Breakfast, day one
And so last week I went back to Adelaide barely a fortnight after I’d left it in order to deliver two talks at Flinders University (thanks to my Brain, Lisa L. Hannett, for organising all that!).
We had an excellent breakfast beforehand, at Bocelli, which provided the best French toast brioche with vanilla mascarpone, strawberries and maple syrup, and the breakfast trifle museli in a mason jar for Lisa.
Photo by Dr Lisa
Afterwards, I went off and did this:
My talk at the Writers and Their Worlds event (followingthe very interesting Doug Henrie talking about his book AmalgaNations) was the chance to talk about my career and my books – what author doesn’t love talking about themselves? I actually don’t, but I did enjoy this chat! Lovely, engaged audience. Afterwards we rushed off so I could deliver my “official” lecture, Keeping It Short, which was about using editing as an audit process to make sure your short story is just that Again, a lovely, attentive, engaged group of students.
Breakfast, day two
Then the work part was over! The next day Lisa and I were nerds, and I mean NERDS. We had breakfast again (hey, we gotta eat!) at The Store. Amazing pancakes for me, and a rather garish but delicious avocadoy, beetrooty, spinachy thing for Lisa. Then we wandered through the glory that is the Botanical Gardens, admiring trees, being creeped out by bat colonies, and finding ourselves at the most excellent Museum of Economic Botany – go there, it’s wonderful.
Moi, being economically botanical
Me at Mortlock, trying to stay there
Next, to the art gallery, where we meandered happily, oohing and aahing, and occasionally urghing at the displays. After lunch with the lovely Sara, we went to the Mortlock Library, which I never wanted to leave. It’s so beautiful. 
And then on to the museum, where we did this. Squid! 
And it was all a bit of a blur after that, ending with burgers at The Hackney, and a re-watch of Willow at home.
Then, finally, up at the crack of oh-my-gods’o’clock in order to make my 6am flight back home to Brisneyland and my Beloved. 
But most importantly, there was this: time with my best Brain. 