May 22, 2008

writer linda jaivin at swf

I thought I'd share some of the inspiring quotes, info and advice from various talks I'm attending at the Sydney Writers' Festival.

On Monday night I attended a talk by Linda Jaivin, author of the best-selling novel Eat Me. I was intrigued by the blurb: "She will discuss her work, writing process, and the question of inspiration — where does it come from?"

It turns out that Linda is live-wire and obviously inspired by life and things she sees everyday - from people to places.

Here were some other interesting things I learnt.

* Linda was about 40 years old when her first novel was published (she only began writing in 1994).
* Her first novel, and biggest seller, Eat Me has been translated into 12 languages.
* She is fearless. "I would rather fail but fail intriguingly," she said.
* She writes for the love of it "not for the riches" - because there aren't any.

Image courtesy of the Sydney Writers' Festival