I didn't submit to Pan MacMillan. A little yet convincing voice in my head told me that I shouldn't and that maybe one of those appraisals the Writer's Centre does is the answer to my problems. So, that's what I did. I went into Melbourne on Monday with a copy and too much money, got lost on Elizabeth St before learning that the centre was right next to the library (the website needs to mention location markers), and I did the big handover thang.
Other than that I was surprised to learn that the centre was a lot smaller than I expected, and that my buddy Janet was there. She was doing a proof reading as part of her internship and we had a bit of a chat. She told me she was organising spoken word arvos in Nunawading and I invited myself to her booklaunch. All in good spirits.
Anyway, I gave them the copy and I went for a walk down to the Yarra because I had two other endeavours to take part in on my Odyssey. For a while I've been meaning to try out some saffron rice at this Indian place in Southbank, and I finally did along with two different types of chicken- butter and Tandoori. I have to say that I like the rice, but if I had a choice I'd only have the butter chicken from now on. Tandoori is hot and a little dry for my liking.
That said, my second endeavour involved a book... and wait for it, this was a picture book you would have figured out was The Little Mermaid. I found this copy a few months ago and I was taken back by the traditional illustrations which lit up the pages. There was another copy there but it wasn't as impressive. The copy I have was naturally written by the crazy Dutchman Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Naomi Lewis (love both of those names) and illustrated by Christian Birmingham. Sorry, no catchy remark.
Anyway, I'm very confident that I'm going to treasure my copy forever, and it was such a welcome relief from that Disney version (they get everything wrong). Besides, I needed the book because there's a character in my series whom I want to base around the little mermaid a bit, and I can really do that because I've done my homework. Also I liked the sea witch a lot more and I hated the stupid prince cos he can't bloody settle for the mute girl who feels pain for him. DOUCHE!
PS I'm taking a lot more time with Oryx and Crake than I expected. It's nothing like The Handmaid's Tale.
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Forgot to tell you. Please tell your friend Lucienne that Eb LOVES the owl picture in Possum Tale. She made me open the page about 15 times so the 'hoot' could jump out at her.
Forgot to tell you on the phone because Gus decided to perch on my head.
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