Just a quick Blemish Novella Story update and rare mid-week UTC post, for two reasons.
The first – and perhaps most important, if anything about all this could be considered ‘important’ – is that tomorrow night (20 June), at 6pm, I’ll be taking part in my publisher’s Very Blemished Evening at Smith’s Alternative, Canberra City. Can you think of a better title for a literary event? But this isn’t any old literary shindig, because this one has music, by the always cheeky Jason Recliner, and mountains of booze from the bar. So do drop in, have a drink and a dance, and listen to words by poets J.C. Inman and P.S. Cottier as well as myself. I’ll be singing – yes, singing – an entire chapter from I’m Ready Now. Okay, I may have made up that last bit; I’ll simply be reading a couple of saucy excerpts.
Speaking of I’m Ready Now, this being the second in what I hope will be a series of three novellas, all of which exploring contemporary Australian family life, has scored a warm and appreciative review in the Newtown Review of Books. The only response a writer really wants to their work is a close and thoughtful and open reading, and that, to my utterly biased mind, is what Walter Mason has done. Click on the link above for the whole deal, but the tastiest morsel might be this:
A newly widowed Tasmanian woman travels to Sydney to start a new life and begins her journey in the in-between space of her gay son’s stark one-bedroom flat in the inner city. This is the premise of Nigel Featherstone’s beautifully crafted novella, I’m Ready Now, a book that examines the impact of ageing on a grieving rich widow and a lost gay man approaching what he can only perceive as a hopeless middle age. Featherstone writes with sensitivity and a terrific eye for what it is that makes love – or at least sustained sexual connection – so very thrilling. Ultimately I’m Ready Now is about ‘feeling life’ – feeling one’s way around its unpleasant limits and reaching the end of its strangely narrow circuits. Thoughtful and frequently wistful, it serves as a guide to Sydney’s sadder streets and as a map of those moments of emotional maturity where you realise that it isn’t going to work out. Nuanced and thoroughly original.
Cue glowing heart.
If you’re in the ACT region tomorrow night, I look forward to seeing you – I’ll be the one whose legs won’t stop jiggling from nerves…
Under the counter or a flutter in the dovecote 
7 comments
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June 20, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Jun
whisperinggums
That’s a beautifully written review – well, the excerpt anyhow, Nigel. I will go read the rest in a mo. I’d be glowing too after that!
Just wanted to send apologies for tonight. As I expected I do have another commitment – Thursdays are a tricky night for me. But, I’ll be dancing in my head! Hope you have a great night. Good on Blemish!
June 20, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Nigel Featherstone
Hi Sue, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the review – always good to know what another reviewer thinks! And thanks also for your apologies for the Blemish bash last night. It was actually a lot of fun, with some terrific readings from JC Inman and PS Cottier, and Jason Recliner were excellent too.
I often find it a strange experience reading my own prose in front of a crowd, but last night there was a very warm (despite the freezing cold weather outside!) and attentive audience. Next stop: the Southern Highlands Writers’ Festival. I hope all is well with you.
June 20, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Jun
whisperinggums
Oh, I’m usually in awe of other reviewers … And think, why didn’t I say it like that? Why didn’t I manage to encapsulate it so neatly!
I thought of you last night as we walked near Paperchain … And wished your event had been there … I could have popped in … But Smiths was the effect place for what you were doing, I realised. Anyhow, enjoy the Southern Highlands festival. Most readers are generous I think … We admire you writers and want to encourage you …
June 21, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Nana Jo
That’s a review that would make any heart dance! Huge Congratulations. If I lived near, I would be there but it’s a very long way from Canada to Australia. By the way, in his latest book, David Sedaris describes Australia as ‘Canada in a thong’. That image keeps making me giggle!
On a much smaller scale, I understand your jitters. My book came out last March and I was a bundle of nerves at the local signing/reading event. There’s been just the one, but how proud I am of it.
June 21, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Nigel Featherstone
Hi Nana Jo, that Sedaris quote is hilarious! And for quite a few reasons.
Having been to Canada – quite some time ago I caught the train from Vancouver to Toronto and then a good friend and I did a road-trip around the Maritimes…all in FEBRUARY! – I can see the similarities between the two countries. They’re both gorgeous.
But more importantly, I’ll have to hunt down your book!
June 21, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Gabrielle Bryden
Wow, awesome review – you must be chuffed – hope it all went swimmingly 🙂
June 21, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Nigel Featherstone
Thanks Gabe. The Blemished evening was terrific: a wonderfully engaged audience (it helped that it was freezing cold outside, so everyone was snuggled together over a glass of something tasty) and good readings. Tops alround. Next stop: the Southern Highlands Writers’ Festival next month…