Monday, August 20, 2007

It's not spring in Canberra yet

Up in the bush, the acacias are starting to flower. Most are budding but this one (getting more sun, probably) was in full flower. In my backyard, the clematis is also flowering, and up the street, someone's cherry tree is in blossom. Still, this morning it was down to 4 degrees. The afternoon was almost tropical, but as I am off to Canberra tomorrow for Children's Book Week, I am watching the weather, and Canberra is still veddy veddy cold. So the suitcase is being packed with woolly things.
Or it would be, if I could get my act together. I think it's something to do with not being able to throw oodles of books and stuff into my car and set off for a school, knowing I can always race outside and gather more things. No, I'm going to be flying, so I have to choose. I recently had a lot of sample pages and galley proofs laminated (part of my talk is on how a kid's book gets published) and I hadn't realised how much heavier the pages would be. My special carry folder won't fit in my suitcase, or the overhead locker in the plane, so I have to leave it behind. Curses! I want to take everything, and can't. And despite letters beforehand, only one school has said yes, bring books for our students to buy. So do I take what I have, and risk excess luggage? Or leave half of them behind and wish I'd lugged them with me?
Considering it's me who is going to carry this stuff, I will have to err on the side of my osteopath (who would frown at heavy weights as well as poor lifting techniques).
The best bit is choosing two books off my "to read" pile to take with me. Airports are great places for getting lots of uninterrupted reading done, apart from those uniformed people who want you to get on the plane a.s.a.p. So I've chosen Sarah Dessen's new novel, and an older novel by Lisa Gardner (I'm currently reading her crime novels and doing a lot of thinking about her pacing and chapter breaks - very useful if you want to look at tension and page-turners).
Now, where are my possum fur gloves?

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