ALONE: Chasers is on the list for this year’s GET READING! campaign.

GET READING! is Australia’s largest annual celebration of books and reading. Previously called Books Alive, GET READING! is a nationwide Australian Government initiative developed through the Australia Council for the Arts. In 2010 GET READING! runs from 25 August to 30 September, and encourages all Australians to GET LOST, GET FRESH, GET HOOKED, GET REAL and GET COMFY with a book.

There’s a free online chapter for ALONE: Chasers on their site:

http://www.getreading.com.au/PDF/chapter_samples/Chasers.pdf

So… GET READING! now with the FREE 50 Books You Can’t Put Down guide. It’s available here at getreading.com.au, or from book retailers and libraries during the campaign. The guide will help you GET LOST in amazing escapes, GET FRESH with new writers, GET HOOKED by catchy page turners, GET REAL with incredible true stories or just GET COMFY with a great book. What’s more, when you buy one of the 50 books listed in the guide you’ll receive a FREE book exclusive to Get Reading!: either 10 Short Stories You Must Read in 2010 by ten of Australia’s best writers or Tickled Onions by the award-winning children’s author Morris Gleitzman.

I will be touring the country for some sessions and talks, as well as participating in the Outdoor Reading Room in my hometown of Melbourne (at Federation Square, a civic space that, during the time I was as an architecture student at RMIT, I was part of the design team) so check out the APPEARANCES link above – it will be updated as events are booked – and over here:

http://www.getreading.com.au/PDF/media/James_Phelan_Events_With_Get_Reading.pdf

The 50 author’s with books on this year’s list are:
Alex Miller
Alexandra Adornetto
Andre Agassi
Andrew McGahan
Anh Do
Anne Fortier
Audrey Niffenegger
Ben Elton
Bindi Irwin
Cate Kennedy
Cathy Kelly
Charlaine Harris
Colin Thompson
Craig Silvey
Craig Smith & Katz Cowley
David Malouf
Gabrielle Williams
Helen Brown
James Phelan
Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith
Jeff Kinney
Jessica Rudd
John Danalis
Joy Dettman
Judy Nunn
Kathryn Stockett
Keith Murdoch
Lisa Genova
Margaret Wild & Jan Ormerod
Mark Dapin
Melanie La’Brooy
Michael Robotham
Muriel Barbery
Nam Le
Norman Doidge MD
Paul Kent
PC Cast & Kristin Cast
Peter Temple
Rachael Treasure
Ray Martin
Rosalie Ham
Simmone Howell
Stephanie Laurens
Stephen King
Steve Cannane
Stieg Larsson
Susan Wyndham
Thomas Keneally
Trudi Canavan
William Kostakis

Killing your Dreams.

An interesting read by Paulo Coehlo about “Killing your Dreams”, over at my friend Shekhar Kapur’s blog:

“The first symptom of the process of our killing our dreams is the lack of time. The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The truth is, they are afraid to fight the Good Fight. …”

More @ Shekhar’s blog.

You might see this billboard around at the mo:

Out Now!

The latest Lachlan Fox thriller is out now…

Look for one of these in your local store:

Competition for ALONE: Chasers

Win books! Win an iPod touch!

If you have a google you’ll find there’s a few comps going at the moment re ALONE. Here’s a couple…

We had this come in via jp.com the other day:

“Hi James,
I just wanted to let you know that I am currently hosting a competition for FIVE winners to each receive FIVE books, including your book Alone 01: Chasers.
Feel free to spread the word about the competition if you wish.

You can check it out @
livejournal
http://larissabookgirl.livejournal.com/43986.html
or
blogspot
http://larissabookgirl.blogspot.com/2010/07/competition.html

Thanks for your time
Larissa”

AND… don’t forget about this comp to win an iPod:

http://www.a-lone.com.au/

New Vook out now

Jeffrey Deaver, 22 Other Best-Selling Thriller Writers (inc me, Lee Child, Joe Finder, etc) Launch New Collaborative Vook for iPad:
http://vook.com/watchlist-part-ii-the-copper-bracelet.html

coming very soon!

We all need one of these…