Check out this cute new video clip for the Model School's new single, 'It's Hard to Dance When Your Legs Are On Fire'. Brings back memories of those early computer games, don't it?
The brains behind the band, Brendan Wixted, egged me on to go viral with the clip. I'm actually suffering from a flu virus of some sort right now, but rest assured you won't catch that.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Home Is Where the Arrrgghh Is
Forgive me being a sporadic blogger of late. We're in the middle of renovating our lovely old terrace house and the place is a shambles. To wit...
This is what our kitchen looked like about about a week ago. Sure, it wasn't great to start with. We'd bought the place half-renovated.
But if you thought that was bad, take a look at it now. Here's what it looked like on the weekend. We built a new roof over the old one and now we're in the process of demolition:
And some day, we hope we'll end up with this when renovations are complete:
This is what our kitchen looked like about about a week ago. Sure, it wasn't great to start with. We'd bought the place half-renovated.
But if you thought that was bad, take a look at it now. Here's what it looked like on the weekend. We built a new roof over the old one and now we're in the process of demolition:
And some day, we hope we'll end up with this when renovations are complete:
So what's keeping you busy at the moment?
AXQFENEJ2YBR
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
What Goes Around Comes Around...and Around...and Around
Today I received an email begging people to adopt two adorable Labradors, Cookie and Coco. In the email, the owner said she was moving overseas and couldn't take the doggies with her. The pair had to be re-homed together because they couldn't bear to be apart. The story tugged at my heart strings, especially since I've been watching episodes of the harrowing 'Animal Cops: Houston' nonstop for the past week.
The email included a note from the last person who sent it which gave me the impression Cookie and Coco belonged to her "father's friend." So I forwarded it to a few people who might be able to help. I felt a little niggle, though, 'cause I've been burned by sob story emails that turned out to be hoaxes. But then I thought, "Why would anyone send phony emails about animals in peril?" The story seemed so sincere, and just look at these gorgeous, soon-to-be-homeless faces.
I thought about the whole thing a bit longer after telling my friends, then I decided to google the contact email addy given in the email. All the results came up with variations of "The Cookie and Coco saga is a big fat hoax!" Grrrrr!
Why would anyone waste time circulating this **** if it isn't true?
Well, it turns out the story was true once upon a time--a real-life Lab pair were indeed in need of adoptive parents and they did find the right home. They're living happily ever after according to reports. Now spammers have gotten hold of the story and I suspect they're collecting addresses from the kind people who respond to the cry for help. God knows what they're doing with that info.
Anyway, the point is if you get a sob story email, google it first! Or check out this rumour-busting site.
The email included a note from the last person who sent it which gave me the impression Cookie and Coco belonged to her "father's friend." So I forwarded it to a few people who might be able to help. I felt a little niggle, though, 'cause I've been burned by sob story emails that turned out to be hoaxes. But then I thought, "Why would anyone send phony emails about animals in peril?" The story seemed so sincere, and just look at these gorgeous, soon-to-be-homeless faces.
I thought about the whole thing a bit longer after telling my friends, then I decided to google the contact email addy given in the email. All the results came up with variations of "The Cookie and Coco saga is a big fat hoax!" Grrrrr!
Why would anyone waste time circulating this **** if it isn't true?
Well, it turns out the story was true once upon a time--a real-life Lab pair were indeed in need of adoptive parents and they did find the right home. They're living happily ever after according to reports. Now spammers have gotten hold of the story and I suspect they're collecting addresses from the kind people who respond to the cry for help. God knows what they're doing with that info.
Anyway, the point is if you get a sob story email, google it first! Or check out this rumour-busting site.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Review News
At the We Love YA blog, we have a lovely benefactor who sends us piles of YA books to review. It's like Christmas! Go on over to the blog and check out what Natalie Hatch and Diane Curran have to say about Banquo's Son and Thirteen Reasons Why, respectively.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, November 3), I'll have an interview with Melbourne writer Gabrielle Williams about her book Beatle Meets Destiny. Dash off a comment and you could win a copy.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, November 3), I'll have an interview with Melbourne writer Gabrielle Williams about her book Beatle Meets Destiny. Dash off a comment and you could win a copy.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Oh, No! Where Did My Website Go?
I seem to have lost my website. Temporarily, I hope. This, people, is what you get for fooling around with your Web host's settings. Let's hope I find a solution soon...
**UPDATE**
The website's back. Hallelujah! I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm not gonna do it again.
**UPDATE**
The website's back. Hallelujah! I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm not gonna do it again.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Trailer Queen of New Zealand
Clever Amanda Ashby got her family involved in the making of her new book trailer for The Zombie Queen of Newbury High. Check it out:
If you haven't read the novel yet, do it! Run to the shops like you're being chased by drooling zombies! One of my local bookstores, Better Read Than Dead, rated Zombie Queen a staff pick. (They have such good taste over there.) The book's fast-paced and very, very funny. Amanda even makes the zombies lovable in their own way.
One of the perks of being a zombie queen
is that you get to ride around in limos.
And one of the perks of knowing a zombie queen
is that you might be lucky enough to tag along with her!
This was our ride from San Francisco airport in 2008.
If you haven't read the novel yet, do it! Run to the shops like you're being chased by drooling zombies! One of my local bookstores, Better Read Than Dead, rated Zombie Queen a staff pick. (They have such good taste over there.) The book's fast-paced and very, very funny. Amanda even makes the zombies lovable in their own way.
One of the perks of being a zombie queenis that you get to ride around in limos.
And one of the perks of knowing a zombie queen
is that you might be lucky enough to tag along with her!
This was our ride from San Francisco airport in 2008.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Goin' Loopy
Attention all Romance Writers of Australia members who write and/or are interested in YA fiction--a new Yahoo email loop has formed. To join, visit this link and click on Join This Group.
A great success story about an Aussie writer has surfaced. Rebecca James sold her first book, Beautiful Malice, to Bantam USA for a six-figure sum. On top of that, numerous lucrative foreign rights have been sold already. Read the Wall Street Journal article about her here.
Remember the trailer I did for Anna Campbell? It was my first attempt at doing anything trailer-like. If you like it, you can vote for it at You Gotta Read Reviews. Voting closes three days from now. I'm too chicken to look at the other entrants' trailers just yet. Don't forget to buy Anna's book--it goes on sale in North America at the end of this month.
A great success story about an Aussie writer has surfaced. Rebecca James sold her first book, Beautiful Malice, to Bantam USA for a six-figure sum. On top of that, numerous lucrative foreign rights have been sold already. Read the Wall Street Journal article about her here.
Remember the trailer I did for Anna Campbell? It was my first attempt at doing anything trailer-like. If you like it, you can vote for it at You Gotta Read Reviews. Voting closes three days from now. I'm too chicken to look at the other entrants' trailers just yet. Don't forget to buy Anna's book--it goes on sale in North America at the end of this month.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Blogmania
Today's going to be busy! I'm holding down the day job, demolition at the house and not one, not two but THREE blog posts (including this one!).
Over at We Love YA right now, I'm talking about teen idols. Later today, my inaugural post at the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood goes up. I'm talking about the Golden Heart and whether or not you should enter a "controversial" manuscript. I'd love your opinions, so please come over and visit me!
Annie West sent me this link about Harlequin Teen partnering up with the ABC Family TV channel in the US. So far, four Harlequin Teen books are slated to tie in with episodes of the Greek series.
Over at We Love YA right now, I'm talking about teen idols. Later today, my inaugural post at the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood goes up. I'm talking about the Golden Heart and whether or not you should enter a "controversial" manuscript. I'd love your opinions, so please come over and visit me!
Annie West sent me this link about Harlequin Teen partnering up with the ABC Family TV channel in the US. So far, four Harlequin Teen books are slated to tie in with episodes of the Greek series.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Trailer Mash
I'm probably the last person on earth to catch on to trailer mash-ups. I don't care. The people who did these re-edits are geniuses.
Scary Mary Poppins
The Shining - the feel-good comedy of the year
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - thrills a minute!
Brokeback to the Future
Scary Mary Poppins
The Shining - the feel-good comedy of the year
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - thrills a minute!
Brokeback to the Future
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