Blog #3 2020: In which I hunker down at a Safe Distance.

Well, my aim at the start of this year was to do AT LEAST a blog a month, so because this is just my third blog, I’m assuming/pretending that it must still be March – hey otherwise I’d be pathetically behind already and that just doesn’t sound like me, right?

Of course the world has changed dramatically since my last post.

Luckily my wife and I got in a couple of trips to Melbourne to see our daughter, son-in-law and our new beautiful granddaughter before all the chaos began.

During our vists to Victoria we went to …

The Australian Open …

The National Gallery of Victoria …

The Melbourne Aquarium …

and Hall’s Gap …

I also managed to get in a few school author visits in February (Hi to everyone at Sherwood Primary School, The Gap High School, Marist Ashgrove and Brisbane State High) before everything went virus-shaped.

Then of course SOCIAL DISTANCING became a thing …

My wife and I sharing a romantic movie date.

… and finally it was LOCKDOWN and STAY AT HOME time.

So since then I’ve read a few good books …

… and been working my way through an extensive house tidying/organising list.

In WRITING NEWS – I haven’t been doing much writing at all really but I do have a YA novel and a couple of picture book projects that I need to get back to soon.

In the meantime I was really pleased to see the complete ISHMAEL TRILOGY become available in German language audio form thanks to the wonderful Horcompany …

… and to receive some Turkish editions of RODNEY LOSES IT!

I also made an embarassing video as part of the online announcement of the 2020 CBCA SHORTLISTS. You can see it HERE – if you dare.

Finally I was saddened to hear of the death of legendary Australian poet BRUCE DAWE. I had the pleasure and honour of meeting him once.

As an English teacher I loved using his poems in class and in my first novel THE RUNNING MAN there is a reference to his brilliant and powerful poem HOMECOMING which is about bodies being sent back home from the Vietnam war.

telegrams tremble like leaves from a wintering tree
and the spider grief swings in his bitter geometry
– they’re bringing them home, now, too late, too early.

Homecoming – Bruce Dawe