The Blue Mountains have been on fire the last couple of days, which is definitely not a good thing for Sydney. Bushfires are a natural part of the cycle of nature in Australia, but it doesn’t usually start up before the first day of summer. (It’s the middle of spring down here.)
This bodes ill for the next few months (and for the next few centuries of climatic uncertainty).
Here’s what Sydney looked like from my terrace yesterday at four in the afternoon. Note that the sun was high:
Click that image for the bigger, scarier version.
Justine and I are safe in the concrete jungle, of course, many kilometers away from the fire. But we’re still breathing it, and we’ve got friends whose homes are at risk.
On a lighter note, here’s an interview I did with Amy Stevenson of 4ZZZ Radio here in Australia. I talk about the Leviathan series a lot, but also about my next novel, Afterworlds.
First!
Okay, now that that’s dealt with, OH MY GOSH that’s even worse than here in California! Our fire season was pretty bad this year, but nothing near a city…. I’m so glad you’re okay!
Also *adds interview to list of things to do on Friday evening, the one time I do not make myself do homework all week*
Hm… So, I was wrong with my idea that one girl was reading a story about another girl, but she is writing it. But I still may be right about what the paranormal part of the book is about!
the interview was fun to listen to, thanks! I’m glad there aren’t many fires where i live, that looks scary… we just get crazy snowstorms all winter long.
Awesome! I love hearing about Leviathan. And Afterworlds sounds super interesting!
So, for anyone who didn’t listen to the audio interview, Afterworlds is split into two stories. The EVEN number chapters are a paranormal romance (care to elaborate, Scott?) and the ODD number chapters are about an 18 year old girl in New York who wrote the paranormal romance and her experiences of getting published and that.
I want what part of the romance is paranormal? Are we talking vampires? Magic? Werewolves? Zombies? And I wonder whether the two stories will eventually collide and the characters cross over or something? I LOVE the idea for this book, it’s so original! I’m really excited about reading it now 😀
This comment is unrelated, but I was recently made aware that Mr. Westerfeld attended my high school many years ago. Whoever moderates this lovely site should tell Mr. Westerfeld that he is now listed as a famous alum on said high schools Wikipedia page. And should Mr. Westerfeld ever be in the area of said high school, he should most definitely pay the creative writing club there a visit.
Also, insider question: Mr. Westerfeld what cluster were you? I am incredibly curious…
Mia, I was in Music for most of the four years, but I took some Theater classes as well. And I took Creative Writing from Mr. Davison, who I think is still there.
I did pay a visit during the Goliath tour, in 2011, but maybe that was before your time.
What cluster are you in? (And hi to the CW club.)
@Mia that is SO COOL. I think that just needs to be made official. SUPER COOL. LIKE, BUBBLY TO THE 100TH POWER.
Toda’s my birthday!!!!! 🙂 🙂
Today’s (sorry)
*sends Middy Me a slice of virtual cake*
Happy birthday, Middy Me!
Thank you!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Ahh! Happy birthday, Middy Me!
I hope I’m in time! These time stamps say October 22, but it’s the 21st where I am, so….
Scott-la, does Australia always look like this (besides the orange sky?) It reminds me of steampunk, kind of, so I can see where Leviathan came from. But the windows look like legos…before I read the post, I thought this was a scene from leviathan made from legos. Like, for real.
****Happy birthday!!! google happy birthday cards, and consider them all sent from us all at the Westerblog sphere
Happy birthday, Middy Me! *hugs* 😀
I’m a day late, but happy birthday anyway!
Thanks everyone! *hugs everyone* 🙂
By the way, the date stamps on the comments are a day late, but at the beginning they were okay……hmm…
Haven’t heard of levitation series, now I will be out searching for it.
I’ve been wondering, do you ever wonder if all the time you put into writing the beginning of a book will be wasted because you don’t, or can’t, come up with an end?
I used to write short stories in a torn up composition notebook everyday at recess on the hill we had under this tree, but whenever I tried to write one of my story ideas, I gave up on the ending because it wasn’t going anywhere and I felt like all the emotion it had in the beginning was wasted, or depleted. Any tips?