Sessions SATURDAY

Be the Press with Sue Gillett, Anson Cameron-Novelist/Journalist,
Erica Hayes-Romance, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy and Anna George-Crime based Fiction.

Once again, a very witty session. These writers varied in the time taken for producing work but all generally used the morning to do their most important daily activity of writing. Erica's novel took 12 years to complete while Anson's novel, 2 years. Anson stated that you have to be writing for an hour before some good stuff is produced. He also praised the work of editors as bringing a clear eye to the project while writer's eyes tend to become muddied. He also claimed to be an indolent man so of course, he uses his life experience. A friend complained: "Shit, you wouldn't want to leave your bedroom window open." All the authors were currently working at their writing full time except Erica has young children which is a job in itself. Anna said it was a long journey to get confidence in herself as a writer. Sue asked, who sets the festival agenda and Anson replied "Rosemary Sorensen" but later declared that Festivals seem to borrow from each other. As I was leaving, I heard them say to each other that they enjoyed that session, that it was fun-so I guess Be the Press was a success for them as well as us.


Where Horror Comes From-Keith Austin, Keri Arthur and Sean Williams
This session had a lot of discussion about why we write horror and how it helps us cope with our fears. This was interesting as all the authors seem to revel in fears but in real life did not like scary situations that they could not control, such as roller coasters. Keith said he knew James Herbert-author of the The Fog-as his family used to sell vegetables in East End London. James got the idea for the Rats, watching rats eat garbage in the lane ways. They all declared that mostly there are no happy endings in horror, you always leave a door open somewhere.


Consult an Expert: Kate Larsen-Poet, Writer, Writers Victoria, Malcolm-editor for Seizure, comic publication and bookseller, David-Publisher
This session provided an excellent chance to ask some nuts and bolts questions. I asked that as an illustrator, is a webpage necessary and the answer was a resounding yes. Guess what I will be doing this year? The general message was get networking, create an writer's profile, enter competitions and submit work to journals. There was much discussion about self publishing and a belief that it is becoming a more viable option.

Color of Gold-Sasha Grishin-the Life of St Gill.
This man could talk. He told us that Gill was Australia's leading artists at one time and his current catalogue stands at 3000 pieces of art. Sasha told a bit of what drew him to researching Gill. His parents escaped the Nazi regime and move to Stawell. His father told him how Gill died on the steps of  the GPO in Melbourne which set off questions for young Sasha. Gill's work displays his respect of Aboriginal culture and also was one of the first to display the important role of women on the goldfields. He was an expert at drawing dogs and horses and his work contains much humour. He also has art displaying the first Chinese takeaways on the Goldfields where miners got hot food in metal canisters. Enjoyed the detail given in this talk and it makes me want to check out the Gill work in our local Art gallery as well as the exhibition being displayed in the Victorian State Library.