Hey all, Decided to take the plunge with aussie zone and nice to be invited into the daily thread. Hope you are all doing well

Forewarning: Brag post.

I got a message from the parent of a student who goes to a school I did a talk at during book week who said "I inspired her son to come home and write a story" and jesus christ has that made my day/week/year. I don't get them that often, but every time I get a message from a parent saying something like that it just means so much knowing there is a kid out there writing his own story now.

I got the house! Party time! Unfortunately 90 day settlement maximum but gives me time to save for the new kitchen and flooring. W00t!

I just got a random email from someone saying they love reading my books and I am one of their favourite authors ever.

I figured it was just a spam email since I get them frequently - usually wanting to sell me something - and its too my author outlook email which is advertised in the books and on my twitter profile, etc.

Check the email address and it's from an education email address - so the ones they give assign to kids at school.

Could still be a bored student taking the piss, but I choose to believe I just got my first ever fan e-mail.

Howdy all.

I have not been here for a long long time. Life has certainly got in the way of everything.

Hope you are all doing well and life has been good.

Well I rang the EAP people and after being told they are no longer our support, which would have been par for the course, she was wrong and I have an appointment sorted.

Aside from that little hiccup, it wasn't scary at all.

Thanks for your support too. It made it easier to deal with.

Holy moly, I got a 92 on my last assignment. That is a pleasant surprise.

If anyone is interested, the school I presented at had a nice write up about yesterday. It is a facebook link though

Put an offer in on a house today. Pray for Mojo.

I miss living in Melbourne. And there is so much more options for my little one. If (and when) I finish my education degree I'm going to seriously consider moving back. At least working in school I might avoid the ridiculous travel times like I had when I had to work in the city.

I underestimated how many more would come in today. Over 110 entries now!

I don't like bragging, but this is shortlived so I'm gonna own it.

I got my other assignment back yesterday.

Again.

I thought I was looking at the previous one. But nope. 2 x 92's in a row. Couldn't believe it.

Woo I passed my CASPer test which means I should be transferring into Bachelor of Education by next semester!

I know I should get over it, but do you think it's 'ok' to be miffed about donating something to someone and not even getting a thank you in return?

It's been a month. I am mostly over it, but from time to time it comes to mind and it bugs me as someone who lives in a world thinking they've never mattered.

Uni results day today.

I passed my placement - yay.

HD on my final assignment in one unit - w00t.

Still waiting on the results for the other unit. I dunno why the first 2 released at 9am and this one is taking ages.

I've been wanting to share this for a while now, but it is finally confirmed and official.

I am working with Libraries Tasmania to run a short story competition for kids aged 17 and under. Similar to the contest I did with the schools, I approached the library to see if they would like to do something similar and they said yes. It's only being promoted on the west/north-west of Tasmania but it's open to anyone in Tasmania. I hope to expand it statewide next year, especially if it gets a lot of interest.

I'm so excited to see this idea come to fruition. Creative writing is so awesome and I can't wait to see what stories the kids will come up with.

Unfortunately, doesn't really apply to the forum since this is a melbourne sub, but I had to share.

I just want to lay in my new bed and new mattress and forget work ever exists.

HR dumped this on a random desk in my office to show their gratitude for all we do. Starts off with "Hi team". There's two people who work in this area, me and someone else and we aren't in the same team, not even in the same site technically.

Dunno why they couldn't be honest and just say they found this at the back of their cupboard when doing a clean out. It would have been less insulting.

Hey all,

Hope you all had a good weekend. I forgot to show you guys the cover for the next book in my Van Diemen's Valley series.

I absolutely love how creepy it is.

I have some new book covers!