WARD SAGAR You are invited to join us with Gabrielle Wang on Friday the 12th of March at 5pm. Where she will be launching her new book Little Paradise. Her other books include Garden of Empress Cassia, Pearl of Tiger Bay, A ghost in my suitcase and her new picture story The race for the Chinese Zodiac. Finish the week with some wine, cheese and biscuits in our shop in Eltham. Children are welcome to come along and have a chat with Gabrielle about her books.

This afternoon we had the most amazing hail storm I’ve ever seen. Great balls of ice, some as big as baseballs, rained down from the sky. My neighbour’s windows were smashed, our house is leaking like a sieve. All towels and buckets are in use.

Here are 3 beauties my son picked up from the garden. And these have already melted as you can see.

Our pool was jumping as if it was alive. The giant hailstones created mini explosions in the water.

I don’t know why the weather bureau can’t predict a sudden storm like this one so people can be prepared.

Today I discovered that perfection was like watching a beautiful butterfly. It is there but for a fleeting moment.

I had two radio interviews today. One was good. The other was bad. One was in a studio. The other was from home on the telephone.

The bad interview was like speed dating. That was the one in the studio. Not that I’ve been speed dating mind you, but the premise is the same – in 5 minutes you have to make yourself sound as attractive as possible. In my case it was spruiking my latest novel Little Paradise. I had brought notes, an old photograph and my mum’s sketch book with me. I thought it might spark off interesting conversation. But we didn’t have a conversation. There were two questions which I answered adequately and then the interviewer was summing up and saying ‘thank you, Gabrielle, and now it’s time for the news’ leaving me with my mouth gaping. The interviewer had not read my book because he called it a biography, which it certainly is not. I remember protesting about that fact as I was lead out of the studio like a prisoner who had been wrongly accused.

This kind of interview is normal. But next time I will be prepared. I will have three main points that I want to get across. That’s my plan, anyway.

Ah, experience! How I love thee.

In contrast, in the afternoon I was interviewed at home by telephone. The interviewer, Richard Baillie from Radio 2MCE had done his homework. He asked interesting questions. I didn’t feel rushed. He even asked me to read a paragraph that he had selected from the book which he played at the very beginning of the interview as an introduction. He also interspersed the conversation with reminders to the audience who he was speaking to, and mentioned Little Paradise at least three times. That interview had a beginning, middle and an end. I thought it went very well.

I have five more interviews to go. I’ll be a pro when I’m done, I guess.

Life as an author is never dull and I wouldn’t swap it for all the tea in China. Everyday there are big challenges to face and little humiliations to overcome. And sometimes there comes along a tiny triumph which makes it all worth while.