Rollercoaster writing

This opportunistic palm discovered a place to thrive high up in one of the local street trees. A plant cookoo?

Tuesday was up and down. I had been given a list of good bookshops in Adelaide and thought I'd call them to see if Kora was in stock. Hmm. Not-a-one. After the first, I began to ask if they'd seen the distribution rep yet. No. Sigh. There were myriad reasons, annual leave, relocation etc, but it was very disheartening. I'd thought I'd be able to meet some new booksellers who would of course be bowled over by my book and happily handsell it. Bit hard if they've not seen the book. I emailed the publisher sharing my frustration and asking if they knew for sure anywhere in Adelaide that was stocking Kora. They did. I visited and they were so excited to meet the author as few visit. They said lovely things about both Ebi and Kora and asked me to sign all copies. I felt much better! I came back to the apartment with new energy, unravelled the last half-day's work and rewrote it and more. Ahh the power of a little encouragement. The day ended with a dinner at Mary and Ian Wilson's house in the hills. We walked first, past the old brickmaking site and then up the Greenhill Road through the bush and back. Mary's ties with this area go back many years and they live in a house that belonged to earlier generations of her family before being sold. They bought it as the bulldozer was warming up and have restored and extended it into a wonderful family home.

‘We have to try,’ said Nina, finally.

They sidled along to the second cell.

‘Mrs Makati,’ whispered Nina. ‘Psst. Mrs Makati?’

The mumbling stopped.

Nina whispered again.

‘What? Where?’ Mrs Makati took a deep breath. She raised herself onto one elbow, looked around her, and began to scream.

Yesterday was busy. I walked to visit Rosemary who showed me so much of the zoo last week. I returned some reading matter she lent me and asked her a few more questions. Her knowledge is vast and we shared a cuppa while I learned more about both the lions and the orang utans at Adelaide zoo. I managed to pick the showery patches on both outbound and inbound walks but fortunately it was only light and I reached the apartment unmelted.

Nan collected me for lunch and again, we managed to bring the rain. Hard to wish it away. We sought shelter for lunch and when we emerged, the showers had passed and we were able to wander around the Botanical Gardens. There seems to be lots of work going on at the garden, with replantings and new buildings under construction.

We went into the Bicentennial Conservatory which showcases flora from our near north neighbours and then into the beautiful Palm House which has a collection of mostly very spiky plants from Madagascar.




The rose garden is extensive and must be glorious at its peak. We were a little late for that.

Last night I was able to attend Young Authors Night (thanks Ian Bone for the lift and letting me sit in on your session). This initiative of the SA Writers Centre brings together grade 5-7 writers with local authors. Fiona McIntosh was key note speaker at the general gathering first. The local authors all sit on stage and are introduced. Then each author is assigned a room and a number of children (and family members). Each child then reads their piece and the author responds to it. The kids do amazingly well reading before a room of strangers, and each receives a certificate. Everyone then returns to the hall and has supper and can get the autograph of all the authors in the room. There's a lovely vibe to the event and it's a great promotion of writing. From smaller beginnings, the event is now staged across three Adelaide venues and just keeps growing. Go SA Writers Centre!

I also, surprisingly, managed to reach my daily target of words.

Here's a puzzle...what is this???