09 Mar 2009, Posted by Cat in News, 22 Comments. Tagged writing

back home

Had a fabulous four days at Donnacon. Got a heap of work done on the book although I can’t really measure it in terms of straight up wordcount. I produced several thousand words of new material but unwrote a fair whack too. None of us could match Nicole for sheer output. That gal writes like the wind!

I’m quite impressed with the way the process worked. Most of us sat around the main table, Trudi and Matthew had spaces of their own. There was a bit of banter but it seemed to regulate itself – it never seemed like the distractions ran over the top of the writing.

BBQ night was a bit of a party. I must have been pissed because apparently I was waving a wine bottle around and dancing to Meatloaf! Nicole mixed up a jug of lime margaritas and yeah, I think its starting to come back to me now… we were getting on down to Michael Jackson’s Thriller too. Maxine McArthur was a special guest that night – oh dear, I bet that was her savignon blanc bottle I was doing Meatloaf karaoke with…

I managed to get a riverside walk in with Donna 3 days out of 4. All in all, a very civilised extended weekend with enough of a convention vibe to it that I do hope to be invited to the next one.

Almost missed my bus back home but a bit of stunt car driving by Donna saw me sliding into the Jolimont terminal with a whole minute to spare…

Things I learned:

I think I’m writing an adult fantasy novel but the others seem pretty sure it’s a YA science fiction tale

Trudi can plot and knit socks simultaneously

Donna makes computers go noisy and explosive

My internet addiction is becoming a bit of a problem. Less internet = significantly greater wordage. Something to think about

Trudi’s method of plotting a novel might be well worth adopting

Washing and blow drying your hair at 2am is not normal – yes, Kylie, I am looking at you!

Matthew can cope with a houseful of women for several days at a stretch and he makes a mean fruit salad.

One niggling problem though… I’m very sure I rewrote a chapter back in January but it seems to have inexplicably vanished from the book. It’s not in the Scrivener trash can, yet I’ve never cleaned that trash can out. So what the fuck happened to it?