February 2009 Archives

The big news I've been waiting for the right moment to post about is that I'm going to be a Guest of Honour at Contact: Swancon 2009, a convention running over the coming Easter weekend in Perth.

I'll be doing the full range of guesty duties, including signings, speaking on panels, a guest speech/presentation, participating in ceremonies, partying at the Masquerade and more! You can buy a pass for the day, or come join us for the whole convention. For more information check out the Contact website linked above.  

 

I dropped into Angus & Robertson Forest Hill Bookshop today, which is my local bookshop, and signed some copies. So if you're after a signed copy and happen to live or shop there, I'm sure the friendly staff will be happy to sell you one! 

Next week I'm heading north to Canberra and then Sydney, for more bookstore visits and bookseller dinners - and two signings. I don't yet have a full confirmed list of bookshops I'll be visiting to sign stock, but it does include Dymocks in Belconnen, Tuggeranong and Sydney. But I do have times for the signings:

5-6pm Tuesday 3rd March
Gaslight Books
Unit 10, 83 Wollongong Street
Fyshwick, ACT 2609

and

5:30pm Thursday 5th March
Galaxy Bookshop
143 York Street
Sydney, NSW 2000

So come along and get your books signed. If you can't make it, I'll be posting about the bookshop visits and letting you know where you can pick up signed copies.

What a week! I'm all worn out! First there was the bookseller dinner, then the Summer Reading panel, then signing books at Dymocks Southland, and today a journalist is coming to interview me.

First: the Summer Reading panel. Since the library is just down the road from me I had invited the other panelists over for dinner, but poor Adam got caught in traffic and had to go direct to the library. That was okay - I invited him and Jack back to our place afterwards and made sure he had a late dinner.

The panel went well. We talked about how we came to be writing and how our careers unfolded, then of our stories in the Dreaming Again anthology, and finished by answering some great questions from a very patient and attentive audience. Myself and my fellow authors were very happy with how it went and we've received some enthusiastic feedback.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos as I hadn't arranged a camera buddy for the event. But I do for the signing at Southland. How could I not record this wonderful window display?

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lovely staff at Dymocks set me up at the front of the shop and made sure I was comfortable.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

And then a steady stream of customers and fan came by to have their books signed. Enough that I was busy most of the hour, but not so many that I couldn't take the time to write something and to chat. Two customers saw me there and decided to give my books a try - one even bought my entire seven books!

A few friends who live nearby dropped in, too. During one of the breaks Emily asked if I'd sign anything. I said anything except a cheque, then jokingly lamented that I'd never been asked to sign a boob. Her eyes lit up. "Sign mine! Sign mine!" she pleaded. So here it is: 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the session I signed lots os stock, then we dragged Chuck McKenzie, the store manager, out for a photo.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

So thank you to Chuck, everyone at Dymocks Southland, and all the people who came to have their books signed. And to those who left comments that they hadn't arrived in time - sorry to have missed you but thanks for making the effort to come!

There are lots of signed copies in the store now, for anyone who wants to grab one. The store owner told me that they usually sell pretty fast, too.

Last Monday I had a wonderful night out with a group of booksellers at Trunk, a restaurant on Exhibition Street in Melbourne.

It was a fine meal with lovely and interesting company. I love booksellers. They are both passionate and knowledgeable about books and great down-to-earth people. I look forward to seeing these people again soon, when I do a booksigning tour around Melbourne.

So thankyou to: Ineke from Dymocks at The Pines, Aaron and Fay from Dymocks Glen Waverley, Kat from Dymocks Camberwell, Laughlan from Hachette, Scott from Tim's Bookshop, me, and Louise from Dymocks. (And Matt Hoy, who took the photo!)

Next week I have not one, but two public events to enjoy. The first is the Summer Reading panel and the second is my first Melbourne signing event.

When: 12-1pm, Saturday 21st February

Where: Dymocks Southland, 3067-8 Westfield Southland, 1239 Nepean Highway, Cheltenham.

So come on down and get your books signed! 

The last few days have been harrowing here in Victoria, Australia, as thousands of people have lost their homes and hundreds their lives in savage bushfires. I was a teenager growing up on the edge of the Dandenong ranges when the Ash Wednesday fires devastated so much of the local areas, and was visiting the area in 1997 when fire burned out the forest above the house I was to later buy (the 'little house on a hillside near a forest' which I sold last year). Although I've been lucky, growing up and living on the edge of an area notorious for bushfire does make you very aware of the dangers and terrible consequences. Just the smell of smoke can make me edgy.

 

These fires have been far, far worse. It's early days yet, and there are many theories being discussed as to why, but whatever the reason the result has been tragic.

 

My heartfelt sympathies go to all those who have lost loved ones, and also to those who lost homes, pets, livestock and businesses. There is a list of ways to help on the ABC site - from donating money and clothing to giving blood to minding pets. The Red Cross appears to be the main fundraiser, but don't forget the smaller charities - Wildlife Victoria, for example, which lost two animal shelters and is likely to be inundated with injured animals.

In a week's time I'll be making a public appearance at a local library to talk on a panel about Dreaming Again, an anthology of Australian speculative fiction that was published recently. (Here's my post about it.) Jack Dann, Cecelia Dart-Thornton, Adam Browne and I will be talking about the anthology and our stories published within it. And most likely about life, the universe and writing.

 

Here are the details:

 

Jack Dann  and Dreaming Again authors visit to Nunawading

Date and Time           Wednesday 18 February, 2009 7.00 - 8.30 PM

Venue                         Nunawading Library

379 Whitehorse Road, Nunawading Vic 3131 

Bookings                  Phone 9873 5638 or online at http://summerread37.eventbrite.com

Program                     Panel of sc-fi and fantasy writers in conversation

Refreshments           Light refreshments

Transport and Access         

Melways ref. 48 G9

I love hearing what people thought of my books, or reading messages that go "Wooo! It's out!", and even having errors pointed out (it's usually possible to get them fixed for the reprints).

Normally it's better if those messages go in the Guestbook, but it's easy to miss the link to it in the sidebar over there on the right. So feel free to leave a comment here on this post. But do bear in mind that the Guestbook makes your email address available to me if I should decide to reply to you, wheras I haven't found a way to access email addys in Movable Type.

Also please remember, do not include any spoilers in your comment. I've recieved some lovely comments and guestbook messages but had to delete them because they'd give away the story for others. If you want to mention something that would spoil the plot, send me a message via the fanmail address.

My publisher has made a very nifty thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, they've put together a new website for me: TrudiCanavan.net. But it's not going to replace this one. Instead it compliments it. It'll be the place where they'll post news, publication dates and book signing events. I'm particularly happy about this because, as I've said in my FAQ, most of the time I don't know what the publication dates are. Now I have somewhere to go to check them, too! (However, foreign language editions aren't included on the site.)

If there's a particularly juicy bit of news on the site I'll link to it here. But remember that I'm several hours around the world from the UK and US and posts may go up in the middle of the night, Aussie time, so if you are from those regions and like your news fresh and shiny, best bookmark the page of the site for your region.

I've put the link to TrudiCanavan.net in the sidebar as well as this post. Hop over there and check it out! 

This was the view from my hotel room:

Southbank Sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven't been to Brisbane for over twenty years, when I bussed through on the way to Expo88. So everything was shiny and new to me. The city was bigger than I remembered, not surpisingly, and very cosmopolitan. And not as hot as I'd expected. It was humid, but not the searing 40-45 degrees (Celcius - that's 105-112 degrees Fahrenheit) I returned to in Melbourne.

The first bookshop Adèle, my Orbit guide, took me to was Angus & Robertson in Morayfield, where I signed stock for the lovely Lyn and Terry.

With Lyn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd woken up in the middle of the night with a frozen shoulder, possibly due to the hotel bed, and was in some pain so Lyn suggested I try the Chinese masseur nearby. Half an hour later, after the 'cups' treatment I somehow managed to order without realising it, I looked like this:

Cupping Marks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I felt much better! We headed for Chermside, where at Dymocks I talked football with Byron and signed more books for Sue.

With Sue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then we visited Mega Books, a newsagency with a big book section at Toombul, where I signed lots of books - in two displays!

With Lisa

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a savvy shopper, Elsa, took advantage of having a real, live author on hand to get a present for her daughter and granddaughter.

With Elsa (photo thanks to Adèle Fewster)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A late but very delicious lunch at Riverside books followed. Good food, good books, great company. I wish I had a shop like this near me!

With Emily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sampling the product

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adèle, wearing amazing shoes that gave me a serious case of boot-envy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop was Dymocks Indooroopilly, and the lovely Jo Ann.

With Jo Ann

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then Dymocks Brisbane City, where the store was closed for stock take, but as we arrived we encountered a reader who was trying to see the price of my book, and invited her in. She looked completely disbelieving at first when Adèle told her who I was! I signed a book for her and the shop put it aside for her to return and buy the next day.

With Sam - I hope you enjoyed the book!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Pam & Jon and lots of signed books

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we popped into Pulp Fiction, where I gossiped with Ron Serdiuk and signed yet more books.

With Ron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a short rest at the hotel, Adèle took me to La Belle Epoque French Restaurant in Fortitude Valley, where I enjoyed a delicious meal with her, Matt Hoy from Orbit, Ron (Pulp Fiction), Chris (Coaldrakes Books), Emily (Riverbend Books, Rosy (Dymocks Indooroopilly), and Krissy (a reader and writer). We talked (and gossiped) about books, films, publishing and had a very fun and at time hilarious night.

Matt, Rosy, Chris, Ron, Emily, me, Krissy  (photo thanks to Adèle Fewster)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, a very enjoyable book tour - and all due to some very lovely, fun, book-loving people. Thankyou to all the booksellers, and to Adèle for being the perfect tour guide. I had a wonderful trip and can't wait for the next one.