Author Archives: Felicity Banks Books

S#22: A Boxoffice Night’s Dream – Inception Review (with Shakespearian flavour)

There’s been much ado about “Inception” – a movie about what dreams may come, and how they can be shaped. I’ve heard people are seeing it twice in order to figure out the darn plot – and that’s fair. But I would posit that (after the opening flash forward) you always know what’s going onContinue reading “S#22: A Boxoffice Night’s Dream – Inception Review (with Shakespearian flavour)”

#201: Blood (but no tears this time); or, Stop whining and go see a doctor.

The weather has it in for me.* Our bathroom has no fan, so our bathmats are forever getting wet and not drying out. Every so often I wash them (may as well) and hang them on the line. The trick is to do it first thing in the morning. Then, come late afternoon, they areContinue reading “#201: Blood (but no tears this time); or, Stop whining and go see a doctor.”

“Killer Robot Cat” story so far

1 My new cat Fi finally arrived. It’s amazingly cute and fluffy considering how long it took me and the house computer to put together. Fi has a bell (even though it’s programmed not to hunt), so when it fell down the stairs just now I heard, “Tinkle, thump, fizz.” All good. Fi just fetchedContinue reading ““Killer Robot Cat” story so far”

S#30: Read outside (and, selling jewellery)

Today I took Garth Nix’s “Seventh Tower” fantasy series to a grassy area to read, adding to the gentle awesomeness with an entire backpack of lollies (I am in post-travel recovery mode at present, rather than jumping into a diet right away). I took Ana, who is a lot less confident when she’s outside. SheContinue reading “S#30: Read outside (and, selling jewellery)”

#199: Stay in a backpacker

The Sydney YHA (directly across from the central station) has boys-only and girls-only rooms. That was cool. I slept in a four-person room that had two other girls: one of whom was unconscious when I arrived (at 11pm) and still unconscious when I left (at 6:30am), and the other one was reading when I arrived,Continue reading “#199: Stay in a backpacker”

#198: Endure until Awesome

We’re still on our journey through last Saturday, at the CYA Later, Alligator writing conference in Brisbane. Kids, I’ve been to university. I know what it’s like to pay loads of money to sit in a room listening to someone’s monotone and ultimately learn nothing except how to sleep sitting up. . . . I swallowedContinue reading “#198: Endure until Awesome”

#197: The Pitch

The CYA Later, Alligator conference offered an excellent opportunity for targeted (and paid) schmoozing. I paid my fee (which includes having the publisher read the synopsis and beginning before seeing me) and chose Publisher J, based on their small size joined with respectability. They have a bit of a literary bent, which doesn’t tend to getContinue reading “#197: The Pitch”

#196: Shed blood, sweat and tears in one day

It’s 7:30pm, and I’m sitting in Brisbane airport, waiting to go to Sydney. Another epic day is done, except this time I don’t know where I’m going to sleep – or who my roommates will be. But the writing stuff is done, so here I am – plugged into an airport socket between a billboard and a pairContinue reading “#196: Shed blood, sweat and tears in one day”

S#97: Let go of people

Hello from Brisbane. I’m hidden in a corner of the CYA Later, Alligator conference so I won’t write everything until tomorrow. I will tell you that it’s been epic, and surprising, and complicated. Out of blood, sweat and tears I’ve shed blood and sweat so far, and I can almost guarantee tears before the end.Continue reading “S#97: Let go of people”

#195: Packed Full of Awesome

About thirty minutes ago, I wrote: Today was packed so full of awesome I don’t have time to blog about it until tomorrow. It did involve coins in my bra, a chance re-meeting, six hours of fruitless lurking, a zombie apocalypse planning session with someone whose name I didn’t catch, and a perky song “basedContinue reading “#195: Packed Full of Awesome”

S#96: Celebrate Random Holidays

It’s a new day. Weelll. . . it’s a lot like yesterday. I’m still unpublished, still sick, and still away from home. But. It IS the beginning of a new twittertale, and it’s the first day of Spring. From the first time I read this item on SteffMetal.com’s list of awesomeness, I planned to celebrateContinue reading “S#96: Celebrate Random Holidays”

#183: Rainbow yay!

 And here’s a Daily Awesomeness I prepared earlier, while driving along Kingsford Smith Drive in Canberra (it is truly awesome that these photos were taken five minutes away from the city centre). And now, the main event: How’d my schmoozing go yesterday?  Now is as good a time as any to admit that I hateContinue reading “#183: Rainbow yay!”

#193: Pat a Lizard

I’m still in Melbourne, but today’s blog casts us back to an awesome event eight days ago, back at CSIRO’s Science Week. I happened upon their reptile room (eerily decorated with life-size replicas of the animals, so that you look at a metre-long lizard inside a cage, then from the corner of your eye see one OUTSIDE THEContinue reading “#193: Pat a Lizard”

#192: See the sun rise (and, the latest schmoozefest)

Yesterday I got up three and a half hours earlier than usual, after an unusually bad bout of insomnia. Totally worth it, despite the too-much-excitement hangover headache I now have (and I do mean that literally – I didn’t partake of any alcohol, believe it or not). CJ’s zombie twin* drove me to the airport, and IContinue reading “#192: See the sun rise (and, the latest schmoozefest)”

“Peace Hostage” complete tale

The next story, “Killer Robot Cat”, begins September 1. Yay for springtime and naughty fluffy robots! PEACE HOSTAGE 1 The boar was so close I could taste the stench of it. I pressed the butt of my spear into the rocky ground and shouted a challenge. The bleeding pig squealed and charged right onto myContinue reading ““Peace Hostage” complete tale”

Three-Ingredient Thursday: Lunch

This is it: the end of ten weeks of three-ingredient Thursdays. I hope you enjoyed looking at food you weren’t eating, and perhaps making and eating it yourselves. Today’s is a classic Australian school lunch that for some reason hasn’t crossed the Pacific. Maybe today’s the day. Yep, it’s a peanut butter and honey sandwich.Continue reading “Three-Ingredient Thursday: Lunch”