Personal highlights from the Brisbane Writers Festival 2013

As many of my readers, friends and family know, the highlight of my year is the Brisbane Writers Festival. I volunteered again this year and met some wonderful writers, took two masterclasses, and attended some really stimulating events.
Having volunteered previously, I was entrusted with the task of driving three people I admire to the University of Queensland to deliver lectures - Canadian-American author, film-maker and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki, investigative journalist and national treasure Chris Masters and science guru Dr Karl Kruszelnicki (pictured below with his new book 50 Shades of Grey Matter).

A couple of other personal highlights included hearing great Australian author Alex Miller speak about his new book Coal Creek, due for release in October (of course, I picked up an advance copy), meeting linguist Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex OAM, and taking a terrific masterclass with author of The Rosie Project Graeme Simsion. I can't wait to put his many tips on short story writing to good use. I just need to get out my notes from Elizabeth Wein's workshop on scheduling, and, well, schedule more time at my desk.