Emerging Writers Festival

I've just got back from the Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne. It was fantastic and more than worth the price of admission, flights and buying new clothes as I discovered I'd left all my luggage at home! I don't buy new clothes that often, so it was probably a good thing... or at least not as bad as it sounds. It was wonderful to spend time sharing ideas with such a diverse range of creators, poets, novelists, playwrites, even comic writers! If you're interested in the craft of writing I'd say get yourself to the next one, regardless of how 'emerged' you are, it's such a delight to spend time talking about the business, process, craft, communities and inspirations of writing.

My only regret... I didn't bring my camera and capture the event. 

Warehouse Circus

After spending quite a while looking at how we structure ourselves as an organisation we've advertised for a new manager. Please drop us a line if you're interested, you'll get to play a pivotal role in the shaping of an exciting new Key Arts Organisation in Canberra. Warehouse Circus

Mayor of Shoalhaven?

My Dad might be running for Mayor of Shoalhaven (NSW) this year. I'm pretty darn proud of him and I'm delighted by the wonderful friends and community he has around him as well. He's started up a blog Shoalhaven 2020 that articulates some excellent principles regardless of what electorate you belong to.

The lovely folks at Canberra ArtSound FM have interviewed me twice! Initially in my role as manager of Warehouse Circus and then I was invited back into the studio to chat about comics and my ArtsACT grant to go to Comic-Con in San Diego.

Interview 1 will be broadcast at around 11am on Saturday April 19 and interview 2 the following week. Around ten minutes a piece... a gotta tell you pre-records are a little odd, I hope I don't sound too terrible (I spoke a lot more eloquently about the circus when the tape wasn't rolling). I got to choose a song and you'll get to hear the gorgeous Liz Frencham and Rebecca Wright from Liz's latest album You and Me.

I had a lovely interview with Tea Fougner from Comicspace in late May, Strange Dreams has been selected as a featured comic for the relaunched Comicspace once the merger with Webcomics Nation is all sorted. Very exciting news indeed. Tea really knows how to set a gal at ease and we had a fantastic time chatting geek girl to geek girl. It'll be a while before Strange Dreams gets its day in the sun (the techo details of relaunching the comicspace/webcomicsnation website are not small) but on the basis of her interview technique I'd say if Tea offers to interview you, go for it. She is a lovely gal indeed and you won't regret spending a while yarning with her.

Warehouse Circus has been featured in the media quite a bit lately, through the ACT Youth Co-alition's launch of Youth Week and work that we're doing with High School students with disabilities. What can I say, the circus is wonderful and it's a real privilege to be its manager. My staff (eee I get to call them mine ) are awesome, our students are awesome and some of our parents are absolute gems, no if ands or buts.

While I love the circus I can't wait until we advertise for a general manager and I can charge into the great unknown. When I return from San Diego Comicon and Denvention Worldcon I'll be embarking on full time freelance work. I think I have the skills and the will to make it work, although it will certainly provide many challenges and require a lot of discipline and poverty from me. It's exciting to be at this point, wish me luck!... and drop me a line if you've got some work to send my way.

What the? Where did March come from?

Life at the Circus has been rewarding and exhausting. Warehouse Circus really is an important part of Canberra and it's wonderful to be part of it. I've just come back from the Australian Circus and Physical Theatre Conference, a really valuable conference... words cannot describe, it was fantastic.

Freelance work for Inception Strategies continues, going from the relaunch of beloved comic Condoman to a new project with a quick turn around time.

In the background my own creative work gurgles along, you will be able to see some of it on display at the next millarworld writing challenge. Check it out and vote on what script you like the most. Writing Doomocalypse was wicked fun and a great excuse to do lots of research, play with a lot of textures and write dialogue for characters with really specific language styles and accents (ahh the trickyness of going from TV to comics and the satisfaction when a friend starts giggling in their chair and says 'that's exactly what he'd say').

By day I am now manager of Warehouse Circus, a wonderful youth circus. It's intense, it's rewarding... and a little bit damaging to work/life balance. www.warehousecircus.org.au/

Strange Dreams webcomic is half a year old now and has just finished a story arch, check it out http://www.localactcomics.com.au/sdwebcomic . It's been wonderful to have an ongoing story to develop and love, thanks Dave.