A book lover's weekend

I’ve spent the weekend at the Townsville Literary Festival which was fun, and a chance to catch up with all sorts of interesting people in the writing world, including the lively new Brisbane based YA author Christine Bongers.

I was on a panel with Christine (discussing the Miles Franklin winning novel The White Earth with Matthew Condon and James Maloney) and sat next to her at a book signing, so had a chance to chat, although she had a long tail of eager kids lining up to see her.

I liked her and the sound of her books so much, I’ve bought them for my granddaughter, Lucy (signed, of course), and on the short plane trip back to Cairns (less than an hour) I started reading Dust.
It’s set on a farm in Central Queensland back in the 1970s (so it’s based on Christine’s on childhood) and I can see already, that it contains the best elements of good kids’ fiction – fabulous characters, a strong voice, sympathy, warmth and humour.

I’m looking forward to reading Henry Hoey Hobson before I send them on to Lucy. :)
It was also great to catch up with Carla Hutchinson-Reid from the Townsville Writer’s and Publisher’s centre.

But my weekend away has pushed my other exciting news almost clear out of my sieve-like brain. I'll be back soon to tell you about my great research trip out west to Cobbold Gorge.