When I Was Up In Canberra.

Last week was insanely busy.

I finished the school term, and then had three days in which to write two assignments for university, and prepare three stories for submission.

I finished writing one story, rewrote both it and another, then tweaked a third - subbing them all before the deadline.  The assignments were also submitted just in time.  And then I was able to relax.

It rained the entire eight hour drive up to Conflux, but we had a great time - taking it in turns to choose CDs and talking crap. It was dark by the time we got here, and the map we had wasn't ideal. But we found our hotel and the room is fine, and pretty soon we were catching up with familiar faces in the lounge.

So far the con has been a lot of fun. I attended a writing workshop which just confirmed my current practices, and introduced me to a few new ideas as well.

I also picked up a copy of the Year's Best Australian Horror and Fantasy, in which I am listed on the Recommended Reading List, and name-checked on page 22. The paragraph describes Festive Fear as being a macho collection, which is something I can see and agree with. I would like to point out, however, that I don't believe my story, Ghost of the Heart, fits that label.

No major problems so far, apart from the lousy service in one restaurant. If you're ever there, make sure they have the ingredients before they take your order. Not only were they delivering the meals of people who placed their orders well after mine, but it took another twenty minutes before they told me I couldn't have what I wanted.

Still, if that's the biggest problem I have in my life, then I don't really have much to worry about.