An Interesting Question and Abbotsleigh Literary Festival

Last Monday I had the pleasure of speaking at the Abbotsleigh Literary Festival. I was a little nervous prior to the event as I was going to present Get a Grip, Cooper Jones for the first time and wasn't sure how Cooper would be received. I felt like the mother of a kindi student about to send her precious child off for his first day at school. Will the other kids be kind? Will he make any friends? Will the kids like him as much as I do?

As is often the case, I need not have worried. Cooper held his own and I had numerous students milling around me after my sessions asking the question author's love to hear: "Where can I buy the book?"

It was a wonderful event, the students were fantastic and I had a great time.

During one session, I had a question from a student (Miriam) that I couldn't think of an answer for at the time and I promised to think about it and get back to her. The question was: "If you could be a character from any book, who would you be?"

I have been mulling over this ever since and I haven't yet been able to come up with a female character that I sincerely would want to be. This troubles me slightly.

If I look to my own books, I think I would want to be Sasha from A Strange Little Monster because she has a kind heart, but is also strong and courageous and true to herself. If I look elsewhere in Children's Literature, I guess I am partial to Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series - for similar reasons, and also because of her intelligence.

When I look to adult literature, I really can't get past Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. I love Atticus because of his honesty and integrity.

I'm sure there are plenty of wonderful characters out there that I have overlooked. Any ideas? (Thanks for the great question, Miriam.)

Tomorrow is the first day of Book Week, and to mark the week, I have set myself the task of writing a blog post about each school/library I visit. Book Week is exhausting at best, so I'm not sure if I will be up for the challenge, but I will give it my best shot.

Congrats to all the winners in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards - especially the wonderfully talented bunch from Walker Books : Glenda Millard, Rebecca Cool, Sally Murphy and Heather Potter. You rock, gals!

Happy Book Week everyone!

People power needed

It's been a sad week for the Australian publishing industry. The Productivity Commission's report on the Restrictions on the Parallel Importation of Books was released, recommending that the current copyright restrictions be lifted, thus putting the viability of the entire industry in jeopardy.

There is a lot of misinformation in the media about the ramifications of the lifting of these restrictions. The "Coalition for Cheaper Books", which, interestingly, is made up of Coles, Woolworths and Dymocks, is stating that the lifting of the restrictions will result in cheaper books. This is something that I seriously doubt.

Consider these facts:

1. The commission itself has stated that the lifting of the restrictions will not necessarily lead to cheaper books.
2. While Australian retailers may be able to obtain cheap remaindered US stock, they are under no obligation to pass on the savings to the buying public.
3. There is already a great variation in the prices of books in the Australian marketplace and some of the major chains often charge MORE than the publisher's RRP on a number of titles. Do you trust them to deliver cheaper books? I certainly don't. It is within their means to do so within the current market conditions, yet they choose not to.
4. If it is not likely that the lifting of copyright restrictions will result in cheaper books, but it is likely to have serious ramifications on the viability of the Australian publishing industry, then what's the point?

We need to act now. We must lobby the government to reject the commission's recommendations. And more than anything, we need to try to gain the support of the book-buying public. We need to enlist some People Power!

It is a complex issue, but the following blogs explain the situation very well:

• Sally Murphy's Writing for Children Blog: A Layman's Guide to the Cheaper Books Debate.
• Dee White's DeeScribeWriting Blog: Removing Parallel Imports on Books - the Real Story!

Have a read. Have a think. And if you don't want to hand over further market control to the likes of Woolworths and Coles, but you do want to continue to read quality Australian books, then pick up a pen and write to your local member, telling them so.

I certainly will be.

Freaky Interview

Interested in a Freaky interview? I have been interviewed by Sally Murphy - author and reviewer - about the writing of Freaky and also about writing for series in general. Thanks, Sally!

Catch the interview at: http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/ and also http://aussiereviews.blogspot.com/

It's a gloriously wet Sunday afternoon here, perfect for curling up in bed with my laptop and working on WIP. So back to it.

Ciao
PS: Watch out for Sally's new book out next month - Pearl Verses the World. It is gorgeous.