Day 17 in the Burrow

More good times at the Adelaide Fringe Festival with my girl.

This time the highlight was Circolumbia - a fusion of Latin beats with hip hop street music, drama and circus stunts to stun. Awesome!

Day 16 in the Burrow

The Garden of Unearthy Delights is alive and filled with festival-goers at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. My daughter flew down for the weekend and here are some of the amazing acts we saw.

Sam Simmons in full flight at his stand up comedy show.

'That Man' glass ball illusion and other tricks. Amazing!!

I think all of Adelaide was here.

My daughter in the 'Garden'.

Kicking Off The White Shoes

I live on the east coast of Australia, the southeast corner of the state of Queensland, just an hour south of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane.

I live in another city; a young vibrant, evolving city; the 6th largest city in Australia.

Beachside Carols Coolangatta

I live in a city of diversity, contrasts, stereotypes and alternative lifestyles.

Flowering Frangipanis on Broadbeach Promenade

I live in a city that often contradicts itself as it slowly uncovers just who it is.

Kirra Kite Festival

I live in a city with festivals nearly every weekend, where art and culture are accessible to everyone;

Bleach Festival - celebrates all art forms inspired by the ocean

where you can stand dripping wet on the sand in your beach towel and move your hand over a  sculpture, wondering at its beauty and the sunlight on its curves, discussing its merits with your fellow passersby;

Swell Sculpture Festival

where you can dance on the grass at the top of a mountain to the reverberation of a didgeridoo and the vocals of an Australian legend while the sun sets below the cliff and the gum trees play percussion;

Springbrook overlooking the Tallebudgera and Currumbin Valleys

where you can pile your hair up high, your heels even higher and practice the catwalk strut you perfected as a teen as you attend the opening of a show;

where you can join a circle of hay bales and sit cross-legged in your gumboots as you chew on a piece of straw, singing old favourites around an open fire while the thrum of crickets fills the valley floor;

where you can dive into the very same wave that a world pro surfer just rode.

Burleigh Heads

And then, strangely, I have been asked, "Why do you live in this city?"

Is it for the fabulous weather?
No.
Is it for the fabulous beaches?
No.
Is it for the fabulous shopping?
No.
Is it for the fabulous theme parks?
NO!

"Then why do you live in this city?"

It's for the smell of wet eucalyptus on a summer morning.
It's for the taste of salt on my lips after a winter swim.
It's for the sound of laughter and music when friends gather.
It's for the sight of brilliant blues and greens outside my study window.
It's for the feel of warmth, the soul-strengthening warmth of home.

Why would I want to live anywhere else, when I can live here in Gold Coast city?

I don't have to look further to discover a wealth of creative people working right here.

Recently I attended the film premiere at the Gold Coast Film Festival of the documentary 'Kicking Off the White Shoes' by Gold Coast filmmaker, Jeff Licence of Tigermonkey Productions. Jeff happens to be my brother-in-law.

Here's a promo (there are more here on Youtube).

Promo clip for 'Kicking Off the White Shoes'

'Kicking Off The White Shoes' uncovers the diverse underground cultural scene of the Gold Coast and features interviews and stories from the Gold Coast's creative community.

Arts Centre Cultural Development Networking (myself speaking)

But this doco film does much more than that.

It also tells a story; the story of a young Gold Coast city that inadvertently developed a name for itself in the middle of last century as a fun-for-all holiday/tourist destination and the unfortunate nickname of 'The Glitter Strip'.

For Australians from the southern states, the Gold Coast merely became a beachside version of Las Vegas. They came to the Gold Coast for the sun, the surf and the pokies. We were seen as a vacuous back water of suntanned beach babes and lifesavers.

And this stereotype has lingered. Our media continues to feed it with cliched images and storylines that show a Gold Coast few locals recognise.

In the film 'Kicking Off the White Shoes', filmmaker Jeff Licence shares the true story and images of a Gold Coast vibrant and alive with creative innovation and collaboration; a Gold Coast city so charged with inspiring people, supported by their community and their city that you cannot watch this film and not feel moved to contribute yourself in some small way to making your own city a better place to live.

In Jeff's words,

"There are many cultural, art and community groups and events that operate on the Gold Coast that often go under the radar. We have at least 15 multicultural festivals across the city, celebrating the diversity of the region. There are a plentitude of art and craft groups, drama societies, music venues, dance academies and community arts organisations who mobilise an army of creative workers, volunteers and audiences."

'Kicking Off the White Shoes' will be screening at 7.30pm on the 24th May at Rabbit and Cocoon, Gold Coast.

The white shoes of the Glitter Strip have well and truly been 'kicked off'.

I'm proud to be contributing to the culture of the Gold Coast.

Author Talks and Presentations

One of my goals this year is to give more author talks and workshops at schools, libraries and literary festivals. With more than twenty years of teaching experience behind me, standing up to speak in front of a crowd doesn't worry me in the least. School assemblies of 1000 plus was just part of the job.

As a children's author, however, I am aware that children at an author talk are more expectant than the usual school situation. They want to get to know you better. They want to interact with you. They want to be engaged. They may have read your book and they may be looking forward to your presentation very much.

With that in mind, it's important to deliver this expectation and to engage your audience.

Children's Author Event at Black Cat Books, Paddington, Brisbane, Feb 2011

Of course the audience is sometimes a mix of children, parents, grandparents and writers, such as my last speaking event at Black Cat Books, Paddington, Brisbane. In that situation I spoke about the 'Seed of an Idea' and the steps I took to develop that seed into a story.

Reading from Pond Magic

Last week I spent three days at the Somerset Literature Festival. This is the sixth year that I have attended this festival, and it was in fact back in 2005, when I was at a Somerset literary breakfast, that the desire to become a children's author and illustrator was first born within me.

As a newly published author and as a presenter at the Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature later in the year, my intention was to observe the speakers and take notes on what engaged a young audience and what did not.


Many speakers gave anecdotes from their youth, told stories from their life experiences and talked about their road to publication. With older students, authors spoke about the craft of writing and with younger students they told a story - scary, funny or whimsical.

Power Point slide shows, book trailers, videos, sound bites and other visual and aural aids were popular amongst presenters and added to what might be otherwise a presentation similar to everyone else's.

I attended twelve author talks and two panel sessions. The very best presenters interacted with the audience directly. They asked questions like:

'Do you read the names of chapter headings?'

'What are you reading?'

'Have you ever made a spaceship out of a cardboard box?'

'What do you do to annoy your parents/brother/sister?'

'What if you won a trip to Antarctica...?'

I suspected some of the kids' answers would go toward the next book they're writing. I certainly wrote a few down. 

The most interesting authors stood up and moved around the stage and into the audience. This is something I've always done as a teacher. Close proximity is more engaging and helps with behaviour.

The authors who brought along props and costumes had their audience transfixed. Volunteers were called to the stage and a sea of hands went up. Every kid wanted to be picked to be blind folded (Sue Whiting), operated on (Andy Griffiths) or scared out of their wits (Ghostboy).

A couple of authors used a ball to interact with the kids, illiciting a response from whomever the ball was thrown to. I've done this when teaching German. It keeps kids on their toes and listening. They're never sure who the next person to be thrown the ball will be, and they need to concentrate on their response to the question asked.

But be sure not to do this as the first activity. Once the kids are excited, you'll have a hard job settling them back down to listen to what you have to say. And keep them in their seats.

My pick of the festival was Ghostboy - Brisbane performance poet, David Stavanger. He had his young audience in the cup of his hand even before he began to speak. His presentation was a feast for the senses. It was visual, aural, sensory and interactive. He had boys rhyming and the whole room begging to be picked for word association. Ghostboy transported the children to another place and mood through the use of music, costume, tone, gait, speed, imagery and sound. When discussing Performance Poetry he said,

"You have to become the performance. Own the words. If the word is 'wrath', then be 'wrath' in tone and sense. Inhabit your performance."

I think that's a good piece of advice for any time you have to stand up and speak to an audience. Own it.

Festival Highlights

• Favourite quote - "You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter." Kate Hunter.
• Favourite book trailer - The Billionaire's Curse by Richard Newsome.
• Favourite prop - Sue Whiting's enormous spider for her novel 'Freaky' (Walker Books)
• Favourite Reading - What Body Part is That? Andy Griffiths eg. "Shoulders are for avoiding questions."
• Favourite Advice - "Don't study Creative Writing at Uni. Creativity cannot be given a mark." Matthew Reilly.

Matthew Reilly also had a few other pearls  of wisdom:

"There is no such thing as an aspiring writer. You are a writer, period."

"If you believe a good review, you have to believe a bad review too."

"Failure is fine as long as you learn from it."

"You need to practise your craft 10,000 hours to get it right."

"Be ready for a lucky break."

"Dare to succeed."

"Do debating. Everything in life comes down to public speaking."

And I will leave you with that last thought. Public speaking... are you ready for your lucky break? I think I'll go and join Toastmasters.