The Strange, the Weird and the Improbable

Every now and then articles appear in the newspaper that are out of extra ordinary. I like these little stories. They break us out of our traditional ways of thinking. Strange things do happen in the world. Stories like these can also be used as inspiration for a novel but more importantly, they can change the way we think and see.

A Diamond From Out of the Blue Moscow. A Soviet woman geologist shot a diamond out of the sky on a Siberian hunting trip. The stone, weighing almost 100 miligrams, was in a partridge she shot.

The Strange, the Weird and the Improbable

A Stowaway’s Short Trip

A thirteen year old boy wanted to see Iceland so he stowed away on a fishing trawler. Seventeen hours later the trawler moved to the next dock for repairs. The boy went home.

MELBOURNE BOOK LAUNCH FOR THE LION DRUMMER

On Saturday 19th July, I am having a book launch for my Aussie Bite, THE LION DRUMMER at Book Bonding in Essendon and everyone is welcome. There will be a traditional lion dance, lollies, drinks and more.
If you would like to come along please phone Bookbonding on 9370 4422
THE LION DRUMMER will have 10% discount on the day.
Where: Book Bonding, 942a Mt Alexander Road, Essendon next door to 7/11.
Date: Saturday July 19th
Time: 11am-11.30am
Aimed at: 6-10 year olds

www.bookbonding.com.au

Chinese Puppet Theatre

Last night I went to see the Quanzhou puppets. They were fantastic! They have come from Fujian province in China with 2000 years of puppet history behind them and tell ancient folk tales and legends. There is the famous monkey Sun Wu Kung who does tricks while he rides a bicycle and much more. Each puppet has intricate movements and is controlled by over 30 strings. It’s definitely worth seeing if you’re in Melbourne and is on at the Chinese Museum, 22 Cohen Place, Melbourne from today until July 4. Bookings and Inquiries: 96622888.
You can also see a short video of the puppets at www.chinesemuseum.com.au

MDBC

Last night I was invited to meet the members of a Mothers and Daughters Book Club (MDBC) to discuss the book they had been reading for the month which was my latest novel, The Hidden Monastery. This book club is such a great idea that I want to pass it on to you. There were five mums and five daughters (in grade 5) and each pair take it in turns to select a book to read. Both mother and daughter have to read the book. Whoever selected that book has the bookclub in their house and provides food which means that if there are five members (ten if you include the mums), you have it in your house once every five months. Last night we had vegetarian spring rolls and dumplings because in The Hidden Monastery, the monks don’t eat meat. So as well as it being a great time to discuss the book, it’s fun too because you have a little party at the same time. You can structure the bookclub any way you like but the group I visited last night answered questions about the book which were slipped into fortune cookies. Very imaginative. They sometimes have the mums act out some of the characters which must be very funny.
I love this idea and would love to hear if any others out there have formed a bookclub like this one or will form one after reading this blog. A FSBC would be great too! That’s a Fathers and Sons Book Club.

LUCKY DUCKY

My next door neighbour raised a Pekin duck from a tiny duckling. He got Ducky from a farm that breed ducks for eating. When the neighbour went away recently, Ducky seemed distressed making loud quacking sounds. I climbed the fence to investigate. I found Ducky trying to get out of a kids wading pool which was full of filthy water but everytime he attempted to clamber over the sides, they would collapse under him. I also discovered that the bag of pellets my neighbour had left out for Ducky had closed over and he couldn’t reach them any longer. I don’t know how long he had been like this, thirsty and hungry. I got Ducky out of the pool and filled it with clean water then opened up the bag of pellets so he could get at it. (I learnt that ducks MUST have fresh clean water to wash their eyes otherwise they can get cataracts, that’s why you see them dipping their whole heads, not just their beaks into the water. And of course they need fresh water to drink.) Everyday I climbed over the fence to feed and water Ducky and enjoyed watching him.

A month later, my neighbours finally returned home. They said that someone was supposed to come around to feed Ducky but I knew that nobody had been coming because the bag eventually ran out of pellets and I had to go out and buy a new one. I felt sorry for Ducky so I asked the owners if they wanted to give him away and to my surprise they agreed. I couldn’t keep a duck myself because I don’t have the space and I already have two guinea pigs, a dog and a cockatiel. But I was lucky to find a home for him with one of those travelling animal farms.
I went to visit him the other day. The animals were working at a school fair. The owner of the animal farm is tall and wears a farmers hat. He is a nice man and very knowledgeable about animals. Ducky doesn’t have to work everyday and he has the company of other ducks, as well as food, water and shelter. So I said goodbye to Ducky and have renamed him LUCKY.

THREADS OF TIME

Occasionally in life, the interconnectedness of things is so obvious you can’t help but sit up and take notice. On Monday, there were four such ‘coincidences’ that took place. Four different books of mine converged on that day, all of them at different stages of their lives.
8.30am Little Paradise. After working for almost two years on Little Paradise, my first Young Adult novel, I finally sent it to my publishers to have a look at for the first time. (this is always a scary moment because you hope they will like it as much as you do)
2.00pm A Ghost in My Suitcase. This novel has already been written and is soon to be published so I met up with my editor to discuss any changes that it might need.
4.25pm The Lion Drummer. When I arrived home, to my delight, there was a package in the mail from my publishers which contained copies, hot off the press, of my new Aussie Bite novel, The Lion Drummer. It’s always such a thrill to hold your new book in your hands.
6.05 pm The Pearl of Tiger Bay. A Ghost in my Suitcase is inspired by Por Por, the ghostbusting granny in my previous novel The Pearl of Tiger Bay. But during my discussions that afternoon with my editor she felt the two novels should not be linked, that Ghost in my Suitcase should stand alone. I still held to my original idea that Por Por is one and same person and that Isabelle from the Ghost in My Suitcase is cousin to Jin and Maisie from The Pearl of Tiger Bay. After all how could there be two Chinese ghostbusting grannies written by the same author?!! Later that afternoon, to my great surprise, I received an email from my editor saying that in the Age newspaper supplement, there was a review that day for The Pearl of Tiger Bay. This was such a strange coincidence as this novel was published four years ago, back in 2004!

May Gibbs Fellow

Perched up in the Rothbury, an Art Deco apartment building in the heart of Brisbane, I am working on Little Paradise, my new young adult novel. I’ve been lucky enough to have gained a month long Creative Time Fellowship with the May Gibbs Trust.

I like Brissie - the weather, the river, the walks, the way the city is laid out. Most of the buildings are modern straight sided, glassy boxes, but every now and then there will be an old church with a dome or spire (they are abundant in this city), or a beautiful villa like the School of Arts, made from a pale sandstone with blushes of pink, or a spreading fig tree with organ pipe roots plunging into the ground like the one at the end of Creek Street.

LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

When I was young I couldn’t speak or read Chinese, even though my parents were both Chinese. This was because they spoke different dialects so English was used at home. But when I left school, I became interested in Chinese philosophy, art and martial arts and that changed everything. I felt that the only way to know a culture was through its language so I went to Taiwan then to China. And now although my Chinese is not fluent, I can understand most of what is said.

Learning a language is not easy, but it’s a far less painful a  journey if you live in that country. I learnt more in two months living in Taiwan than I did studying Chinese part time at university for two years. In Taiwan I was forced to use it everyday not only in the streets but also at home as I lived with local people.

I’ve been learning Italian on and off for the past five years. I love the sound of that language. My goal, one day, is to live in Italy for six months.

MY FAVOURITE PHILOSOPHER

Zhuangzi is my favourite philosopher. He lived in China in 256BC.

My creature Peng from The Hidden Monastery is inspired by The Book of Zhuangzi.

Here is a piece of his wisdom:

The tit bird building its nest in the mighty forest, occupies but a single twig.

The beaver quenches his thirst from the river but drinks only to fill his belly.