Did I get it all done?

Well, mostly!

• Conquer the washing
• Conquer the folding, ironing and putting away. Yeah, didn’t get to the ironing – will quickly do the school uniforms for tomorrow, but the rest will have to wait.
• Finalise Epilogue and get it to the printer.
• Proofreading job for Twelfth Planet Press (sorry Alisa!). <– GREAT BOOK!!
• Answer some important, neglected emails.
• Watch new Fringe and Once Upon a Time (to be achieved while folding etc). <– turns out I didn’t have any OUAT, but am up to date of Fringe!

Epilogue – cover and pre-order special!

So Epilogue goes to the printer today. The book which started life as Apocalypse Hope is nearly done, and it will have been a year from the original idea through to the finished product. While this was always my planned timeline, it’s actually longer than most books I have done – perhaps sensibly so! And still quite quick, compared to how long a project can take to publish with a BIG publisher! I’m very lucky to have had excellent authors to work with, and also magnificent support from designer Amanda Rainey, and marvellous proofers, Elizabeth and Joanne. Really looking forward to this book being out in the world!

You can check out the wonderful cover art and the special pre-order price over at FableCroft!

Woeful

I’ve been really rubbish at keeping up with everything – I’ve been shocking at answering perfectly simple emails, hopeless at getting house clean, terrible at doing important jobs, and though I haven’t missed any deadlines yet, I’m just not motivated to get AHEAD either! There are some good reasons probably, and hopefully it will be clearer soon, but a good part of it is that working full time has really impacted on my available time (duh), and I’m just not coping very well. Add to that I REALLY miss having a cleaner (she only came once a fortnight, but that makes a HUGE difference in what you have to keep up with the rest of the time!), and, well, there you have it. Not only do I have less time to play with, there’s more things I have to get done with it – I don’t see housework as an optional extra. I hate having a house that looks dirty, and I don’t like not wanting to have friends drop in because it’s such a mess.

I did overcome one small barrier to my quest to make housekeeping a tad easier – yesterday I called in at Godfreys and walked out 10 minutes later with a new vacuum cleaner (with free steam mop and free foot spa – win!). My last vacuum bit the dust, rather literally, after husband thought it might be a good idea to vacuum out the ashes of the fireplace with it. Erm, no. We have a Vax, but while it does a good job for carpet washing, for some reason it’s terrible at vacuuming. So I needed a new one, and got one. Vacuumed this morning – was fairly painless. So hopefully the floors will be a little easier to look after now – although with kids, what’s clean one minute is covered in sand, dirt, or *stuff* within five, but anyway…

Also yesterday, was lucky enough to have a friend babysit Max so I could watch The Avengers with her husband and a bunch of kids (not all of which belonged to either of us!). I really enjoyed it, and we laughed a lot (in a good way). We then spent the evening at their place, being plied with home made pizza and good conversation.

Things to do today:

• Conquer the washing
• Conquer the folding, ironing and putting away.
• Finalise Epilogue and get it to the printer.
• Proofreading job for Twelfth Planet Press (sorry Alisa!).
• Answer some important, neglected emails.
• Watch new Fringe and Once Upon a Time (to be achieved while folding etc).

It’s already 12.30. Best I get a move on!

Kate Forsyth to host the Aurealis Awards

Kate Forsyth to be Master of Ceremonies at the 2011 Aurealis Awards

 SpecFaction NSW, organisers of the 2011 Aurealis Awards, are delighted to announce that Kate Forsyth will act as Master of Ceremonies at the gala presentation evening on 12 May in Sydney.

Kate Forsyth is an award winning author of more than twenty books ranging from picture books to poetry and novels for both children and adults.

Kate is an Aurealis Award winner herself, having won five Aurealis Awards in a single year for her Chain of Charms series.

Her most recent book for adults is Bitter Greens, published in April this year.

Kate’s books have been published in 14 countries. She is currently undertaking a doctorate in fairytale retellings at the University of Technology having already completed a BA in Literature and an MA in Creative Writing.

Kate will be joined by a well known list of presenters including (but not limited to); Sean Williams, Scott Westerfeld, Sophie Masson and Margo Lanagan.

The winners of the 2011 Aurealis Awards and the Peter McNamara Award will be announced at the Aurealis Awards ceremony, sponsored by HarperVoyager, Cosmos Magazine, Galaxy Bookshop and supported by grant funding from the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, on the evening of Saturday 12 May at The Independent Theatre in North Sydney.

Details of the evening and a link to the online booking website are available at www.aurealisawards.com

Achievements for the break

I’m fairly happy with what I got done over the past week (particularly considering I spent the first four days doing NOTHING).

• mail out To Spin a Darker Stair pre-orders (and other assorted book release jobs!).
• final edits and layout for Epilogue – if possible, get to printer. (PARTIAL ACHIEVEMENT – ONE STORY LEFT TO EDIT, LAYOUT STARTED!)
• proofing for TPP (I think). (NOPE, DIDN’T GET ANY)
• finish new version of TPP/FC catalogue. (ALMOST FINISHED)
• finalise issue of ic3 and get to printer.
• get car serviced (booked in for Wednesday THURSDAY).
• visit Tansy! (SHE VISITED ME!!)
• unpack some boxes. (HAH)
• play with kids. (ONGOING!)
• arrange playdates.
• write CBCA reports and notes for talks. (ANOTHER JUDGE VERY KINDLY SHARED HER POWERPOINT, SO ONLY NEED TO DO ACTUAL REPORT NOW – SHE’S A LEGEND!)
• pack up non-Notable CBCA books for giving away.
• keep house clean and washing up to date. (ONGOING – NOT TOO BAD SO FAR!) (JUST IRONING LEFT TONIGHT!)
• update this blog! (ONGOING)
• write reviews. (SEMI – owed book review done, but need to catch up on some Doctor Who!)

So not too bad in all. Wish I’d got to some boxes, or some filing, but I take heart from the fact that in just five weeks, we get a three week holiday! Looking forward to that In the meantime, MUST finish getting this book ready!