Homicide ate you, your family got the tooth-scarred bone.

For a newly-minted crime writer, reading Peter Temple is like taking a master class. There is not a wasted word, the writing is beautiful, and  the lengths I go to as a writer  to ’show, don’t tell’ is a walk in the park for Temple. Take this paragraph from his most recent novel, Truth:

He sprinkled water, special attention for the carrots and potatoes in the drum. He liked underground vegetables. When he was seven, Bob Villani left him and Mark with their grandmother, Stella. Couple of weeks, son, he said. More than three years passed, he came back only twice that Villani could remember.

An entire back-story in five sentences. Bloody brilliant.

It’s an indication of how well Temple knows his characters that he can pull this off. Reading Truth I formed the impression that there were five or six other full-length novels about each main character underlying the one I was reading. Temple had just skimmed the top off them for the purposes of what needed to be revealed in Truth, leaving the reader with just the tip of the iceberg.

He’s also a a great wit, as anyone who has heard him speak can testify. Take this image:

The Herald Sun front page had pictures of Kidd and Larter, mug shots, the lagophthalmic psycho child-molester serial-killer look all men had when their driver’s licence photographs were enlarged six hundred per cent.

For the record, ‘lagophthalmic’ refers to the inability to close one’s eye-lids completely. I looked it up. Temple makes his readers work.

At least that’s what one of my friends said when I admitted to her that I’d lost the plot. Maybe I didn’t read Truth quickly enough to keep up — reading three books a week went the way of sleeping in once I became a parent – but by the time one of the plot lines was resolved, I had forgotten the significance of the characters who were responsible.

Not that this undermined my pleasure in the novel. Truth was a compelling read from start to finish, and I loved the ending in particular. The depiction of the relationship between Villani and his father was moving and devoid of mawkishness and made me want to challenge Peter Temple to write a novel without a crime in it.

Truth (2009) is published by Text.

This week I finally submitted the manuscript of my second Jayne Keeney novel to Text Publishing (I thought I had it in the bag six weeks ago but decided a sixth draft was in order), freeing me up to blog about some exciting, altogether different writing I’ve been doing over the past 12 months.

This story begins with Tango, a romance comic anthology launched by the über-talented Bernard Caleo in 1997. Bernard and I have been friends for some 30 years (we met through our parents – an even longer story) and I was excited by this project that encouraged contributions from comic artists, both experienced and aspiring, on the topic of romance.

The early issues were printed in A3 format; the first ran to 44 pages. I contributed a piece to Tango: Two, published in 1998, which I both wrote and penned. I still have my copy: number four of a print run of 500. This issue ran to 56 pages, with 38 contributors.

After the first three editions, the format became smaller, the editions thicker. The contributor list grew as we were inspired by more specific themes like Love and Death, Love and Five Senses, Love and Sex, Love and Sedition.

By the time Tango 8: Love and Food was released in 2008, it had grown to 242 pages and, by my count, some 78 contributors. See here for a wonderful account of the history of Tango in comic form.

I’ve come to accept that my talents lie in words not pictures, though I continue to ’see’ stories in comic form, inspired by the Tango themes. Bernard penned pieces for me in Tango 7: Love and Sedition and Tango 8: Love and Food, and our third collaboration will appear in Tango 9: Love and War later this year.

Our piece for Tango 8, ‘For Natasha’, was inspired by my relationship with my daughter and specifically the unanticipated joy of breastfeeding her into toddlerhood. In the piece I mused on memorable food experiences in my life, all of which are associated with people and places I love. This is way more personal than the stuff I usually write, and I think this is part of what I love about the whole Tango project. The contributions are self-portraits in a more graphic sense than what gets interleaved into novels. And Tango celebrates beauty in diversity – and the beauty of diversity.

‘For Natasha’ subsequently appeared in Essence (Vol 45, No 4, Sept 2009) the magazine of the Australian Breastfeeding Association and was selected for The Tango Collection, a kind of ‘Tango Greatest Hits’ to be published by Allen & Unwin in November 2009.

I have an advance copy and it is wonderful: I’m thrilled to see many of my own favourite Tango pieces featured – such as Andrew Weldon’s ‘The Smell of Love’ from Tango: Five Senses (to name just one). Other contributors to The Tango Collection include Michael Camilleri, Oslo Davis, Nicki Greenberg, Dylan Horrocks, Bruce Mutard, Mandy Ord, Kirrily Schell, Jo Waite — there are 57 in all. I feel humbled to be published in such esteemed company.

The production is gorgeous, too, a 19.5 x 26 cm, 248-page paperback with a glossy red cover.

The Tango Collection is the gift for lovers of romance, comics and stories, not to mention difficult-to-buy-for friends and relations.

The Tango Collection hits bookshops on 23 November 2009, around the same time as Cardigan Comics will launch Tango 9: Love and War. Take a look. Take the plunge. Or as Bernard says of romance and comics, “Read the one. Embrace the other. Dive deep.”

The 2009 Ned Kelly Awards were presented by the Crime Writers Association of Australia on 28 August and I was thrilled to see Nick Gadd win Best First Book for his wonderful novel Ghostlines.

I read Ghostlines in preparation for interviewing Nick on two panels at this year’s Crime & Justice Festival and I was so impressed, I predicted it would win the Neddie. This is actually the second time I’ve picked a winner in this category (the last time was when I was nominated and lost to Adrian Hyland’s Diamond Dove). I wonder if anyone runs a book for the Ned Kelly Awards. This could be the get-rich-quick  scheme I’ve been looking for… But I digress.

I mentioned in my de-brief on the Crime & Justice Festival that Nick had a publishing company pull the plug on an earlier proposal for the book when he declined their advice to ‘remove the supernatural element’.  Ghostlines went on to win the 2007 Victorian Premier’s Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, and now the Neddie for Best First Book. Revenge is a dish best served with a couple of literary awards either side!

See here for Nick’s account of the award night and a photo of his trophy.

Also this month I attended the Sisters in Crime 2009 Davitt Awards (photo below was taken on the night with my cousin Mary Latham; thanks to Carmel Shute). I was excited to see Malla Nunn take the top fiction prize for A Beautiful Place to Die, as having read only good things about this book, I’d asked for it as a birthday present. It was the unanimous choice of the Davitt judges, who described it as a “memorable and significant first novel, both disturbing and enlightening.” Sounds like my kind of book.

And it was very now that Malla accepted the award over the iPhone from Maryland, USA, her voice so clear she might have been in the room with us instead of half a world away.

The guest presenter at the 2009 Davitt’s was ‘Judge Betty’ King, one of the first women ’silks’ in Victoria. Judge King was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2005 and has presided over a number of high-profile murder and police corruption trials, including the Carl Williams case–she famously banned the screening of ‘Underbelly’ in Victoria to avoid prejudicing the trial.

But Judge Betty is no would-be celebrity. She was adamant the people who matter most are the victims and the accused, not judges and legal counsel. And she was highly critical of depictions of criminals that made them out to be glamorous when, in her experience, most criminals come from dysfunctional families, are poorly educated, and have few prospects. Asked what would make a real difference, she said, ‘The answer is education–that and poverty alleviation.’

Right on.

See here for a full list of Davitt Award winners and here for the Ned Kelly Award winners.

Ten days ago I attended the Text Publishing opening night party for the Melbourne Writers Festival at the ritzy Blue Diamond Club, which has a view of Melbourne’s CBD that makes it look like New York.

I look forward to this annual event where I get to rub shoulders with some wonderful writers together with the great people at Text. Given the crowd, and the fact that its been three years since the publication of my first novel, Behind the Night Bazaar, I fully anticipated the question, ‘So, what’s happening with the next book?’

‘It’s in the bag,’ I said.

‘In the bag?’

‘Literally,’ I said, patting my handbag. ‘I printed it out at work today.’

‘Oh God, you’re not going to give it to me here?’

‘No,’ I reassured them. ‘I just knew I couldn’t turn up to the party tonight and not have it finished.’

So, novel number 2 is now with my beloved partner who is giving in one more once over, after which I will make a few (hopefully) changes and submit to Text.

Now if only I could think up a catchy title…

I enjoyed the 2009 Crime & Justice Festival even more than last year’s. The crowds were bigger, the venue warmer, and it helped not being jet-lagged for the duration. I was facilitating panels rather than being a panelist this year, and I enjoyed that, too. Even got complimented on my chairing.

The first of my Sunday sessions brought together Garry Disher, described as ‘The Master’ on the blurb of his latest novel but whom I introduced as the ‘Archbishop of Australian crime fiction’ in honour of the Convent setting, Fiona McIntosh (‘Mother Superior’) and Nick Gadd (Acolyte like myself) to discuss setting the scene in crime fiction.

Garry described his interest in the (changing) demographics and local politics of his settings as much as the physical locations. This is evident in the most recent of his Challis Destry novels, the compelling Blood Moon, which I read in the lead-up to the festival. But his comments during our session fired my interest in reading his non-crime books, such as The Stencil Man and The Sunken Road–notwithstanding his comment that ‘all fiction is crime fiction’ in a sense because it usually involves secrets, betrayals, cruelty, etc. Not sure what I think of that. Need to give it some more thought.

Garry sets his books close to home, whilst Fiona and I seek out exotic settings that enable us to indulge our love of travel. Most of us had stories inspired by settings: Garry’s Wyatt novel Port Vila Blues was inspired by a trip to Vanuatu; my novel Behind the Night Bazaar was inspired by a visit to the bars behind Chiang Mai’s Night Bazaar, and Fiona doesn’t start writing the next Jack Hawksworth story before she’s figured out which part of London to set it in. But Nick described the experience of trying to set a story in a certain time and place–in this case, 1920s France–that didn’t work. His wonderful debut novel Ghostlines ended up being set in Yarraville. (For Nick’s take on the session, see here).

Asked where they would like to set a crime novel, Garry nominated a corporate boardroom in an effort to redress an imbalance as crime fiction seldom deals with white collar crime, despite its devastating impact on Australian society. At the same time, Garry was least likely to set a novel in a confined institutional setting, which he deemed too claustrophobic for him as a writer. Fiona is keen to set a novel in Paris (can’t blame her for that), and I know Nick is exploring commune life in rural Victoria in his next novel. As for me, Cambodia is about my only no-go zone, but that’s for reasons of family harmony (my partner Andrew Nette is setting his crime novels there), not because it isn’t a brilliant setting. I’m planning to set my third novel in a very beautiful part of Thailand in a shameless bid to spend more time there.

Re: exotic settings, Nick comments in his blog “I’d be worried, if I went off to a place and took copious notes, that when I came home I’d be cramming those details into the book for the sake of it.” I’m currently editing the fourth draft of my second book, and I admit one of my challenges is weed out the travelogue. But that’s not enough to put me off.

I interviewed Nick again later in the day, together with Robert Sims, in a panel on ‘New Voices’. I’d met the two of them over coffee in the weeks preceding the Festival and was interested to learn that both had near misses–or ‘near hits’–where publishers almost accepted their work then changed their minds. In Nick’s case, he wasn’t prepared to remove the supernatural element from his novel–remembering this is a book called Ghostlines–which lost him a publishing contract but ultimately won him the 2007 Victorian Premier’s Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. In Robert’s case, he rolled with the punches and went on to secure a two book deal with Allen & Unwin for completely different books. I sincerely respect Nick and Robert for their resilience, and both were a pleasure to interview.

One bonus of being a chair at this year’s Festival was I got to read some terrific books as preparation. I’ve mentioned Blood Moon and Ghostlines; and Fiona’s Bye Bye Baby actually made me miss my tram stop one night last week. Robert’s second novel Tropic of Death is now at the top of my reading pile.

The events sponsored by Sisters in Crime were a welcome addition to the Crime & Justice Festival program, especially the ‘Dicks versus Dames’ debate on the Saturday afternoon. Amongst the memorable moments, true crime author and Year 8 teacher Vikki Petraitis quoted her student Elliot on the subject of whether men or women were better at solving crimes: ‘Well, Miss, men would be better if they had to, like, run into a room and solve a crime. But if there was any thinking involved, then women would be better at it.’

Despite Robert Gott’s assertion that men make better PIs than women because they find it easier to piss into a plastic bottle during long stake-outs (yes, there was some high-level academic arguments being bandied about), I found Vikki’s point about women’s superior multi-tasking skills more convincing: ‘Women can talk and do gumshoe.’

Sadly, not even women can blog and edit their novel at the same time. So on that note…

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.