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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Draw off






(Picture credit: google images)

I've had an up and down couple of weeks, as noticed in my last couple of posts, but Saturday seems to have offered a condensed version of the whole month's endeavours.

I got a rejection from The New Yorker. Having made it my goal to aim higher, I found I can fall further and still get up again. And it's a good story and it was a good rejection, so plenty still to milk from the experience. Getting a story in The New Yorker just became more appealing than ever.

I went to the Armageddon Expo, for a dose of all things comics and costume. I took my daughter, and we queued for over an hour in front of the funniest trio I have ever heard. They offered running commentary on everyone's costumes and were generally the highlight of the whole afternoon. I said hullo to Adrian Kinnaird, bought Ant Sang's graphic novel, Shaolin Burning, and the very friendly Karl Wills' Princess Seppuku and the Hunt for Robot -X. I got welted by a huge plastic weapon strapped to someone's back - as they turned, it almost took me out! And velcro'd to a large passing pseudo-soldier. And charged by a large lady who appeared to be on the brink of a crowd induced panic but had in all likelihood just caught a glimpse of a dalek and wanted an autograph, almost exterminating me in the process. And my daughter got scammed by the sweet n' salty pop-corn vendor.

I came home to find an email informing me I made the shortlist of The Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize. It was a fun thing to enter because I got to choose a nom de plume - mine was Scott Falcon. I'll send a hand written poem to the person who can work out how I came up with that name. I'm thrilled to have made the shortlist, as the entries are "judged on their literary merits AND the extent to which they engage a non-scientific audience." Which is the sweetest part of all.



Friday, October 5, 2012

Leader board

Last week, I was in a bit of a sludge, having lost my focus; sometimes, writing being the solitary act it is, it's easy to feel a little alone with one's thoughts, easy to create a few negative voices for company where there really are none.

This weekend, my daughter is in Wellington, competing in the National Surf Life Championships. So far, she has won, with her team, silver and bronze medals. It's taken hard work to get there; a couple of years ago, she couldn't even swim. She doesn't complain about all the training she has to do, getting up at 5:30 am every Saturday morning when most kids her age are sleeping in, she just does it.

I'm going to take her lead.