing, adding to your TBR list, and finding lots of recommendations here!



Norain MT wrote: "The header is gorgeous! May I ask where the picture was taken?"

The photo is of Broome, WA, Norain:)

[Bryn]

Hello Aussies (particularly Georgina, who asked me here weeks ago. I'm tardy but I turned up. -Don't ever invite me to dinner.)

I live in Sydney - Rozelle, next to Balmain. Grew up in Canberra. Came out from England when I was six. I dream of getting out of Sydney to Tassie or else a coastal town. When my job collapses and they kick me out of my ramshackle flat for non-payment of rent I'll just have to do that.

I read... hmm... old books by dead people, the deader the better in fact, I like medieval stuff. Also, mostly in my past perhaps, sf/fantasy, and histfic. I write histfic though I always meant to write sf. I've run into a lot of Aussies on Goodreads. I adore Goodreads.

I must discuss the weather but I see there's a thread for that.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Hi Bryn a big welcome to you! Lovely to have you with us:) Feel free to browse...check out our recommendations..you'll find lots of fun people in our Aussie Readers group:)

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Bryn's link:)

[Norain]

Bryn wrote: "I read... hmm... old books by dead people, the deader the better in fact, I like medieval stuff. "

I love books by dead authors too. There is something quiet and settling about them, like peeping into the past. My preference is the Victorian era, though.

[Emily]

Welcome to all the newbies :) Enjoy!

[Nik]

Hi! My name is Nikki and I currently live in Cairns Qld. I grew up in South Australia and early on in life I decided to chase my endless summer.
I currently work in a mechanics in customer relations.
All kinds of books appeal to me but my loves are horror and fantasy romance.
My favorite all time writer has to be Anne Rice.
My favorite aussie book is Candy by Luke Davies and the movie adaption is perhaps the best adaption I have seen.
Currently I am reading a victorian romance for a book club I am in.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Welcome Nikki, lovely to have you with us:)

[Nik]

Brenda wrote: "Welcome Nikki, lovely to have you with us:)"

Thanks :-)

[M.A.]

Hi, I'm Marj. And Where is that beach? Could it possibly be Cape Hilsborough? We're headng there in a couple of weeks.

And, oh yes, I live in inland Australia, have been a voracious reader for many, many years, and started writing around 6 years ago. Two novels published, another to be released in October.

I have seldom been much attracted to the novels I find in the 'Australian novels' section of the bookshops. They seem to be very limited in content. It appears that if you want to get your book in that section, or even to be published in Australia, you have to tick boxes - eg, writing about the outback? Good start. An author either ethnic or Aboriginal? Probably helps. Done an approved degree in Creative Literature? Might help. Son or daughter of the publisher? Well, they might have a real chance.

Me? I checked out the mere half-dozen agents and publishers who admitted to looking at unsolicited manuscripts, and then found a UK publisher instead. Unless Australian publishing opens up a lot further, I will not waste my time with them.

But Australian writers who don't want to limit their books to riding horses in the outback - for sure, I'm interested. I chose to write a book about a eunuch. It is set in Arabia and starts in 1972. But there are horses. I like horses.

And that's me, soon to be part of that gorgeous scene at the top, or at least one a lot like it.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Welcome Marj, lovely to have you with us. As we have National Year of Reading this year, we are promoting Aussie authors, and I know from my own experience there are many, many AA out there that I didn't know about, in loads of different genres. Have a browse through the threads and you'll see lots of things which I'm sure will interest you. Also we have a group promoting Aussie women authors this year, http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/5.... Have a look through the threads there, as well as in this group...and at the 'bookshelf' on the RHS of both groups...

The picture at the top of our group is from Broome, WA:) It's beautiful, isn't it...

[JB]

Marj wrote: It appears that if you want to get your book in that section, or even to be published in Australia, you have to tick boxes - eg, writing about the outback? Good start. An author either ethnic or Aboriginal? Probably helps. Done an approved degree in Creative Literature? Might help. Son or daughter of the publisher? Well, they might have a real chance.

Right on, Marj. Footballers are a shoe-in, as well as anyone who gets their face on the telly. Being a writer carries no weight at all.

Thankfully, writers no longer have to suffer the frustrations of the traditional publishing world. Like Charles Dickens, Beatrix Potter, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, George Bernard Shaw and many others, we can bypass the grim gatekeepers and take a direct route to readers.

Thank goodness, too, for online communities like Goodreads. Yay! JB :-)

[Michael]

Can we please not have the gatekeeper debate in this thread. If you want to talk gatekeepers and their pros and cons, please start a thread in the authors section

[JB]

Michael wrote: "Can we please not have the gatekeeper debate in this thread. If you want to talk gatekeepers and their pros and cons, please start a thread in the authors section"

Relax, Michael. It's not a debate; just a response to an introduction. Responses to introductions often meander on to other things and this is a perfectly legitimate meander.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

JB wrote: "Michael wrote: "Can we please not have the gatekeeper debate in this thread. If you want to talk gatekeepers and their pros and cons, please start a thread in the authors section"

Relax, Michael. ..."

As long as it goes where Michael said, JB, as this is the introduction thread after all:)

[JB]

Brenda wrote: "JB wrote: "Michael wrote: "Can we please not have the gatekeeper debate in this thread. If you want to talk gatekeepers and their pros and cons, please start a thread in the authors section"

Relax..."

Hi Brenda,

In responding to Marj's introductory comments my intention was to welcome her. I find Michael's accusation that I was starting a debate offensive.

[Michael]

It was not an accusation, I think you are trying to start a conversation/debate and here is not the place for it. I'm all for this conversation as long as its in the right place.

[Alison]

Hi, I'm Alison, a librarian working on National Year of Reading projects in north Queensland. I thought I read widely, but obviously not as widely as some. I'm looking forward to getting many great reading recommendations from you all!

[M.A.]

Thanks, Brenda, Thanks JB. No thanks to Michael. Newbies are not supposed to be pounced upon.
The beach is at Broome. I've never been to Broome. It is lovely.
And hello to Alison as well, and the others on all the 78 previous pages.

[Michael]

Alison wrote: "Hi, I'm Alison, a librarian working on National Year of Reading projects in north Queensland. I thought I read widely, but obviously not as widely as some. I'm looking forward to getting many great..."

Welcome Alison, my friendly local librarian :D

[Deb]

Hi Alison,

What a great job you have; working on the National Year of Reading projects.

We've had some great NYR events in Perth. Looking forward to seeing the Jeannie Baker "Mirror" exhibition at the State Library.

[Dale]

Hi, I've just joined. Dale and I live in coastal NSW.

[Mish]

Welcome to the newbies - It's great to have you all here :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Alison wrote: "Hi, I'm Alison, a librarian working on National Year of Reading projects in north Queensland. I thought I read widely, but obviously not as widely as some. I'm looking forward to getting many great..."

Welcome Alison, lovely to have you with us...what an awesome job you have...very envious:) Hope you have fun here with us, enjoy browsing and finding lots more books to add to your TBR list!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Dale wrote: "Hi, I've just joined. Dale and I live in coastal NSW."

Welcome Dale...coastal NSW? You might just be near me! Have a fun time in our group:)

[Tracey]

Welcome to our newcomers :) I look forward to getting to know you all better, although I never seem able to spend the time here that I'd like to **sigh** It's great to see new faces though and I'm sure you'll have fun here.
Cheers,
Trace

[Emily]

I turned around for 5 minutes and there's half a dozen more new faces already!

Welcome and for those of you who haven't already done so here's a fun quiz to help us get to know you ;)

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

She sure is Michael;) Thanks Emily:)

[Emily]

Ha! Not quite, just todays welcome wagon :)

[Alison]

Thanks M, Michael, Deb, Mish, Brenda and everyone - it's lovely to be here. Working on NYR12 projects is fabulous. I'm going to work on incorporating GoodReads into bookclubs and library work practices (because the community's awesome).

[Michael]

This pleases me, Alison :D

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Alison wrote: "Thanks M, Michael, Deb, Mish, Brenda and everyone - it's lovely to be here. Working on NYR12 projects is fabulous. I'm going to work on incorporating GoodReads into bookclubs and library work pract..."

Awesome Alison! Well done:)

[Tracey]

Excellent Alison, glad to have you on board :)

[Kelly]

Hi all, My name is Kelly. I am 24 from south-western Sydney. I am studying Child Care and I love to read. I read a huge variety of genre's it just depends on the mood I am in.
I am looking forward to participating in the group and sharing thoughts and opinions on a huge variety of different books.

[Michael]

Welcome Kelly

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Very big welcome Kelly! Lovely to have you with us:)

[Emily]

Hola Kelly!