Category: News

Thank you to all who have emailed me to see we’re OK. It’s been a devastating time for those in Queensland. Belinda has written a very revealing blog post about it here and has some footage as well.

Our house is not in a flood area, so we’re not expecting trouble but general power outages and food shortages will affect everyone. Not to mention the emotional turmoil of watching fellow Queenslanders frightened, standing on roof tops, waiting for rescue. And the deaths of families.

Our Premier has been a pillar of strength and calm and I say ‘hat’s off to you, Anna Bligh.‘

Just heard about this really awesome sounding writer’s course that’s coming to Australia and am helping Allen and Unwin get word out about it. I’ve had a look through the course program and it seems very comprehensive and in depth. There will be guest spots from David Malouf, Kate Grenville, Bernard Cohen and Charlotte Wood and individual consultations as well.

After great success in London, Paris, Dublin and Toronto, Faber has partnered with Allen & Unwin in Australia to offer courses in creative writing. The first is ‘Writing a Novel’ which will be taught by Kathryn Heyman and James Bradley and will run from March to August 2011 at Allen & Unwin’s Crows Nest offices. What’s exciting about it is the hands-on nature of the classes, the publishers and agents reading night and the expectation that participants will finish the course with a complete first draft of their novel. There’s more information about the course outline on our website: ww**************@***********in.com

And to celebrate the Academy coming to our fair shores, I have two copies of  Dracula in Love to giveaway. All you have to do is email me through this website with the names of the two course directors. Easy Peasy!

Resuming regular broadcast now after all the frivolity and me-time.

Some news that will interest many of you. Aussie bestselling author, Ian Irvine, now has a fan page on Facebook through which he’ll be giving away over 300 copies of his books in the next months. Just search for Ian Irvine, “like” the page, and you’ll be in the running to win.

Also, beginning Monday, I’ll be doing some giveaways across my own sites in conjunction with various news. Some will be YA, and others crime. Check across the MDPWeb so you don’t miss out. I’ll have some news on a great writing workshop opportunity about to hit Aussie shores as well.