A wave of apologies is not anywhere near as good as a mexican wave...

Now that I have free time on my hands, my brain has turned to jelly. Not even coloured jelly, but more like the almost transparent kind you get from boiling pigs trotters. I have been wondering if there could be a literary equivalent of the NZ music airplay quota? What do you think?

I am non-plussed by the whole Witi Ihimaera thing, thrown on multiple levels by the plaigarism, the apology (?), the level of media coverage (I would dance naked through the streets for this kind of exposure except without the negative aspect of course), what this means in view of his teaching responsibilities and for writers in New Zealand in general and a few other things as well.

There seems to be a wave of apologising going on at the moment and I feel uncomfortable about all of it. Its like people who say, "don't take offence but..." and then go on to say something offensive. That doesn't make up for the offensive comment folks, it doesn't absolve you. These are people who if they weren't already aware they were doing something wrong, should have known. And if they did know then they shouldn't have done it. Thats why they are in these well paid positions of trust and responsibility. Yes people make mistakes and should be able to say sorry and move on but the kinds of mistakes we make reflect who we are. For example Mel Gibsons anti-semitic rant when trolleyed. Where he said it was his mistake, but what he said is what he believes - his apology couldn't cover that. Well I guess if nothing else, I now know what NZ's current apologisers really think and how they really act. And I guess I am not that impressed.

And why is Spring back-pedalling into Winter? Where's the warmth? I am so over my winter clothing. I want short sleeves and bare-feet. I can almost see the confusion in the plants in the garden. I can just about hear them saying 'my buds are cold. Should I bloom?' At least there hasn't been as many as usual of the sad little egg-filled nests blown out of trees at this time of year. My dog is off his food and as I sit at the computer typing this I am being serenaded by his belchy, squirty stomach noises. Its not conducive to creativity (not mine anyway, and i hate to think what his stomach is working on!) so i am going to take a wee break. Talk to ya later...

Turrible misssspellings...

I am mortified. I has been misspelling Brian Falkner's name and I apologise. I can not blame anyone when it comes to my name because, really, it is jolly complicated. If you only hear it said, you have a snowball's hope in Hades of spelling it as it should be. But after a lifetime of this I have always made an effort to get other people's names right. So Brian, I am sorry. And folks, it is Falkner, not Faulkner. And Brian, not Brain although Brain is probably a good alternative if you read his books. I have severly punished myself with a large amount of chocolate.

I have been dreaming of international travel recently, possibly prompted by the fact that my daughters are off to the States soon for a couple of cheerleading competitions in Florida. This time we are not accompanying them. I keep looking up residencies but know my children are not yet old enough for me to be absent for several weeks or several months, even if I was fortunate enough to be awarded one. The travel bug is pesky like superbugs resistant to antibiotics or an incurable hangover. I am plagued by wanderlust. My loftiest dreams include travelling overseas because of my books. I try to keep my feet on the ground but experience has shown me you can never tell what's around the corner.

The agent is soon off to Bologna and although Bologna has not yielded me international success and worldwide domination so far, I am ever hopeful. The Were-Nana is making an appearance in Scholastic Australia's very attractive brochure this year and I have given my agent some very eye-catching postcards of my most recent books to lure overseas publishers in, and compel them to sign up overseas rights, or look at other stories of mine still available for first time publication. They are good. Better than chocolate and less fattening too. You know you want them!