Monthly Archives: April 2010

KISS by Cath Crowley

I met author Cath Crowley last night at Emily Gale's launch.

Although I didn't get to talk to her for as long as I might have liked, it was lovely to meet her and I'm really looking forward to getting to know her further in the future.

We've been emailing this afternoon, and you should all be really excited because Cath is going to write a guest blog for Lit Life!

Her latest book is A Little Wanting Song, and that is out June 2010. Stay tuned for a review of it!

I was browsing her blog today, as one does, and came across this piece of micro fiction that I fell in love with.

With Cath's permission, it is posted below for your reading pleasure!

Please note that copyright and all that jazz ...

Photos from Emily Gale’s Launch of Girl, Aloud

Okay, so, I like to think that I'm a pretty good photographer.

For someone whose never done a course or anything, I think I can take some pretty good shots.

I think I have an awesome camera (well, I know I do, thanks to freelance photographer friend Kat who suggested it!) and am pretty good at using it.

But then someone comes along, someone who is a "professional" PFFT!

And they shame me in my photo taking efforts.

Such as below: professional pics from Emily Gale's launch of Girl, Aloud.

(All photos come courtesy of Emily Gale)

To see my BRILLIANT photos, go here!

To read about Emily and her fab book, go here!


Pre-show
The awesome Simmone Howell and I

Standing around and talking

...

An Open Letter to Metro Trains

Following in William Kostakis's open letter to Sunrise, I have taken it upon myself to write a letter to the joke that is the company that owns the trains in Melbourne, Australia: Metro.


An Open Letter to Metro Trains

Dear Metro Trains,

I have been taking public transport for many, many years now, and can I be the first to tell you that I actually think that service has come down since you took over from Connex.

Not a day goes by where a train isn’t delayed or cancelled.

Just this morning – which sparked this letter – my train ...

Book Launch: Emily Gale’s Girl, Aloud


Tonight was the launch of Emily Gale's Girl, Aloud.

It was so much fun!

So many lit people came, which was excellent.

And all the more excellent, Simmone came!

We had wonderfully long conversations about anything and everything.

Emily commented earlier today via Twitter and Facebook
that she was really nervous about speaking tonight - she had nothing to worry about!

Her speech was funny and insightful, and she spoke beautifully.

She then read a small excerpt from the novel, which was hilarious and funny and I can't wait to properly read the novel.

She also had a fantastic give-away of eight (eight? Some amount around that total!) YA novels, all signed by the authors.

Sadly for everyone involved, I, alas, didn't win *sigh*.

Other than that (hehe) it ...

REVIEW: LITTLE PARADISE BY GABRIELLE WANG

REVIEW: LITTLE PARADISE BY GABRIELLE WANG
As Mirabel watched him she couldn’t bear the thoughts creeping up on her. J J was in the Chinese army and his mission in Australia would one day be over. Then she would be just like the others, a girl left behind in the wake of war. I’m afraid,’ she whispered. ‘When the war ends…what’s going to happen to us? He put his arm around her and stroked her face. She knew he could not answer that question. But she wanted him to lie, to say that he would take her with him, that they would be together always.

Melbourne, 1946, and Mirabel is seventeen. She’s leaving school, designing dresses, falling in love. Then fate intervenes, her forbidden affair is discovered, and J J is posted back to ...

Writing Idol?

I think today is going to be another news day!

Little points of interest:

1. Begun - somewhat belatedly - Little Paradise by Gabrielle Wang. Very good so far! Only eighty pages in but a really compelling read. Love it!

My review pile is slowly getting smaller, however it's still there!

2. I was very happy to see I got my own tag on Virgule, the Voiceworks blog! Hoorah! I'm moving up in the world! :D

3. Today was internship day at NICA!

I started focusing on my main project - marketing targeted towards schools (so if you're a teacher in Melbourne, email me!)!

I wrote media releases, biographies and copy today, and it felt all very Melbourne Writers Festival (especially since I did loads of biographies for MWF as ...

Random Monday #2

**On a side thought, perhaps I should make this Random Monday a regular thing?!

Anyway, welcome to Monday kids!

Today in Australia it's a public holiday, ANZAC Day.

Also on ANZAC Day (which was actually yesterday, but we had today off in lieu of it) was my very good friend, Emma's 21st!

So on Saturday night was her party:

Awwww... The birthday girl and I

My awesome friend Bevan who I took with me


All in all it was a top night!

Today I tutored twice (no public holiday rest for the wicked!), which was all fun and games as usual, and tonight I'm trying to work on my assignment but not getting very far.

Speaking of, who can help me?!

Today on the INTERN, she discusses ...

REVIEW: WHAT NOW, TILDA B? BY KATHRYN LOMER

REVIEW: WHAT NOW, TILDA B? BY KATHRYN LOMER
Only a day ago, things were normal.

As normal as this year gets anyway.

Tilda Braint is nearly sixteen, restless and having trouble figuring out what on earth she's supposed to do next. Living in a small coastal town doesn't help either. When two seals land in the middle of Tilda's life, they turn it upside down. They're a long way from home and may well be lost.


For Tilda, the seals may turn out to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.


LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

Need I say more?

This novel was great!

I loved everything: the front cover (which was so great I had to put the entire ...

Help Required! See Within!

Hello everyone!

As I write this, I wish I had about another hour.

Because another hour is all I need to finish What Now, Tilda B? by Kathryn Lomer.

Alas, despite trying my level best to finish it, I couldn't.

The review will be up tomorrow without a doubt, and can I say, at the moment, currently about 3/4 finished, I have one word which is running repeat through my head about it:

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

All I can say is, wait for my review! This book rocks!

It's released on the 3rd May, so rush into bookstores then!

Today, I've been working at The Age VCE and Careers Expo most of the day (check it out tomorrow, all you career-confused kids!) (this would be with Marketing at the ...

REVIEW: I LOVE YOU, ZELDA BLOO by GRETEL KILLEEN


REVIEW: I LOVE YOU, ZELDA BLOO by GRETEL KILLEEN
I wish my mum and dad had been less famous, 'cause then maybe their divorce wouldn't have made the world's headlines. I wish I was still at my friend Rupert's party, even if my bikini bottoms did fly off when I stacked my jet ski.

I wish Mum had never taken me to the mountains to interview child soldiers. I wish these people had never taken me away from the mountains. And I wish I hadn't fallen in love.

A dangerous, hilarious, passionate story of loss, survival and love.

I have to say, I've never read any Gretel Killeen before.

Not to say I haven't heard of her - Big Brother anyone? - and I know she wrote some young teen/middle grade books; one of my ...