Sydney Writer’s Festival

I dropped my puppy off with her “grandma” and drove three hours to Sydney to see what the whole world is talking about when they say Sydney Writers’ Festival. I’m a reticent joiner, but I’ve had such a positive experience with RWA that I now have a more open mind to the group dynamic. In fact, I seek out groups wherever I can. Now I steel myself against my tendency to shyness and say, “Hi, I’m Daniella Brodsky, I’m also a novelist,” as much as I can at readings and launches. It’s painful but I’m always glad I mustered up the courage to do it. When it comes to an industry as crazy as the book biz, you certainly can’t have enough friends to bounce things off of and keep you sane. Plus, maybe I’m biased, but I always think writers are great fun. So I was excited to get a foothold in the Australian literary community. I could not have come away more deeply satisfied.
Simon & Schuster put on a fantastic party for its authors (that’s me!), right on the wharf, where the champagne was flowing and there was no shortage of wonderful people to meet. On the top of my list of Australian authors is now the fantastic Charlotte Smith, whose non-fiction tome, DREAMING OF DIOR, is a wonderful, emotional history of the jaw-dropping designer vintage wardrobe she’s inherited from her Godmother—3,000 pieces! The wardrobe, she told me, has been both a blessing and a curse. There are so many garments, shoes, and accessories in her care, that she keeps them in a hangar if I remember correctly, and I cannot stop my mind thinking like a novelist about what it must be like to have such a wonderful, cumbersome rock to drag around. Perhaps she’ll do an interview with me one day so we’ll all have some inspirational fodder from her extraordinary circumstances…In the meanwhile, check out her own blog, and buy the book…it’s gorgeous, and wonderfully satisfying.  She’s got another coming out shortly.
DAY 2 started with a wicked hangover, despite the preventative Panadol, water, and early bedtime. I just can’t do more than two glasses anymore. I should remember that when charming waiters offer to pour free champagne in my glass, but somehow I always hold my glass up and nod yes.
I went to my favorite Sydney breakfast spot, a little French café called Café Crème (I think), by The Cross. Some baguette and a bowl of latté later and I was good as new. My first stop was a reading by four Australian authors: Anna Goldsworthy, Alison Booth, Melina Marchetta, and Charlotte Wood. It was wonderful. As my friend Dori said in Connecticut when she came to my reading at the wonderful Russell Library in Middletown, CT, her first, “It reminds me of being a child and getting read to! I almost fell asleep!” She meant it as a compliment. I felt the same at this, my first Australian reading, and picked up the book THE PIPER’S SON, by Melina Marchetta, since the portion she read was fantastic. I can’t wait to read it. During this panel’s Q&A session, the topic of reading out of order came up, and I was fascinated by how many people read the endings first. I couldn’t bear it! I love suspending reality; I try not to guess what’s going to happen, but coast along the pages soaking up the beauty of the sentences, the exceptional uses of language or plotting, relishing in the wonderfully imagined bits, but blindly, so as not to ruin the full impact of satisfaction at the ending. Do any of you skip to the end? Why or why not?
After that I attended an informative session about the future of ebooks, at which, an embarrassing show of hands made it blatantly obvious I’m one of the only people left in the world who can’t imagine reading a novel electronically. I am so thrilled about the opportunities ebooks bring to people who can’t easily get their hands on books, and about the cool innovations yet to come, and of course, the new audiences around the world for novelists in all corners of the globe—after all, if you knew how few books make it into the international licensing realm because of the way things are done in this industry, you’d make it your business to research what’s available overseas: you’re missing some great stuff! Still, I’m afraid in my personal reading world there’s nothing better than a gold old fashioned, words-on-paper book. In fact, one of my main inspiration sources is the collection of vintage non-fiction books I pick up at the Salvos, not to mention the billions of volumes at my fingertips at the Australian National Library. However, I do assume that soon enough, some slick feature of ebooks will blow my mind and I, too, will be an addict—though I’ll never replace my old fashioned books for good, merely complement them with this new format.
The panel included publishers Sara Lloyd, Michael Moynahan (a genuinely funny guy), Margie Seale, and Louise Adler speaking with journo Rosemary Sorensen. I was interested to hear that the publishers all agreed that their projections for ebook sales for the near future don’t exceed one percent of total book sales. They spoke of digital books as part of a wholistic approach to publishing, and I find that an exciting prospect, including added value offerings like authors’ correspondence, notes, and even selling individual poems. Who knows what the future will bring? I’d love to hear about your own ebook adventures, opinions, predictions, likes, and dislikes.