After the Author Talk

L to R: JA Low, me, Donna Gallagher, Cassandra Samuels, Diane Robson

I did my first author appearance on Sunday, at the Wollongong Writers Festival, on a panel sponsored by ARRA, called Sex on the Beach.

The panel was chaired by Diane Robson, and had 4 of us to talk - Cassandra Samuels, Donna Gallagher, JA Low and me.

Here are some photos from the event.

See, I talked!

I've had no voice for over 3 weeks, but this panel was something I thought I had to do. Speaking at a Writers Festival is on my bucket list, no scratchy voice was going to stop me doing that! So off I went.

We had microphones, so that was really good for said voice. It was a fabulously organised event. The room was at the end of the Illawarra Brewery, which is on the eastern terrace of WIN Entertainment Centre (right next to WIN Stadium where I watch most of the live the footy games now days). The venue is close to the beach too, so perfect for a sunny afternoon!

Anna Simons, Cate Ellink, Sheridan Kent

I digress. There were a dozen or so ARRA ladies, a couple of writers, and about 20 others I didn't know. I was expecting a handful, so this was fantastic.

Diane asked us a lot of questions about our writing, the genre we write in, our characters, how we write.

Donna and I made a little foray into rugby league, but then we kept on track! She's the reason I write rugby league stories - she has a rugby league series (a team of books!) but she didn't have my favourite players in there, and I had to remedy that!

A couple of friends popped down from Sydney to surprise me, which was fantastic.

People asked questions from the floor. They laughed, seemed engaged and seemed to enjoy the event.

At the end of the panel, someone even asked me if I was interested in collaborating on an idea they had for something quite outside the box - but really intriguing! I hope I get an email about that. I love writing challenges.

In all, my first outing for Cate Ellink was a lot of fun, and I'd love to go out again! Diane was a fabulous host and moderator. ARRA are great supporters of authors. And now I can't wait for the ARRA Convention in Melbourne in February...where I'm really the other me, but Cate might have to sneak in too.