The program for this year’s Crime & Justice festival at the Abbotsford Convent has just been released.

I’ll be chairing two panels on Sunday 19 July. The first is at 10am in The Community Room under the heading “Location, Location – Anatomy of a Crime Scene”. According to the program blurb, ”A strong sense of place is crucial in good crime fiction. Looking at painting memorable geographic portraits will be Garry Disher, Nick Gadd and Fiona McIntosh with, to chair the session, Angela Savage.”

I like that it says “with, to chair the session” as I figure that gives me license to talk about myself (hah!).

I’m looking forward to this panel. I’ve met Garry over the years through our mutual publisher, Text, and it is always a pleasure to catch up. Fiona and I met on a panel at last year’s Crime & Justice festival and had a lot of fun. And Nick – whom I’m yet to meet and also interviewing later that afternoon – is, like me, winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Unpublished Manuscript.

My second session is at 4pm in The Bishop’s Parlour, when I’ll interview Nick Gadd and Robert Sims as “New Voices.” Again, to quote the official program, “Of late some extremely exciting new voices have joined the world of Australia crime fiction. Nick Gadd and Robert Sims are two such writers. Today they will talk about the journey that brought them to their remarkable literary debuts with Angela Savage.” Last year I participated on the equivalent panel and it was a fantastic session.

In between I’ll be aiming to catch a range of interesting sessions. And I hope to be at the Great Crime-Fighting Debate: Dicks versus Dames at 4pm on the Saturday 18 July to hear Sue Turnbull and Vikki Petraitis for the Sisters in Crime and Robert Gott (whom I bumped into in a dark Brunswick alley just this morning) and Stuart MacBride for the ‘Brothers in Law’ argue over which gender does it best when it comes to detecting, with Lindy Cameron adjudicating. Should be a hoot!

It’s a thrill to be mentioned in a double page spread on Australian crime fiction and in such esteemed company, even if in passing.

The article by Steven Knight appeared the A2 section of The Age last Saturday 20 June 2009.

It makes me determined to work harder on the second book; I’m currently half-way through the fourth draft. Season 2 of Mad Men will have to wait…

Last night Roo and I  hit The Thornbury Theatre to see Tex Perkins and His Ladyboyz.

It was a retro chic,  big night out for grown ups. I didn’t see anyone under 35 in the audience. More than a few couples had the same look of bleary eyed surprise as we did to be out after dark without kids, despite the broken sleep of the night before.

The Thornbury Theatre was the perfect venue. Once host to many a Greek wedding celebration as Minos Receptions, the space manages to be both theatrical and intimate. The foyer has a marble staircase and a powder-blue dome, chandeliers hang from the ceiling in the main room, and plaster bas-reliefs of Ancient Greek figures painted in gold decorate the white walls and ceiling.

Tex and the band blended in beautifully, wearing white suits, open-necked shirts, chest hair and gold necklaces.

Tex limbered up on stage – a tall, lanky man unfolding himself like a beach umbrella – before opening with a snarling rendition of ‘I’m not in love’ by 10cc.

Songs in the first set (’No 1s’) rollicked from dodgy to deviant and included such classics (sic.) as ‘A little bit more’ by Dr Hook (’You don’t need to be conscious to have sex’, quipped Tex), ‘Sweet 16′ by Billy Idol, ‘Hollywood 7′ by Jon English, and ‘Come Said The Boy’ by Mondo Rock.

Tex made a comment about having tried to write songs for 30 years before conceding there were already ’such great songs out there’. He and the Ladyboyz ‘plundered the soft cock rock classics‘ to also bring us raunched up covers of ‘My love’ (Paul McCartney) and ‘You and Me’ (Alice Cooper).

The second set (’No. 2s’) included ‘Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady’, ‘Do That Too Me One More Time’ and a slightly bent version of ‘The Pina Colada Song’ (If you like making love at midnight / with a dude in a cape). By this time the crowd was on it’s feet – at least, the chicks were – and daggy dancing on the sidelines.

There were two generous encores, with ‘Amazing’ by Alex Lloyd as the finale, as in You were amazing / We did amazing things / I was amazing / Fuckin’ amazing.

Tex is not as handsome as base player Pat Bourke or keyboardist James Cruickshank, but even taking the piss, his stage presence is mesmerising. Also intriguing to watch were Charlie Owen on synthesizers and Joel Silbersher on guitar. Owens looked like a blond Phil Spector; and Silbersher might have been the shortest Ladyboy, but he had the biggest gold medallion. Mild-mannered drummer Gus Agars rounded off the first-rate band.

My only quibble about the show is that while we got a lot of Tex’s bear growl and some impressive falsetto, there wasn’t much of the honey-tongued Tex, whose vocals on tracks like The Cruel Sea’s ‘Down Below’ or ‘You’re 39, you’re beautiful and you’re mine’ (from Tex, Don and Charlie’s All is Forgiven CD) make me go weak at the knees.

But I’m splitting hairs. I had a romantic night out with my baby, drinking fine wine and listening to the soundtrack of my youth. Roo loved it, and I felt inspired to post a music review on my blog.  And that’s enough for a working (wo)man / what I am is what I am…

Congratulations to Christos Tsiolkas, friend and mentor, who last month won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize, an award wholeheartedly deserved by this talented and generous man for his 2008 novel The Slap.

Despite recently winning an international prize and signing television deals, Christos has still made time to read draft manuscripts for both me and my partner, Andrew Nette, ’cause that’s the kind of guy he is. Am I feeling the pressure, having a Commonwealth Writers Prize winning author as a reader? – Damn right I am.

Speaking of  Andrew, I reckon his first novel Last Chances, is a winner. The book is set in 1996 in Cambodia – the main reason we spent last year there – and traces a missing Australian through turbulent political times. It’s a fantastic read, and it’s not just me who thinks so. Andrew’s readers – including Christos – have been full of praise for Last Chances, too.

In other news, word is out that I’m on the guest list for the Melbourne’s second Readers’ Feast Crime and Justice Festival scheduled for 17-19 July 2009 at the Abbotsford Convent.

The advance press is a bit misleading. As I don’t have a book coming out this year, I offered to facilitate a few sessions at the festival, an idea put into my head by Robert Gott. Robert and I met at the inaugural Crime and Justice festival last year and have kept in touch. I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed his three William Power (aka ‘Australia’s first dickhead detective’, to quote Shane Maloney) novels, Good Murder, A Thing of Blood and Amongst the Dead. Anyway, thanks to Robert that I’ll be appearing at the Crime and Justice Festival again this year.

The 2008 festival was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it this year. Click here for program details.

Meanwhile, I am snatching every moment I can to work on the fourth draft of Pattaya Bay. In fact, I’d better stop blogging and get to it now…

It’s been a while between posts. I put it down to consultancy work that took me to six different countries in the last six weeks of 2008 and the first two weeks in 2009, followed by a holiday (punctuated with job applications) in southern Thailand, the move home to Melbourne and starting a new job. I’ve barely had time to write a shopping list, let alone a blog. And as for working on my novel…

Let’s just say I appreciate the irony of have called our travel blog Great Balancing Act, when it’s now that the real juggling act begins. Love, art, work, childcare, all the demands and delights that come from being home amongst family and friends. I try to keep all the balls in the air, but some fall on the ground and roll beneath the couch, out of reach — at least for the time being.

Anyway, despite getting ready to leave Cambodia whilst in the midst of finishing one full-on job and preparing for another, I managed to appear for one night only at The Living Room in Phnom Penh to talk about and read from my first novel, Behind the Night Bazaar.

This in itself was a treat: converted from an old villa with ceiling fans and verandas all around, The Living Room was one of my favourite places to hang out in Phnom Penh.  Tash and I enjoyed many a pancake breakfast there on the weekends, and some Sundays I read stories there to children, while my friend Martel organised craft activities. My book club met there in the evenings once a month, and during December, it became my de facto office.

The reading was attended by many of my dearest friends in Phnom Penh, though there were also a few unfamiliar faces in the small crowd. On the walls of the room around us was a stunning photo essay of the community at Stung Meanchey garbage dump, upstairs an exhibition of portraits of Cambodian boxers.

I took the chance to read from my the draft of my second novel, most of which was written in Cambodia, dubbed Pattaya Bay (at least until I come up with something better). I chose a scene involving a dress rehearsal for a transvestite beauty pageant, and the feedback was very encouraging. One man in the audience — someone I didn’t know — reckoned the writing was more assured in the draft than it was in the published book.

Now if only I could find the time to finish the next draft…

The Living Room, #9 Street 306, Phnom Penh; open 7am-6.30pm Mon-Thurs, 7am-9.30pm Fri-Sun. Tel 023 726 139.

Posted on Flaming Hoop by Jen Jewel Brown, 5 December 2008

A fresh new Australian comic anthology to savour, to be launched by Melbourne food legend Dur-e Dara at Mr Wilkinson, 295 Lygon Street, East Brunswick, Wednesday December 17 at 7pm. SPECIAL LAUNCH PRICE $20.

In sumptuous black and white, bumper comic book Tango8: Love and Food celebrates two of our greatest obsessions in sizzling style. The eighth issue of the giant Australian romance comics anthology Tango follows on where the provocative Tango7: Love and Sedition left off. This banquet of contemporary stories includes new work from talented graphic novelists Nicki Greenberg (The Great Gatsby, Allen & Unwin), Bruce Mutard (The Sacrifice, also Allen & Unwin) and Mandy Ord (Rooftops, published by Finlay Lloyd), whose great story on food and fatherly love will ring true for many.

Works from two brilliant cartoonists from The Age, Andrew Weldon and Oslo Davis, are among the 70 very different offerings. These vary from 1 to 18 pages in length, exploring the theme of ‘love and food’ in hilarious, romantic, creepy, nostalgic and heartfelt ways. Tango8: Love and Food’s 70 contributors mostly hail from Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney; four live in New Zealand.

The ongoing Tango project presents work by established and emerging comic book makers in annual collections from Melbourne-based Cardigan Comics. These are edited and published by Bernard Caleo, a fine comic writer and artist himself. Caleo’s collaboration with Angela Savage (For Natasha) is a highlight of Tango8: Love and Food, comparing piquant memories of red icy poles at the Brunswick Baths with the swooning joy of breast feeding. (Savage won the Victorian Premier’s Best Unpublished Manuscript by Emerging Author award in 2004 for her book Thai Died, published by Text Publishing in 2006 as Behind the Night Bazaar).

Tango8: Love and Food is a rollercoaster ride through the wealth of comic book talent in Australasia. At 242 pages of affordable comic book goodness it’s a great gift for foodies, comic lovers and those hard-to-buy-for teens, twenties and thirty-somethings – as well as the baby boomers who learned to read from Marvel and DC comics and achieved puberty poring over Robert Crumb and Zap!

Cardigan Comics has been kindly supported by Arts Victoria in the publication of Tango8: Love and Food. The trade paperback sized collection is available at book shops, comic book sellers and at www.cardigancomics.com

For further information and interviews, contact:

Publicist Jen Jewel Brown

Ph 0408 898 338 jenjewelbrown@fastmail.fm

Publisher Bernard Caleo Ph (03) 9497 8098 bernard@cardigancomics.com

Update – where to buy Tango8 in Melbourne:
Polyester Books, 330 Brunswick Street Fitzroy
Brunswick Street Books, 305 Brunswick Street Fitzroy
Readings Carlton, 309 Lygon Street Carlton
Book Affair Carlton, 200 Elgin Street Carlton
The Sun Bookshop, 8 Ballarat Street Yarraville
The Paperback, 60 Bourke Street Melbourne
Minotaur Books, 121 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
Collected Works, Level 1, 35 – 37 Swanston Street Melbourne
Sticky Institute, Shop 10 Campbell Arcade Degraves Subway Melbourne
Alternate Worlds, 76 Chapel Street Windsor
Greville Street Bookshop, 145 Greville Street Prahran

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – (Drum roll) I finished the third draft of my second novel last Sunday.

Loyal readers of this blog (Hi Mum!) who recall my post when I finished my first draft will be wondering what happened to the second.

Well, half-way through editing the first draft, I decided on a major plot shift – a nerve-wracking move that added significantly to my workload, but will hopefully result in a much better book. Thus the second draft morphed into the third, which I finished on 26 October 2008.

I’d actually left the manuscript to one side, knowing I had only a page or so to write, to start a paid consultancy job here in Cambodia. I mentioned this over drinks to my friends Martel and Stephanie, the latter visiting from Melbourne last week, who said words to the effect of, ‘What the hell are you doing here? – You should be at home finishing it!’

Funny what it takes sometimes to get you over that last hub: they were right.

I’d been imagining more of a struggle to get the third draft finished, more of the Great Balancing Act between life and work, love and art…when all I needed to do was just sit down and write. Funnily enough, I had end-October in mind as a deadline.

I finished the last page on Sunday afternoon while Tash was sleeping. I didn’t celebrate as such (though Martel and I shared a toast at Liquid, which happens to make the best mojitos in Phnom Penh) as I’ve been holding out until Roo finished his first draft. That happened this afternoon. So tonight we hit the town – assuming the babysitter makes it through the monsoonal rain.

In other developments, I’ve joined a women’s book club in Phnom Penh. I’ve never been in a book club before and it rocks. I’m only sorry I have to leave it in a couple of months to return to Melbourne. We started with The Kite Runner, a best seller that many people loved but I thought was homophobic, and at least one person in our book club hated. Made for good discussion. Next cab off the rank is my novel Behind the Night Bazaar, nominated by Martel, whose praise is all the more valuable coming from someone who doesn’t read crime fiction at all.

I plan to do an author talk/reading in early-December before we leave Phnom Penh. The venue is the Living Room, a cafe in a beautiful old villa with wide verandahs, ceiling fans and a bamboo jungle in the front yard. It’s where our book club meets, where Martel and I volunteer for storytelling and craft once a month, and where Tash and I spend many an earling morning eating pancakes (her), drinking Mondulkiri coffee (me) and reading stories.

I might even read a passage from the new book. There’s a scene where our fearless hero Jayne Keeney, fleeing an assailant, stumbles into a dress rehearsal for a tranvestite beauty pageant and…TO BE CONTINUED.

My two-and-a-half year old and I recently had a conversation that went as follows:

ME: You know, Mummy loves Tasha and Mummy loves Daddy. And Daddy loves Tasha and Daddy loves Mummy. What does Tasha love?

TASHA: Tasha loves books.

Not quite the response I was fishing for, but wonderful nonetheless.

Her Dad can take the lion’s share of the credit. He’s been reading to her since she was a baby.

We read to her from sunrise to sunset. She reads to herself, too. She can recite several books in the Hairy Maclary series by heart, her favourite character: ”the roughest and toughest of cats / the boldest the bravest the fiercest of cats / wicked of eye and fiendish of paw / the mighty magnificent Scarface Claw.”

We’re all currently enjoying the works of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler such as The Gruffalo, Monkey Puzzle, and Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book. Makes a nice change from repeated readings of Maisy!

There’s something magical in watching a child fall in love with reading – a love to last a lifetime.

At the Crime & Justice Festival in Melbourne in July, I was on a panel with Lenny Bartulin, who talked about how much more easily his own prose flowed once he rediscovered his love of reading, in this case, via Raymond Chandler (and what’s not to love there!).

I’ve just finished Lenny’s debut novel, A Deadly Business, also pleasure to read. Witty, snappy, stylish. For example, “Old Man Time was a smart-arse. You wanted it slow, he gave it fast. You wanted it fast, he gave it slow. Today, Jack wanted it fast. So Monday dragged like it had rolled an ankle.” And: “Jack tried to read her face. Whatever was there was written in lemon juice.”

Although strictly speaking a second-hand book dealer rather than a detective, it was also refreshing to read a male character in this genre who cared so much about his appearance!

Also since the festival I’ve read Robert Gott’s first William Power book, Good Murder. The pleasure I had in meeting Robert was matched by the kick I got out of reading his book. It was clever, evocative and profoundly funny. Set in small town Queensland in 1942, Power, as the blurb goes, “is an actor of dubious abilities matched only by his lack of skill as an amateur detective”. His character — and Gott’s writing — is exemplified in the following:

“When the Power Players arrived in Maryborough, the war was going badly. American soliders were everywhere down south and causing trouble. A man named Leonski had been charged with the brownout murders in Melbourne. He’d strangled three women and was going to hang. We all talked about it, and I thought the time was right to do a Grand Guignol piece of our own devising about the wickedness of human nature. The mass murderer would be a Eurasian with impeccable credentials. He wouldn’t be unmasked until the final scene when we learned that his mother was Japanese and his father was German. Noone in the troupe though it was a very good idea. Annie Hobson, who I thought might jump at the chance to play three different victims in the one piece, said it was a particularly lousy idea. I suspected she realised that it was outside her range.”

Glorious stuff! Even my partner Andrew, a very hard man to please when it comes to crime fiction, agreed that it was a wonderful read. And there are two more William Power novels in print to look forward to.

Two books in a month: that’s practically a record since my daughter was born.

Actually, I lie. If I count the number of books I’ve read to Tash (not counting those her father reads to her), it would be closer to 152 books that I’ve read in the last month.

We are a household of bibliophiles. But some of us get to read more than others.

The Age newspaper’s Good Weekend magazine of 26 July 2008 featured Melbourne author of the Phryne Fisher and Corinna Chapman mysteries Kerry Greenwood and her partner David Greagg in their ‘2 of us’ column.

Kerry briefly introduced David when we crossed paths in the green room at the Crime and Justice Festival the week before. David attended her sessions and she referred to him on several occasions, always with love and respect.

I also note David was responsible for drawing up Phryne Fisher’s astrological chart (which figures, given he’s a wizard).

It was a real pleasure to read what they had to say about each other in the Good Weekend. Kerry said, “In my novels, my heroes are always David, though he’s too modest to know. When I want a character of stainless-steel virtue and kindness and courage, it’s always him.”

David described Kerry as “smart as paint, loving, loyal, charming, sexy, wonderful… She still works for Legal Aid, not for the money but because she’s kept faith. It’s who she is. She’s a nicer, cuter version of Horace Rumpole.”

But the line I most loved was Kerry’s: “He’s always been the most interesting person at any party I’ve ever been to.”

That’s exactly how I would describe my partner Andrew Nette.

However, because the men in my books tend to be highly flawed individuals if not anti-heroes, I haven’t drawn on Andrew as a source of inspiration for any characters. At least, not yet.

Bravo to Kerry and David! To quote a Cambodian wedding blessing, “May you be together so long, all your teeth fall out and you can’t even eat bananas”.

At the risk of being gauche, here is a photo of my first ever royalty cheque.

It’s two years since Behind the Night Bazaar was published and this is the first time I’ve gone into the black with my publisher, Text, due largely to an advance (in Euros) for the German edition.

I am thrilled to bits.

And while on the subject of Nachtmarkt (German title of my novel), I received some copies while in Melbourne recently and they had a sticker on the front that said ‘Geht’s Nicht Thriller Das Monats’. I get that someone in Germany nominated it as a ‘Thriller of the Month’. I can only hope it’s their equivalent of Oprah!

Now when I fill in official forms, next to ‘profession’ I can put ‘writer’ and feel like I’ve earned it.