I learnt something very cool yesterday...

My brother Rob and his son Lachlan are currently on a motorcycle tour of Central Europe.

(That's not the very cool something I learnt yesterday - I already knew that.)

A few days back, they went to a city in Germany called Hildesheim. This is the place where my great-grandfather Gustav Bachaus (later Gus Backhouse) was born. I was reminded of this when Rob put a bit of info about the place in his travel blog, and mentioned how special it was for him to be in the birthplace of a forebear.

(This is where the cool bit starts.)

I looked at the name of the city, and that, in conjunction with Rob's description of how much of Hildesheim was bombed flat during the war, reminded me of something. The familiarity of the name, and the rebuilding following the war, the state in which the town resides...

Then I remembered. (And this is the cool bit.) The German edition of my book Town is being published by Gerstenberg, a publishing house based in (guess where!) Hildesheim! Where my great-grandfather was born! How incredibly cool and circular and appropriate is that?

One more cool (but mostly unrelated) thing: on the front of the Gerstenberg website is a link to the German edition of Eric Carle's 'pop up buch', Die Kleine Raupe Nimmersatt, which translates literally to 'The Little Caterpillar Glutton.' I thought that was kind of cute.

Writing quote X

He that uses many words for the explaining of any subject doth, like the cuttlefish, hide himself for the most part in his own ink.
(John Ray)

The end.

Poll results - CBCA Younger Readers

Twenty-one votes this time, which isn't a huge number, but 50% better than last time, for those of a statistical bent.

And here are the results:

• Catherine Bateson: 6
• Sandy Fussell: 6
• Morris Gleitzman: 5
• Glenda Millard/Steven Michael King: 3
• Emily Rodda: 1
• Christine Harris/Ann James: 0

So, there we have it - a completely unreliable guide to who will win this year's CBCA Younger Readers category. My vote, for what it's worth, was for Then, by Morris Gleitzman. Read my review here.

Twitlit (Parte the seconde)

Anthony Eaton is a very funny chap. After several days of no Twitlit (classics retold in 140 characters or less) he came up with four in as many minutes.

• Moby Dick: Call me Ishmael. It might be just me, but I think the Captain's kinda mad. I don't see how this voyage can end well...
• The Caine Mutiny: Call me Keith. It might be just me, but I think the Captain's kinda mad. I don't see how this voyage can end well...
• Heart of Darkness: Call me Marlow. It might be just me, but I think Kurtz is kinda mad. I don't see how this voyage can end well...
• Into White Silence: Call me Downes. It might be just me, but I think the Captain is kinda mad. I don't see how this voyage can end well...
  

Writing quote VIII (and IX)

Two quotes today, both from the inimitable Mark Twain, and both more or less about the same thing. Here's the first:

As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out.

And the second:

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

That's damn good advice, don't you think?

TwitLit

The term 'Twitlit' has been coined before, but only for original work, as far as I can tell. By that I mean that contests have been set up whereby people wrote short stories in 140 characters or less, a la Twitter. (Although I think you'd be hard pressed to top Hemingway's classic uber-tweet short story: For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.)

But the way Anthony Eaton has used the term, it refers to tweeting a very brief synopsis of a novel that already exists.

Some of Tony's examples:

• T.G.Gatsby: In my younger days, I met Gatsby. He and my cousin killed a mechanic's wife. Then Gatsby got killed himself. Sad.
• A Tale of Two Cities: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Then worse again still. Then slightly better. Then awful. The end
• Crime and Punishment: I'm Raskolnikov. Killed a pawnbroker and family. Didn't feel too bad about it. Now I do. Off to Siberia...

I particularly like that last one. I've attempted a couple, but I don't think they're as good as Tony's.

• LordOfTheFlies: Mayday. Unplanned trip to an island. If Piggy still had his glasses he'd be OK. Would you rather be Ralph, Piggy or Simon?
• Hamlet: Dead dad, whorish mum, sleazy uncle, crazy girlfriend. Best friend is pretty cool, though. Sounds like classic YA to me...

Poll results - CBCA Older Readers

Last week I set up a blog poll asking who would win this year's Older Readers category of the CBCA Book of the Year awards. The participation numbers weren't huge (fourteen, to be precise) but a clear winner emerged. Here they are, in actual vote numbers.

• Anthony Eaton: 7
• Shaun Tan: 3
• Melina Marchetta: 2
• DM Cornish: 1
• Jackie French: 1
• James Moloney: 0

As I say, it's not a huge sample group, but the result is clear enough for Tony Eaton to almost certainly claim 'kissee-of-death' status. In fact, he already has.

The new poll is now up - it's the turn of the Younger Readers category.