Yes, okay, it’s been a while. The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl was published late last year, at which time I descended into that peculiar writer’s black hole known as OMG I MADE A BOOK BUT WHAT ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH AM I GOING TO DO NOW??? As with many writers, the answer was:
Eat chips.
Binge watch Netflix. All of it.
Call friends. Receive surprise that one is not dead, nor relocated to Alaska.
Clean everything, twice.
Open a blank page. Cry.
Eat chips.
Start writing.
After a short break over Christmas (where, sadly, no fully-formed manuscript was found beneath my tree), book three is finally starting to take shape. I like my new characters. I’m immersed in research. And I’m enjoying revisiting some old, much-loved friends. It’s probably going to take a while. It’s a slippery, indeterminate thing, this writing business.
In the meantime, I’ve been out and about – most recently in the sunny Gold Coast for the Somerset Celebration of Literature. Did I say sunny? I meant HOTTER THAN THE FIRES OF MORDOR. Yeah, it was really, really hot – and also one of the funnest, most awesome literary festivals I’ve been lucky enough to be part of. For three days, a contingent of writers descended on Somerset College for talks, workshops, panel discussions, book signings, dinners, fireworks, ice-cream, and general bookish shenanigans with fifteen thousand young people who passed through the gates.
I hung out with some old writerly friends and made some brand new ones, and met some truly exceptional, interesting students. Big shout out to everyone who came along, everyone who took the time to come visit my signing table for a chat, and the Somerset Festival Committee for organising such a fantabulous event.
And, in the midst of all the festival fun, this happened too:
THAT’S RIGHT! The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl is long-listed for the 2015 Gold Inky Award! Here’s me, and Inky, and the very lovely Clare Atkins, author of Nona and Me, and all round wonderful writer person. Check out the rest of the Inky list here.
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workmates hugged to the point where uncomfortable side-eyes were given. It’s that week in Oz children’s publishing, and The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl has made the shortlist for the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year 2015, Older Readers! In a year of so many extraordinary, diverse and wickedly good books, I’m thrilled and humbled that Cinnamon Girl was selected for the shortlist. Now to run to the bookstore for yet more fab books to add to my must-read pile (the one that’s about to topple off my side table and crush me in my sleep. Can’t think of a better way to go, really).
Melissa Keil 