Posted by Matthew Lang, on October 7th, 2011% 
The first thing I have to say is the NYWF was awesome, and everyone should go next year. The second thing I have to say is that respiratory illnesses are much less awesome, especially when they hit two days after returning. I seem to have come down with a probably-not-flu-flu-like viral infection, and although I’m no longer aching everywhere, I am still feeling massively fatigued all the time, which sucks. I suppose I can only be thankful it happened *after* the festival. I thought I was being careful and taking care of myself so this wouldn’t happen, but well, that’s a story for another day.
The NYWF happens every year in Newcastle-Newy, as it is affectionately known-and This is Not Art (TiNA), the umbrella festival of which NYWF is a part, has become Newcastle’s biggest tourism weekend. In the words of one person I spoke to on Grindr, the ‘influx of hot gay men’ over the festival weekend is something to look forward to.
It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon, and I was a NYWF virgin. My flight was delayed and when I finally rocked into Newcastle airport, the first thing I noticed was how…regional it was. I guess the first thing that struck me was the feeling that I was about as far away from a major city in Australia as I’ve ever been, and this was the very first time I’d been out somewhere like there as an openly gay man, and visions of homophobic, possibly racist, rednecks swarming along on utes filled my brain. And then I put those thoughts aside, collected my luggage and went in search of the bus to town.
Eventually, I found myself outside my hotel, the Newcastle Ibis, which was a little further from the festival locations than I really would have liked, but on the upside, it was a room for myself, which I wasn’t sharing with another four artists. Not that I have anything against other artists, mind you, but there are considerations–like snoring, smelly feet, and enough space for me to pull out my laptop and get some work and social networking done. Yes, I’m a bit paranoid about my computers at times. Go figure.
In any case, I spent the first afternoon wandering around Newy and trying to find out where all the festival venues were. In doing so I also discovered something I’d forgotten about smaller town Australia-everything shuts early. And when I mean early I mean by 5 PM. And when I mean everything, I mean everything. It then mostly doesn’t open on the weekends…or public holidays, as Monday was in New South Wales. At times I feel like I spent the entire weekend trying to find somewhere to eat that was open.
Thursday was a nice, slow easing into the whole Festival scene, with an Artist Meet & Greet, and then the TiNA launch party. I started Friday . . . → Read More: National Young Writers Festival–Or What I did last Weekend
Posted by Matthew Lang, on June 14th, 2011%
Big shout out to the crew of the Emerging Writers’ Festival, which saw little me take to the stage for my first ever festival appearance and panel chat. Also, I’d really like to say thank you to Carmel F, who was my pen pal artist sponsor, and in no small part responsible for the wide range of artists present at the EWF.
I’m taking a break from public appearances, and will be getting back to what I’m meant to be doing, which is putting on a cabaret writing my next novel. However, there have been some rumours floating around that I may be heading up to Newcastle for the National Young Writers’ Festival. Exactly what I’m doing up there well… predictions are welcome.
Posted by Matthew Lang, on March 17th, 2011% 
There’s a new page on this website. It’s been a busy few days for me (no, Dragon Age 2 is still yet to arrive), but I’ve confirmed a book launch for The Secret of Talmor Manor, entered the People’s Choice Night of the Williamstown Literary Festival, and been invited to be a panelist at the Emerging Writers’ Festival for their Romance Genre panel.
I did a few other things too, but those are the most interesting ones. And as a result, I’ve added an events page to this site so they don’t get lost amongst the flurry of posting on this blog. Or the hopeful flurry of posting on this blog.
So without further ado, this is what I’m up to!
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AND POETRY NIGHT: WILLIAMSTOWN LITERARY FESTIVAL For a bit of fun I’ve entered the Williamstown Literary Festival‘s People’s Choice and Poetry Night, which is an open mic style event for ten short works of poetry and prose, with the audience deciding the winner in each category, with prize money to the tune of $50-$100 each. If you’d like to come along and help me win, your support would be very much appreciated. When: 7:00 PM Thursday 28 April, Where: Pirates Tavern, 82 Nelson Parade Williamstown
MC of the Poetry will be Mike Reynolds of Passionate Tongues. And the MC of the Prose will be notable story teller, Jackie Kerin, who was joint winner of the Ada Cambridge prize in 2009.
Tickets are $5.50 concession and $7.70 adult.
If you would like to enter click here.
Tickets for the event are available at the box office here.
BOOK LAUNCH: THE SECRET OF TALMOR MANOR The Secret of Talmor Manor will be launched on Friday the 20th of May at Hares & Hyenas
When: 7:00 PM Friday 20th May Where: Hares & Hyenas 63 Johnston St. Fitzroy, 3065
Please come down and join me to celebrate the publication of my book, have a drink, possibly listen to a reading, and I’ll be on hand for signings.
I’m also talking to some artist friends about possibly having some artwork auctions or similar for charity (most likely the equal love campaign). I’ll provide updates as details get finalised. There will be a bar open for the launch as well.
EMERGING WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: ROMANCE GENRE PANEL I will be appearing as a panelist in the Emerging Writers’ Festival’s Romance Genre Panel.
When: 6:00 PM-7:00PM, Wednesday 1st of June Where: Wheeler Centre 176 Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne Victoria 3000
Other Panelists: + Author Stephanie Laurens + A publishing representative from Mills & Boon
~*~
So don’t forget to pop those dates into your diary and watch this space for updates! I hope to see you at one (or several) of the events!
Matt
. . . → Read More: Launches, Festivals and Readings, Oh My!
Posted by Matthew Lang, on March 11th, 2011%
So it was MLR Press author chat day at the LR Cafe yahoo group yesterday, and I thought I’d post the Q&A here for you all to enjoy, or laugh at. Either one’s good really.
Please tell us about yourself. What got you interested in being an author?
Well, about ten years ago, I was living in Hong Kong–my dad got a job over there and moved the whole family–and I ended up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because of Model United Nations. I honestly can’t even remember which country I was representing. Possibly Sudan, although I think that was the year before. Anyway, it was cool because the host family I stayed with was Australian–I’m an Aussie, by the way, hello from down under–and it turned out Simon and I both liked writing, Australian comedy (can’t wait for the festival) and Warhammer (okay, I’m a geek). Anyway, he introduced to an PBeM egroup called Imperial Secrets (IMS) that is now sadly defunct, but um… I got home to HK, was up at 2 AM in the morning and created a character to post with and discovered what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
Can you tell me a bit about your most recent/upcoming release?
My debut novel is called The Secret of Talmor Manor. It’s a modern paranormal mystery–although some people are classifying it as historical–the main conceit is that my main character, Jake, falls asleep and finds himself in a Victorian era manor inhabited by a number of ghosts–and then one of them (the hunky one) appears in Jake’s living room. Then it’s a case of, why is the ghost, Nathaniel, in the waking world? Why is Nathaniel corporeal? WTF is up with this sexual chemistry thing, who is trying to kill them, and what should he wear to the upcoming Halloween party? You know, all the important questions!
For any readers who may not have read any of your books, can you just give us a little sneak peak into world (i.e. the type of genre you write, type of stories you like to write…etc)?
So that would be every reader here, right? Um…well see, typically I write fantasy fiction, so this novel was a bit of a departure for me, and of course it’s the one that Laura and MLR went ‘Yes Please’ to. Um… I guess I like to write stories that are really less ‘romance’ stories than other stories that just happen to have a male/male romance built in to them as part of the overall plot. I tend to push myself to give characters real reactions, and I also like to be funny, which sometimes doesn’t work with the real reactions, so it usually comes down to finding the place where the story sits and forcing myself to stick to it. It usually works.
How much of yourself, if any, do you put into your characters?
That depends entirely on the character. Jake got a few of my pet peeves, but there’s bits of me in just about every . . . → Read More: Q&A @ LoveRomances Cafe
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