I think I'm going to like it here...

First impressions of school - in no particular order.

• Walking through the door of Allen and Unwin this afternoon felt like walking over the threshold into some miraculous heroes journey. Think of Frodo leaving he shire or Odysseus leaving Ithaca.
• School, as I'm going to call it, is held in the conference room of an old terrace house on Albert Street, East Melbourne, in the boardroom of the Kid's Publishing area.
• The walls are lined with kid's books. We are allowed to touch the kid's books but we have to put them back where we found them or Elyse (Editor, Kids Literature, Allen and Unwin) will get grumpy - and we need to be nice to Elyse. Elyse opens the door for us. 
• There are ten of us in the class. 
• Everybody, at first meeting, seems lovely.
• There are two PhD's in the group.
• Two or three of us have Master's Degrees in writing/editing/journalism. 
• There are two people who have previously published novels.
• Most of us write for a living in some way, shape or form.
• There are a couple of lawyers in the group. In any group, there are always lawyers. Both of the lawyers are funny. 
• The median age range is approximately 40-years-old. Some millennials, a couple of boomers the rest of us are somewhere in the middle. 
• Everybody is pretty passionate about the written word. You'd bloody hope so. 
• They gave us some books to read. (Charlotte Wood's Animal People and Claire Keegan's Foster)
• They also gave us an anthology of work from last year's courses. A showcase so to speak. 
• You are invited to put some work into the anthology at the end of the second term.
• Publishers and agents read the anthology.
• Numerous ex-students have picked up agents and publishing contracts from the anthology.
• Every week we will be workshopping a couple of pieces of the group. 
• We have to put in the workshopping to the group a few days before school.
• You also get a one on one consult with one of the tutors 
• They feed us snacks, tea, coffee and water. 
• Everybody is writing something different
• There are a couple of lit heads, so I'm happy (Lit heads = writers of literary fiction)
• Carrie Tiffany is an awesome teacher. I know Paddy O'Reilly will be just as awesome. 
• Writing exercises are fun in a group environment are great fun
• We have to share our stuff - no questions asked
• We will have visitors through the term - publishers, agents, editors etc
• I want to read The Pillow Book by Sei Shonogon now (it was written in 990 AD - it's lots of lists. It's cool. And timely. Even 1100 years on. 
• I really have to put some hefty work into this.
• My head is spinning.
• I feel like I'm in the foxhole with my tribe.
• The tram stop is 100 metres from the front door. 
• I think this may be the opportunity of a lifetime.
• I really don't want to fuck this up. 

Today's Song: