Tag Archives: Ned Kelly Awards

September 25, 2009

Book trailers and the farm

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — PD Martin @ 5:36 am

This week has flown by and, I have to admit, I’ve hardly spent any time on book stuff. Instead, I’ve been having quality mother-daughter time with my 2yro. Had a lovely visit to the Collingwood Children’s Farm today…but you probably don’t want to hear about the delight on my little girl’s face as she held a guinea pig and patted baby goats (kids).

So, the book stuff. It’s not like I haven’t done anything…this week I’ve been investigating book trailers. What do you think of them? Email me at info@pdmartin.com.au with your thoughts!

In case you haven’t heard of them before (or seen one), it’s like a movie trailer but for a book. Still photos, video, music, voice-over, on-screen words…all designed to give you an instant snapshot of the book. I’ve been speaking to three providers and watching quite a few book trailers to see what I do, and don’t, like.

Other book news: Kiss of Death is currently being typeset (Aussie release January 2010) and The Killing Hands is probably being printed about now for its November 1 North American release!

This week I also uploaded two new photo galleries: The Ned Kelly debate and a couple of shots from Write Around the Murray.

And I announced the winner of my Facebook competition – congratulations Monica Kelly. You can watch the winner being drawn (and a blooper video – got the giggles first take) at www.facebook.com/pages/PD-Martin/52

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August 29, 2009

MWF – Part 2

Filed under: Events/appearances — Tags: , , , , — PD Martin @ 5:10 am

Late again with my blog. In my defence, I was busy preparing for my part in the Ned Kelly Awards last night. It also marked my last appearance at this year’s Melbourne Writers’ Festival. And I’m well and truly exhausted.

But first off, and the winners are:

  • Best first novel GHOSTLINES by Nick Gadd
  • Best fiction DEEP WATER, by Peter Corris and SMOKE & MIRRORS by Kel Robertson
  • Best true crime THE TALL MAN by Chloe Hooper
  • Lifetime achievement award – Shane Maloney

The night was in the very capable (and funny) hands of Jane Clifton – and started with the traditional debate. This year’s topic was Women do it Better. You can read the article on the debate (which I was part of) in the news section of this website. The actual award presentations featured some wonderful acceptance speeches and great banter between Peter Corris and Shane Maloney as Peter presented Shane with the lifetime achievement award.

Last Saturday I also took part in my second MWF panel, X-Rated. In this session, Garry Disher, Philip McLaren and I discussed how far crime writers can go with moderator Peter Lawrance. The session went really well, and brought up some interesting questions on the crime writer’s role in society’s exposure to violence.

During the week I also managed to attend to two sessions – one on digital marketing and one on the US publishing scene. Both were informative and engaging.

Then last night my festival journey came to an end and I collapsed into my bed (from tiredness, not too much wine) just before midnight. I’ve only got the weekend to recover because on Monday Sophie’s back home for another round of edits!

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July 25, 2009

Event madness

Filed under: Writing — Tags: , , , , — PD Martin @ 5:02 am

It’s event madness for me at the moment (plus editing of course).

Last Friday night I was in Foster for an author talk, and then headed back on Saturday to catch some other authors talking about their books and work at The Crime and Justice Festival. In the end, I only went to two sessions – one on the criminal mind (right up my alley) and one on being an undercover cop in the mafia. Really enjoyed both and was dying to see more on Sunday, but decided I should focus on editing.

I’ve got a few other events coming up:

August will be busy! But for now, I must focus on edits…10 days until my deadline – ahhh!!!

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