Coming up soon is the GOLD COAST WRITERS FESTIVAL 26 – 28th October, which promises to be heaps of fun. Not only is it held in my old stomping ground – I grew up on the Gold Coast back when it was fibro shacks, sand and surf – but there’s a bunch of great writers who will be talking about books and writing. My idea of a good day out. It will be held (mostly) at the Robina Commuity Centre. Here’s the program.
Saturday, 27th October, at 10am I’m on a Crime and Thriller panel with Sandy Curtis, Tony Cavanaugh and Meg Vann (chair).
The Thrill of the Chase – will be about writing crime and thrillers. You don’t have to commit a murder to write about it, but how do crime and mystery writers writers research?
At 4pm Fantasy and Sci-Fi panel with Anita Bell, Jill Smith and Angelika Heurich (chair).
Fantasy and Sci-Fi – we’ll be talking about the relevance of this genre, its popularity and the challenge of researching invented worlds.
Me when I was 7 with my cat, Zorro. (Yes, I was a hopeless romantic adventurer even then)
I must admit, when I think of the sunburnt girl who grew up on the Gold Coast, loved reading books and dreaming of amazing adventures, I wish I could go back and tell her, believe in yourself, one day you’ll be a published writer, invited to appear at literary events. She would never have believed me. We had one bookshelf in the whole house and it held, maybe a dozen books. I remember being desperate for things to read… Now I can open my Nexus, put in an author’s name and download their latest book in a matter of seconds. Wow… I’m living in the future!
If you live in south east Queensland or northern NSW come along to the Gold Coast Writers Festival and say Hi.
