This may seem weird, not feet weird, but do you ever think about all the stuff you'll miss out on when you pass away? I sometimes make myself crazy with this even though when I'm dead, I'll be dead and won't care, obviously.

January 25, 2016

All the time! Mostly time spent with my children, which I think is normal, but all kinds of cultural stuff too. What will books look like? What will music sound like? And then the stupid, unknowable things like, I will miss holding hands with somebody. Death is dumb and it pisses me off.

Liked by: Dr. Rock Hibernia Rita

Do you have/take more photos of Norman or your chilldren?

January 25, 2016

Norman is easier to take photos of at the moment. My kids are broody tweens and don't like me taking photos of them anymore :(

Do you celebrate Australia Day? I have such mixed emotions! I know the actual date is a terrible one for it but I love getting together with friends for lamingtons etc. I also love reading about the Young Australian of the Year etc. There are some incredible Aussies out there doing wonderful things.

January 25, 2016

I don't. I think it's horrible, actually. Our history is appalling. And the fact that I didn't learn any of the truths about it in "Australian Studies" at school is even more appalling. We celebrate white Australia every day. We have ample opportunity to celebrate the great things Australians are doing, and we do. I think that despite our reputation as Tall Poppies, we are also champions of our great thinkers and leaders and achievers. We don't need a day that commemorates the disgusting way this country was "settled" to be able to keep doing that. I can't imagine how it feels as an Indigenous Australian to have the genocide of your people actively celebrated with flags and BBQs. We haven't even addressed all the wrongdoing - we don't recognise Aboriginal language, land rights, discrepancies in unemployment, health, life expectancy, poverty, substance abuse, etc. - but we persevere with patting ourselves on the back for "discovering" such a great land.

Liked by: Panos D

Despite years of experience, have you ever picked out a bad avo?

January 25, 2016

I mean, hardly ever. Maybe one in a hundred.

Liked by: Rita

Yes! They're surprisingly good. I would have thought that they would have gone brown but they seem to have figured out a way to prevent that.

January 25, 2016

Fascinating! Maybe I will give them a try, in the interests of science.

It is his birthday. There's a whole ritual one is supposed to follow. It starts with the Selkirk Grace, moves onto the Ode To A Haggis, Address to the Lassies, Reply to the Laddies, etc. Thoughts on Haggis?

January 25, 2016

Is that right! Ode To A Haggis is hilarious. Actual haggis I'm not such a fan of.

Liked by: Craig Andrew Batty Dr. Rock Hibernia

Favourite bit of Burns for #BurnsNight?

January 25, 2016

But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white-then melts for ever;

I didn't know #BurnsNight was a thing!

Liked by: Craig Andrew Batty Dr. Rock Hibernia

How did you decide what to name your kids?

January 25, 2016

For most of my first pregnancy, we referred to the baby as "Audrey". We were adamant she would be Audrey Elisabeth. Then at about 35 weeks, I realised that wasn't her name. I had used the font Georgia on the pregnancy forum I'd been posting on for all that time, and it sort of came out of that. It suits her perfectly; she never should have been an Audrey. Her middle name is Cait, which is a compromise for my mum (Kathryn) and his mum (middle name Catherine).

Lily was harder. I wanted to call her Scarlett, but my ex wasn't into that at all (he wanted to call her Melanie or Stephanie). I also fought for Ava. When we finally agreed on Lily, he wanted to spell it with two Ls - Lilly - which was too aggravating for words. I guess I just eventually bullied him into it. Her middle name is Michal, like mine (and also for her dad, whose name is Michael (and he doesn't have any sons)). I think she should have been a Molly or a Mabel or something a bit cooler, but that's the way it goes. She also wants to change her surname to Spargo-Ryan.

Omg, I can't bear "What about me?" anymore. Fukn Shannon Noll.

January 25, 2016

I focus on the Balfour's ad and that helps me forget Nollsy.

change certain lines...just insignificant things...and I feel like I'm going crazy. Did you have this experience as well and if so, how did you cope? I really feel like I'm going a bit mad and I'm so anxious. I'm sending the whole thing off to my maybe agent this week and I don't know what to do!

January 25, 2016

Da Vinci said a thing about this: “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” It's totally normal. You have to get to a point where it's good enough to submit. The very best you can make it. Don't go sideways by changing sentences to other, equally good sentences. It will go through changes with your agent and it will go through changes with your editor and at the end, you will have something mildly or moderately or very different.

A lot of the sentences I anguished over in my first novel aren't even in it anymore. HEAPS of them. I stripped 40,000 words out of my novel AFTER it was signed to Picador. And the sentences I wrote in their place were even better sentences. A published book is a team effort, and you just don't need to grind yourself into the ground changing the order of your words.

It might be finished already. Is the story the best you can make it? Have you demonstrated your writing ability? Is it polished, clean copy? Send it.

It might not be finished already. Are your new sentences vastly improving the quality of the book? Are they helping to clarify plot points and character progression? Are they making dialogue more believable? Maybe keep at it for a bit.

Don't cheat yourself out of having your work in print because you're too afraid to send it before it's perfect. It won't be. Ever.

Liked by: Dr. Rock Hibernia

As a massive try-hard, do you feel Macy Gray's 'I try' speaks to you on some level?

January 25, 2016

I'm maybe more of a Moving Pictures 'What About Me' type of try-hard.

Are your pets similar to your children in that you can't pick the one you love the most?

January 25, 2016

Definitely not. I love Norman the most, then Rupert, then Joss and Oscar the same (the two of them spend too much time peeing to move up the rankings).

I bought a marvellous creations (jammy doughnut) at Coles today for 79cents! I was thrilled but also suspicious - only that kind was marked down. Have you tried them?

January 25, 2016

I have! I liked them, but I'm not surprised they were marked down. They always seemed like a kind of chocolate practical joke to me.

Do you like going to writer's festivals as a speaker or audience member?

January 25, 2016

I love going as a listener! I haven't been as a speaker (yet? I hope?).

Liked by: Dr. Rock Hibernia

Do you love Book Depository but panic daily that they will start charging for shipping? Surely I aint the only one?

January 25, 2016

No, I'm like a book martyr and try to buy locally wherever I can (this includes Booktopia). I do this in the hope that I put out enough good local industry karma to sell some of my own book, because I am self-absorbed.

Have you seen the bags of frozen avocado in the supermarket? Have you tried them?

January 24, 2016

I haven't! Frankly, this terrifies me. Have you tried them?

What do you think about avocado in a tube?

January 24, 2016

I have eaten it, when in the very dire situation of not being able to find a single fresh avocado, and it's actually not too bad!

Liked by: Rita

I enjoy communicating my thoughts and feelings through blogs and what not. I have never considered myself a writer but I think I do well enough to get my point across. Do you have any tips for "non-writers" who struggle to write?

Nick

January 24, 2016

I guess it depends why you want to write, as a non-writer. What's your end goal? And what makes you think you're a non-writer, if you're writing? Do you want not to be one, or do you not think of yourself as one for other reasons?

What is your favourite meal?

January 24, 2016

Tortellini alla panna. When I was five, my dad ordered it in a restaurant and told me to try it. I kicked and screamed and refused to eat it for most of the meal, adamant that it would be disgusting and ruin my life. Then I tried it. It's still the best bunch of flavours I know how to eat.

Liked by: Panos D

What's your favourite thing to cook?

January 24, 2016

Chicken pie.

What is your favourite colour?

January 24, 2016

Blue.

Do you like to bake? If so what is your favourite recipe?

Nick

January 24, 2016

I love to bake! My favourites to bake are lemon meringue pie and baked cheesecake.

Liked by: Panos D

What is your favourite kind of poem?

January 24, 2016

A moody, lyrical poem that might not mean anything but has beautiful words in it.

Liked by: Rita

Do you computer game or is it strictly TableTop in Annaland?

January 24, 2016

Both! All, actually, I guess. At the moment I'm playing Fallout 4, but we play tabletop games like Warmachine, Warhammer 40K and Infinity, and we play board games like Settlers of Catan and Risk, and we play roleplay games like Pathfinder and Dark Heresy. Gaming is a big part of how we relate to one another in this house.

Re: pets. Do you worry about your house smelling of dog? I housesat a beautiful house with a beautiful dog but the place reeked of animal! I kept all windows opened constantly and was tempted to tell them but didnt.

January 24, 2016

I used to worry about it, but now I've just resigned myself to it.

Anna Spargo-Ryan

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