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!

The Silence

I have some bit things happening in my personal life at the moment, and haven’t had time or attention to focus on reading or blogging. Sorry for the lull. I hope to make up for it with Supanova occurring next weekend.

Don’t forget, Erica Hayes, Tracey O’Hara and Nicole Murphy will have a stall in the artist alley – pop along and say hi! They’ll be representing the urban fantasy authors in Australia!

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!

I am unexpectedly attending the 2010 Aurealis Awards tomorrow

I am unexpectedly attending the 2010 Aurealis Awards tomorrow night! It is very unexpected as I had decided not to go, but a friend of a friend needed to get sell a spare ticket. I may be live tweeting, I may take photos, I may glomp on certain authors if they turn up (Isobelle Carmody, Glenda Larke, Juliette Marillier and Sonya Harnett are finalists – all favourites at one point in time!), and I may hobnob with people of the Australian speculative fiction industry. Or I may hide in a corner, nursing my drink and muttering to myself… No, that is unlikely to happen, because I have a few friends attending. Worse comes to worse I will cling to Nyssa’s skirt or Mark’s coat-tails LOL (hey, don’t judge me, I am shy, okay?!)

So. Yes. It is all very sudden. One minute I am planning on spending my weekend in bed reading my way through my TBR pile and the next I get a tweet and reply without thinking things through. So, being unprepared, I have nothing to wear (some people will recognise my dress), I don’t have much money (I have money for my ticket and the train fare) and I had a last minute haircut last night and quickly touched up the purple in my hair. I also had to find a pair of shoes – luckily I found a pair that fit me and fit my budget!

This was all money meant for Supanova – I was going to buy my ticket and layby my corset. I guess I'll not buy books next week to make the difference up out of next week's pay check. I have completely broken my Doctor Who run in 2011! I had never missed an episode of New Who, but last week I was at a birthday party and missed it, and tomorrow night Nyssa and I will be iViewing it when we get back from the awards night. And you know what? I have to wait a week. I have broken my viewing streak, so I guess a few hours here and there won’t kill me *sigh* But… I wubbs the Doctor…

Anyway, I am getting distracted again.

I am going to the awards night tomorrow. Are you?

Also, it would totally be bad etiquette to lug around books and accost authors for autographs, wouldn’t it! *giggles* I’ll leave them at home… I swear!

Book Bites online - facebook, twitter, paper.li, goodreads and flickr

I've made a few changes to my blogging behaviour in the last year. Aside from being more social and attending literature-related events, I have had two guest bloggers on Book Bites (hopefully with more to follow!) and I have also started accounts associated with my blog around the web, and closed others. I've also started writing in my spare time and attending a writing group a few times a month. I am also now attending three book club meetings a month, although I suspect I will have to scale this back because of my health. I have also had an article published in the Australian Romance Readers Association newsletter, and will be guest reviewing for two other blogs in the near future.

I can’t say that I am being mercenary about getting my “brand” out there on the internet, but I am thinking more seriously about networking. I smirk at myself when I talk about this, because I know I am not “hot stuff” in the book blogging world. I see some of my friend’s blogs and look at my own and I know it is nothing really special in the grand scheme of things. It isn’t an amazing review site, it isn’t on the cutting edge of news, or syndicating memes around the internet. But you know what? I love my blog. I wish I had more reviews up, more in depth content, but despite that, I just love Book Bites. I love that I have a place to blather on about one of the two leading passions in my life, I love that I have a platform to network with other like-minded people around the world!

Book Bites is about two years old now. I can’t tell you the exact date (I deleted the original blog and imported posts) but I started dedicating a blog to books in early 2009. Before that they had pride of place on my personal blog (they were taking over!). So, with about two years of dedicated blogging under my belt, a dead forum (I should go back and mine World Of Words for reviews I may have written LOL) and just over 14,000 tweets (of which maybe 75% pertain to books or nerd culture), I have started a Facebook fan page. You are not obligated to “like” it. I started it because I wanted to nab the vanity url of Book Bites before someone else did. “Brand building”, don’t you know! So “like” it or don’t, it is your choice. I won’t be mentioning it again, although, if you look carefully at the clutter to the right, you will see there is now a Facebook “like” button for Book Bites (I really do need to overhaul my side bar – it is looking a little messy). As well as another way to syndicate Book Bites’ RSS feeds, I will be adding relevant links that I find interesting or think are important. I will be sharing links to photos when I upload them (did you know I uploaded photos of Sir Terry Pratchett I took to Flickr?), or links to friend’s photos if they are relevant to me or events I attended. I put all these things on twitter, but I know I am a prolific tweeter, and the important things to my blog followers may be missed in the stampede. I may sync my Goodreads, but I am not sure if I can do that yet. You can add me on Goodreads if you wish to follow what books I am reading. I rarely talk about all my books on Book Bites, so you only see a select sample.

Do you have a Facebook fan page for your blog? How do you use it? What do you use it for? I would love to hear of any ways you use it that I haven’t already mentioned!


If you want to connect with my Book Bites presence around the web you can find me at the following sites:

• Facebook
• Flickr
• Goodreads
• Twitter
• The Book Bites Daily
• I also have a tumblr that is meant to be about interior design but seems to be overrun with bookshelf p0rn. You are welcome to follow it too: The Lady Lair
• A list of tweeps in the Australian book industry (readers, writers, bloggers, publishers, editors, etc.)
• A list of tweeps in the international book industry (readers, writers, bloggers, publishers, editors, etc.)
  

Just in case you missed it (which you couldn't if you follow me on twitter!), I have a guide to buying ebooks in Australia. It is aimed at Aussies new to the world of ereaders (such as myself at the time) but it also includes a large listing of sites you can legally obtain ebooks as an Australian - either freebies, loans or purchases. If you are an Australian ebook reader, can you please check the list to see if I have missed any that you use? I am trying to keep it updated and aim for it to be a comprehensive list. You can find the guide {here}.

ARRC2011 Wrap Up

Keri Arthur and myself at the Awards Dinner

Nalini Singh and myself at the Awards Dinner

Erica Hayes and myself at the Awards Dinner

I had this post languishing half-written in my drafts. I've rephrased some sections because I am no longer posting it on the Monday after ARRC. I apologise for the delay in posting.

I have uploaded my photos to flickr (yes, I now have an account and will be cross posting photos between my blog, fickr and facebook) and you can find these {here}. Kat has also uploaded a lot of photos to her flickr. You can find these {here}.

Anyone who followed me on twitter last weekend knows that I must have been at ARRC, as most of my tweets contained the #ARRC2011 hash. I couldn’t afford the meet and greet on Friday night, or the Saturday panels, but I did attend the Awards Dinner and the Sunday panels. Just that sneak peak into the ARRA world was enough to get me hooked. I only joined ARRA a month or so ago (after two years of loosing forms) and wish I had have been there from the start. The association is made up of so many amazing women (and a man or two) and it is such a positive environment. There were of course undercurrents, but nothing overt – as someone who has been a key member in organisations in the past, it was quite impressive not to see infighting or the like. Even the AGM ran smoothly! (I used to be VP for a university Archaeology society – that is damn impressive, okay?) I was bitching and moaning about the price of ARRC before I attended, even though I know it takes a lot of money to organise a conference and that ARRA is a not-for-profit member organisation. I will no longer complain about the cost.. I came away with free books. Lots and lots of free books! I now have the first 3 books of Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamer series and Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur. I actually already own Kissing Sin, however, I asked Keri to autograph it for Gail at the Awards Dinner ;D I was at table five with Lami, Maria, Marg and …. ERICA HAYES ^_^’ We had a number of other authors at our table but I wasn’t familiar with their work. Which isn’t really all that surprising considering my main subgenre of a romantic persuasion is paranormal romance, although I do dabble with category and contemporary. It was lovely meeting so many fans of the genre, conversing with authors (my friends and I monopolised Nalini for a while at the Awards Dinner) and just generally having fun! Christine Darcas won the blingoff. She was sitting opposite me at dinner and she keep distracting me with all her shine! I won’t go on about who won what. I suggest you read Book Thingo’s blog for the full run down: http://bookthingo.com.au/arrc11/

My favourite panel to attend was the Fantasy, Science Fiction and Futuristic Romance panel. It was quite interesting because it was my genre, the authors had similar reading backgrounds as myself, and, I also found out, nearly all of them have used Jungian theory to the writing (which is what I have been doing myself - fascinating man, fascinating theories!).

Karen Simpson Nikakis, Kate Cuthbert (MC), Keri Arthur, Erica Hayes, Denise Rossetti & Nalini Singh

A selection of my live tweeting from the Sunday panels at ARRC:

***

I didn't have time to draft a write up about our Sydney Book Blogger Meet Up at the Art House on the 24th, however Marg has written a great blog on the topic. You can find it here: {link}
It was lovely to finally meet @awritingjourney, @MargReads and @Vaveros, as well as catch up with other twitter friends and meet new ones. The last few of us actually got kicked out of the bar, and @bookthingo, @my_leage, @Hesitent_Sarah and I ended up standing on a street corner chatting until the cold chased us home.

The next three days: Sydney meet up and the Australian Romance Readers Conference

I have a lovely few days planned, and it all starts tonight! Tonight is the meet up we have organised for the online book community! I get to meet some lovely people I've been talking too online, some times for years. I've met people in the real world through book clubs, signings and writing groups, but that isn’t quite the same as 30 odd bookish people chatting over cocktails at a bar LOL There is an impromptu book swap, so if you have any books you wish to offload, please feel free to bring them along! I was distracted by the internet last night and forgot that I was going to do a cull around the edges of my collection *blushes* Anyway, if you plan on coming, you will need to RSVP, and if you wish to watch for updates, please follow me on twitter on @obsidiantears83. I should be turning up some time between 6pm and 6:30pm, so I shall see you there! If in doubt, look for the people with books! (It takes a special breed to take a book or three into a bar LOL)

This weekend is ARRC, or the Australian Romance Readers Convention. I couldn’t afford to go for the entire weekend (it kicks off with drinks tomorrow night) but I will be attending for the Awards Dinner on Saturday night and the Sunday sessions. For all the goss, follow me on twitter, or follow the #ARRC2011 hashtag!

I really wanted to attend the morning session on Saturday. Lexxie Couper, Nalini Singh, Maggie Nash and Rhian Cahill talk about Paranormal Romance and why it is “so damn seductive”. It would have been interesting. Instead, I decided to attend the Sunday sessions (I could only afford the one day) and am really looking forward to the session with reader Kate Cuthbert (@katydidinoz) and writers Nalini Singh, Keri Arthur, Denise Rossetti, Erica Hayes and Karen Simpson Nikakis. It is entitled Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Futuristic Romance: Our world, otherworlds – romance in the realms of the imagination. Looks interesting!

I do have the problem of where to sit for the dinner. You get to choose your tables Saturday morning, but I won’t be there until the Awards Dinner later that night. I am at a friend’s Divorce High Tea (definitely worth celebrating!) most of the day, voting in the morning (why is the election the same weekend as ARRC?!), and live too far away to pop in to write my name on the seating plan *sigh* We talking about having a twitter table (two actually) but I am not sure if we are going ahead with that. My friend Maria is attending for the first time too, but she only knows our book club members attending There are four of us, so Maria and I wanted to sit together. I know a number of people in the community now, and will know more after tonight’s drinks, but that isn’t the same as a close friend to hang with. If we don’t have a twitter table, I am thinking of asking one of my other friends to pencil us down for the same table. But at the same time, I like the idea of bonding over books with a random set of people I would not have normally talked to. I don’t know. I guess I’ll bring it up at the meet up tonight.

Have you attended readers or writers conventions before? I don’t mean cons like Supernova or Dragon*Con, but more serious affairs where the focus is on the books, the authors and the writing rather than cosplay and actors? I haven’t! This should be interesting!!

If you are attending either our meet up tonight, or ARRC this weekend, I hope to see there. Come and introduce yourself if we haven’t already met! I’ll be the one wearing a lot of black and with a pink* stripe in my hair LOL






*Oh yes, the pink! The red faded, the lovely metallic magenta faded, and now it is a rose colour… I hate pink! But I guess this colour isn’t too bad LOL

Guest Post: Australian Romance Readers Convention 2011 and what it has to offer Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy readers

I have invited one of my friends to write about the ARRA conference I am attending in two weeks. I have not been to ARRC before, although last year I sat by my computer watching tweets and checking my text messages for the latest updates. If you are attending ARRC, please let me know, and we can grab a flute of champagne together at the dinner!

Decadence has been a romance reader for a decade, mainly paranormal, urban fantasy and Regency romance. Follow her on twitter (@my_lheage) or read her reviews at Book Thingo. As a member of the Australian Romance Readers Association, she wants to let other paranormal and urban fantasy readers know what's they can look forward to when love comes to town.

With some of the best local talent in attendance, paranormal romance readers are in for a real treat at the Australian Romance Readers Convention overlooking stunning Bondi Beach on 25-27 March. Keynote speaker Nalini Singh is an awesome addition to the mainly Australian line-up; her speech kept everyone well-entertained at last year's Australian Romance Reader Awards, where she revealed the title of her third Archangel book for the first time.

Panels

Lexxie Couper asks Nalini Singh, Keri Arthur, Maggie Nash and Rhian Cahill why we love creatures of the night and when they stopped being the monsters that scared us and became our darkest fantasy heroes. Urban fantasy readers are not left out either. Nalini Singh, Keri Arthur, Denise Rossetti, Erica Hayes and Karen Simpson Nikakis answer readers' questions in the Fantasy, Science Fiction and Futuristic Romance panel.

Some of these authors also appear in other panels to discuss the crazy side of being a published author (think crazed fans, how far they go to bring their books to life and what they do in their non-existent free time) and the sexy side of romance.

Awards Dinner

These awards are voted for by real Australian romance readers and the paranormal crowd can always be relied upon to bling it. It's just like the Oscars, only without the bad jokes.

Silent Auction

In the wake of the flood disaster in Queensland this year, the Australian Romance Readers Association is holding a silent auction with all proceeds going to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal. Generous authors from all over the globe have donated some amazing items to bid on including a signed House of Night set from PC Cast, a Kiss of Snow ARC from Nalini Singh, canvas prints of photographs taken by Keri Arthur. There are also book bundles and ARCs from authors including Charlaine Harris, Christine Feehan, MaryJanice Davidson, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lynn Viehl, Tracey O'Hara, Rachel Caine and many more. The auction has so much on offer and supports such a worthy cause.

For a full list of items you can bid on, check out http://australianromancereaders.wordpress.com/silent-auction/

Book Signing

We all know that personally signed books are amazing, but even better than that, the book signing session also offers a little face time with your favourite authors. Ask that burning question about their series or your favourite characters.

There is another highlight from the convention that we can't find the right place for in the program and that is the atmosphere. You can just feel something in the air when you're surrounded by other readers just like you, all celebrating the books you love, swapping recommendations and discussing your favourite authors with other people who share your love of paranormal romance and urban fantasy that you simply can't find anywhere else.

To register or find out more, please visit us at http://www.australianromancereaders.com.au/2011.html

Membership has its perks. For discounts on entry and books from a number of independent bookshops, a monthly newsletter and access to our online romance reading community, join the Australian Romance Readers Association. With membership currently only $10 a year, you get real bang for your buck. Find out more at http://www.australianromancereaders.com.au/join.html

Sydney Book Bloggers Meet Up

We are having a book blogger meet up in Sydney! It will be lovely to meet up with all the people I've met online and waxed lyrical about books with. We can discuss books, the ins and outs of blogging, twitter and the like over a few drinks at a fabulous location. If you are attending ARRC, this will be a great opportunity to meet some people before the dinner.

If you are in Sydney on the 24th of March and are part of the online book community, would you like to join us? If so, please RSVP below.


When: Thursday, 24 March from 6pm
Where: Arthouse Hotel*, 275 Pitt St, Sydney 2000 http://thearthousehotel.com.au
Who: Book bloggers, tweeters, Facebookers, Goodreaders, Shelfarians or anyone who
is part of the online book community
Dress Code: http://thearthousehotel.com.au/#/About_Us 

If you are interested in attending, please fill out this google form to RSVP


If you plan to go I’d love to hear about it :) If you are an out of towner and need directions, let me know.

*Subject to change, depending on RSVP numbers.

Hello Two Thousand and Elevenses!*

I need to apologise for my 2.5 month absence. I spent November concentrating on NaNoWriMo and took a planned hiatus from blogging, as well as other activities like reading speculative fiction. In December I was recovering from NaNo, glutting myself on spec fic, and dealing with the real world (hectic end of year schedule at work, Christmas parties, etc). I had planned to start 2011 with a BANG! However I spent the last two weeks at my family farm just out of Toowoomba. We didn’t have internet access, and the one week holiday was turned into two when we were flooded in. I have a LOT to catch up with now I am back in the land of Interwebia and rather than doing a large post here, I am going to just mention the challenges I am doing this year, and catch up with my Manic Monday post I missed yesterday.

Get Steampunked! Challenge
I am doing the lowest level “Geared” where I read 5 steampunk books this year. You can find out more about the challenge at Dutchie’s challenge blog.

The Dystopia Challenge
Again, I am doing the lowest level - “Asocial” and committing to read 5 dystopian books this year. I will probably read more, but I don’t want to overtax myself. You can find out more about this challenge here.

The Stephen King Challenge
I am going to give this one a go. I've read a few of his books in the past but I am trying to spread my reading wings again and head out into different genres. I loved Talisman and Nightshift and have read a handful of others. I am aiming to read 6 Stephen King books this year. You can find out more at Book City Chick.

I am also attending two book clubs again this year. One is the Paranormal Romance book club at Galaxy, and the other is a general book club in Sutherland. I had discussions with an online friend about maybe starting a speculative fiction book club, but I don’t know if we’ll go ahead with that or not. I am planning on attending ARRC for the first time this year, although I still have to scrape up the money to buy my admission. Last year I sat by twitter and my phone hearing all about it. This year I wish to be in the midst of the action! ;-p Anyone want to help me rob a bank???

Anyway, I don’t want to make this too long. I just want to say that I have really missed blogging, I've missed hearing about all the gossip in the reader’s world, and I have millions of blogs to catch up on… I am planning on writing more reviews this year, and to be a better blogger. It is a New Year’s resolution after all :)





*Because it is nearly eleven o'clock and I am getting hungry. I may also be quietly wishing I will be reincarnated as a hobbit in my next life.

Book signing today: Keri Arthur & Tracey O'Hara

The last time I met Tracy O'Hara

I am very excited! My best friend Lillian has a work conference in Sydney, so she is currently driving to Brisbane and jumping on a plane. We are catching up for one night only and it will be terrific to see her. I never get to spend any time with my Queenslander friends or family any more, as I can’t afford time off to visit. That is hard because when I was a university student, I would spend 2-3 months a year with them all, before heading back to JCU. I see people maybe a handful of days a year, which is bloody difficult. So when I can snatch little visits like this, I do. We are meeting up at Galaxy (so she can max out her credit card and add to my store reward points), and then meeting authors Tracey O’Hara and Keri Arthur. I have met Tracey before, but as she has only one PnR novel published I don’t have anything else to get signed. I had a chap book she gave me, but it is in my stack of “filing” somewhere (N.B. “filing” is another name for a desk I can no longer see through all the papers, books and cds. I really need to buy a filing cabinet – I should do my tax return so I can afford one LOL). I've also just read the first of Keri Arthur's Riley books – I had read a sea dragon one previously which I wasn’t wowed by, but I really liked what I have seen of the Riley series so far. So I have read Full Moon Rising and a short story she shared a link to on twitter. I love it that there are Australian authors in a genre that appears to be saturated by Americans. I especially love how the Riley series is actually set in Australia! After Galaxy (shhhh there will be cake!) Lillian and I are going to this awesome Japanese restaurant in the city. It looks so authentic. It has bamboo partitions, low seating in sunken floors, and the best damn beef hot pot I've ever had. I even like their sake!

I have been writing this intermittently during the day (some days I like call waiting LOL) and it is now time to dash into the city. If you will be at the signing tell one of the staff you read Zja’s blog and I will say hi ;D

Trip to Galaxy & Abbey's, Peter V Brett booksigning in Sydney!

I am heading into Galaxy after work tonight. I really need something new to read. I love pay day! I have to remember to duck across to Abbey's and pick up a copy of On The Road by Jack Kerouac for the new book club. If you are in Sutherland Shire, or there abouts and are generally a bookish person, and want to discuss books with us, let me know. We each pick a book a month, and aren't limited to a genre. Anyway, first meeting is next month. So I need to pick up a copy of On the Road. What's the bet I forget to go to Abbey's again? I get distracted by Galaxy too much *sigh*

I am not quite sure what I am buying at Galaxy tonight. I haven't anything pressing to get, just a lot of books I would like to get. Wish me luck! I am going through a book drought, and I really need something to read... I have been chowing down on my Nora Robert's collection for something to do... I really need some fresh meat!

Other news: According to VoyagerBooks on Twitter, Peter V Brett will be at Galaxy on September 8th, after 5pm! I am still annoyed Galaxy doesn't have twitter and can't tell me themselves, but anyhoo... YEAY! Peter V Brett!! I can't wait! So I need to buy a hard cover of The Desert Spear, and make sure my ARC of The Painted Man is in good condition... and get a new paperback copy of The Painted Man for future reading. I am very excited! I got an ARC from Booktagger.com a few years ago, and I was hooked! Bonnie did too, and now we are both staunch loyalists when it comes to Pete.

Meeting some authors tomorrow - if I wake up!

I'm meeting Erica Hayes and Tracey O'Hara tomorrow!! I love Sofia, she knows the most interesting people! Tracey O'Hara came to our book club last year - such an awesome lady! I love her book, and I can't wait to read more! I haven't read Erica Hayes yet, but she has been on my TBR list for a while... I guess I am buying one of her books tomorrow LOL Downloading the prequel to her story now :) I will be taking the chap book that Tracey gave to me about six months ago to be signed as well. I just need to find it..=. I wish I could have gone to the ARRA Awards tonight, there were so many authors *dazes off into space* And the dessert was lovely according to the texts and tweets I received! Apparently I will be roped in for next year :) I can then compete in the Bling off.. I'm still not sure who won, but someone said that no one could beat Nalini Singh? She is such a classy lady that I can totally believe it! LOL

Nalini Singh just announced the name for the third Guild Hunter's novel!

I mentioned yesterday on Twitter that Nalini Singh just finished the third Guild Hunter's novel. Well, as an Australian exclusive, she just announced that it will be called Archangel's Consort!!! She is - as we speak - presenting at the Australian Romance Readers Association Awards. Sofia just texted me, and one of the people I follow tweeted at the same time! I think this is the first blog announcing it LOL (it was, I googled it LOL)

^Kat from BookThingo just tweeted a photo of the announcement! Wandergurl from BookThingo is holding the banner! She has a better photo on flickr (Nalini is in blue).


I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED!!





FYI: the first pic is the cropped cover of Archangel's Kiss