Just a quick blog to announce the release of RODNEY FORGETS IT! the sequel to the 2018 CBCA Awarding winning RODNEY LOSES IT!
RODNEY FORGETS IT! will be launched this FRIDAY at WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE bookshop at West End Brisbane.
There’ll be a talk, a reading, morning tea, some fun and games and even a few prizes. Everyone welcome but you need to book via the link below:
https://wherethewildthingsare.com.au/events/michael-gerard-bauer-launches-rodney-forgets-it
Marches. Like the month? Geddit? (Boom! Tish!)
Anyway, to bring you up to date with December, January and February, here’s a few things I remember and for which I have some PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF .
First there was CHRISTMAS.
Then we had a few rainy and cyclonically windy days at SURFERS (not always a) PARADISE on the GOLD COAST with some of the fam including our adorable grand-daughter and grandson.
My wife and I drove up to beautiful MALENY on the SUNSHINE COAST to check out Maleny Botanic Gardens and Bird World.
While there we auditioned for the remake of Hitchcock’s BIRDS …
… and I had my ear PIERCED for free.
On another day we visited the nearby ENOGGERA RESERVOIR and WAKABOUT CREEK DISCOVERY CENTRE.
Somewhere in there I scored a couple of new T-SHIRTS.
The local BUNYA PINE went nuts and threatened to kill any unsuspecting people foolish enough to spend too much time below its branches.
I read some good books.
I also massacred some songs on my guitar(s).
And meanwhile on the WRITING front as well as continuing to toil away on my never-ending YA NOVEL, the brilliant illustrator of RODNEY LOSES IT Chrissie Krebs made me some post-it notes so I wouldn’t forget that we had a SEQUEL coming out later this year.
I just can’t remember what it’s going to be called.
And on a final note I just wanted to send my best wishes to the tens of thousands of folk who were flooded and lost possessions including entire houses and businesses in the terrible rain event that hammered Brisbane and S/E Queensland and NSW recently. We were lucky (with only the relatively minor inconvenience of a new water feature appearing at our front door and threatening to come inside) but so many more people including some in our neighbourhood certainly were not.
Cheers
Michael
Ok I’m just going to gloss over the fact that with all my good intentions about blogging more regularly, I haven’t actually posted anything for over six months.
The good (?) news is that having just been let back into Brisbane after spending 11 weeks in Melbourne, my wife and I are now in Home Quarantine for the next two weeks, so I should have plenty of time to write!
So what has happened since my last blog? Well in no particular order …
1. The German version of THE THINGS THAT WILL NOT STAND (Dinge, die so nicht bleiben können) has been getting some wonderful reviews and the audio version by the amazing Hörcompany was named “Best Children’s Audio Book 2021”. Such a thrill!
The audio award was due in large part to the great narration provided by the super-talented and very popular Jens Wawrczeck.
“Jens Wawrczeck reads the multi-layered story at first with verve and sparkling humor, later he becomes more and more hesitant. The tightness around the chest and throat that afflicts teenagers with their revelations becomes audible. The result is a listening experience perfectly balanced between lust for life and the burden of life. ” Southgerman newspaper
2. A new Australia edition of JUST A DOG was released featuring a new look Mr Mosely.
3. I was contacted by FEDERICO STRAGA an Italian singer-songwriter. He sent me a lovely email recently explaining how a few years back he read my book DON’T CALL ME ISHMAEL! with his daughter and how he really enjoyed it. He was particularly taken by the James Scobie character who faces the school bully. Scobie explains that he’s not afraid of the bully or anything else any more because after surviving a brain tumour operation, he just has no fear left. Or he “exhausted fear” as it translates in the Italian version. Federico said he liked this concept so much that he wrote a song entitled “I Exhausted Fear”. It became the first single from his record released three years ago. Federico’s fantastic song and video is below. “I hope you will like it and thank you for your inspiration and the good times spent reading the book. A big hug from Italy. Federico” I certainly did like it! As I told Federico, as someone who dreamed of being a singer-songwriter, it was a thrill and an honour to think I played some small part in the creation of his song.
4. My wife and I spent 11 weeks locked down to varying degrees in Melbourne because of Covid travel restrictions. The plus side was we got to spend a lot of time with our gorgeous and amazing grand daughter (2 yrs 2 mths) and new grandson (7 mths). I am now an expert at Duplo.
5. There were only a few actual school visits due to the pandemic but I did make some contact with readers in other ways.
6. I scored some beautiful artwork from my friend, brilliant artist and wonderful picture book creator CAROLINE MAGERL. If you don’t know Caroline’s work, do yourself a favour and checkout some of these titles: Nop; Maya and Cat; Hasel and Rose.
7. I presented via ZOOM at the 2021 Celebrate Reading Conference at the LITERATURE CENTRE in Fremantle WA. Would have loved to have been there in person with the other fabulous authors but this was the next best thing.
8. I invested in some cutting-edge technology.
9. I made all these stuffed potatoes. And consumed quite a few of them.
10. I took these random shots while in Melbourne.
11. I read some great books.
12. My wife and I devoured these delicious pies from the Blackbutt Bakery QLD!
13. Ok, I feel I might be scratching around for ideas now …
Hoping to get stuck into some serious writing soon.
Cheers
Michael
I can not believe it’s MAY already and this is my FIRST blog of the year! Oh well, as I’ve no doubt said before, the best laid plans of Mike and men …
My biggest news book-wise is that the German edition (and audio version) of The Things That Will Not Stand was released in Germany under the title Dinge, die so nicht bleiben können.
I’ve been really thrilled with the wide coverage and lovely reviews it has been receiving.
You can read some of them HERE.
A big thanks to everyone at CARL HANSER VERLAG and HÖRCOMPANY (audio) for their continuing support and their beautiful editions!
It was also wonderful to be interviewed and do readings via Zoom recently with Claudia from the Internationale Jugendbibliothek about THE THINGS THAT WILL NOT STAND as part of the Munich Book Show – junior.
We had 5 classes of grade 8/9s tuning in for the session. Thankfully it was in English and all went smoothly. A big thank you to everyone who made that possible.
In other news, my ’21 in 21′ READING CHALLENGE is going well and for the first time ever I’m actually ahead of schedule with 14 books already done and dusted.
There’s quite a variety of books here all of which I have enjoyed reading.
A bunch of the other things that have occurred in the first 4 months of 2021 are summarised pictorially below and since they are obviously self-explanatory I won’t bore you with any extraneous comments.
As for MY WRITING, I must admit that I’ve had a bit of a hiatus of late, but soon I hope to get back to the YA novel I’ve now been working on for some time.
Also I’ve been fiddling around with some possible picture book texts and in 2022 I’ve been reliably informed that a certain rabbit will make a reappearance, so all is not LOST!
Of course it goes without saying (although I’m going to say it anyway) that THE VERY BEST THING that’s happened this year is that my wife and I became grandparents for the second time when we welcomed into the world our first grandson Harlan.
And what a brilliant, perfect little guy he is!
Cheers
Michael
Michael Gerard Bauer Author 