THANK YOU!

Today (Saturday) I have lost my voice. Which is a big calamity and a disaster as I'm supposed to be talking to the Plantagenet Society today about Stephen and Matilda. I am SOOOO disappointed as I was really looking foward to telling their story: that poor little girl being sent off to Germany, aged 8, to marry the Emperor who was heaps older than her, and then being gazumped by her cousin Stephen when she came back and tried to claim (legitimately) the throne of England. Not fair at all! So I'm now typing up my speech for someone to read out - which isn't the same thing at all.
I just wanted to thank all of you who are leaving messages on my blog or emailing me through the contact page on my website. Your comments are heart-warming, and always interesting. It touches me to know that you care so deeply about Janna as a character (special thanks to 'Zeal' for her comment!) and that you're following her journey with so much interest. I'm afraid I can't give you an update on publication for Sage for Sanctuary as yet, but in the meantime I have started writing the 6th and final novel in the series: Thyme for Trust. I'll keep you posted!

DIARY DATES

I thought I'd share with you some of the things I'll be doing over the next few weeks in case any of you would like to come along.
Monday 15th Sept: I'll be online with the QLD Literature Festival for two sessions 'talking' about crime and romance in medieval time: 9.20 and 10.35 session starts.
Wed. 17th I shall be at Collaroy Plateau P/S for their awards assembly. (I was one of the judges of their story competition. The entries were amazing, some on powerpoint and all with great illustrations - I'd like to give all of the students an award!)
Thurs. 18th Manly library in Sydney is hosting Re(a)d or White: uncork a book from 5-7 pm. I'm one of a panel and shall be talking about books set in medieval time that have informed and inspired by Janna Mysteries (accompanied by a glass of mead!)
Sat. 20th The Plantagenet Society have invited me to speak on the topic 'Stephen and Matilda' - the major players in the civil war in the 1140s that forms the backdrop of the Janna Mysteries. 2 pm Hornsby Library, tel: John McDermott (02) 9489 5768 for further information.
Sun.21st I've been asked to host the Manly FAW short story awards + accompanying paintings from children at the Spastic Centre as part of the Manly Arts Festival. Manly Art Gallery, 5 pm.
Mon.22nd I shall be talking to students from St Cecilias about researching and writing my novel, Ghost Boy, and accompanying them on the special Ghost Boy tour up at the Quarantine Station in Manly on Tues 23rd.
First weekend in October is Conflux in Canberra, after which I'm conducting a fantasy-writing workshop for students on Mon. 6th.
Fri. 10th Oct: Sydney Writers Centre: I'm conducting a fantasy-writing workshop for students 1.30 - 4 pm
Oct. 20th-24th I shall be on-line with Kerrie Smith on the Beware of Books forum to answer questions about my books.

BOOKFEAST

500 excited students plus teachers / librarians and authors all assembled for the annual Bookfeast last week and, as always, a wonderful time was had by all. Bookfeast is organised by Michael Fraser and his team and this year there was a change of venue, with Cabravale Diggers hosting the lunch. This year I sat at a table with students from Bosley Park and their teachers and, if I can work out how to do it, I shall put one of the great photos they took up on my blog along with this post. Bookfeast is always a great chance for authors to talk to students, and for students to ask questions about books and about writing, and I was very impressed by the students' interest and their thoughtful questions. As well as having lunch, we listened to a couple of authors talking about their work, including Sandy Fussell who gave an amusing insight into how she went about researching a one-legged warrior for her novel Samurai Kid. Congratulations to Michael and his team on another successful Bookfeast, and my thanks to the students and teachers of Bosley Park for making the day so pleasurable. You were great!!

The Ghost Boy tour at the Quarantine Station in Sydney

I had a wonderful time on Tuesday night when I accompanied 40 students and teachers from St Josephs school at Nyngan, in western NSW on a Ghost Boy tour of the Quarantine Station. The students were on a 5-day trip and there was great excitement at the thought of seeing the Quarantine Station at night and perhaps encountering some ghosts! This is the first time I've been on the new Ghost Boy tour (which is based on my novel of the same name) so it was particularly exciting for me to follow the guides and watch them make my story 'come alive' with episodes from the novel and explanations of what the main characters, Froggy and Tad, would have been doing at the places we visited (although the QS would have looked very different in 1881, the time when most of the novel is set.) Full marks to Anna Williams who devised the tour, and to our guides Julia and Julianne who did such a great job showing us around and talking about the novel and also about other aspects of the QS in terms of early immigration and the treatment of disease, the rigid class structure of the time, and so on. It was very atmospheric in the dark, walking around with just a few lanterns to help us see the way, hearing stories of the past and, in particular, the deadly smallpox epidemic that resulted in a royal commission being held into the Quarantine Station in 1882 because conditions had been so bad. (Reading eyewitness reports from ex-patients, those who'd managed to survive the horrendous conditions at the QS, was a great source of information when it came to writing my novel.)
Schools studying Ghost Boy can book into the tour, and also download a teachers' resource kit from the QS website. Go to: www.qstation.com.au and you'll find info under 'Education'. Copies of Ghost Boy may be ordered through your local bookshop or from Random House Australia.