Busy Saturday
Today was my second full day wearing a pedometer. I’ve been working hard on my fitness the past couple of months, and figured a pedometer might motivate me to keep active. Yesterday I managed 8500 steps, without changing my routine at all – which I thought was pretty good, considering my Friday routine involves a good amount of time at my desk. But today’s total is better – 11990 steps so far (at 10pm). Again, didn’t try to get it up high – and was disappointed to find it didn’t click over as I rode the exercise bike this morning. I did have two spells in the garden, weeding, planting and watering, so this certainly boosted the total.
Writing-wise I’ve also had a busy day. I managed to write four new reviews – two picture books, one dictionary and a chapter book. These will be uploaded when I update Aussiereviews, hopefully in the next few days. I also have four other new reviews waiting to be uploaded. These were contributed by other reviewers.
What else? I managed to help Pemberthy Bear write a new blog post, did a little frog research, for a non fiction title I’m working on, and also wrote what I hope will become the start of a new children’s novel. A character started speaking to me this afternoon and I just had to jot down what he was saying. His name’s Roberto and he has attitude and ambition, a good combination for any main character. So far his story is just flowing, so I hope it’ll continue.
Have also read half a book today. I’m reading The Shadow Thief, by Alexandra Adornetto (what a wonderful name for an author). This is a clever, humorous fantasy, inspired by Peter Pan, but certainly not a clone of this title. Am looking forward to seeing how it concludes. I’m near the end now, having started it yesterday, and, if I can keep my eyes open, might get it finished by bedtime.
Speaking of bedtime, must go tuck some Murphlets in to bed.
Pemberthy in Busselton
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Have you seen my beautiful picture book, Pemberthy Bear? I’m tracking his progress around the country – you can see my original post here. As you can see from the map, Pemberthy is a well-travelled bear.
Pemberthy Sightings
And, for the first time, I’ve found Pemberthy in the Northern Territory. In Darwin, he’s in the Casuarina and City libraries, and he’s also in the Palmerston and Katherine libraries. Those are the four new dots in the Northern Territory – that’s the state in the middle of the map in the north.
So, with the ten new dots added, the map now looks like this:
I’d love to see more and more dots showing where Pemberthy can be found, so if YOU have seen Pemberthy – in your home, your local library or in a bookstore, be sure to let me know and I’ll add a dot!
Lots More Pemberthy Sightings
The Bayside Library Service in Melbourne has not one but THREE copies – two in the Beaumaris Library and one in Brighton. And, joy of joys, my search of their catalogue showed they are all on loan.
The Brisbane City Library Service has FIFTEEN copies of Pemberthy. The Ashgrove Library, Bulimba Library, Coopers Plains Library, Everton Park Library, Grange Library, Indooroopilly Library, Sunnybank Hills Library and the Sandgate Library have one copy each, whilst the Carindale Library, Fairfield Library, Grange Library and Inala Library have two copies each. Nine of the copies are out on loan.
I’ve added the new dots around Melbourne and Brisbane. They’re both looking pretty colorful and very dotty now.
In Western Australia, I found Pemberthy in seven libraries. In Perth it’s in the Battye library, the Bayswater Library and the Dianella Library. In country Western Australia it’s in the Busselton, Katanning, Mount Barker and Kojonup libraries.
It’s wonderful to see so many spots in my home state. Come to think of it, Pemberthy is also in the school library in my town, so I’ve added a dot for that, too. It’s pretty cool to see my students borrowing my books from the library.
I’ll be checking out more libraries to see where else Pemberthy can be seen, but in the meantime if YOU have seen Pemberthy, drop me a line or leave a comment and I’ll add a dot. If you’ve just tuned in and am wondering what I’m on about you can read about my quest to record Pemberthy sightings here.
A Good Day
First, there were two little articles in there that I’d written. Of course I knew these would be there, but it’s still nice to see stuff you’ve contributed appearing in your favourite newsletter.
Then, in the reviews section was a glowing review of Pemberthy Bear, by the newsletter compiler Jackie Hosking, who said, in part:
Sally Murphy has written a lovely tale in rhyme that is complimented by Jacqui Grantford’s exquisite illustrations. New Frontier certainly have a knack of matching writers with illustrators to produce gorgeous picture books.
Wow! That had me singing.
Then there was a message in the newsletter from Moira, responding to my search for Pemberthy. She has seen Pemberthy no less than three times – in her home, in the Chatswood library (where, she reports, it was looking well-loved), and at a bookstore called Book Review, in St Ives! Moira, it turns out was also the proofreader for Pemberthy Bear, and loves Pemberthy so much that she recently brought a Pemberthy look-alike bear which sits on the shelf with her copy of the book. How cool is that?
So, with Moira’s three new dots added, the map now looks this:
The new dots are the pink, lime green and purple ones on the east coast, part of the cluster around Sydney.
With that kind of start to the day, I found myself singing and humming and working hard. I’m always more productive when I feel good. Today I finished a batch of marking, wrote two new reviews and a new article (about getting going after a slump), prepared and posted a new submission and did a few other odds and ends. I also managed some housework and spent time with my kids, who are still on their mid year holiday.
I also did some random browsing of some other writers’ blogs. I love seeing the variety of styles and formats and even subject matter.
All in all it’s been a good day.