Neon Festival of Independent Theatre kicks off at the MTC

What a fabulous opportunity to see some inspiring and provocative independent theatre works in Melbourne. The MTC is hosting five productions for the NEON Festival, plus free NEON Extra events, conversations, workshops and more.
The first production, Menagerie, starts tonight and runs until the 26 May 2013. Tickets for the shows are highly accessible at $25 each, and you can see all five shows for only $100.
"Menagerie is a new production based on the extraordinary life and work of one of the giants of the American stage, Tennessee Williams. DANIEL SCHLUSSER ENSEMBLE has built an exciting reputation for exploding the classics onto the contemporary stage with a unique sensibility and style. This award-winning company kicks off the inaugural NEON season with its most ambitious and potent work yet." —MTC

I'm also very excited to share that I have a place in one of the workshops for NEON EXTRA Insights for Independents. These free workshops, along with NEON EXTRA Conversations, are held by industry leaders and are an exceptional gift to emerging theatre makers. Unfortunately, the workshops are booked out (yes, I should have told you about it earlier!), but NEON Conversations are open to the public and require no booking. Visit NEON to download a calendar of the upcoming shows and check out what's on!
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Getting Wild with the Wheeler Centre, Gala 2013!

On Feb 9th, The Wheeler Centre are beginning their year with a Gala night dedicated to Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. This treasured tale is celebrating its 50th birthday this year, and out of the murky shadows will come poets, dramatists, essayists, fiction writers, journalists and lyricists to perform and weave words from their inner monsters, drawing on the inspiration the Wild Things have brought to us all. Sounds like it'll be a very wild night at The Melbourne Town Hall! Tickets are $20/$12 concession, and all profits go to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. For more information, including the line-up of wild peeps attending, visit the Wheeler Centre.

Spotlight On: Dionne Lister, self-published author.

Author Dionne Lister is receiving fabulous reviews for her debut book, Shadows of The Realm. Her following of keen readers is growing strong! I hear she's already tapping away at the next instalment in her series, The Circle of Talia, and plans for the next iteration of her much-admired cover art is also under way.

Shadows of The Realm is a highly entertaining epic fantasy and a wonderful introduction to the multidimensional world of Talia. Its band of endearing characters crosses  all ages and species of creatures, and I had so much fun reading about their interconnected relationships and stories. I, like other Talia fans, am hanging [and begging] to see where Dionne takes us in her second book!

Dionne is not just an up-and-coming author to watch, she's a funny, down-to-earth person who loves to connect with her readers and provide inspiration for aspiring authors. In a recent post on her blog, titled:

What’s Worked in my Self-Publishing Journey so Far, she shares advice from her journey as a writer and self-publisher. Definitely worth a read, and I recommend following her blog. 

Dionne is also one half of the podcasting duo behind the popular Tweep Nation, along with Amber Norrgard. Tweep Nation hosts funny, casual and informative interviews with a range of authors and other special guests. I find myself entertained by her posts and podcasts as well as her books. 

So take a look at Shadows of The Realm, and also check out her book of suspenseful, wonderfully touching short stories, Dark Spaces, while you're at it. This anthology is quite a departure in genre to her fantasy series and is excellent just the same, giving us a hint at the range of this new author.

Congratulations, Dionne! Your success with these books is well deserved and an inspiration. :)