Authors For Japan

Please visit the new Authors For Japan auction which is now LIVE – comments are open and you can start bidding!

To bid, you’ll need to leave a comment (with the amount of your bid) in the relevant comments box – just the same as the A4Q auction but this time in UK pounds.

The auction will close at 8pm on Sunday (the 20th).

At the conclusion of the auction the bidder who has made the highest bid in UK Pounds will be deemed the winner.

Winning bidders will be notified by email and instructed to make their donations to the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal. (International donations are accepted.)

$20k and counting…

We’re not far off being able to say that all 307 auction items have been paid for. In fact our total so far has exceeded the pledged amount! It currently stands at

$20,231.11

 

Thanks so much to all of you who have made your payments.

 

However, we’re having trouble contacting a few bidders. Reminder emails have been sent out but because there have been some problems getting the emails through to people in some cases we want to give them another chance to pay their pledged amount and receive their item.

 

Therefore we’ll be sending out one more email, with a deadline for payment of Friday March 11th. After that time, we’ll offer the item to the second highest bidder, where appropriate.

 

If anyone would like to discuss this, please feel free to email us on authors4queensland@gmail.com

 

Also, if you are worried about missing emails – maybe you paid ages ago and have not received your item, or you’re a donor who hasn’t received notification to send the item – please do get in touch. A combination of our gmail address and the subject line has caused problems for some people but we’re on hand to rectify this.

 

Thanks and best wishes!

 

Emily, Kate, Katrina and Fleur

Spam

Receipts from the Premier’s Disaster Relief Fund are still coming in for our auction items – 241 paid for so far, which means that nearly $18k is accounted for. We’re getting closer to our pledged amount!

 

However, several donors and buyers have informed us that our emails have been going straight into their Spam folders. So please check the Spam for all email accounts you might have given us in case there are any emails lurking there.

 

Any queries, please get in touch at authors4queensland@gmail.com

 

 

One Week Later…

It’s been a week since our auction ended. Hundreds of emails have left our database, to highest bidders and donors, advising of your win – if you still haven’t received yours, please get in touch at authors4queensland@gmail.com and don’t forget to check your Junk Mail.

 

We’ve also received many receipts – 187 items have been paid for, with the money going directly into the Premier’s Disaster Relief Fund, a total of $12,687 safely deposited so far plus another $194 in extra donations as highest bidders in some cases rounded up their figures (thank you!).

 

We look forward to processing many more receipts and then announcing our final grand total – in pledged donations it is well over $20k now!

 

Thanks again to you all!

 

 

Thank you, early birdy people!

Thank you so very much to everyone who has already sent us their receipts and contact details. We will endeavour to send you all a confirmation over the weekend, as well as respond to any personal queries or messages you might have. Sit tight. We’ll get there! You are awesome.

Update!

Dear Buyers and Donors (that’s what we call you now, you know…),

 

Hundreds of emails are on their way to you right now but please don’t panic if you haven’t received yours yet, or if you’ve only received one and you actually bought 15 items (yes, I mean you at the back!), or donated several. We had to send individual emails for every item.

 

Some of them are getting stuck in the system (for example if a mailbox rejects one) and this holds up the whole process because we have to….well, that’s really dull so I won’t go into it but suffice to say it’s all happening! The email is from “Authors For Queensland” so do check your Junk mailbox just in case. We won’t take it personally. (We will.)

 

There is a line in the Buyers email to explain that although you are getting one email per item, you are free to pay into the Premier’s Disaster Relief Fund in one lump sum and send the receipt for that.

 

And the message to the Donors is basically “no need for any action yet”!

 

We have also included a dedicated email address for any queries. But it’ll still just be us answering them. In our pyjamas.

 

Thank you very much for your patience and, again, for your generosity. Over 100 emails have gone out but there are still over 100 in the queue, so no need to worry just yet.

 

Emily, Kate, Katrina and Fleur

What happens next?

Hi all,

Firstly, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to this auction – the donors and the bidders. It’s made our hearts so glad to have had your support. From little things, big things grow, huh?

What we plan to do next is to contact the winning bidder with all the information they need to finalise their bid. Donors, once bidders have done their bit, we’ll be in touch with you with the information about how to send off your item.

As we had so many items and bidders, please be patient with us. We aim to have all bidders contacted by the end of the week – hopefully sooner!

Once again, big, enormous thanks to you all. We are so chuffed and we know that the recipients of your donations will be very grateful.

Fleur, Katrina, Kate and Emily

Grand Total!

You’ve raised…

$19,981.39

for the Queensland Flood Relief Appeal.

Thanks again for supporting this auction. We now have a comprehensive database of all the highest bids and will be sending out emails containing full instructions (to highest bidders and donors) very soon.

There are some other fantastic initiatives going on, please see our More Support For Flood Appeal page.

190 Children’s/Artwork: Janeen Brian

ITEM: An original piece of artwork.

DETAILS: This artwork is unframed and measure 30cmx30cm. The artwork was created by illustrator Judith Rossell for the book ‘Too Tight Benito’, written by Janeen Brian, illustrated by Judith Rossell and published by Little Hare (2008).

CV: Janeen Brian is an award-winning author of picture books, short stories, poetry, non-fiction, short fiction and novels for young people and the educational market. She grew up in Brighton, South Australia, graduated as a Primary teacher and taught for over twenty years before becoming a full-time writer. Janeen lives in Glenelg, South Australia with her husband Jon and has two grown-up daughters, Natalie and Cassie. To find out more visit Janeen’s website: http://www.janeenbrian.com/

Please bid in the comments box below.

226 Written Assessment/Picture Book Manuscript: Meredith Costain

ITEM DETAILS: Meredith Costain will provide a written assessment (including tips on manuscript format, choosing and approaching publishers) of a picture book text of up to 500 words.

Meredith’s Picture Book CV:

TRADE TITLES
Musical Harriet (illustrated by Craig Smith)(Scholastic Aust, Sydney, ’95)
Totty’s Potty (Australian Family Magazine, Melbourne, 2000)
Doodledum Dancing (Penguin, Melbourne, 2006)
No Noise at Our House (Windy Hollow, Melbourne, 2008)
My Baby Love (Hachette Children’s Books, 2009)
Bed Tails (Penguin Books, 2009)

Please bid in the comments box below.

113 A signed copy of A Waltz for Matilda – Jackie French

Item: A signed copy of A Waltz for Matilda

Details:

Book Information: Set against a backdrop of bushfire, flood, war and jubilation, this is the story of one girl’s journey towards independence. It is also the story of others who had no vote and very little but their dreams.

In 1894, twelve-year-old Matilda flees the city slums to find her unknown father and his farm. But drought grips the land and the shearers are on strike. Her father has become a swagman and he’s wanted by the troopers. In front of his terrified daughter he makes a stand against them, defiant to the last. ‘You’ll never catch me alive, said he…’

According to Jackie French’ Our nation was born from ideals and passions and the effects of a twenty year drought, wrought as much by the women of the sufferage and temperance movements as it was by constitutional lawyers. Without these women- and without the worst drought in Australia’s history- we might still be a collection of states. The land itself shaped our nationhood. ‘

Drawing on the well-known poem by A.B. Paterson and from events rooted in actual history, this is the untold story behind Australia’s early years as an emerging nation.

Brief Bio: Jackie French is a full-time writer and wombat negotiator who lives near Araluen, NSW. Her previous books, including Hitler’s Daughter and To the Moon and Back, have seen French awarded the CBC Younger Readers award and the Eve Pownall Award among more than 50 other awards in Australia and overseas. In October 2010 she was awarded a NSW Premiers History Award for her novel The Night They Stormed Eureka.

114 Manuscript Assessment – Jackie French

Item: A manuscript assessment comprising of a two page (non-detailed) report and suggestions for improvements. The manuscript can be any length, and any genre except poetry. After the initial two page assessment Jackie is happy to give more advice about publishers, or eventually- hopefully- a publishing contract. Please send a stamped self addressed envelope if you’d like the mss returned.

Details:

Brief Bio: Jackie French is a full-time writer and wombat negotiator who lives near Araluen, NSW. Her previous books, including Hitler’s Daughter and To the Moon and Back, have seen French awarded the CBC Younger Readers award and the Eve Pownall Award among more than 50 other awards in Australia and overseas. In October 2010 she was awarded a NSW Premiers History Award for her novel The Night They Stormed Eureka.

64 Two Signed YA Novels: Luisa Plaja

ITEM: Any two novels from Luisa Plaja’s list, personally signed to you and sent over from the UK! 

DETAILS: Luisa Plaja, a rising star in Brit Teen Chick Lit, is about to see publication of her fourth hilarious and heart-warming novel for teenagers, and you can choose any 2 of the following-

Split By A Kiss… is the story of a British girl who goes to live in the USA for a year and faces some big challenges and choices, mostly to do with snogging a certain ultra-hot boy. After the kiss, she splits into two girls and goes down two paths at the same time. On one path she is in with the coolest of the cool, and on the other she… isn’t. Does either route lead to happiness? And how will she ever be herself again?

Extreme Kissing… Bethany and Carlota are best friends who long to escape the stresses of life as GCSEs loom on the horizon. Stresses such as a ridiculously strict step-parent (Carlota) or a long-term boyfriend displaying definite pre-dumping behaviour (Bethany). Carlota suggests the ultimate in stress relief: Extreme Travel, where the journey is more important than the destination. The girls embark on a wild day out in London, choosing tasks at random from the pages of a magazine; extreme challenges that include exclusive shopping, excellent snogging and… explosive secrets.

Swapped By A Kiss… is the sequel to Split By A Kiss. When Rachel’s on/off boyfriend goes to a music festival in England, she jumps on a plane to surprise him. But when she gets there, she sees him kissing someone else – their friend Jo. Super-lovely, super-loved, all-round-perfect Jo. Rachel runs away, wishing she could leave her life behind – and she suddenly finds herself in Jo’s body! Can she keep this swap a secret? Can she unravel what’s really going on? Can she get to grips with Jo’s out-of-control curly hair? And if she discovers that being in someone else’s shoes isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, can she ever be herself again?

Kiss, Date, Love, Hate (publication date 2011 so if you choose this one you might have to wait a little while.) Lex Murphy’s group of friends have all dated, hated, ignored and lusted after each other for the last few years. If only there was a way of matching people perfectly to avoid all the unrequited love, dumping and drama! Then Lex’s friend George is given a mysterious Sims-like game by his software-testing dad which involves building character profiles in the categories of Life, Looks and Love. Lex and George populate the game with avatars for all their mates, making a few ‘wishful thinking’ adjustments to the settings – and find that the next day these tinkerings have come true! But how long can this new calm, loved-up atmosphere continue?

See Luisa’s website for more details.

CV: Luisa Plaja (pronounced ‘playa’ like the Spanish for ‘beach’) is a Glaswegian Sicilian Londoner who lives in Devon, UK. She has two small children. She loves reading, writing and pretending she can do things she can’t, such as ice skating and telling jokes.

Please bid in the comments box below.

276 Structural Report (Children’s / YA): Penni Russon

Item: A detailed structural report of a manuscript up to 60,000 words.

Details: Report will be sent within 30 days of receiving the manuscript, unless otherwise agreed. Report to contain detailed feedback covering the areas of plot and structure; characterisation; writing and language; market potential; and other areas depending on the type of manuscript.

Bio: Penni Russon was born in Tasmania in 1974. Her latest novel is The Indigo Girls, part of an exciting new series published by Allen & Unwin in conjunction with Girlfriend Magazine.

Penni is the author of the Undine trilogy – Undine, Breathe and Drift. All three are published by Random House in Australia, while Undine and Breathe have been published by Greenwillow in the US. Unfortunately at this stage there are no plans to publish the third book in the US. If this makes you sad, please let Greenwillow know!

This magical trilogy is a reading experience. The sequence is never linear but written in loops, in and out of alternative worlds, governed by the laws of physics. Drift is full of significant meanings within meanings: highly intelligent and imaginative. ***** Good Reading Magazine

Penni has two novels in the works with Allen & Unwin. She is also the author of Josie and the Michael Steet Kids, published by Penguin as part of their popular Aussie Chomp series.

Penni has taught Creative Writing at Melbourne University, conducts workshops at schools and is becoming a popular public speaker for young people and adults. She has been invited to participate in the Melbourne Writer’s Festival in September 2008.

Penni also maintains a sometimes daily blog, called Eglantine’s Cake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To bid, please comment in the box below.

139 Partial Manuscript Assessment – Maggie Alderson

Item: A constructive criticism of the first three chapters and outline of a novel, in the genre of Contemporary Women’s Fiction/Modern Romance/ Chick Lit. Submission should be by email, no more than 10,000 words, plus the outline for the rest of the book. Outline for the rest of the book should be no more than 1,500 words

Details:

Brief Bio: I was born in London, brought up in Staffordshire and educated at the University of St Andrews. I have edited four magazines: British ELLE and ES (I was Editor of the Year for that – get me) in London, then Cleo (acting editor) and Mode in Sydney. I also worked on the Evening Standard and the Sydney Morning Herald. Newspapers are my spiritual home. My column in Good Weekend magazine has been running for over ten years and has been collected into three books.

I have written five novels, and co-edited three books of short stories for the charity War Child. I have most recently co-edited an absolutely filthy book of rude stories, with my writer pals Kathy Lette, Jessica Adams and Imogen Edwards-Jones. I currently live in Hastings Old Town on the south coast of England, with my husband and six-year old daughter, but I move a lot. I have about 150 pairs of shoes and I am currently writing another novel.

141 Day-long script clinic for a play or musical – Van Badham

Item: A day-long script clinic for a play or musical in development, in London or Sydney.

Details:

Brief Bio: Van Badham is the award-winning writer of more than 30 internationally produced plays for stage, music theatre and radio. Her theatre plays have had seasons at the Sydney Opera House, the Wharf studio, the Seymour Centre, the Victorian Arts Centre, Perth’s Blue Room and the Adelaide Festival. She has had plays and musical theatre staged at seven Edinburgh Festivals, in London and on the UK touring circuit, in America, in Iceland, Switzerland, Slovenia, Austria and in Germany. MIT Press in the US published her 2003 Edinburgh hit Camarilla. Her scripts for radio have been broadcast by the BBC World Service, Radio 3 and Radio 4. In 2007, Van’s play The Gabriels became the first Australian play selected for New York’s Summer Play Festival.

270 Signed Copy of Anthology Brothers and Sisters: Charlotte Wood

Item: A signed copy of the anthology Brothers and Sisters by Charlotte Wood 

Details: Critics and readers alike have long commented on Charlotte Wood’s acute ability to dissect sibling relationships in her novels. Lifelong resentments, tensions, alliances and affections between brothers and sisters play out in her books to brilliant effect. Here, Charlotte brings her skills to an anthology of newly-commissioned stories by well-known and new writers – Nam Le, Christos Tsiolkas, Tony Birch, Tegan Bennett Daylight, Robert Drewe, Ashley Hay, Cate Kennedy, Roger McDonald, Paddy O’Reilly, Virginia Peters, Michael Sala, Charlotte Wood – who have written about the sister/brother relationships, both in fictional and non-fictional forms.

Your brother or sister, it might be said, is your other self – your grander, sadder, braver, shrewder, uglier, slenderer self … Your sibling is your most severe judge and your fiercest defender. You must always rescue them. They always abandon you … You recognise one another, this is your relief and your ruin. They are your duty. They stun you with the sudden presence and force of their goodness. They give you Christmas presents that show you are strangers. You are strangers. You love them; it cannot be explained why or how.

– From the Introduction to Brothers & Sisters;
A girl sneaks into her brothers’ rooms to rummage through their pockets while they’re out. A man boards a plane to go to his brother’s funeral. Another man’s brother comes home from jail. A young woman watches her sister embrace life and London while she is left behind. Two girls compete for the colour pink and their father’s love.

Trespass and abandonment, old secrets and new truths, rivalry and protection, love and fear: twelve of Australia’s best writers tell surprising stories of the abiding bonds—bad, beautiful or broken— between brothers and sisters.

For more details please visit the author’s website

CV: Charlotte Wood is an Australian fiction writer.

She is the editor of Brothers & Sisters, a collection of short stories and non-fiction about siblings by 12 of Australia’s finest writers.

Her most recent novel, The Children, was described byAustralian Book Review as “a graceful and empathetic portrayal of one family seeking to understand itself,” and The Australiandescribed Charlotte as “a captivating, questing writer whose work is well worth watching”.

The Children was shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Association’s literary fiction book of the year. Charlotte’s previous novel, The Submerged Cathedral, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in its region 2005. Her first book, Pieces of a Girl, was also shortlisted for several prizes.

She writes a blog about cooking at www.howtoshuckanoyster.com. She lives in Sydney with her husband Sean and is working on her fourth novel.

Please bid in the comments box below.

142 Signed copy of ‘Document Z’ – Andrew Croome

Item: A signed copy of ‘Document Z’

Details:

Website: http://www.andrewcroome.com/

Book Information: Canberra, 1951. The Cold War is at its height. Into an atmosphere of paranoia, rumour and suspicion, Vladimir and Evdokia Petrov are among a group of new arrivals at the Soviet Embassy in Canberra. Both are party loyalists, working for the MVD, Moscow intelligence. Yet all is not well in the new city of Canberra. The atmosphere in the Embassy is tense and suspicious; the Ambassador resents their presence, and is secretly working to have Vladimir disgraced and recalled. In the meantime, ASIO are determined to discover who in this new group works for the MVD. Only three short years later, Vladimir has defected and his wife Evdokia is held prisoner at the Soviet Embassy, waiting to be transported back to Russia to face punishment or death for his crime. How did it come to this?

Brief Bio: Andrew Croome was born Canberra but grew up in Hobart and Albury/Wodonga. In 1998, he moved to Melbourne to attend university and is yet to leave. He has worked as a computer programmer, creative writing tutor and copywriter, and is soon to complete a PhD in Creative Writing at The University of Melbourne. Document Z is his first novel.

285 Signed Children’s Book (ages 9-12): Sue Whiting

Item: A signed copy of Get a Grip, Cooper Jones, by Sue Whiting 

Details:

What do you do when life’s spinning out of control?

Cooper Jones longs for the time when life was simple. When all he needed to worry about was whether to change his undies or make do. Now, suddenly, his life has become all too complicated. Cooper is plagued with thoughts about the father he has never known – the man he suspects as being a cowardly loser; the man he suspects he is starting to take after. Then there’s Mum. She has been acting weirder than normal, as if Cooper growing a few centimetres is a criminal offence. What is going on there? When the gorgeous Abeba arrives in Wangaroo Bay, Cooper’s anguish cranks up a notch, as he realises that he’s not the only one whose life is complicated. Set against the backdrop of a fiery summer, Cooper needs to realise that when life is spinning out of control, sometimes you just need to get a grip.

• A fresh story, with themes, such as self-identity, friendship and family, which teenagers will relate to
• A fantastic novel from Sue Whiting, author of Freaky and The Firefighters

For more info please visit the author’s website.

CV: After developing a passion for children’s literature as a primary school teacher, Sue Whiting now works full-time in the field she loves, dividing her time between working as a children’s book editor and writing stories for young people. Sue has had almost sixty children’s books published, ranging from rhyming romping verse for the very young to novels for pre-teens.

 

 

 

To make a bid, please leave a comment in the box below.

269 Signed Copy of The Submerged Cathedral: Charlotte Wood

Item: A signed copy of The Submerged Catherdral by Australian author Charlotte Wood.

Details: ‘Set me as a seal on your heart, for love is stronger than death.’ Spanning many years, travelling across Australia’s vast continent and through some of Europe’s great cities, The Submerged Cathedral is a beguiling, heartbreaking story of paradise and the fall; of faith, sacrifice and atonement; and of sisterly love and rivalry. Most of all, however, it is about an enduring and sacred love – a love stronger than death – and the journeys undertaken in its name.

· 2005 Miles Franklin Prize, shortlist

· 2005 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, South East Asia/South Pacific, shortlist

For more info visit the author’s website

 

CV: Charlotte Wood is an Australian fiction writer.

She is the editor of Brothers & Sisters, a collection of short stories and non-fiction about siblings by 12 of Australia’s finest writers.

Her most recent novel, The Children, was described byAustralian Book Review as “a graceful and empathetic portrayal of one family seeking to understand itself,” and The Australiandescribed Charlotte as “a captivating, questing writer whose work is well worth watching”.

The Children was shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Association’s literary fiction book of the year. Charlotte’s previous novel, The Submerged Cathedral, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in its region 2005. Her first book, Pieces of a Girl, was also shortlisted for several prizes.

She writes a blog about cooking at www.howtoshuckanoyster.com. She lives in Sydney with her husband Sean and is working on her fourth novel.

 

Please bid in the comments box at the bottom of the page.