Bronwyn Parry

My publisher and the structural editor got back to me quite quickly with revisions on the manuscript, none of which surprise me, so in between marking assignments and teaching, I’ve been working out how to make the necessary changes to the book. Both the backstory and the plot were a bit too complicated, so I need to decide what to cut and what to keep, and then make the changes through the manuscript. Plus smooth out and polish some aspects, and add a couple of scenes.

Easy.

Ahem. Well, nothing I can’t do. Just have to keep butt in chair and do it. I have until November 1st to get the revisions done. I also have to mark another 40 essays, teach three more weeks of uni, and have two trips away between now and then.

I’m taking a slightly unexpected trip to Canberra for a few days, leaving on the (aarrghh!) 6.30am plane tomorrow. Which means getting up at 5 am to leave here by 5.30am to get into town to the airport. We can be thankful that small regional airports don’t require one to be there an hour before the flight. (Have I mentioned that I don’t do mornings very well??)

My Dad in Canberra has been feeling low, and I managed to snaffle some frequent flyer reward flights, so that’s the reason for my trip. I’ll mostly be visiting Dad in the nursing home, and seeing Mum and the rest of the family, but we might manage a visit to Floriade, Canberra’s huge spring celebration with millions of flowers. The other major event on at the weekend, of interest especially to those of us born in the southern part of the country, is the Australian Football League Grand Final. It’s in Melbourne, not Canberra, but for those of you who don’t know AFL, it’s a matter of fact that anyone born within coo-ee of Melbourne is genetically bonded to an AFL team from birth, or at least from a young age.

I followed Collingwood as a kid, because my sister followed Collingwood, and she was bigger than me. I don’t follow any code of football much at all these days, but my Dad does, and although his team isn’t in the Grand Final this year, Collingwood is. So, I imagine we will probably do the Proper Traditional Thing and watch the GF on TV Saturday afternoon, with beer and crisps and peanuts and other munchies.

It will be hard. I mean, watching a couple of dozen very fit young men running up and down a large field, jumping, kicking, tackling. For those who’ve never seen AFL, perhaps I should mention here that AFL uniforms consist of short tight shorts, and close-fitting sleeveless shirts. Here’s a little sample of what I may have to ‘endure’:

LOL- who cares which team wins?