Di Morrissey - Di's Diary

Been in Sydney for a bunch of meetings with my lovely publisher, plotting strategy to market my new book which comes out in October. It's always fun catching up with my pals at the publisher. Some of them have been there since my first book ("Heart of the Dreaming" 1991) so we feel like family. One change I have noticed over the years is how much more important marketing a book has become. It's very competitive and with the GFC (global financial you-know-what) everyone is scratching to find their niche in the marketplace. Thankfully book readers don't give up. People might pass on going out to dinner and a move and stay home with a DVD and a book so while some retailers are suffering, I hope this Xmas proves a big one for books. I have faith that Aussie readers will continue to demand good quality Australian books... not just for their content but for their production, their heart and because they showcase our writers. I don't want so-called "cheap" imports produced for the overseas market without our slang and idiom on paper not worthy for the dunny.

I'm excited to see the first copies of the cover which I love. Sometimes choosing the title and the image for the book is harder than writing it!

I stayed in the city across from Hyde Park, down the block from the old HQ of Australian Consolidated Press, where I first started work as a cadet journalist at the Women's Weekly. While the building has changed, and there's no longer the old pub on the corner where all the journos hung out, Hyde Park still recalls vivid memories. Taking my lunch into the park to eat, walking around the Archibald Fountain, to the beautiful peaceful garden and memorial pond where there was a wonderful walkway with seats, covered in wisteria. Memories of that have inspired a "wisteria tunnel" (not Lane!) in our garden. My Uncle Jim for awhile worked at the ABC in William Street and then moved to Kellet Street in the Cross when Four Corners started with Michael Charlton. Jim sometimes met me for lunch and took me to the nearby infamous Greasy Greeks which had great Greek food, cheap red wine, and was always filled with journos, the literati and bohemian artists.

So walking along Elizabeth Street (the back entrance to ACP where the loading dock was, filled with trucks being loaded with newspapers)brought back a lot of memories. The only problem with the hotel was that it was a bit too close to DJ's half year sale!

I had one morning where I had time to dawdle and found myself watching CNN, as I only do in hotel rooms, and was mesmerised by Michael Jackson's memorial service. No matter what we thought of him in these last years, he was a musical genius which will live on. But what was he trying to find, create, in his tragic efforts at metamorphosis? When he had so much. Though what he never had was a childhood. But the tiny glimpse of his home movies, his broken-hearted daughter gave us a glimpse of another Michael, trying to give his children what he never had. Sad.

Even though I'm in the big smoke I ran into two acquaintances I hadn't seen in years and the lady who served me in David Jones had written to me some years back for help with a charity. So the big smoke isn't so big after all.

Cheers

Di’s latest book The Islands, published by Pan Macmillan, is now on sale.