Festival Fun?

Hi Bloggers and Blogees, sorry to take so long between posts but I've been rather busy reading, writing and going to writers festivals. Not to mention pursuing my favourite sport of beach reading during a small but much needed break in good old Bris-vegas last month. Oh sunburn, where are you now?

For some strange reason, August is festival time here in this leafy garden state. Umm, hullo... its the middle of winter here people! Is this a sympathy ploy to the rest of the country proving exactly how cold it gets here in winter time?  Or could it be a top-secret plot forcing us all to venture away from home and hearth and brave the frosty air for a healthy dose of culture together with a nasty case of the dreaded flu?

Either way, just got back from a bitterly cold but fabulously exotic literary weekend travelling all across this cold bleak land from Daylesford to Bendigo enjoying some of the festivities on offer.  

Words in Winter is held across the month of August in several small towns in the icy hills of the Macedon Ranges. As together with some writerly pals, none other than the talented Lizz Sayers and Kathy Childs, we had been invited along as emerging writers to perform a reading at the Daylesford event.  

Okay, so we appeared at 9.30pm after everyone else had long shuffled off in their ugg boots,  hand-knitted mittens, beanies and ponchos to collapse in front of cosy cottage fires but troopers that we are, perform we did. It sure was cold but lots of fun!

The next day we all bundled up again and headed to Bendigo for their second annual Writers Festival.  I had attended last year and found it to be so well organised, so filled with talent as well as that down to earth country flair that I had vowed to attend again.  

My clever cuz Lauren Mitchell, a Bendigo celebrity and local journo presented an informative panel on preserving the true identity of Bendigo and then we attended a speed writing workshop run by local romance author Jess , followed by a hilarious session with the author of the Murray Whelan crime novels, Shane Moloney, as well as a lively panel discussion on the inspiration and the complicated process of song writing, finishing off with some great live music.

So festival fans, next weekend is the BIG one, the Melbourne Writers Festival and never fear, no matter how many lethal thunder cracks, lightning flashes, flooding rains and mighty gales lash the city I'll be there, with bells on. But then, it is Melbourne in winter so I'll probably have layers of thermals, polar fleeces, woollen tights, boots, gloves, scarves and a couple of overcoats on as well, so you may not get to see those bells!