New job = new books!

I finally have a new job!

It is pretty scary, because I'll be looking after an office of 80-90 people - my previous office had less than 20. Also, I had to by a suit. I guess I am finally an adult! The Stanton Library is just down the road (I have yet to assertain if it is in walking distance for my lunch hour) and there is a well stocked book exchange across the street! There is a Dymocks too, but that doesn't count. I've realised that my last four years my spending on books was pretty extreme, and I will have to curb that if I want to have any savings. It is kind of scary how much I was spending on books per fortnight. This time I need to be sensible. I not only need to set a sensible budget, but I need to stick with it! And ebooks need to be included in that budget *le sigh* I don't know how good my self control will be, but I have done a lot of evaluation in the last 6 months and realised I need to make some big changes in my life. And those changes need to be funded. I am cutting my dvd budget out completely, and making my cd budget to stretch a month, not a fortnight (I am addicted to music too). I don't like being an adult *sigh*

Having a new job also means I'll be able to start blogging again. Not only has my computer been fixed (although it is still in Toowoomba until my folks visit me), but I have eventual plans to buy a small laptop or netbook and at lunch I'll be able to go to a local food court that has free wifi. So I'll have less spare time, but you will see more of me!

I'm not sure if anyone is interested, but I have a second goodreads account created just to collate the books I actually own. I am slowly adding to it, and plan to keep it as a current reflection of my bookshelves. The url is http://www.goodreads.com/zjanoirhttp://www.goodreads.com/zjanoir

My other big news is about a writing project I am taking a part of. It is an online writers' festival called the Writers' Tea Party. We had a soft launch last month, but will be relaunching with a new vision shortly. If you are an author (traditional pub, epub, apps), publisher, editor, illustrator or in some other way a part of the book industry, drop me a line! We are looking for more professionals to interview, guest blog, and offer tips and suggestions to writers. The schedule is filling up, but send me an email if you are interested and I'll forward it on to the editor for consideration. Elle has offered to guest blog about the project soon, so I'll have more information then.

And lastly, I'm going through an online branding change. I'll be using my real world nickname (Zja) and writing alias (Zja Noir) for all of my non-professional networking and interests online. My professional personality is greatly different to my non-professional self, and I feel I need to make that distinction quite visible. Most of my friends know me as Zja, and all of my professional contacts know me as Jacq. I really like that distinction, and I think changing my branding online will cause less confusion at functions and conferences in the geek world. So, from now on, I'll be signing off as Zja :) I just wanted to verbally let you know why I am changing this on Book Bites so there wasn't any confusion. Anyone who follows me on twitter, is facebook friends or knows me in real life already knew of the changes of course, but I am aware that not everyone is a twitter addict like I am. The only problem is apparently this library computer has limited software so my new sig is fairly basic from now. I'll update it when I have access to better resources :)

So how has everyone been? What have you been up to? Read any good books? Discovered any new authors? Attended any events? I'd love to hear about your adventures while I have been away!

Did 'ya miss me?

This is just a quick hello. I'm still without a computer and unable to blog frequently. I will however be trying to post a little bit of something on a more regular basis using library computers. I can't promise much however! My computer will hopefully be up and working again in a few months :)

My reading style has changed a lot now I am no longer buying books. I'm relying a lot on my local library and its fantasy/science fiction and paranormal romance/urban fantasy shelves are pretty basic. I've picked up some new authors I haven't read before, but generally the shelves are full of books I have already read or don't feel like reading. Instead I have been lured to the dark side with all the romance recommendations and been exploring that genre. My local library has an extensive (I think, anyway) collection of romance, and as most of my twitter friends and some of my close friends read romance, I've been finding new authors to read. I never ever thought I would read this much romance! However, relying on library books has meant I've been able to explore without bothering to read blurbs or pay attention to genres and subgenres. It has been really interesting actually. I've found that a lot of my own thoughts on romance aren't exactly founded. I had never realised what a snob I was! I mean, a lot of the books are as you'd expect, light entertainment, but some books are bloody brilliant :) I'll have to borrow some again and write up some reviews or something. My biggest disappointment, I have to say, is the lack of erotica. I know, it is a public library and anyone can borrow books, including children and teens. I know I was punching above my weight when I was a kid myself! But at the same time, now I can't afford to buy ebooks (or have a computer to do so) I am really missing the erotica. Just don't tell my mother LOL Ah, who am I kidding. After her overhearing conversations about romance and erotica I have had with my great aunt June, I'm sure she realises my reading content, even if it is a little too spicy for her own tastes! ;)

If you are in Sydney and a romance reader (including paranormal romance), ARRA is holding a flashmob at Pyrmont Bridge at 11am on the 12th of January to celebrate Romance Reading Day as part of National Year of Reading. It will be a lot of fun and a chance to network with other readers. I hope to see any local romance readers there! You can find out more information {here}.On that note, today is the first meeting of my paranormal romance book club for the year. I can't afford to buy books as they are recommended to me any more, however, my list of books to buy when I get a new job has gone into the high double digits! Damn you Galaxy girls, tempting me with your bookish wiles...

You want to know gossip from the real world? I've just cut off my turquoise fringe, cut bettie bangs and dyed my hair garnet and hope this will make finding a job in the corporate arena easier. I'm considering doing my postgraduate diploma in musuem studies next year, and I may be organising a sharehouse with friends in a few months. We all have ridiculously large book collections, so that is going to be interesting LOL
I hope you are all well, life is great, and you have some great books in your TBR piles! I miss you guys!!!

xx

Ashfield Library's World Café Readers’ Evening 2011

What a brilliant night I had on Thursday! Ashfield Library had a World Café Readers’ Evening, highlighting the various special interest areas of the library. I had two friends speaking, Vassiliki the tweeting librarian, who  spoke about the romance genre and Sofia the book girl from Galaxy Bookshop who spoke about speculative fiction. It was the first time I have been to the new Ashfield library as they have spent considerable time and design dollars moving to a level of the new council building (I also lost my library card – I avoid libraries when I can’t borrow books). I was really impressed with the new layout. They have gone for a more approachable bookshop style layout, rather than the Dewey Decimal System. They have split the genres like speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror), romance, crime from the fiction shelves and put them in little cosy alcoves. The library is very spacious, has a lot of conversational space, meeting rooms, arm chairs and the layout and furnishings are dynamic. I’ll be looking for my library card and visiting more often!

The event started with a wine and cheese meet and greet, with platters of delightful food being passed around. I say delightful because if I had less manners I would have fallen upon those platters with glee! There were tandoori chicken sticks, Vietnamese spring rolls and a variety of sushi. Delicious! The entertainment was provided by Terry Serio and the strains of guitar threaded its way throughout the evening.

The sections of the evening that really stood out for me were “Planet Earth” by Melissa Sellen, “Romance” by Vassiliki and “Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror” by Sofia. This, however, may be because I have an interest in each of these topics.

Melissa is in the environmental services and knew her topic inside and out. I was talking to her before the evening started and was impressed with both her passion and knowledge. As a self-avowed greenie, I found this admirable, especially as she spoke about educating the children about how valuable and intrinsic the environment is for human beings. She was greeted with humour and agreement when she recommended The Lorax by Dr Seuss as essential reading for children.

Vassiliki has gained a bit of a name for herself as the tweeting librarian in Sydney circles. She has a special interest in the romance genre and many of us in the Twitter community count her as a good source of recommendations in the genre. She filled her speech with anecdotes from her own life and of being a reader of romance. My favourite is still the one where her parents used to watch wedding processions drive past to their local church and referring to them as funeral processions heading off to watch a hanging. It is such a droll story and perfectly illuminates the fact that readers of romance are readers of fiction. We do not think life is about happily ever afters, but about living in the real world - we just want a bit of happily ever after to lubricate its ups and downs. One of the recommendations Vassiliki gave that I will be looking up is a romantic suspense author, Suzanne Brockmann.

Sofia works for Galaxy, a specialist store for science fiction, fantasy and horror and has such knowledge and animated passion for the genre. She is my go to girl for new authors, and as far as I am concerned, she never gets it wrong (I may be biased as she is my friend LOL). She had such a dynamic presentation that the night ended on a high. She bought her lightsaber to play with when she was talking about science fiction, her Hufflepuff cloak when she was talking about fantasy, and a torch and wore her hood up to add suspense when she was talking about horror. I cannot comment on her recommendations as I have only read Terry Pratchett (read him if you haven’t - he is brilliant), but she did mention a book Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips which she has recommended to me in the past. I sat down and read the first chapter while she was talking with some other attendees and I will be reading it. It is very entertaining! Like I said, she never gets it wrong!

Sofia and I stayed back until late (she was my ride home) talking with various people and had many interesting conversations. The two that stand out are probably Sarah Barry, a psychic who spoke about the Mind and Body section earlier and Vanessa who was resident photographer of the night - both these conversations involved antics with the lightsaber! Over all, the night was a great success, and I was very impressed with the new design of the Ashfield library. I was sad to see they no longer have any Charles de Lint on the shelves, and while I think this is a great misjustice, I understand they have limited space. I also have to mention that they have an alcove for graphic novels and comics, as I plan to spend some time here in the future. I will be searching for my library card in the near future, so I can max out my card on speculative fiction, romance and graphic novels a regular basis. If you are local to the Ashfield library, I recommend you visit and check out the new location and design! If you just like libraries, are in the library industry or interior design industry, I suggest you visit just to see what a different and dynamic direction they have taken!

Aurealis Awards wrapup (finally!), Supanova, Flickr and Facebook

I am sorry I have been so slack with my blogging. I've been under the weather, and had stuff going on in my personal and professional life that have prevented me from writing more than a few garbled sentences at a time. I never finish or refine these drafts and thus they never see light of day.

Aurealis Awards

This wrap up is VERY late in coming, and I do apologise! Rather than give a blow by blow of who won what awards, I’ll list the winners (which I am sure you have seen around the Aussie

book blogging world by now) and then a quick summary of my highlights of the night.

2010 AUREALIS AWARD WINNERS:
CHILDREN’S FICTION (told primarily through words)

• The Keepers, Lian Tanner, Allen & Unwin

CHILDREN’S FICTION (told primarily through pictures)

• The Boy and the Toy, Sonya Hartnett (writer) & Lucia Masciullo (illustrator), Penguin Viking

YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

• A Thousand Flowers, Margo Lanagan, Zombies and Unicorns, Allen & Unwin

YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

• Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healey, Allen & Unwin

ILLUSTRATED BOOK/ GRAPHIC NOVEL

• Changing Ways Book 1, Justin Randall, Gestalt Publishing

COLLECTION

• The Girl With No Hands, Angela Slatter, Ticonderoga Publications

ANTHOLOGY

• Wings of Fire, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. Jablon, Night Shade Books

HORROR SHORT STORY

• The Fear, Richard Harland, Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears, Brimstone Press

HORROR NOVEL

• Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott, Pan Macmillan

FANTASY SHORT STORY (joint winners)

• The February Dragon, LL Hannett & Angela Slatter, Scary Kisses, Ticonderoga Publications
• Yowie, Thoraiya Dyer, Sprawl, Twelfth Planet Press

FANTASY NOVEL

• Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts, HarperVoyager (HarperCollins)

SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

• The Heart of a Mouse, K.J. Bishop, Subterranean Online (Winter 2010)

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

• Transformation Space, Marianne de Pierres, Orbit (Hachette)

KRIS HEMBURY ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD

• Jodi Cleghorn (Go Jodi!)

PETER MCNAMARA CONVENORS’ AWARD

• Helen Merrick

My highlights of the night:

• Tracey O’Hara came to greet me at the door before we had even registered! O.O I was shocked, because despite talking to her on Twitter from time to time, I have only met her two or three times. She not only recognised me but knew me. It is a shock to me when someone I admire remembers me :D I was a bit star struck LOL
• Hanging out with the lovely Nyssa from ASFFA and delightful Mark from Galaxy, with the gorgeous Elle and suave Nick from my writing group (Spiders represent!), and damn, ALLLLLLLLLL my twitter friends, including authors, editors and other book industry people. Unexpectedly I knew more than the four people I walked into the room to greet.
• Because I went to the Aurealis Awards with Nyssa, she introduced me around to some of her “people”, be they friends or industry contacts. I admit to being starstruck at times.
• I was talking to Tracey O’Hara and she introduced me to Nicole Murphy, another author I talk to on twitter quite a bit. You know how you don’t recognise someone, but the second someone points it out you feel like facepalming yourself? Well, it was like that.
• At the after party I sat with Nyssa, Mark, Tracey O’Hara, Nicole Murphy and a few others and drank an overpriced bourbon. We had to catch a midnight train, so I went to find people to say adios to (actually, hello, as I said I would meet them there), and talking to @Rowena_SW realised that I should have spent more time in the other corner, because a lot of other people I enjoy tweeting with were present, including @BothersomeWords and @nickystrickland. After a quick chat and photo, Nyssa and I had to run, but it was lovely to put faces to aliases!

There were other highlights, like seeing authors I have admired for years, and all the pretty clothes (I could have worn my corset! Dammit!), and while it was over a week ago now, I have fond, if fuzzy, memories. I’ll definitely be returning to the next awards. I was not expecting to get much out of the Aurealis Awards aside from some silent fangirl squees, but somehow I found myself fitting in. Maybe it is because the literati type parties I have attended in the past were general fiction, not speculative fiction, but I was expecting to be bored while awed. Instead I found myself fascinated with every conversation I took part in, to the point I wish I had more time for each person I met. I also feel kind of bad because I didn’t drag Elle and Nick around with me so they could meet some complete strangers. Or at least offer too. I think I was high on the atmosphere. And I really wasn’t expecting to know anyone except my friends. I guess I am still kind of in shock. I am not the sort of person people remember. Well, I haven’t been in the past. But it seems the more I tweet, and the more I participate in the community, the more people are becoming to know me as part of that community.

Facebook

That’s right, I have a facebook page now! You can “fan” Book Bites at www.facebook.com/bookbites - I will be microblogging when I am attending events (e.g. the Aurealis Awards last weekend) and sharing links and such. It is also another way to keep up to date with blog posts if you do not check your Feed Reader constantly (I am guilty of that myself!).

Flickr

I've uploaded some more photos to my Flickr page. I found some old photos on my hard drive of signings at Galaxy that were not previously uploaded and I have added some photos from the Aurealis Awards, Sir Terry Pratchett at the Sydney Opera House and various prizes and autographs.

Here are some photos from the Aurealis Awards:



Master of Ceremonies, Garth Nix, hidding in the shadows while Susan Wardle and Nathan Burrage co-convene.


I was able to spend time chatting with some of my favourite ladies, Tracey O'Hara and Nicole Murphy.


Catching up with twitter friends at the Aurealis Awards after party.


One from the guest bag, one prize, a friend's prize, and the last because someone already had a copy.

Supanova

Supanova is on in a few weeks. I am going, my friends are going, even some of my book club ladies are going (let’s face it, they are friends too, we just happened to have met through book club LOL) and Supanova will be AWESOME! I am excited to meet JAMES MARSTERS!!! Seriously, his name belongs in caps. I may swoon. Yes, swoon. I am also meeting Sean Maher (another hottie playing one of my favourite characters, nice!), Moreena Baccarin, and Gareth David-Lloyd. And, the bit that is actually relevant to my readers? Tracey O’Hara, Erica Hayes and Nicole Murphy will all be at Supanova! They aren’t listed as guests, but they will have an Urban Fantasy stall in the Artist’s Alley :D We plan to go glomp! So, if you read urban fantasy and will be at Supanova, you should go say hi! They are all wonderful women who write terrific books! They are totally glomp-worthy! :D So do it. I am using my Jedi mind powers on you and telling you you should glomp them at Supanova. Of course, that would be more effective if I was actually a Jedi. The thing is, I’d probably be a Sith or smuggler like Han and Chewy LOL Anyway, Supanova, FTW, mid June, best geek fest in Australia!

ARRC to Perth in 2013?

If you are a member of ARRA, you should check your email. There is a suggestion that ARRC 2013 could be held in Perth in conjunction with the RWA conference. It would obviously be cheaper for ARRA in terms of productions cost, but I suspect they will lose attendees if they do go ahead with it. ARRA has sent around a survey to gauge interest in this idea in an email this morning.

I personally wouldn’t attend ARRC 2013 if it was in Perth – unless I won the lottery, met a sugar daddy or got a substantial raise. None of these things are likely to happen in the next year and a half, so I can say with very little doubt I would not attend a Perth conference. The reasons for this are numerous, but the main one is if I had the money to go to Western Australia, I would spend it in a 4WD playing tourist, not paying for a conference and accommodation to spend the weekend in a luxury hotel. This, for me is about priorities. If I had the money to fly to Perth (approx $800 return), pay a couple of hundred in accommodation, another $200 or so for the conference, and then another $200 or so for clothes and accessories (there is a awards dinner and ladies need a chance to frock up!) I would need well over a thousand dollars! O.O I just don’t have that sort of money.

I have talked it over with my paranormal romance book club and we had tentatively decided to attend the next one and make group bookings for everything. You need ten people for that, but once you have that number, things get cheaper. One of our members is a travel agent and she knows these things. I very much doubt these ladies would go to their first ARRA conference if they needed to spend more than $1000 to spend a weekend in a hotel.

For the average member, I assume they would need to get some big names in the genre to attend for people to find it worth attending. By average member I mean someone without a lot of disposable cash. Yes, we have two years to think about saving, but that is A LOT of money for a two day event! O.O

If someone is going to spend that sort of money, they do so to see the sights and experience new environs. This is not me complaining that I never want to go to Perth. This is me saying when I go to Western Australia, I want to do a bloody good job of it. I would rather ARRC 2013 be somewhere accessible for most of the members, somewhere I could afford to go, and somewhere I could convince my friends to go. Let’s face it. ARRC 2011 was at Bondi Beach. How many attendees actually made it down to Bondi Beach? Maria and I went down for ten minutes or so while we were waiting for our bus home on the last day. No one would have made it to Bronte – and it is, by far, the better beach of the two! I am sorry ARRA, but if it is held in Perth, there is no way I will be able to attend, or would choose to attend. Which is sad, because I really enjoyed ARRC 2011!