The second ‘Writers Train‘ component of the Q150 steamed off from Brisbane yesterday. This time it’s Kim Wilkins, Nick Earls, Kate Eltham and Hinemoana Baker who are choofing off on the leg from Brisbane to Toowomba. And Kim’s son, Luka, is also tagging along for the ride. Check out the links and see what they get up to.
There was a great article in the QWeekend on Sat 15th from Matt Condon detailing the the trip we took back in June. It had me chuckling and smiling all over again.
It’s been a strange and wonderful month. My book is out there in the world – selling, I hope – and I’ve had some great reviews. I’m re-writing another manuscript at the moment and glimpsing the possiblity of a complete story, the way it was meant to be told. Quite the most enjoyable sensation. Ideas are great endorphins.
I’m doing a radio interview on Radio National’s Life Matters Tomorrow morning. Monday 13th July at 9:30am. If you’re free, tune in and listen as I try to be interesting and coherent (yes, I’m a little nervous).
And finally, some pictures of my book launch. If you were there, thanks so much for braving the cold and being a part of it. I managed to break the Avid Reader sales record for this year which is not a bad way to kick of the journey of Brown Skin Blue. Thanks to the fabulous team at Avid Reader and, especially, Krissy Kneen and the fabulous Nick Earls.
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to tag on the Q150 steam train from Townsville to Mt Isa as one of three writers. The writers component of the trip was to pay homage to the writers train that traveled through Queensland in the early 90’s with such writers as Nick Earls, Tim Winton, Thomas Kenelly and Thea Astley. It was a fantastic experience. You can read all about our adventures and check out some of the pictures on the AbC pool website, but I’ll post some of my train blogs here.
http://www.pool.org.au/group/q150_steam_train_writers
Hughenden and the State of Origin
To the great indignation of hardened and passionate maroon supporters, I won the Royal Hotel State of Origin prize pack. Jersey, esky, ball, stubby holders. My interest in football is somewhere less than Matt’s devotion and Greg’s general indifference. Matt had never missed a game, Greg had never seen one.
It was the company of my fellow writers and our new friends from the Q150 – and the promise of wine and lychee cruisers – that was my greatest lure to the pub last night. And I was damn hungry. Amongst early cheers of ‘Go the mighty maroons,’ I was cheering ‘Go the mighty buffet!’
It cannot be described as anything but mass outrage when I won the raffle. Bloody girly writer. From the city, no less! One bloke offered me $20 for the jersey after spending the entire night boasting how drinking one, two, three bottles of Grange Hermitage a night is nothing for him. So I declined his generous offer, but I’d have taken the grange, though.
I’m wearing the jersey now as I write, and I’m quite taken with the XL oversized shape it makes. And it kept me warm before the sun fully came up. The senior train conductor still can’t quite accept that a girl who thought the final score had been 24-18 was wearing the royal colours. On her train!! She’d decked out the train with red and white yesterday. In fact, balloons still swing above the tables in the dining carriage now. Sorry to one and all. You did try, but I scored. I’m keeping the shirt.
The last few weeks have been mad. Brown Skin Blue hits the bookstores Monday – yes that’s only two days away – and it’s damn exciting. I’ve been getting quite a bit of media coverage, too, which is fantastic. Here’s a link to the Brisbane News article.
http://www.brisbanenews.com.au/
My first review came out in Bookseller and Publisher a few weeks ago. You can check it out here
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I’m packing this weekend ready to get on board the Q150 steam train on Monday. I’ll be touring Townsville, Charters Towers, Hughenden, Cloncurry and Mt Isa with Gregory Rogers and Matthew Condon. We’ll have author talks, presentations and dinners in each place, and it’s set to be quite an adventure.
We’ll be blogging, snapping pictures and grabbing audio snippets along the way and posting them on the abc pool website. You can click on and check out what we get up to.
http://www.pool.org.au/explore/groups
It’s all a little thrilling at the moment. But behind it all is the urge to finish my next project. I’ve still got three books on the go and I haven’t had all that much space to get to them. I think I’ll be back in the writing seat in a few weeks time.
Oh – and my launch is on June 11th at Avid Reader. It’s being launched by literary guru, Nick Earls. If you’d like to come, just call Avid Reader and book a spot. 3846 3422 It’s free.
This is my book! Thanks to the wonderful and generous Nick Earls for the cover quote. He’s a legend.
I finished writing this book so long ago, and yet it feels like it’s life is just beginning. Books have such distinct phases. There’s the writing phase when it’s just the characters, the world and the writer all in a little cocoon. Then there’s the editing and printing phase where it’s all neatened up, scrubbed, spruced and dressed up. Then it goes to town…
I meet with various book reps and librarians in Brisbane and Melbourne next week as my book prepares to go to market. It will be launched and available for sale in the first week of June. Oh, yeah. This is real (pinching myself about now).
I'm a writer living in Brisbane. Brown Skin Blue is my first novel.
Belinda Jeffrey 