Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Write a book in a day? Yer on mate!

I'm busy assembling the dream team! Forget fantasy footy comps, although I'm sure my team could kick, mark, handball, crumb, tackle and, if necessary, sledge with the best of them. Believe me, much as I love Aussie Rules, chasing the Sherrin around a paddock for 2 hours in a colourful singlet and bum-hugging shorts has nothing on this. What's at sake here is the stuff of real heroics (performed by real style mavens). I'm talking Write-a-Book-in-a-Day, the fundraising comp in which a team of writers puts together a children's book in 12 hour marathon, working from a scenario provided by the comp organisers: http://kspf.iinet.net.au/bookinaday/
 It's all for the aid of sweet charity, in this instance Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in WA. As playing coach, I've drafted my crew from a handy little pool of creatives - likely types who've been toughened up to full match fitness - and I'm breaching all metaphorical salary caps. We're going to write up (and raise) a storm - and I don't mean Melbourne! Stay tuned.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

X-Wray, dotdotdash, Propel Youth Arts WA and all that...

It's been a slow six weeks in micro blogging land, as anyone may easily guess from the deafening silence (is that white noise Mr De Lillo?) on this blog. However, taking advantage of the relaxed, writer friendly vibe of X-Wray cafe in Fremantle: http://yourrestaurants.com.au/guide/xwray/  I'm inspired - having trotted out the requisite words on a "more serious" project - to put mouse to blog with a few thoughts.
Firstly, do try the chocolate biscotti if you come to XWray - an invariably delcious companion piece for the uniformly excellent range of coffees. Alas, I must confess that chocolate is now off my diet so I have had to turn to the almond shortbread instead. You should be so unlucky dear reader to find yourself in my predicament - it's a fine substitute with, perhaps, just a hint of ginger (or am I delusional from the slog of research) to tang up the mellow shortbread taste.
Secondly -thanks to that brilliant organisation Propel Youth Arts WA for all the diligent work they put in to sponsoring, facilitating and promoting young creative types. And, I should add, for helping out an old codger like me by putting up info about my questionnaire on Informal Learning and the Emergent Writer (all part of that "more serious" project) on both their website and newsletter. What is the questionnaire about? Well, here's a link to the relevant section of the Propel Arts news page: http://www.propel.org.au/news?News%5Bstart%5D=5
Thirdly, but by no means lastly, Issue 3 of dotdotdash (titled Home) has hit the streets, having bolted through the window of its launch venue, The Loft at The Brass Monkey, on April 1. The dear thing has set a cracking pace - I see it now in red sneakers, laces on one shoe nearly undone, puddle-splashed but persistent, heading down from Planet Books on Beaufort St, past the partially eponymousWilliam Topp, then speeding over to Oxford Books in Leederville to drape itself across the display rack at the expense of all those lesser publications.
And it's an absolute beaut too. Congratulations to the mercurial SJ Finch and the team. Buy it. Read it. Now: http://www.dotdotdash.org/