Thursday, March 29, 2012

Australian Book Launch at Hunter Writers' Centre

Today was the Australian Book Launch for Black Cow at the Hunter Writers' Centre.  If you were unable to make it, here are a few photos from the event. I've still got a few books left which I'd be happy to personally autograph and post anywhere in Australia for a flat $15 (postage free - even Book Depository can't beat that).  There's strictly limited numbers so if you want one, drop me a line.

After Judy Johnson's lovely opening speech - it was wonderful (I was particularly taken with the fact that she invoked Socrates, and provided a very thoughtful introduction to the book, complete with quotations). Not sure if you can see, but I'm blushing. That's Judy to my left.




Thanking the Hunter Writers' Centre for their support and talking about the importance of 'community' - a key theme in Black Cow.









About to launch into a "musical tour of Black Cow" (had to stand so I could begin the karaoke - those with delicate ears were probably glad I only actually sang twice)









That's Robin Loftus to my right with the scarf - she's the author of the excellent poetry book Backyard Cosmos (and also won our door prize!)










A lively questions and answer session afterwards followed by a signing session and some food (hot cross buns anyone?).

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Virtual Book Tour - last reminder

My Black Cow virtual book tour is nearing the last days and we've got autographed book packs, magnets, e-books, and bookmarks still to giveaway. It's not too late. Just drop by any of the stops below, and retweet or share in some way and you'll get another entry.  I'll be choosing a winner (after a fairly intensive tally up exercise) just after the radio show on the 8th.  If you live anywhere near Newcastle NSW, don't forget to join me in person at the Hunter Writers' Centre, 90 Hunter St, Newcastle 10:30am this Thursday the 29th March for my big in-person Aussie launch. I'll post up pics here as soon as I get them.  

Book Tour Schedule

Friday, 24 February: Educationtipster
Sunday, 26 February: Write What Inspires You
Tuesday, 28 February: Nancy Famolari's Place
Friday, 2 March: Brummet's Conscious Blog
Saturday, 3 March: Boychik Lit
Sunday, 4 March: The Simplicity Collective
Monday, 5 March: Slow and Steady Writers
Tuesday, 6 March: World of Ink Network (radio show, 4pm US MST)
Thursday, 8 March: The Alliterative Allomorph
Saturday, 10 March: Writers on the Move
Monday, 12 March: WOTM Webinar workshop
Wednesday, 14 March: Poetic Muselings
Thursday, 15 March: Heidi M. Thomas
Saturday, 18 March: Paper Dragon Ink
Tuesday, 20 March: The Dark Phantom
Wednesday, 21 March: Do North
Saturday, 24 March: The New Book Review
Sunday, 25 March: Blogging Authors
Thursday 29 March: Australian Book Launch (in person event) Hunter Writers' Centre, 10:30am, 90 Hunter St, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Wednesday, 4 April: The Writer's ABC Checklist - blog 
Sunday, 8 April: Book Reads (live radio show)

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Poetry Monday is back: Ian Gibbins

I know.  I've been slack, and I'm going to admit that this may not happen every Monday, but this weekend, despite still going full tilt with promotion (though nearly seeing light), I took a little time to read (and write - more on that soon because I now have an agent and contract for a new poetry book!) some poetry.  As I'm sure you know, my own poetry is heavily influenced by science, so when I saw that Dr Ian Gibbins, professor of Anatomy and History at Flinders University was coming out with his first full length poetry book, I immediately agreed to review it. Yes, I know, my stack is high and I'm behind, but this is candy for me and I've got a sweet tooth. Here is just a delicious taste of what's inside the book - a snippet from the poem "Field Guide" (which also contains stanzas with the POV of Comb Jellies, Spotted Eagle Rays, The Hawksbill turtle, Blue Tiger butterflies, fruit bats, seabirds, and dolphins). This is, so far, my favourite poem in the collection, but it's early days and I'm reading slowly.

2.3 Parrot fish (Scaridae)
        With all their fancy feathers
        I suppose the lorikeets and rosellas
        can be as brash and noisy as they like.
        I would rather take my time
        and, gliding between the staghorns,
        arrive in rainbowed silence.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Black Cow Book Blog Tour Day 19: Steinbeck and Me (at Blogging Authors)

Today, day 19, I'm over at Blogging Authors talking about John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and the literature of recession.  In today's Guardian UK, poet Ruth Padel says that poetry has a responsibilty to look at the world, and illuminate, in an (always) artistic way, the world we live in. I feel strongly that the same goes for fiction. "Recognising ourselves and the bigger context in which we live, or, as Joyce put it, "reducing the veil between literature and life" is a critical aspect of what literature does for us.  This means addressing the issues that we are all grappling with - in the case of Steinbeck and other writers of the recession, this means unemployment, increasing fear of poverty, rootlessness, the impact of these issues on the individual and on families in as universal a context as possible."  Drop by for the full article and don't forget to join the dialogue by commenting or sharing.

Today is the last day of the Goodreads book giveaway

The Goodreads Book giveawy is now done, and a book has been sent - Jessica, I hope you enjoy it!  We had 777 (neat number) entries!  If you were one of the disappointed ones, don't worry, you can go straight over to Amazon or Kindle and grab a copy at a discount. There will, of course, be more giveaways as we inch towards the end of the tour, including our overall blog tour visit. To join in just hop to our tour page and follow the tour, making a few comments, shares, tweets, etc, and everytime you do it, you'll get another entry. 

Black Cow Book Blog Tour Day 18: Karen Cioffi

Today I'm visiting Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing blog to talk about using video for book promotion (with a few examples). "Video is a very powerful promotional medium and a fantastic way to connect with readers around the globe. Creating a video can be as complex as making a movie (and indeed it can be a small movie), or as simple as opening your webcam and reading a little from your book. I've done both in the promotions for my new novel Black Cow." Drop by Karen's blog for the full piece, and don't forget to add your comment, tweet, or share in some way or another entry to our giveaway.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Black Cow Book Blog Tour Day 17: Do North

As the Black Cow tour presses on, I'm visiting Mary Jo Guglielmo's blog Do North where I'm exploring the elements of storytelling that lead to modern meaning making. "Good fiction encourages the reader to see the familiar in new ways. This can change mental models and open the way to further discovery, perception, and changing understanding based on what the reader experiences. The reading becomes a cooperative experience between the reader and writer as they collaborate on the “performance”of the reading."  Please drop by Do North to check out the full post, and add your own performance by virtue of comments.