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.
"Adèle, wearing amazing shoes that gave me a serious case of boot-envy."
That makes two of us :)
OMG when is The Magician's Apprentice coming out in Singapore? Anyway I sent you a fan mail, Ms. Canavan. The 1st I've sent to any author, haha.
Loving your new book, The Magician's Apprentice!! Some reviews i have read of it have said it is more slow paced than your previous books but otherwise brilliant. Yeah at times it has been that way, but aren't all books like that?
With the weather being so bad over here in the U.K., snow storms and all, i ahve managed to read the book quicker than i usually do! Which is excellent.
Well i will be waiting patiently for more fabulous work from you soon. I will now wish you luck with everything over in Australia with the books releas, and future happenings!
Hi Ms Canavan, just thought id say that ive just finished Magicians Apprentice in five and a half hours and it was an amazing book, all my Q's from the Black magicians series were answered and now im hoping to perhaps write my own fantasy novel, all due to your (and other authors) opening my already expansive imagination, keep it up and i look forward to the Traitor Spy Trilogy (if this is what the eventual title will be), thanks again
Kind Regards
David Wiseman