tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39072466438548769802024-03-13T09:20:03.182+10:00FURIOUS HORSESThat's MOTEL, with an M.Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.comBlogger486125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-56739099218836709762011-05-09T12:12:00.003+10:002011-05-09T12:21:17.090+10:00THE KING'S SPEECHDespite launching my first novel last Friday night, without doubt one of the biggest highlights for me was Matthew Condon's brilliant introduction which, due to overwhelming demand, I present to you in full. Please enjoy. And send all baked desserts to the usual address...<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE OTTOMAN MOTEL</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Christopher Currie</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Avid Reader</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday, May 6, 2011</span><br /></div><br />YOU may well ask why a quote by me appears on the cover of the brilliant debut novel<span style="font-style: italic;"> The Ottoman Motel</span> by Christopher Currie.<br /><br />Tonight I can reveal to you that it was put there to avert costly litigation. That matter has now been settled.<br /><br />You see, when I first saw a bound proof of Christopher’s book and I read the first chapter I was apoplectic. For the previous three years, I had been labouring over my own new novel that I had provisionally titled <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sofa Bed Hotel. </span>Uncanny. My lead character was not Simon, as in Christopher’s book, but actually Christopher. And as I read that fine-looking proof of his, with trembling hands, it became apparent that Mr Currie and I had been mining the same shaft, as they say in the classics.<br /><br />The works were almost identical, save that his was a stylish, dark, page-turning thriller with subtle undercurrents and piercingly astute psychological insights into childhood, and mine was about a washed up and prematurely grey journalist and novelist who spent his life in the reception of a seedy flophouse full of stained Ikea fold-outs, hoping to be invited to launch talented young writers’ first books and thus re-entering the literary firmament via the back door, as they say in the classics.<br /><br />I was incensed. So incensed I wrote, in a rage, an acknowledgement in my unfinished manuscript:<br /><br />MY THANKS (it began)<br /><br />And finally, if it’s possible to fall more out of love, in an envious literary sense, with someone every day, then that’s what I do. To the reason I had to trash my masterpiece, Christopher Currie, who, if he reads this, I hope will settle in mainland China and take his ingenious talent with him, despite the number of communists in this sentence.<br /><br />Text Publishing agreed to put my name on the cover of Christopher’s book as part of our confidential court-ordered settlement. The other clause stipulated I could read the surviving fragment of my aborted master work, lost, as it is, in the glare of Mr Currie’s prodigal debut.<br /><br />FYI, my three-page manuscript will be available from tomorrow as an ebook.<br /><br />*<br /><br />Christopher’s cheek stung. Krissy Kneen’s motorbike had followed him all morning, he tripped, fell, and scraped his usually idle skin. He was badly grazed beneath his “<span style="font-style: italic;">I Love Ben Law Even If He Published His First Book Before I Published My First Book</span>” T-shirt.<br /><br />He was on his way to work at Avid Reader. He passed some trees. He smelled, suddenly, the tang of new books.<br /><br />He’d arrived. He went inside and took his place behind the counter. His mother’s voice floated down from upstairs. He peered through his eyelashes.<br /><br />“Stand up straight and be a good boy, Christopher,” she said. (Sorry Judy, I know you’re out there.) He didn’t move. It was painful, the grazing beneath his “<span style="font-style: italic;">I Love Ben Law Even If He Published His First Book Before I Published My First Book</span>” T-shirt.<br /><br />Christopher’s mother came downstairs and stared past him, out the front window.<br /><br />“Can we have the police pull Krissy Kneen over? She’s a menace,” she said.<br /><br />Late afternoon now. The sun drawing lower. Christopher picked a crumb from the pocket of his shorts. A stale crumb left over from the two-metre high bombed Alaska they’d set on fire to celebrate the launch of bloody Ben Law’s first book years earlier. Christopher was hungry. He<br />ate the crumb anyway. It tasted good.<br /><br />Wait until my launch, Christopher said. A packed Avid Reader. Plaudits. Bonhomie. Fresh crumbs, not stale. And he relished the thought of wearing a new T-shirt, the one he’d had made last week. The “<span style="font-style: italic;">Ben Law and Krissy Kneen Might Have Been Published Before Me with Their Non-Fiction Memoirs But I’ve Written a NOVEL and My Name is Christopher Currie, So Stick That up Your Bombed Alaska</span>” T-Shirt.<br /><br />It was a big shirt. It had to be.<br /><br />A man was standing where his mother had stood. He had on dirty yellow overalls, slung up high around his armpits. It was the bloke he was getting to launch <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ottoman Mote</span>l. He was old – Christopher thought nearly grandpa’s age – but his cheeks were ridged red with ill-conquered newspaper book section editors and reviewers.<br /><br />“Is this reception?” the old man asked.<br /><br />“It’s a counter,” Christopher said.<br /><br />The launcher laughed, rather too hard. “Where is it you need to get to, Christopher?”<br /><br />“A future in letters,” the young man said.<br /><br />The launcher rocked on his heels. “I can push you in the right direction, then it’s up to you,” he said. “I’m still trying to get there myself.”<br /><br />“This future,” Christopher asked, “does it have ottomans? My mother keeps telling me to stand up straight all the time and my legs are tired.”<br /><br />“I’m told a future in letters is ripe with ottomans.”<br /><br />“Good,” Christopher said.<br /><br />He followed the old launcher into Boundary Road, both of them narrowly avoiding being struck by a motorcycle ridden by someone with an uncanny resemblance to Krissy Kneen.<br /><br />“Come,” the launcher said.<br /><br />“Where to first?” asked the young novelist.<br /><br />“The T-shirt printery,” the wise launcher said.<br /><br />“What for?” a bemused Christopher said.<br /><br />“We need to change your launch T-shirt. It should read -“<span style="font-style: italic;">Ben Law and Krissy Kneen Might Have Been Published Before Me with Their Non-Fiction Memoirs But I’ve Written a BRILLIANT Novel and my name is Christopher Currie, So Stick that up Your Bombed Alaska</span>.”<br /><br />Christopher smiled. Somehow, this trip was going a lot better than he’d expected it to.<br /><br />*Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-35484900782919531822011-05-07T20:44:00.003+10:002011-05-07T21:04:23.327+10:00BON VOYAGE, BRISBANE!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Drr6GPs7hyphenhyphenSeA1-q2zDevMDV-KQXLCvBTFyX-Oa1zlfpV6l6JYtlbNpG51mrB5uL-WfibVs-GlcevaaXRGbV-XepkisaZ0LOfbL5BhrS3dkJMLeMaRcobYc-FDLS_zaCXyfBpDugTTMm/s1600/228496_10150168960861389_571706388_7286633_2093468_n.jpg"><br /></a><br />Finally recovered from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ottoman Motel</span> Brisbane launch, held at Avid Reader last night! I just wanted to sincerely thank everyone who came along last night, and those who couldn't but sent well-wishes anyway. I couldn't have asked for a better launch for my first book: great venue, great hosts (the wonderful Krissy Kneen, and the hilarious Matt Condon) and plenty of books to sign! A special mention must also go to Marco Ransom-Hughes, the winner of the Avid Reader/Text Publishing Ottoman Motel Book Trailer Competition. Did I mention he is still at school? Here is his awesome trailer:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rjFARefDoxQ" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe><br /><br />It was so nice to see Marco receiving his prize (a $100 Avid Reader voucher and Text Publishing book pack), but he also had something for me: the turtle keyring that features in his trailer (and which also features in the book). It's a really great memento of the night. Thanks, Marco!<br /><br />Here are some other photos of the night.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Drr6GPs7hyphenhyphenSeA1-q2zDevMDV-KQXLCvBTFyX-Oa1zlfpV6l6JYtlbNpG51mrB5uL-WfibVs-GlcevaaXRGbV-XepkisaZ0LOfbL5BhrS3dkJMLeMaRcobYc-FDLS_zaCXyfBpDugTTMm/s1600/228496_10150168960861389_571706388_7286633_2093468_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Drr6GPs7hyphenhyphenSeA1-q2zDevMDV-KQXLCvBTFyX-Oa1zlfpV6l6JYtlbNpG51mrB5uL-WfibVs-GlcevaaXRGbV-XepkisaZ0LOfbL5BhrS3dkJMLeMaRcobYc-FDLS_zaCXyfBpDugTTMm/s320/228496_10150168960861389_571706388_7286633_2093468_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603927652849755970" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2a21w8BQ5uwWn07RhspeM3lXQoBgNrHoFp-WBMmWn5CEUHG-E9rVCy-drbVoOw2VBgXq1BcLSH_C2tCbUPMBzy8jtN5OaTXJgpsx2h5ZcUea_a3-h8yHXGAK6CLHuNh-FMlDOjpUxZXN/s1600/227213_1911385431851_1458347295_2119998_3304079_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2a21w8BQ5uwWn07RhspeM3lXQoBgNrHoFp-WBMmWn5CEUHG-E9rVCy-drbVoOw2VBgXq1BcLSH_C2tCbUPMBzy8jtN5OaTXJgpsx2h5ZcUea_a3-h8yHXGAK6CLHuNh-FMlDOjpUxZXN/s320/227213_1911385431851_1458347295_2119998_3304079_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603927648247642130" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK6Trx5O4nFkfectoyS-aOVkBgmv6A62R4_u7Pm03kunJ0S4H5iB16xm7qM95MW6Ps307AvnAXN3q8nbhD-8UR5z19fBiEHfLRTgLdpMFyIxYEhX4lbAtfoYzX41_1dTW1sXHK3lVrS0Dh/s1600/226717_10150182672299119_796739118_6783653_7760828_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK6Trx5O4nFkfectoyS-aOVkBgmv6A62R4_u7Pm03kunJ0S4H5iB16xm7qM95MW6Ps307AvnAXN3q8nbhD-8UR5z19fBiEHfLRTgLdpMFyIxYEhX4lbAtfoYzX41_1dTW1sXHK3lVrS0Dh/s320/226717_10150182672299119_796739118_6783653_7760828_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603927645244791106" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAezFn6XzSb_XliSax7tB04Si-z65ME9h6U7yDM1Qlv87gmpbHEHM651WHfBoWEAfpVHgsfepNcb0gXJuaVj_kq2VAnAGEln_V1zkkR865jgDHPe49wR1pDRdzN9E0Kr3ad91lqH9cFl9/s1600/222275_10150244605855879_597555878_8807731_294616_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAezFn6XzSb_XliSax7tB04Si-z65ME9h6U7yDM1Qlv87gmpbHEHM651WHfBoWEAfpVHgsfepNcb0gXJuaVj_kq2VAnAGEln_V1zkkR865jgDHPe49wR1pDRdzN9E0Kr3ad91lqH9cFl9/s320/222275_10150244605855879_597555878_8807731_294616_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603927645852326930" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Thanks again to everyone for coming. Next stop, Melbourne on May 23!Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-25149373093428031862011-04-28T17:55:00.002+10:002011-04-28T18:00:16.268+10:00OTTOMAN MOTEL MELBOURNE LAUNCHInvites have been sent out to people I have email addresses for, but for everyone else: if you're in Melbourne on Monday May 23, why not come along?<br /><br />RSVP to Cora Kipling at Text Publishing: Cora.Kipling@textpublishing.com.au / 03 8610 4512<br /><br /><br />See you there!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxixgYUQYG4WFVIjXbFrjI9Y0LAUed0jvwaKGgWUTy5hyphenhyphenuwhc6y4FUMg0FdgaqeM5WSK1dc7v-PFovUNgLt2KKnz0ltOdhd3uzeGfRCwWOv3lVxi_WwKXWOP5vJUNR38b7gXmyTBCeKVqg/s1600/OttomanMotel_LaunchInvite.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxixgYUQYG4WFVIjXbFrjI9Y0LAUed0jvwaKGgWUTy5hyphenhyphenuwhc6y4FUMg0FdgaqeM5WSK1dc7v-PFovUNgLt2KKnz0ltOdhd3uzeGfRCwWOv3lVxi_WwKXWOP5vJUNR38b7gXmyTBCeKVqg/s400/OttomanMotel_LaunchInvite.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600540464441199314" border="0" /></a>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-16618360383795638542011-04-20T16:03:00.005+10:002011-04-20T17:50:47.092+10:00A BIT OF INTERESTSo it's been a bit quiet again of late on Furious Horses, but I've been a little busy. In addition to preparing promo for my upcoming book, my recent proposal to my partner has <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/08/novelist-proposes-girlfriend-christopher-currie">met</a> <a href="http://blogs.crikey.com.au/literaryminded/2011/04/07/a-literary-proposal/">with</a> <a href="http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25201271/">some unplanned</a> <a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/08/book-lover-writer-proposes-to-girlfriend-in-new-novel/">attention</a>. Which has been, needless to say, absolutely surreal, but very exciting. I'm in love, I've got a book with my name on the cover and I'm pretty sure I'm going to eat a chicken parma tonight, so what more could a boy possibly want?<br /><br />As the book isn't out until May 2, you can wet your whistle with a couple of recent publications I've been published in. The first being the new edition of <a href="http://www.theliftedbrow.com/?p=547">The Lifted Brow</a>, wherein I've rewritten one of my favourite early stories, <span style="font-style: italic;">1969</span>. I also can't begin to tell you how many other great people are in this issue. So much good reading.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkr67Yc6ZD4A8aKKNgT2cPA6-F47XjJKOH1Lp8ABosb1Dxut6nHFMKiJxszq8RQ-sJYG-GUJl9ztTANr56K7kjL-0Cpcbq42y4lflvWG2XMH5HA4D37Yo8GbkHqQRLmUig9S9bNTcXkS3W/s1600/tlb9cover600.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkr67Yc6ZD4A8aKKNgT2cPA6-F47XjJKOH1Lp8ABosb1Dxut6nHFMKiJxszq8RQ-sJYG-GUJl9ztTANr56K7kjL-0Cpcbq42y4lflvWG2XMH5HA4D37Yo8GbkHqQRLmUig9S9bNTcXkS3W/s320/tlb9cover600.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597569754374606482" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My other piece of writing is nonfiction: a little essay on the Queensland floods in the new <a href="http://dumbofeather.com/">Dumbo Feather</a> which, under the new guidance of Patrick Pittman and Jessica Friedmann, is looking fantastic.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7HRYn6c_e1le7SsrnUx01-dLb-rNjJHngn3n6FUo1dt2_QYppWcMk09biz5W1y2XC9Qpe4GpwKxD4CaS_lN-9J0QrIqtzcrb8MQTbVenPG3Pbva1JFrJr6ND_v-sN0Mm4cvU-hj9dUHN/s1600/200775_10150162631478899_23736353898_8047218_1039286_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 237px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7HRYn6c_e1le7SsrnUx01-dLb-rNjJHngn3n6FUo1dt2_QYppWcMk09biz5W1y2XC9Qpe4GpwKxD4CaS_lN-9J0QrIqtzcrb8MQTbVenPG3Pbva1JFrJr6ND_v-sN0Mm4cvU-hj9dUHN/s320/200775_10150162631478899_23736353898_8047218_1039286_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597569943774804450" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Apart from that, I'm just waiting for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ottoman Motel</span> to be released, at which time I will be both very anxious and very proud. If you're in Brisbane, come along to my book launch at Avid Reader Bookshop on Friday May 6, where the wonderful Matt Condon will be helping me send my little story into the world. You can book a ticket <a href="http://www.avidreader.com.au/index.php?option=com_registrationpro&view=event&Itemid=2&did=144">here</a>. It's free entry, and there will also be FREE WINE.<br /><br />For my Melbourne friends, I will hopefully see you at my Melbourne Book Launch at Readings Carlton on Monday May 23. More info to come.<br /><br />Until then, don't forget to keep hassling your local bookshop about <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ottoman Motel</span>. Asking questions like: "When is <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ottoman Motel</span> published?" "I saw <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ottoman Motel</span> on a blog, why don't you have a copy?" and "I need The Ottoman Motel by April 21. Why is it not here?" will only endear you to bookshop staff, and guarantee that the book will be fresh in their minds when they unpack it from a box of May New Releases and squeal with delight. Trust me.Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-26165049390403681562011-03-23T17:52:00.000+10:002011-03-23T17:52:31.087+10:00IF YOU NEED ME, I'LL BE IN MY (BOOK) TRAILERI know it's been a while since I rapped at ya, but I've been busy preparing my book for publication (should be at the printers now), moving house (thanks, floodwater!) and generally being devoid of ideas (...).<br /><br />But here I am again! Why? Well, I just wanted to let you know about a great competition that my lovely employer <a href="http://www.avidreader.com.au/">Avid Reader</a> is running with my lovely publisher <a href="http://textpublishing.com.au/">Text</a>, where you can win a bumper book pack from Text and a $100 voucher from Avid. All you have to do is create a book trailer for my book, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ottoman Motel</span>. It's up to you what's in the trailer, the only restriction is that it must be under 2 minutes long. You can read a sample chapter of the book <a href="http://textpublishing.com.au/books-and-authors/book/the-ottoman-motel/">here</a> for inspiration, but otherwise go crazy!<br /><br />Email your trailer (or a YouTube/Vimeo link) to events@avidreader.com.au by April 15 to be in the running!<br /><br />Because I like you, and I want to give you the best chance of winning the great prize, here is a secret list of things I enjoy in book trailers:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5YjPteCPLo">Exploding Cosmic Polar Bears</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMO8Pyi3UpY">Energetic Shrimp</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSm7BcQHWXk">Alcoholic Vervet Monkeys</a><br /><br />Get to it!<br /><br />If you have any questions about the book, please send me through a comment here, or at the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ottoman-Motel/193745493976843">Official Ottoman Motel Sanctioned and Verified Facebook Page</a> (become a fan, why don't you?)Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-49978755152608718012010-12-23T10:30:00.005+10:002011-04-20T17:57:27.330+10:00TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVENSIES (PART TWOSIES)<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">FEBRUARY</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Endgame: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bobby Fischer</span> by Frank Brady<br /></div><br />Despite predominantly reading fiction, every six months or so I will go on a nonfiction binge, exploring a subject that interests me. Past obsessions have included the Golden Age of Magic, Game Theory, Origins of Colours (mainly just to confuse Amazon.com's suggested reading algorithms). These bursts of interest fade as quickly as they came, as my retention of knowledge is notoriously lame.<br /><br />One of my areas of interest, which I explored a couple of years ago, was chess. Now I have to come out and say that I don't particularly like chess, and the idea of playing it fills me with some dread (all that planning ahead...). But the idea of the evolution of chess, and its almost mythic properties, was something that fascinated me. In the course of exploring this interest, I stumbled across one of the most engrossing pieces of nonfiction I'd ever read, namely David Edmonds and John Eidinow's <span style="font-style: italic;">Bobby Fischer Goes to War</span>, a riveting account of the lead-up, duration and aftermath of American chess wunderkind Bobby Fischer's and soviet world champion Boris Spassky. It is a fascinating and thrilling story, even for those not interested in chess. It's hard to get these days (only available as an import title <a href="http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9780571214129">in Australia</a>), but keep your eyes out in second-hand shops.<br /><br />Anyhoo, reading that book gave me an insight into what an interesting/insane personality Bobby Fischer actually was, and Murdoch Books are bringing out this biography in February and I, for one, am very much looking forward to reading it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3jvZMJyWpfWITysj0QLChPA5p7pY5XyYgMRLbxQVXUJ4fffvdsHfameEHpA6VVxu9b6Uat5wsEMIKXIZxmdsYS2yMw1WT2-F-CTuluKzVrnMQv5a12KwG09X6XXCGBwiyXzYnzu4APAt/s1600/endgame.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3jvZMJyWpfWITysj0QLChPA5p7pY5XyYgMRLbxQVXUJ4fffvdsHfameEHpA6VVxu9b6Uat5wsEMIKXIZxmdsYS2yMw1WT2-F-CTuluKzVrnMQv5a12KwG09X6XXCGBwiyXzYnzu4APAt/s400/endgame.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557453995853533538" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SEPTEMBER</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">1Q84</span> by Haruki Murakami<br /></div><br />Did I just say that The Pale King was 2011's most anticipated literature release? What we talk about when we talk about anticipated is Haruki Murakami's <span style="font-style: italic;">1Q84</span>, which I have been awaiting for <a href="http://www.furioushorses.com/2009/03/newrakami.html">quite</a> a <a href="http://www.furioushorses.com/2009/05/newrakami-gets-slightly-closer.html">while</a> now. It's fair to say that the first time I read Murakami (in my case, <span style="font-style: italic;">A Wild Sheep Chase</span>), it was like nothing else I'd ever read. And, despite bingeing on his fiction perhaps a little too much afterwards, I am REALLY looking forward to this book. It's out in September (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/1Q84-Haruki-Murakami/dp/1846554071">look</a>, it even has an ISBN now!) and I shall be first in line. I don't think I'll be alone. On their first day of publication in Japan (two volumes printed simultaneously -- here it will be a single volume) they sold out their first print run, reaching sales of one million copies in a month. It will be interesting to see the splash it makes in English-speaking countries.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvYwrqz-CHM7w4GJ9wl2A5hUg4J59jEbMWcVgHFfTRU6efnBkO-3rSZiQVPUbonjL4cC_4x65VEG59J_E9kdpnmjF1WMxhMVJcVYvl_b1Ascuo8K_Jf28XDOGkVsAGxwdiXF4uGRnyHK7/s1600/murak.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvYwrqz-CHM7w4GJ9wl2A5hUg4J59jEbMWcVgHFfTRU6efnBkO-3rSZiQVPUbonjL4cC_4x65VEG59J_E9kdpnmjF1WMxhMVJcVYvl_b1Ascuo8K_Jf28XDOGkVsAGxwdiXF4uGRnyHK7/s400/murak.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557458492070255506" border="0" /></a><br />And, because I'm getting tired of writing in the Brisbane heat, and, if you're like me, you just prefer lists anyway, here are some more titles I'll be watching out for in 2011:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hachette.com.au/books/9780297859024/"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Tiger's Wife</span></a> by Téa Obreht (April) - For a debut novelist, she has received praise from the likes of Colum McCann, Ann Patchett and T.C. Boyle. Should be big.<br /><a href="http://www.harpercollinscatalogs.com/harper/515_1730_333037303438.htm"><br />There is No Year</a> by Blake Butler (May) - For pure literary hipness, you need to be seen with this book. Blake Butlerwrites for the irrepresibly cool/unintelligible blog <a href="http://htmlgiant.com/">HTMLGIANT</a>, and blows us away with his short fiction in <a href="http://www.theliftedbrow.com/">The Lifted Brow</a> and in <a href="http://www.featherproof.com/Mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=226&Itemid=41">this book</a>. Can't wait to see what he'll do with the novel.<br /><br /><a href="http://danaspiotta.com/">Stone Arabia</a> by Dana Spiotta (July) - Dana Spiotta wrote one of my favourite books EVER, Eat the Document, and I can't wait to read this one (despite the infuriatingly small amount of detail about it available).<br /><br />And as always, some will succeed, some will fail, and others will come out of nowhere to capture our imagination. Here's to 2011!Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-30326190079248705522010-12-20T18:54:00.007+10:002010-12-22T17:40:01.922+10:00TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVENSIESI love books, and I love lists, so when you can combine the two, even better. And sure, everyone's got a "Best Books of 2010" list (except for Chris Flynn, who has compiled an ace round-up of <a href="http://flythefalcon.blogspot.com/2010/12/20-for-2010.html">the year's best short stories</a>) but what really gets me excited is lists about books NOT EVEN RELEASED YET. As a bookseller, there is nothing we love more then getting our hands on the hottest book that either<br />1) everybody wants (I actually hid the advance copy of Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom" in my bag after I got it), or<br />2) nobody knows they want yet but yeah I read that a few months ago and it was pretty good but what you really should be reading is... You get the idea.<br /><br />With the horrific death-screech of Christmas retail almost at an end, I'm starting to cast my eyes into the crystal ball of 2011 publishing, and thinking about the books that are going to excite me most. Here are some that have grabbed my interest in recent weeks.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">APRIL:</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">An Uncertain Place</span> by Fred Vargas <div style="text-align: left;">During one of my numerous and ill-advised trips to a discount book store I stumbled across a crime book called <span style="font-style: italic;">Have Mercy On Us All</span> by some French dude. Read it, loved it, and discovered that the dude was a lady. Fred Vargas is the pseudonym of French author, historian and archaeologist Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau, who has won the Crime Writers' Association's International Dagger a record three times, with the 2007 win coming for her astonishingly good book <span style="font-style: italic;">Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand</span> (just about my favourite crime novel ever).<br /><br />I don't go out of my way to read crime, but the prospect of a new book featuring Vargas's shambolic-yet-somehow-Zen detective Commissaire Adamsberg is too good to refuse. Plus, this one contains severed feet left in shoes, and Serbian vampire hunters. What more could you want?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvzYNA0xfhL09JZqMa31CDW6Kg9CF_RVFGo5WK0-d7LuSvkP1vg4BuvfjJP8c6FAujyj3HskOt9n8jH5ZzQaChxCBUsY4PJ8JT07KFiz80NrVVWTbDSP5kAETaTrWeDHtThF7dG7EqQ1yi/s1600/vargas.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvzYNA0xfhL09JZqMa31CDW6Kg9CF_RVFGo5WK0-d7LuSvkP1vg4BuvfjJP8c6FAujyj3HskOt9n8jH5ZzQaChxCBUsY4PJ8JT07KFiz80NrVVWTbDSP5kAETaTrWeDHtThF7dG7EqQ1yi/s400/vargas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553399881124366482" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Pale King</span> by David Foster Wallace<br /><div style="text-align: left;">What can I say about this except I will be killed by a marauding pack of hipsters if I get my hands on an advance copy of this. Literary Journal "nice guy" Ronnie Scott has already admitted to me that if he saw me with a copy of this book before its release date, he would "cut up my pretty face real good" and steal it (the book, not my face). For those of you who can't wait a moment longer to get a taste, I would suggest you cut up the pretty face of anyone who owns the sold out 6th "Atlas Edition" of <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.theliftedbrow.com/">The Lifted Brow</a><span style="font-style: italic;">,</span> which contains within it an excerpt from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Pale King</span>. Or you could read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christie_Malry%27s_Own_Double-Entry">this book</a> to get you good and ready for what promises to be THE international literary event of 2011.<br /><br /></div></div></div> </div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHiA5sGrRXyWF8UqArL5z_I_H0WtcBkamIleQwUyN61L3SvShT-yo_AM2EQuYhEEbdBaUbIdXu5D5TOn6TwGSkbVFbvy5xoFDy6xJu6M22c0AJSbJ3_WypsjrLUT9VUKj0kJ8nVEyABaHQ/s1600/thepaleking.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHiA5sGrRXyWF8UqArL5z_I_H0WtcBkamIleQwUyN61L3SvShT-yo_AM2EQuYhEEbdBaUbIdXu5D5TOn6TwGSkbVFbvy5xoFDy6xJu6M22c0AJSbJ3_WypsjrLUT9VUKj0kJ8nVEyABaHQ/s400/thepaleking.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553406398033618642" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />MAY:</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Past the Shallows</span> by Favel Parrett<br /></div> Favel is a dear friend of mine, but that is about to change. Her brilliant, brilliant book (which I have actually read, after hounding my Hachette rep over and over for an advance copy) is coming out at exactly the same time as mine, and I wish it weren't, because I want May 2011 to be a literary wasteland, save for <a href="http://textpublishing.com.au/books-and-authors/book/the-ottoman-motel/">one book</a>. Unfortunately for me, <span style="font-style: italic;">Past the Shallows</span> is a haunting, lyrical story set in the unique coastline of Tasmania, teaching us of the boldness and fragility of growing up. If you like the writing of Tim Winton, you will love this book. And just look at this freaking gorgeous cover:<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMi4ic8rGxgPQm5KCBY900q817xucq26b_boMmOUfgGJmV5D6sI-YtwawP0x7_pAhfEGzEbUBVxeE-c2uTH_GdpvKNosX0-t9Ol4HrfVogmjmz-A-bSeBVbpaVzKBa5dk9B7oDvB6smNSR/s1600/past+the+shallows.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMi4ic8rGxgPQm5KCBY900q817xucq26b_boMmOUfgGJmV5D6sI-YtwawP0x7_pAhfEGzEbUBVxeE-c2uTH_GdpvKNosX0-t9Ol4HrfVogmjmz-A-bSeBVbpaVzKBa5dk9B7oDvB6smNSR/s400/past+the+shallows.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552689626641315442" border="0" /></a><br />Part Two of my 2011 picks coming sooooon.....<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">But until then, what 2011 books are YOU looking forward to?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa23OESld5cIrCXNQLBhMGPzw0eMpGeJanTWF1B9JfBC6D6WHJ_OTkVpolf1h7yrOapV9VTFDZWd8xKYQDk97Bw9ULWuCpBVBi6WYsfiTTTlpBTfEGDl-SEspHHoOa-NqxLMAAIDR6kW3/s1600/tvfingerpoint.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa23OESld5cIrCXNQLBhMGPzw0eMpGeJanTWF1B9JfBC6D6WHJ_OTkVpolf1h7yrOapV9VTFDZWd8xKYQDk97Bw9ULWuCpBVBi6WYsfiTTTlpBTfEGDl-SEspHHoOa-NqxLMAAIDR6kW3/s400/tvfingerpoint.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553407746195704050" border="0" /></a></div>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-59294296004609298322010-12-20T18:33:00.003+10:002010-12-20T18:51:52.353+10:00PUBLIMACATIONWell, it's been a while since the Furious Horse has raised its head, but I thought it was time, seeing as I've got a <a href="http://textpublishing.com.au/books-and-authors/book/the-ottoman-motel/">book coming out soon</a>, and this blog seems to be mentioned quite prominently in the promotion. Maybe there should be a sign saying "OKAY, SO THERE'S NOT MUCH HERE NOW EXCEPT A DUDE RAGGING ON BOOK COVERS, BUT ONCE UPON A TIME HE POSTED A SHORT STORY, LIKE, EVERY DAY. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? CRAZY, RIGHT" but that sign seems a bit aggressive and we all know what happens when you use <a href="http://www.furioushorses.com/2008/03/reasons-i-write-in-capital-letters.html">too much capitalisation</a>.<br /><br />Anyway, here is the cover to my book, which I really like (which is a surprise, as I have pretty strong views about book jackets), and which was designed by the incomparable <a href="http://blogs.crikey.com.au/culture-mulcher/">W. H. Chong</a>.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp822ZG_Wb49sVVyBIjGS2DYuoUgtbc354XhfTsUslnoMV7wrcAKA6AKnEzxo2DzGy-J3GnY8nimbcFpyi8iIh1psLjy4sa241f3sVLJZ9ZHwTpDXui6CyyHS1qSpOPHcCCTD4re0wBAol/s1600/Currie_Ottoman3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp822ZG_Wb49sVVyBIjGS2DYuoUgtbc354XhfTsUslnoMV7wrcAKA6AKnEzxo2DzGy-J3GnY8nimbcFpyi8iIh1psLjy4sa241f3sVLJZ9ZHwTpDXui6CyyHS1qSpOPHcCCTD4re0wBAol/s320/Currie_Ottoman3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552683712571913346" border="0" /></a><br />Stay tuned as I get back in the upside-down saddle for some more book-themed blog posts soon!Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-70182135983441405662010-08-02T19:54:00.004+10:002010-08-02T20:06:51.529+10:00VICTORY!Huzzah!<br /><br />I have just been reliably informed that Allen & Unwin have decided to ditch their proposed cover for Gary Shteyngart's <span style="font-style: italic;">Super Sad True Love Story</span>, and have decided to adopt the UK cover. I'd like to think the Furious Horses Effect is responsible, but more likely all the company reps and booksellers who saw the first cover just shook their heads enough times.<br /><br />Hopefully this means many more sales for an excellent book. And it give me an excuse to show another piece of Shteyngart magic.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QusGU43AUI&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QusGU43AUI&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="385" width="400"></embed></object>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-65022944616853803452010-07-30T21:01:00.009+10:002010-08-02T20:08:10.064+10:00SUPER BADAs much as I do not enjoy kicking a dead horse, Allen and Unwin (via Granta) have once again managed to mangle what could have been a very good cover to a very good book. I've just finished reading Gary Shteyngart's <span style="font-style: italic;">Super Sad True Love Story</span> and it is really, really terrific. He has been an author on my radar for a while now, but once he appeared on the New Yorker's <span style="font-style: italic;">20 Under 40</span> list (obtaining his own <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/06/14/100614fi_fiction_20under40_qa_gary-shteyngart">awkward pencil sketch portrait</a> in the process) and once I read the cover blurb (for a <a href="http://www.saunderssaunderssaunders.com/">George Saunders</a> devotee like me, its recipe of dystopian deadpan surrealism was nigh on irresistible). So, yes, you should read it, but A&U have done their best to convince you otherwise...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4hJ0j-ptH4Gsvt744RnL3NZhKLRXdTyQONQ-FILx0ZBvc5VWZ87yF6JFRzHGOTcGI9bYDrTcvQWlR1d_nzmipG8JlJmkkjcNYKmCmgSDf94OQrES93hYQxaVP-33zwU6cHEV0LVJAMNZ/s1600/austcover.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4hJ0j-ptH4Gsvt744RnL3NZhKLRXdTyQONQ-FILx0ZBvc5VWZ87yF6JFRzHGOTcGI9bYDrTcvQWlR1d_nzmipG8JlJmkkjcNYKmCmgSDf94OQrES93hYQxaVP-33zwU6cHEV0LVJAMNZ/s400/austcover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499654970106014082" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Sometimes you see a book cover and think, <span style="font-style: italic;">okay, that's just something they've knocked up before the real jacket designer comes on board,</span> or, <span style="font-style: italic;">cool, they've asked some gaol inmates to sketch a book cover as part of social therapy classes</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">maybe they've read a two-sentence blurb once and remembered some words and then looked up clipart from Word 95 and pasted it all together</span>. This is one of those covers. For the lead Granta title for September, it's a pretty shocking effort. As one friend in the publishing industry so succinctly put it, "If that cover was my baby, I would try to put it back."<br /><br />Nonetheless, I really do recommend you look past the cover and give it a go. You won't be disappointed.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">In the interests of fairness, however, the US jacket isn't much better:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQXPTcsDKr8X8nyEt7sxIr9dRhKpi1a8n0hex6yNqMvMNd-58tZKWOSddJZ1EezSuO67l7eA_1QeuYkurANupEtff6K4T1-PSAUsheEJ6pVwiyk-EKnta18zfD70bYr_hocTj3JyrAdZQK/s1600/uscover.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQXPTcsDKr8X8nyEt7sxIr9dRhKpi1a8n0hex6yNqMvMNd-58tZKWOSddJZ1EezSuO67l7eA_1QeuYkurANupEtff6K4T1-PSAUsheEJ6pVwiyk-EKnta18zfD70bYr_hocTj3JyrAdZQK/s400/uscover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499656692612788498" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />The UK jacket is getting there, but still doesn't do it for me:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8dGJdrjC7FeQc-HzZ9DhqOLLAOhiov52soLFtK_sH5YE3CuHvtsDRlJTnULNRS7dWihZh0b8sJ23T95WIyJdumTIQKZ2hSiv1BHKNQPCs6TN4jkfDgKI6YAeELJm_GUXzmN58wVnxYtsg/s1600/ukcover.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8dGJdrjC7FeQc-HzZ9DhqOLLAOhiov52soLFtK_sH5YE3CuHvtsDRlJTnULNRS7dWihZh0b8sJ23T95WIyJdumTIQKZ2hSiv1BHKNQPCs6TN4jkfDgKI6YAeELJm_GUXzmN58wVnxYtsg/s400/ukcover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499656934064715138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />P.S. I don't want it to feel like I'm picking on you, Allen & Unwin, so here's a book cover from Penguin (Viking) that I saw today, and should make you feel okay. Buckets ready...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhOi9y-B-VJDsMb-PjcdqMx8S8mGIdZjiWoVz94jRlQf5WO812KdsmpMaSyJivURUuk8uru7PomR50maI-l4iD3lMlg_l6T8np4B7uBZYZnJRcb5oH9gU4yx5oXfh92knB72ekAyFJXT9/s1600/bob+ellis.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhOi9y-B-VJDsMb-PjcdqMx8S8mGIdZjiWoVz94jRlQf5WO812KdsmpMaSyJivURUuk8uru7PomR50maI-l4iD3lMlg_l6T8np4B7uBZYZnJRcb5oH9gU4yx5oXfh92knB72ekAyFJXT9/s400/bob+ellis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499657466722999890" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When <a href="http://web.overland.org.au/wp-content/bob-ellis2.jpg">this image</a> on the cover would be an <span style="font-style: italic;">improvement</span> on the cover, you know you're in trouble.<br /><br />P.P.S. Super Sad True Love Story also has by far the best book trailer of the year. Hi-larious:<br /><br /><object width="400" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EfzuOu4UIOU&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EfzuOu4UIOU&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br /></div>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-46960141447671804042010-05-25T20:14:00.004+10:002010-05-25T20:38:54.814+10:00EMERGALICIOUS!So it's that time of the year again when Melbourne is descended upon by the cream of the "new writing" crop -- the <a href="http://www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au/">Emerging Writers Festival</a> (EWF). I was lucky enough to be invited down last year to talk about my blog "Operas I Have Written for My Cats". Sorry, no, that's my other project. It was for this place, where you're reading this. Back when I wrote a short story a day. Anyway...<br /><br />I had such a good time last year, and was so impressed with the organisation, enthusiasm and energy around the festival (by far the best Writers Festival I'd been to) that I simply had to go back. This year I'll be in conversation with writer, artist and performer Beth Sometimes, and more specifically about her <span style="font-style: italic;">Adventure in Postcards</span>, where she wrote a postcard to "someone or something" every day for a year. The results were compiled in her charming and impressive book <a href="http://www.affirmpress.com.au/from-sometimes-love-beth"><span style="font-style: italic;">From Sometimes Love Beth</span></a>. Our conversation will form part of the EWF's <a href="http://www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au/program/town-hall-program/#fhtt">From Here to There</a> series, during their jam-packed <a href="http://www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au/program/town-hall-program/">Town Hall Program</a>, which you can buy a pass to for the whole weekend May 29-30. Seriously, you won't be disappointed.<br /><br />I had such a great time last year taking part in a From Here to There session, chatting with <a href="http://gingerandhoney.com/">Stef Convery</a> about <a href="http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/horse_fighting_3sfw.jpg">Furious Horses</a>, and answering questions from a mind-bogglingly enthusiastic audience. I was also fortunate enough to be able to stick around the town hall and encounter a whole bunch of other wonderful discussions, panels and performances. If you're anywhere near Melbourne, I encourage you to do the same. EWF has been running from May 21, and has all sorts of brilliant things going on, both in and around Melbourne, and on <a href="http://twitter.com/emergingwriters">Twitter</a>.<br /><br />I would love to list all the sessions I want to attend, but it'll be quicker just to point you to the EWF <a href="http://www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au/program/">program</a>. I'll see you there!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Popular blogger Christopher Currie enjoys the perks of Melbourne Town Hall, EWF 2009:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZ2dH6lPWr-smizRtTEDwntCwvw2eSRT2a4IcKyj6qe3i_hT-awokyyPyHPL5cX_su2cFKKpRuVEnB1Ti92i_Z7DmuHI0zdWfBQLajsDvdpavBPZLHwq8ptbQYRJ4d-xMl3duLAiLUwXW/s1600/4252_92263427351_513987351_2356373_2117234_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZ2dH6lPWr-smizRtTEDwntCwvw2eSRT2a4IcKyj6qe3i_hT-awokyyPyHPL5cX_su2cFKKpRuVEnB1Ti92i_Z7DmuHI0zdWfBQLajsDvdpavBPZLHwq8ptbQYRJ4d-xMl3duLAiLUwXW/s400/4252_92263427351_513987351_2356373_2117234_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475154829768840114" border="0" /></a><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOHR2W_AnvjV8pZ_F0UJ8f1R2iP0dm60GoTr4oFyNHwrCIgr0X_Mdfuo6XT83IIR1BNLtOSSAmKTEWJxhtdCN2g9rU_K0rLuXxRUknZWzOX7UD0ICPFCCO1AQc1s1jZ3otLUi9M-xnGmtH/s1600/13740_180140036323_696861323_3375642_5607198_n.jpg"><br /></a>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-45370470566441336342010-04-19T18:14:00.007+10:002010-04-19T19:57:05.469+10:00DOUBLE-DOWNSitting down with my rep from Hachette Publishing last week, I learnt that two new John Grisham books were slated to appear in late May, one adult title and one young adult title. Stifling a yawn, and ready to move on to making fun of the <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2764/4522438441_88370f6165_o.jpg">new Stephen King B-format covers</a>, I noticed that the two books had the same title. It seemed as if Hodder & Stoughton Australia (and UK) were planning to release both an adult and YA version of the same book. Well ... no.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">This is the "Adult" edition. Recommended Retail Price $32.99:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmy5FyRLDcqN2QGekDHd_s-jxLfCI4ayj9fnsC8086gEtKOdCp6Ufv5DxKOGFTfue6uk8rUfAxLFlxcxktYo-eydb_Fx12YR_np0tBM4iQ7smF8n8FyOodmK3G3XMohQ2WaV5c6CQfdX2_/s1600/51PbUGs22eL.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmy5FyRLDcqN2QGekDHd_s-jxLfCI4ayj9fnsC8086gEtKOdCp6Ufv5DxKOGFTfue6uk8rUfAxLFlxcxktYo-eydb_Fx12YR_np0tBM4iQ7smF8n8FyOodmK3G3XMohQ2WaV5c6CQfdX2_/s400/51PbUGs22eL.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461765943618858386" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">This is the "Young Adult" edition. Recommended Retail Price $25<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kqVx55md_jDpS5AA8WqkTOugiadA2NprKkRe91r53yEt7_x_qPxxk7UQuifK1fd9cd0s1_xqrsTP8dBK2f-fAFJc_QUSYRN9Mt81_5kBMy7BoW5G0s0yhNmVi9yKqBLIhLLz1O5KE9SL/s1600/9781444714753.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kqVx55md_jDpS5AA8WqkTOugiadA2NprKkRe91r53yEt7_x_qPxxk7UQuifK1fd9cd0s1_xqrsTP8dBK2f-fAFJc_QUSYRN9Mt81_5kBMy7BoW5G0s0yhNmVi9yKqBLIhLLz1O5KE9SL/s400/9781444714753.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461766808523865474" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Yep, you guessed it. Same book, different covers, different prices. Same book-buying market. Now I've got no issue with "crossover" novels <span style="font-style: italic;">per se</span> (think <span style="font-style: italic;">The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">The Book Thief</span>), or even dual covers (think <span style="font-style: italic;">Harry Potter</span> or Neil Gaiman's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Graveyard Book</span>). The main problem for me, in this instance, is that the whole endeavor is so <span style="font-style: italic;">calculated</span>. You see, in the US—the home of old Pelican Briefs himself—there is only going to be one version of the book. See if you can guess which market Grisham wrote it for (apart from 80s VHS-cover fanatics).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjrQcsG7oSNhemrxWV0AeukUMj1Xri_iTiOOPwe31KWczPsY4hOHJ7TOxweI7Jaee80I8oCeuvjghIHv78joQ58h6UFFxXCmWQYEVSgKntSecXw-ZtRqNC3kjQXWDWObrEjUaQ56LglQb/s1600/theodoreboone_rgb-hires11.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjrQcsG7oSNhemrxWV0AeukUMj1Xri_iTiOOPwe31KWczPsY4hOHJ7TOxweI7Jaee80I8oCeuvjghIHv78joQ58h6UFFxXCmWQYEVSgKntSecXw-ZtRqNC3kjQXWDWObrEjUaQ56LglQb/s400/theodoreboone_rgb-hires11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461781797378880418" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />Yes, in the US, it is a KIDS' BOOK. It's abundantly clear that Hodder & Stoughton and Hachette Australia just want more market share. Pure and simple. Their press release seems to paint the idea as deeply democratic, and just giving fans what they want. But, seriously, guys, come clean.<br /><br /></div></div>I would rather chew off my own arm than read this book, but if you do, it's embargoed until its worldwide release on May 25. And don't forget, you've got two great choices of how much money you fork out for it. Do enjoy.Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-48580007454495617292010-04-08T19:22:00.006+10:002010-04-08T22:20:09.208+10:00COVER-GO-ROUNDOnce upon a time, this crappy book cover ...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTpRe6D-0LZjVaeFKD2-UQ034qx3HSerM9eWCMb07v2MGoy2w6OdWfg97Dj1Z8pLmlWQR09qzKbxR3ybcYyn-ptdbeC-wxDOdvwn0cGQ2pPjUAJj3x9ssLxdWwKgqykH5IsoqI0nP3NNt/s1600/JASPER+B.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTpRe6D-0LZjVaeFKD2-UQ034qx3HSerM9eWCMb07v2MGoy2w6OdWfg97Dj1Z8pLmlWQR09qzKbxR3ybcYyn-ptdbeC-wxDOdvwn0cGQ2pPjUAJj3x9ssLxdWwKgqykH5IsoqI0nP3NNt/s400/JASPER+B.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457697359223998338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />became this awesome book cover ...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJrcicerO3MdTaDIe5ZzjBXxTUrmJvg1ENnFanudpCiqCTHDylzpH2vvBYc_zvWG4S11sNjmr1dakq0cilLYT6IHtDwhPAPFiG1q4vQJH9_yS5cneQEtSIO0MmEeUQEzOFu0jcINvWTHF/s1600/Jasper.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJrcicerO3MdTaDIe5ZzjBXxTUrmJvg1ENnFanudpCiqCTHDylzpH2vvBYc_zvWG4S11sNjmr1dakq0cilLYT6IHtDwhPAPFiG1q4vQJH9_yS5cneQEtSIO0MmEeUQEzOFu0jcINvWTHF/s400/Jasper.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457697479323212370" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />which was trying to be like this even more awesome book cover ...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-msU360KCsq6jmEpVtqLpkJjMpWxhdkrxTSbcPnpaVvgGGcOAHO7vqhK6NjboFr1p0yi0lp2_R5nCifj_gY_wEXCAn1fZr7o9_ZpmrcFZchw6-7OSVMGGyrvN69TYqhI6sZ8HDXCwt0p1/s1600/THIS+IS+BFORM.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-msU360KCsq6jmEpVtqLpkJjMpWxhdkrxTSbcPnpaVvgGGcOAHO7vqhK6NjboFr1p0yi0lp2_R5nCifj_gY_wEXCAn1fZr7o9_ZpmrcFZchw6-7OSVMGGyrvN69TYqhI6sZ8HDXCwt0p1/s400/THIS+IS+BFORM.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457697198026994450" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />which, for some reason, is becoming this crappy book cover ...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaMagSIn8JY4m3ERF3mp9Exk99upe2HIe5_2KvRatFidEkFTHPeDmyv6IYVzgndd2X5BE_W-Dp-jMy3mz0mQDP30AZH7BkNIS-R-6hNHwcmmrV5dU2vWNQ2K_Te0zZ_JlIv4rDW-3b3Sh/s1600/THIS+IS+HOW.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaMagSIn8JY4m3ERF3mp9Exk99upe2HIe5_2KvRatFidEkFTHPeDmyv6IYVzgndd2X5BE_W-Dp-jMy3mz0mQDP30AZH7BkNIS-R-6hNHwcmmrV5dU2vWNQ2K_Te0zZ_JlIv4rDW-3b3Sh/s400/THIS+IS+HOW.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457694752070663698" border="0" /></a>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-26845416766057609022010-03-29T21:36:00.004+10:002010-03-29T21:51:48.423+10:00HOW TO BUGGER UP THE B-FORMAT SALES OF MY FAVOURITE BOOK OF 2009 IN ON EASY STEP<div style="text-align: center;">Another slow handclap for Allen & Unwin:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjceJzD6BmTl1Ng2teDPuVVlCqTv-Sm9WUXVjRpav72MdMXwt_N5-g50-Kzlcra8h7Sx75yKiXUkLFtb2nshHhPsLxvJ_m1inPK1IW6GLN-3jDesqOvFpw_NGsEhmUbo34fWJQbg0kC5_Kw/s1600/9781847081209.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjceJzD6BmTl1Ng2teDPuVVlCqTv-Sm9WUXVjRpav72MdMXwt_N5-g50-Kzlcra8h7Sx75yKiXUkLFtb2nshHhPsLxvJ_m1inPK1IW6GLN-3jDesqOvFpw_NGsEhmUbo34fWJQbg0kC5_Kw/s400/9781847081209.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454021640237757218" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's a teen educational book about Vikings, yes?<br /></div>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-18061114891493550852010-03-25T21:54:00.002+10:002010-03-25T22:08:37.120+10:00REMAINDERS OF THE DAYDiscount bookshops are a hunting ground of both pleasure and pain for me, a soon-to-be-published author, and independent bookshop employee. To see all those unsold/returned/unsellable books stacked up, it tends to break your heart a bit. Still, there are reasons books end up in the discount pile. My most recent trip to Brisbane's biggest discount book graveyard reminded me of a few of them...<br /><br />#1 One spin-off too many<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKdBhnJuV1t2ChEfa80g-yFuttlF_6xAx0DMCu9a_qc_btHq3yZ7X3cijAmkkfmQy203Gtij5AjUWvO9_TzuAnmb-qVd0ey3iL0RRP1AkfPPTU4hHNDffGoMsR3C7KsplzebcP9eAd0Km/s1600/IMG_0316.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKdBhnJuV1t2ChEfa80g-yFuttlF_6xAx0DMCu9a_qc_btHq3yZ7X3cijAmkkfmQy203Gtij5AjUWvO9_TzuAnmb-qVd0ey3iL0RRP1AkfPPTU4hHNDffGoMsR3C7KsplzebcP9eAd0Km/s400/IMG_0316.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452540317600412706" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />#2 Books with coloured pages<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJmIj8iuBXeDprqjxSVHG_zvwSdxUAcfdOsixh5N_gnCDzOs0Kzd1bMwO7yr60hqL7ilWWCyHohRmmiKI9G30uGnMMMZBzF3NkLdsn1IRLpTsT60_Rbj1sFSIi0A5T57plXSHomPKp6mG/s1600/IMG_0315.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJmIj8iuBXeDprqjxSVHG_zvwSdxUAcfdOsixh5N_gnCDzOs0Kzd1bMwO7yr60hqL7ilWWCyHohRmmiKI9G30uGnMMMZBzF3NkLdsn1IRLpTsT60_Rbj1sFSIi0A5T57plXSHomPKp6mG/s400/IMG_0315.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452540304163293922" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />#3 Books that don't fit on any regular bookshelf<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQsI_jFziIt_a2mLboc6M7Ieg3iM-ll6dSVVj_u64JWk72WuGLTQVb6p9vGJ0Q4UOa7g6BupNkafFm9637lEtThbnuoWbkeSuvMxYSxir8XxJAX6vNi5en6vTfz2cDZnCFQI0lbWP4OOi/s1600/IMG_0314.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQsI_jFziIt_a2mLboc6M7Ieg3iM-ll6dSVVj_u64JWk72WuGLTQVb6p9vGJ0Q4UOa7g6BupNkafFm9637lEtThbnuoWbkeSuvMxYSxir8XxJAX6vNi5en6vTfz2cDZnCFQI0lbWP4OOi/s400/IMG_0314.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452540293607579410" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />#Books that have to be pulped once their subjects turn out to be a deeply dodgy probable rapist. Or Matthew Johns.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8uQq9zg57SuqyY1J1nzcUQNxyYGZj47LIGSl4_vU0Sci9Mt2bHuwtkW7C6xtOoBWjfMQtQyUg2d_EMs1VCok3RoH0DtU1cXu9C9yCKXgWQSH7a8RILy_W2T0Xwc01qCulNf0gd-m_Kmz/s1600/IMG_0313.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8uQq9zg57SuqyY1J1nzcUQNxyYGZj47LIGSl4_vU0Sci9Mt2bHuwtkW7C6xtOoBWjfMQtQyUg2d_EMs1VCok3RoH0DtU1cXu9C9yCKXgWQSH7a8RILy_W2T0Xwc01qCulNf0gd-m_Kmz/s400/IMG_0313.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452540285422295074" border="0" /></a>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-43319342306567563152010-03-22T22:28:00.002+10:002010-03-22T22:32:27.476+10:00SOME THINGS PUBLISHING REPS HAVE ACTUALLY SAID TO ME"Dinosaurs are great. They never die."<br /><br />"This book is about Stephen Gately, from Boyzone, who is currently dead."<br /><br />(Of a book of collected football chants, called <span style="font-style: italic;">Referee's a W****r!</span>): "This one is called <span style="font-style: italic;">Referee's War</span>."<br /><br />"No really, you should order 20 copies of Cherie Blair's biography. People can't get enough of her."<br /><br />"Of <span style="font-style: italic;">course</span> that won't be the final cover."Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-25796568347503442022010-02-08T11:49:00.003+10:002010-02-08T12:42:22.192+10:00UGLY PLACESOver at the Queensland Writers Centre's <a href="http://www.qwc.asn.au/WritersResources/Blog.aspx">Empty Page Blog</a>, they're "Loving the Ugly", which is not a court-ordered Community Service, but rather a peek into the private creative spaces of some Queensland writers as part of their rather wonderful Blog Tour. I agreed last month to unveil the ugly reality of my writing space, without quite realising that by the time it came to blog about it, I wouldn't actually be at home.<br /><br />You, see, my <a href="http://www.avidreader.com.au/">ridiculously kind employers</a> have agreed to give me a month off to finish the redrafting of my novel, which goes to print next year, but still has plenty of work to go on it yet. So I'm at my parents' place for a week, revisiting <a href="http://www.warwickdragway.com/">the</a> <a href="http://www.wht.org.au/">old</a> <a href="http://www.warwickrodeo.com.au/">country</a>, and allowing myself some uninterrupted writing time. So, suffice to say, you shan't be seeing pictures of my <a href="http://www.forensic-applications.com/meth/locations.jpg">study</a> back in Brisbane, but rather the picturesque writing space of a prodigal son.<br /><br />This is where I started writing this morning ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7pjM6lAzVkqfBn1CvK-D04lm6eaALzq-sEXWceim63TpPG9Z0aHdlhhk6zDDEIZd-aTARznzaGmQtr5RNS40yOR3MEAYiaI00X1hYR4jlcgPMYwbnmj265gfI8W5vAflhlxD6-dmPFTq/s1600-h/inside.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7pjM6lAzVkqfBn1CvK-D04lm6eaALzq-sEXWceim63TpPG9Z0aHdlhhk6zDDEIZd-aTARznzaGmQtr5RNS40yOR3MEAYiaI00X1hYR4jlcgPMYwbnmj265gfI8W5vAflhlxD6-dmPFTq/s400/inside.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435690106549728178" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />And this is where I'm writing this afternoon ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWliVV2yUeJdTAQfGM8CgpDlYB44Y1NIg3voyAQkxllUnpxGE3kOdfQ5bE8ZcgzX4ANEJgfjAtrp1h97fnifYKZs9mBqtMF7hYyac81IGEHbbGbQmCZBVmTRm-VPkq0VgKS4tf6ktx0aAW/s1600-h/outside.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWliVV2yUeJdTAQfGM8CgpDlYB44Y1NIg3voyAQkxllUnpxGE3kOdfQ5bE8ZcgzX4ANEJgfjAtrp1h97fnifYKZs9mBqtMF7hYyac81IGEHbbGbQmCZBVmTRm-VPkq0VgKS4tf6ktx0aAW/s400/outside.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435690684529121618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Being home also rekindles early book memories, with an important portion of my childhood book collection still intact on a bookshelf...<br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5BLKnE5CpM2GfCxBQ0yQKzgEUmNLi1R7PNAQ-3ospcL3eH1gdxc5p04WkqmFd14AV2aClASuJdDkhkGQ4ec8ArRAeNuXwc7ftq2VAbuLyZt80Mm7EqaJoHtK8tAwqp6SOB-xEmSqXeRZ/s1600-h/noddy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5BLKnE5CpM2GfCxBQ0yQKzgEUmNLi1R7PNAQ-3ospcL3eH1gdxc5p04WkqmFd14AV2aClASuJdDkhkGQ4ec8ArRAeNuXwc7ftq2VAbuLyZt80Mm7EqaJoHtK8tAwqp6SOB-xEmSqXeRZ/s400/noddy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435690679907936146" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And the same bookshelf holding a surprising reminder of why my novel is a mystery story ...<br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGjYCU05yWStdKGzGvo8ovd8_cPm30sAi-l_3sj2xis0xXRa398yxOmbEb20fKFrCpphEMIdyc2tWi9yFmzNM9jYTvRAIDCZVYlFqxDG-lEdNyCHN8RPem7ohMz6FIijBIlRtF2AZISun/s1600-h/mystery.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGjYCU05yWStdKGzGvo8ovd8_cPm30sAi-l_3sj2xis0xXRa398yxOmbEb20fKFrCpphEMIdyc2tWi9yFmzNM9jYTvRAIDCZVYlFqxDG-lEdNyCHN8RPem7ohMz6FIijBIlRtF2AZISun/s400/mystery.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435690674359330706" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">So not very ugly, but important pieces of why I write are buried here. And don't forget to head to <a href="http://www.qwc.asn.au/WritersResources/Blog.aspx">The Empty Page Blog</a> for more writing spaces by some great Queensland writers.<br /></div></div>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-59724316893375925932010-02-01T18:30:00.002+10:002010-02-01T18:35:01.517+10:00SPLOGGINGNo post here today, but I've contributed my thoughts about <span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">the loyalties and realities of stocking small presses in bookshops over at the SPUNC (Small Press Underground Network Community) <a href="http://spunc.com.au/splog/post/the-indie-question-independent-book-buying-in-a-mainstream-economy-guest-post-by-christopher-currie/">Splog</a>. I hope it splaises some interesting splestions.<br /></span></span>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-16468558186884189172010-01-20T19:21:00.003+10:002010-01-20T19:41:16.536+10:00I YAM WHAT I YAM<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">The question you will be asked most in your life is not <i>Who are you?</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;"> It’s not <i>What are you doing here?</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;"> It’s <i>What do you do?</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;"> At every <a href="http://static.reelmovienews.com/images/gallery/awkward-dinner-party.jpg">awkward dinner party</a>, in every <a href="http://www.crankycritic.com/archive04/posters/taxi.jpg">taxi ride</a>, in every <a href="http://images02.olx.com.pk/ui/4/47/78/63663978_2-hair-transplant-surgery-pakistans-best-hair-transplant-center-by-qualified-doctors-Islamabad.jpg">doctor’s surgery</a>, this is the ice-breaker <i>par excellence</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">. And what do I say? </span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Back at university, when I wore exclusively second hand clothes, listened exclusively to Elliott Smith and read exclusively Surrealists, I would say <i>I’m a writer</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">. This was my identity. This was <i>who I was.</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">These days, ask me and I’ll say <i>I’m a bookseller</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">. Perversely, today’s Chris is far closer to being what I you would consider a writer than university Chris ever was. So what has changed?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Partially, it’s the inability to answer follow-up questions like <i>What do you write? Where can I find your books?</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;"> or, my personal favourite, <i>So, are you more Dan Brown or Harry Potter?</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;"> Asking <i>What do you write?</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;"> is the single most annoying thing you can do to a writer, because it strikes at the very heart of any writer’s greatest fear: that what they do is actually impossible. <i>Well, I use my imagination to capture reality in order to conjure it back up as a representation of the reality I just took it away from</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">. Or, to paraphrase Adorno and Beckett: art is a desecration of silence, wishing it were possible to restore that silence.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Ever since I escaped four years of university Creative Writing classes, I have tried to approach the idea of a writing career as realistically as I can. I will not be published straight away. I will not win the Miles Franklin. I will not be invited to Peter, Paul and Siri’s for dinner. And when I say this, of course in my head I think YES I WILL YES I WILL YES I WILL.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">There is a curious paradox in <i>believing</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;"> yourself to be a writer. I have spent too long on Creative Industries campuses and been to too many youth arts festivals to believe any more that simply behaving like a writer will give you literary success. Sure, you wear vintage, carry a battered Kerouac and have a kooky taste in eyewear, but do you know how to put a sentence together? It’s one thing to dress for success, but if you can’t write, you can’t write.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">One thing I tell people when I’m (for some reason) asked to talk about writing is “Be the hardest working writer you know,” which is something I truly believe in. Writing is fun, yes, and it can be rock and roll and über-cool, but for the most part it is freaking hard work. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Think about it. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Here is you. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Here is a blank page.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Go to it.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Quite clearly, you need a strong belief in your skill in writing, and the application of that skill, and that does require a high level of self-confidence, but if you think you’ve already made it, then you probably haven’t. Maybe the motto should be: <i>Think you’re the best writer in the world, but know that you’re not.<o:p></o:p></i> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Now if you really love writing, the last thing on your mind should be making money from it but the idea of reaching a stage in your life where you can make a living just by making things up is amazing. And, more importantly, the thought of one day being able to define yoursel</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">f by the thing you love doing most is not only thrilling but about as satisfying a goal as you can get.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">So what am I saying, really?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">My name is Chris, and I’m a writer. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Georgia;">Maybe.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnGV-2UvjfhZceVWdG2k2UdZsvFpDv1GcxsRchAJKTe_yCjNSkhRrz0yecE37vYX3qh_1dBl7O7RUrPWkcZv3k9xZFx4kovPTG8KljteJEaKJc9CNvr4MVGwi53-Gd4KF9Xu6XqqffhG7l/s1600-h/6a00d8341c013b53ef01053632a478970c-800wi.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 389px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnGV-2UvjfhZceVWdG2k2UdZsvFpDv1GcxsRchAJKTe_yCjNSkhRrz0yecE37vYX3qh_1dBl7O7RUrPWkcZv3k9xZFx4kovPTG8KljteJEaKJc9CNvr4MVGwi53-Gd4KF9Xu6XqqffhG7l/s400/6a00d8341c013b53ef01053632a478970c-800wi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428753681863865138" border="0" /></a></p> <!--EndFragment-->Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-49247097756564662522010-01-12T17:37:00.002+10:002010-01-12T17:41:06.251+10:00SIMPLICITIVITINESS<div style="text-align: center;">Two book covers I very much like...<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWMdn0nC3OKoB8HIdqDoBSEqMJjIcgraSiZcPyg3B6A8lnhMu8GCUojYXgIqAYWB0QEaQhnDy9NscgkjRAT-B6y9VCbH4EZ6mnhc8DP96DZ0VqYlGlJbFEY7_9jPYkbfSU97qTlhnRCjU/s1600-h/9780393338072_300.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWMdn0nC3OKoB8HIdqDoBSEqMJjIcgraSiZcPyg3B6A8lnhMu8GCUojYXgIqAYWB0QEaQhnDy9NscgkjRAT-B6y9VCbH4EZ6mnhc8DP96DZ0VqYlGlJbFEY7_9jPYkbfSU97qTlhnRCjU/s400/9780393338072_300.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425754443460991938" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1i4u3v8ry27RHiJaJgLBcGLwwWPYKkhvVehQK7fM6vldYvyt-saNKklNTN_yJgVBYVR2vwBO-fA-aph-QFJUbmYL496cBGJDqKQBz8_x3giVxivL0C7ZFsEzuNBP17EH4ATHDYr0xiy2q/s1600-h/tobin7.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1i4u3v8ry27RHiJaJgLBcGLwwWPYKkhvVehQK7fM6vldYvyt-saNKklNTN_yJgVBYVR2vwBO-fA-aph-QFJUbmYL496cBGJDqKQBz8_x3giVxivL0C7ZFsEzuNBP17EH4ATHDYr0xiy2q/s400/tobin7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425754523553350738" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Proving that the simple way is often the best way.<br /><br /><br /></div>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-46995637868324673322009-12-14T21:55:00.005+10:002009-12-14T22:22:03.265+10:00THE EXTRAORDINARY GIFT OF ABUNDANCE. OR SOMETHING.<meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>159</o:Words> <o:characters>908</o:Characters> <o:lines>7</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>1115</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1282</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.0pt 842.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I have been incredibly slack updating this old blog, but needless to say, plenty of novel re-writing and Christmas-madness-at-the-bookshop is going on.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">But. I couldn't </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >not</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> share this piece of writing with you. It comes from an upcoming Self-Help release called </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Consciousness is the New Currency</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, written by husband-and-wife team, and co-conspirators in something called "<a href="http://www.thejourney.com/australasia/about.htm">The Journey : A new paradigm for manifesting conscious abundance, lasting fulfilment and a sustainable future</a>", Brandon Bays and Kevin Billett. The following blurb for their book is some of the finest mumbo-jumbo I've ever read:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">"In this groundbreaking, inspiring and interactive book, Brandon Bays and Kevin Billett take you on a powerful journey which will explode the limiting paradigms that have kept you from experiencing unbridled fulfilment in your life. Step by step, the practical, effective process work will clear the fear-consciousness, emotional blocks and deeply-held negative beliefs that have compromised your ability to manifest healthy abundance.
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">The unique and liberating teachings open you directly into your own boundless potential, effortlessly guiding you to manifest limitless abundance in your career, health, relationships, creativity - financially, emotionally, physically, spiritually - on all levels of being.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">This work will radically liberate you. It will give you conscious, skilful tools to manifest wholesome abundance in your own life and the means to be part of the wave of awakening and transformation our world needs.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">This is your invitation to say 'yes' to your own greatness - to a new form of abundance-consciousness, one that is as fulfilling personally as it is integrative globally."</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">WHAAAAAAAAAAAA?</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUPMis57ora6GgPFqGfU-HPXhOp3n6budRrmaaWJum5rOligN58O9tsSRcJbM9NA8tZG-BrlNArLEOqKId_PszcEUpx_lAf-6_dPYEb97XYzUDADF0IQzQ1CUNM1FPeIRM3nbQzjc4NNeY/s1600-h/CTNC-BOOK-COVER-09.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUPMis57ora6GgPFqGfU-HPXhOp3n6budRrmaaWJum5rOligN58O9tsSRcJbM9NA8tZG-BrlNArLEOqKId_PszcEUpx_lAf-6_dPYEb97XYzUDADF0IQzQ1CUNM1FPeIRM3nbQzjc4NNeY/s400/CTNC-BOOK-COVER-09.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415063462947890162" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">As I don't understand one word of what this book is about, maybe I should sign up for a "Journey Intensive Weekend" (ONLY $795!!!) in order to live my life as a joyous expression of the true radiance that I always knew was deep inside.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Now I don't want to belittle something that a lot of people might get a lot out of (and making fun of Self-Help books is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel), but really, could that blurb hedge its </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">bets any more than it did? Why not just say: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >"This book will change all the things you want changed in you and your life. Or maybe not. But maybe, right?"</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> And what's with the "sustainable future" bit of the subtitle? Trend-jump much?
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">P.S. For something a little more tailored to my needs, maybe I should sign up to <a href="http://www.thejourney.com/australasia/man.htm"><span style="font-style: italic;">JourneyMan</span></a>, an extensive course taken by someone called Phill. Yes, that's with two Ls.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">P.P.S. But seriously, my cynical, closed-off mind was changed when I saw this comprehensive graph:</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p face="georgia" style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEoQsftwS12iO2jEDgCb_AjM0RBXO4Opc1iAB0aW9-YSSYYVwfewX2IAHhU5PR3tTY9rgB2yeWumnqFoy5VMV-pllBZWb41k6sRtSLCjExClyLSzrmgHwFdUo_E4FJblU85flpB-Mmf9D/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEoQsftwS12iO2jEDgCb_AjM0RBXO4Opc1iAB0aW9-YSSYYVwfewX2IAHhU5PR3tTY9rgB2yeWumnqFoy5VMV-pllBZWb41k6sRtSLCjExClyLSzrmgHwFdUo_E4FJblU85flpB-Mmf9D/s400/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415065153405782610" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Boy have I got egg on my face! Sorry Brandon. Sorry Kevin. Sorry Phill.
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><!--EndFragment--> </p>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-73357189763293557962009-11-09T20:03:00.003+10:002009-11-09T20:20:18.242+10:00APPEARANCES!Just a quick note to tell you where you can pay to read some FH stories that you can read on here for free. Enticing, no? Actually, there are edited, cleaner version of the drivel I put up here. So seek out the fine publications they appear in, and support independent publications!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">How To Explain It To Someone Who Wasn't Actually There</span> appears in Issue Seven of excellent Melbourne journal <a href="http://www.pageseventeen.com.au/issues.html">Page Seventeen</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Brainchild</span>; <span style="font-style: italic;">Top Ten Songs To Sing While Picking Mulberries</span>; and <span style="font-style: italic;">Television Listings : Dramas</span> will appear in the first edition of <a href="http://smallroommagazine.blogspot.com/">Small Room</a>, a Gold Coast-based fold-out poster-sized literary journal. Sounds rad? It is! Want to be present at the grand unfolding of Issue One? Then <a href="http://www.avidreader.com.au/index.php?option=com_registrationpro&view=event&Itemid=0&did=28&shw_attendees=0">come along</a> to Avid Reader Bookshop on Tuesday November 24.<br /><br />Also, my first few LOLeratures have gone up on LOLerature. Have all your meme fusion needs satisfied <a href="http://lolerature.tumblr.com/post/231899619/from-chris">here</a>, <a href="http://lolerature.tumblr.com/post/236122131/didactikz">here</a> and <a href="http://lolerature.tumblr.com/post/237337180/bookerz-devere">here</a>.<br /><br />Further to LOLerature, Somerville and I are mentioned in <a href="http://trueslant.com/lauranathan/2009/11/06/i-can-haz-author-lols-qa-with-the-blogger-behind-lolerature/">this article</a>. Hilarious.Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-90488393546258508922009-11-05T10:00:00.005+10:002009-11-05T10:51:37.261+10:00THE UNNAMEDI guess I don't usually post reviews here, but I feel I have to for the book I just read, by Joshua Ferris, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Unnamed</span> (Penguin, February 2010). Ferris is the author of one of my all-time favourites, the brilliantly funny <a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/lookinside/spotlight.cfm?SBN=9780141027630&CFID=6440949&CFTOKEN=41201329"><span style="font-style: italic;">Then We Came To The End</span></a>, and I was understandably excited to get my hands on his new title. As I've discussed before, this book is a definite <a href="http://www.furioushorses.com/2009/09/galley-anxiety.html">Status Galley</a>. Unfortunately, I didn't get to show this advance copy off in trendy coffee shops because I read it in two large bites in the comfort of my own home. Oh well.<br /><br />Can I first give you the official blurb:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Tim Farnsworth is a handsome, healthy man, age</span><span style="font-style: italic;">ing with the grace of a matinée idol. He loves his work. He loves his family. He loves his kitchen. And then one day he stands up and walks out on all of it. He cannot stop walking. And, as his body propels him relentlessly forward, deep into the unfamiliar outer reaches of the city, he begins to realise he is moving further and further from his old self, seemingly unable to turn back and retrieve what he has lost."<br /></span><br />The "Unnamed" of the title is a mysterious illness that compels Tim Farnsworth to walk. Despite the misleading blurb, we actually join the story at the third relapse of Tim's walking compulsion, and begin to see the effect it has already had on his wife and daughter. We start to understand Tim's true predicament: his illness is not one that anyone has heard of, or treated, before. This slow reveal is the best part of the narrative, with sly chronological shifts adding to the mysterious premise.<br /><br />A fascinating set-up is complicated further with a sidebar courtroom drama, as Tim's job as a high-flying corporate lawyer is endangered by his illness, and an important case is compromised (despite a fortuitous meeting with a strange man on a bridge with a knife). As Tim's world slowly crumbles around him, he is forced to evaluate what is most important to him.<br /><br />Where this book falls apart, I have to sadly admit, is in the third section, where Tim takes his fourth and fatal walk out the door. Having resurrected his marriage with long-suffering wife Jane, Tim relapses and sets off across the country. What has been up till now a fascinating literary concept turns into pages upon pages of "crazy talk" which, in and of itself is a clever enough representation of a man's descent into madness, it really goes on too long. As he becomes more and more unhinged, as he cares less and less for his physical health, the narrative turns into a grab-bag of unappealing medical terminology and repeated tumble-turns of sanity.<br /><br />This is a real pity, because at the centre of this book is a real heart, and the many passages (especially those between Tim and Jane) are extremely moving. I would recommend this book for its concept, for some extraordinary passages of writing, and the actual ambition of what is a very clever concept. And it did keep me up finishing it, so that has to count for something.<br /><br />And, once more, Penguin completely has completely buggered up the cover ("Ooh! New Candace Bushnell! Wait a minute..."):<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiEyJ0Za1CQy5ygkC7jUxORZpL5mmB3G_VghbYqehMnvcSom_S3-0kaRCL16Fv0tZZO2QzSwyiIOJk7qlUDGIStrWnGixkkZtgN1Y8w-KC7-fvUN9kCyI09sac8R6OrjnGlpS3kEwEDiLE/s1600-h/9780670917709.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiEyJ0Za1CQy5ygkC7jUxORZpL5mmB3G_VghbYqehMnvcSom_S3-0kaRCL16Fv0tZZO2QzSwyiIOJk7qlUDGIStrWnGixkkZtgN1Y8w-KC7-fvUN9kCyI09sac8R6OrjnGlpS3kEwEDiLE/s400/9780670917709.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400411906065793122" border="0" /></a><br /><br />*Further to this, could <span style="font-style: italic;">The Unnamed</span> by termed a "Neuronovel?" Read the fascinating article about this trend on <a href="http://www.nplusonemag.com/rise-neuronovel">n + 1</a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-22582253886199149782009-11-02T09:00:00.000+10:002009-11-02T09:00:03.568+10:00PROBLEM SOLVEREDTurns out the LOLerature/LOLrature incident wasn't a high level conspiracy after all. The author of LOLerature, Faith, posted a very nice comment on my previous post, pointing out that it was simply a case of coincidence. She had been posting her LOLauthors for a while on her blog <a href="http://faithandbegorrah.tumblr.com">Faith&Begorrah</a>, and it was pure chance she started up the Tumblr blog just before mine and Chris Somerville's LOLrature blog was going to begin. Anyway, you can now find our stuff going up at <a href="http://lolerature.tumblr.com/">LOLerature,</a> the ONLY home of LOLauthors.Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907246643854876980.post-25055558492548773492009-10-23T22:32:00.003+10:002009-10-23T22:58:49.760+10:00TO LOL OR NOT TO LOL?On my regular trawl through my Google Reader this evening, I stumbled upon a massively disturbing post. I've not experienced anything quite like it before.<br /><br />Some background: My friend Chris and I had been kicking around an idea for a few weeks, namely that we should create a blog that combined obscure literary references with blatant popularity. We settled upon "LOLrature", a blog that would create <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat">Lolcat</a> versions of famous writers.<br /><br />On the 13th of October, I reactivated a long-neglected Tumblr account.<br /><br />On October 19, I sent a pedantic email to Chris asking him whether we should call it "LOLrature" or "LOLerature". We decided on the former. I spent fruitless hours trying to superimpose the phrase "I CAN HAZ VOGELZ?" onto a picture of Tim Winton, but to no avail. We agreed to find Photoshop and unveil the site in the next few weeks.<br /><br />And so it was to my absolute surprise to see reference to a Tumblr blog called "<a href="http://lolerature.tumblr.com/">LOLerature</a>" in one of my favourite literary resources, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Millions</span>:<br /><a href="http://www.themillions.com/2009/10/lolerature.html">http://www.themillions.com/2009/10/lolerature.html</a><br /><br />For one beautiful moment, I thought Chris had set up the blog under a different name, and my Millions fame dreams had come wildly true. But alas, he knew nothing about it.<br /><br />The first post on "LOL<span style="font-style: italic;">er</span>ature" was made on October 22, days AFTER I'd set up "LOLrature". I still can't decide if this is intellectual property theft, or a really really bizarre coincidence.<br /><br />If you're out there, creator of "LOL<span style="font-style: italic;">er</span>atre", drop me a line...<br /><br />*nb. You can find our much less funny blog at the now-useless URL: <a href="http://lolrature.tumblr.com/">http://lolrature.tumblr.com/</a>Christopher Curriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594209301447893340noreply@blogger.com3