I’m thrilled to report that David Kowalski has won the Golden Aurealis Award for best Australian speculative fiction work of 2007 for his novel The Company of the Dead. He won the category award for best science fiction novel, then went on to win the overall award. The ABC website carries a story about David’s win here.

In a review of the shortlisted works, David’s was described as:

“a very original take on temporal dislocation, which had an absorbing narrative and a great range of characters.” 

Having known David since he began writing the novel, I am so proud of his commitment to the book over the long years of its writing and editing. Maybe those heavy US publishing-industry doors will edge open a little further on the back of these awards, a resounding validation for a thrilling alternate history story that is unlike anything else I have ever read in my life.

A rather lovely title for a snippet about my book that featured in the Sydney Morning Herald‘s book pages over the weekend. And a photo (in what has been described as my pink “nurse’s shirt”) to boot. I was unaware of the piece until I rang my neighbour to see if she wanted some of the surplus figs from the tree in my garden, which is exploding with fruit at the moment. “I’ve just been reading about you in the paper,” she said. I was taken aback to see my own words quoted, written in this very blog a few months ago. Factual errors aside, I can’t complain about media mentions of my book two months out from publication.

 

It’s begun: over the weekend I responded to a series of questions put to me via email by a magazine in which my book is receiving its first public review. In addition to answering a few factual and straightforward queries, I had to address others such as: Why did you decide to write this book? Is it difficult to talk about John in public? Do you think of yourself these days as a widow or single?

I am happy to try to answer these questions, because their being asked means that attention is being paid to my work. I am less sure of the adequacy or reliability of my responses. Inevitably there is a gap between the writer of the memoir, and the writer as a character in her own memoir. And on any given day I can imagine feeling quite differently about answering questions probing the workings of my mind. I wanted a public voice, and now I have one. For better, or for worse? I don’t know yet, but I’m willing to find out.

I have been invited to participate in the Sydney Writers Festival, which takes place in May 2008, and the Byron Bay Writers Festival in July, on the back of The Young Widow’s Book of Home Improvement. Apparently the book publishers undertake some kind of beauty parade in front of the various Artistic Directors of writers’ festivals, promoting selected local authors and talking them up. As the beneficiary of this behind-the-scenes promotion I am glad to learn about it but I can’t rid my imagination of the visual imagery that comes with my new knowledge, especially as this literary pimping occurred unbeknown to me.

After about half a second’s deliberation I decided to accept both invitations.

Life would be nothing without its unexpected twists and turns. A little over two years ago I met Stefano Maccianti in a pensione in Siena, where I was staying and he was briefly working. It turns out Stefano was a writer whose first novel was about to be published, and who was researching a second book based on the life of his great-uncle, who was interned in the only prisoner-of-war camp ever established in Australia, at Cowra in the central-west of New South Wales during WWII. Two years and one trip to Cowra later - accompanied by his trusty local researcher (moi) – Stefano’s novel has just been published.

Italian-speaking readers will get most out of this video of Stefano promoting his novel, Manlio va alla Guerra (Manlio Goes to War) on TV in Florence.

One of the casualties of my rough re-entry to life in Sydney in the past two months has been this blog, which served the original purpose of keeping friends and family informed, and occasionally amused, about aspects of my life in New York during 2006-07. From the other side of the world, however, the blog in its original incarnation has had its day, as I don’t have the time or inclination to do a “reverse Apple Girl” blog about life in Sydney for friends in the UK and US.

So as my professional life segues into a range of activities that can be broadly described under the umbrella of “writer and consultant”, I will also shift the focus of my thoughts here to aspects of my life as an about-to-be-published author, and as a consultant in the philanthropic sector. With a number of teaching, freelance writing and contracted jobs on my horizon in addition to publication of my book, 2008 is shaping up to be one big year.

My ultimate goal is to divide my time between Sydney and New York. Does that count as a resolution? It’s as close as I will ever come to one.

I continue to be astounded at how many people visit this site, and I thank you for your interest and occasional comments. My apologies to those who were loyal to Apple Girl, but it’s time for her to retire. Her posts will be archived on my website, virginialloyd.com, which will soon replace this blog as the site landing page.

A very happy and healthy 2008 to you all.