It had to happen eventually – Goldilocks got tired of bears, their furniture and yucky porridge and took up blogging instead. Her first blog was too hard – she sweated bullets over that one, she really did. Her second blog was too long – she’d got life story and blogging all mussed up. But her third blog was just about right and Goldilocks really got into the swing of it and settled into a steady blogging rhythm.
Then she got sent to Auckland Writers and Readers Festival and that was when Goldilocks realised that there’s blogging and then there’s FESTIVAL BLOGGING. Four days of frantic reading, writing, interviewing and panicking. Colours seem brighter, ideas come faster and she never once thought of porridge. As for beds – that was where you collapsed at 2am, all blogged out. Turns out that festival blogging is like blogging on steroids. And Goldilocks found that she liked steroids!
Youth, hair and flouncing dresses way off to one side here, I’m the Goldilocks in this story. And after much deliberation, here are some of the authors that I am really looking forward to hearing, meeting and definitely blogging on at AWRF this year.
- Jeffrey Eugenides – The Marriage Plot (better known for his Pulitzer prizewinner Middlesex)
- A.D. Miller – Snowdrops ( a first novel shortlisted for the 2011 Booker prize)
- Roddy Doyle – Bullfighting ( Winner of the 1993 Booker Prize with Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha)
- Kathy Lette – The Boy Who Fell to earth (Kathy must be the queen of the witty one-liner)
But first there’s the technology to master. So I took my new laptop to a wifi cafe for a trial run and prevailed on my waitperson to photograph me for this festival blog. In the first photo my nose looked too big. In the second my nose looked too…., you get where I am going with this. After the third shot, my waitron put the camera firmly back on the table and said:
You’re really excited about this festival thing aren’t you?
However did she guess?
Ah! A new blog! What a treat! And the prospect of so much more. So excited about your going and about sharing your experiences. A cracking line-up. Particularly interested in finding out more about A.D. Miller. How do you write such an extraordinary first novel? I’m relying on you to reveal all.
Yes, lots of debate about it in bookclub. Ladies who expect a murder mystery are disappointed and the blurb does sort of mislead a bit. I loved it – hope I get an interview with him!
Oh Roberta. I simply cannot wait! I love your blogs, and I especially love the Christchurch City Libraries coverage of the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival.
Thank you! We are all looking forward to covering the festival this year. There is always the very real possibility of being taken by surprise and there’s the joy of discovering new authors too.
Yes another Roberta devotee here, can’t wait for your missives from north of the Bombay Hills!
Sounds like a bloggy military coup!