Tatto For You

Below is the prepared speech I readied as a member of the Negative for a debate recently, arguing - for the positive - that career success was entirely up to chance. In the end I delivered my part off the cuff and did not use this speech at all. Therefore, I thought I would share it with someone so as to put the work to some kind of use... I appear before you in the role of writer, the creator of the Monster-Blood Tattoo series, three books – or roughly 350,000 words – published in 18 countries and 13 languages, with hopes and plans to write further stories in a similar vein and a of long career ahead. Yet I trained as an illustrator – not a writer – at the now vanished Underdale campus of the UniSA. How on earth did I get here? By sheer fluke it seems: for after a somewhat successful 9 years in Sydney as an illustrator, when of a sudden, I quit my job, where I lived, upped sticks and with a Great Plan burning in my soul went on an adventure across the seas, New York, London, Paris. On...

Another interview , this time a transcript of a live recorded interview I did with the wondrous and warm Bec Stafford whilst attending Aussie Con 4/World Con 38 in Melbourne early in September. (THE FOLLOWING IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ADELAIDE RESIDENTS ONLY I'M AFRAID, sorry everyone else...) This Sunday 21st November at Dymocks , Rundle Mall, from about 2:15pm-ish onwards, myself and a collection of South Aussie YA authors & illustrators will be out in public. The attending authorial and draworial types include: Robyn Opie Malcolm Walker Claire Richards Greg Holdfeld Rosanne Hawke Ruth Starke Jane Jolly Don Henderson Janeen Brian Katrina Germein Dan McGuinness Ben Chandler Allayne Webster Robert Moore Elizabeth Hutchins Sally Heinrich Sean Williams Rebecca Burton Lauren Fuge Hope to see some Monster Blog locals there... :)

Here we are, the very week Aussiecon 4 is going to happen and I make the great trek to Melbourne to take part (both scared and excited in about equal measure). The Con (as we in the biz call it...) will be running from the 2nd September to the 6th September at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (link to map of where it is) . The Guests of Honour are Hugo-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson , award-winning Melbourne artist Shaun Tan (woot!) , and dedicated fan Robin Johnson (just to get your interest, maybe...) As for me, you can see me fumble my way through various topics of which I am only marginally qualified to fumble through at these days/times: Thu 1600, Rm 217 : Wrought from the very living rock: world building in YA spec fic. Sat 1500, Rm P3 : Behold the wonders! Art, design and the visuals in YA spec fic. Sun 1100, Rm 210 : The series question: big books chopped up or small books glued together? Sun 1600 Rm 211 : Let’s get lyrical: poetry in YA spec fic Mon 120...

Nothing like last minute information but here goes... People living in or near Sydney will find me if they dare to look in at this year's FreeCon 2008 Science Fiction Convention , both on Saturday 8 th & Sunday 9 th , at the Norman Selfe Room of the Sydney Mechanics School of the Arts ( SMSA ) building, 280 Pitt Street , good ol ' Sydenytown . No charge for entry or any part of it, which is nice. Here is their website for even more detail. Sorry for the very late notice... I sure hope I see some of you there. (especially you, Anna , because you live soooo close and all...)

And I am back! Thank you for your patience - I shall say more on my time in Sydney-town soon: it was certainly a good as well as stretching time. Met some most excellet souls, fellow creatives seeking their own yet similar path in this great maze of life (hmm... deep) . Today, however, I am wanting to let all Adelaide folks know of the launch party next Tuesday night, where we shall officially send Lamplighter off into the wide blue. Details are as follows: LAMPLIGHTER LAUNCH 3rd June ~ 7 pm for 7:30 start St Peters Library 101 Payneham Road, St Peters RSVP 8334 0200 I would love to meet folks so come along - though I warn you that I am very ordinary (just in case you were expecting to meet some monstrous genius with an amazing pulsating brain ;) See you there... and don't forget to rsvp!

Please excuse the paucity of posts that is likely to occur over the next week or so, I shall be in Sydney pretending that I am clever and interesting. My schedule will be: Tuesday 20 th May 2008 SECONDARY SCHOOL DAY Riverside Theatre, corner Church & Market Streets, Parramatta . WORKSHOP : RAFFERTYS THEATRE 10.00-11.30 am ~ this will be on World Building - of all things... GENERAL TALK : 1.25-2.00 pm ~ My Life & What lead to Monster Blood Tattoo. Tuesday 20 th May 2008 PANEL DISCUSSION Right Down to the Plumbing: Speculative Fiction and World-building Venue: Blacktown City Max Webber Library, cnr Flushcombe Road and Alpha Street, Blacktown , 6:30-7:30 pm Facilitator: Judith Ridge Speculative and fantasy fiction continues to grow in popularity with readers of all ages. How do writers create engaging and believable worlds? How does character contribute to world-building and what cultural influences are at play? D.M. Cornish, David Kowalski and Stuart Mayne discuss. Wedn...

For those who will be in Sydney-town on the 20 th of this month (that being May and one week away) should know that I will be part of a panel discussing world building (of all things!) from 6:30 in the evening . I shall be getting together with Stuart Mayne , editor of Aurealis magazine , David Kowalski author of The Company of the Dead , and Judith Ridge our erstwhile compare, who is - among other things - the Western Sydney Young People’s Literature Officer. Further details are here . Might see some of you there.