The new book is finished but haven’t been able to contact the graphic designer to finish the cover – turns out her computer had died, I’ve just heard from her now as a friend in the US called her for me to check on her. So the book should be at the printer next week. Yay! And Amazon.com not long after that.

Got fantastic reviews already for the book too – you should see at http://www.ithappenedbydesign.com. I’m ready to take advance orders too.

My Facebook page really is starting to shape up at http://www.kathiemthomas.com and I’m using it to announce events now.

I had professional shots taken recently and I’m fairly happy with them – I just have to get used to seeing me with glasses. You can see some of them at my Facebook page or at the media page on this site.

I beat my goal of 24 speaking engagements this year and to date it’s now 35 – I have 5 in October which is counted in that list.

Life is busy and I’m enjoying it!

Our (my husband and I) trip is now booked and we paid our deposit yesterday to the travel agent - one whole week has passed and it’s all been planned!  We’re flying to Toronto and then will travel to Niagara to stay for the duration of the FoVA conference. Then we fly to Victoria and join a tour over there, run by an Aussie company to visit Vancouver, Whistler, Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff and then back to Vancouver to get on a cruise ship to go up to Glacier Bay and back before flying back home towards the end of the month.  And a long-time friend via email and phone, who lives in Vancouver has invited Graham and I to come stay with her and her husband for a night as well.

What a wonderful thing to happen in such a short space of time. It was only 3-4 weeks ago that Graham and I went to a presentation given by our local travel agent (who doesn’t have a website - will have to talk to them about that!) about a tour and cruise in Canada and we thought we might do that in 2010 - we didn’t think 2009 would be possible till I got the request to speak at a conference!

What a difference a week makes!

I had the wonderful privilege of speaking today on We Love Girl Talk which is a Christian Women’s Radio Show. Sandra and Sarah, the show’s hosts were wonderful and made me feel totally at home! They are trying to build up their ratings for the show as the BlogTalkRadio features shows on their front page so why not pop by and give them a rating! They have a number of interviews available there.

My topic was on Networking for Success and I was amazed at the numbers there who did not have business cards for the businesses they represented. To me this is an important part of networking - even if you’re connecting with the photocopier technician to get something done. How is he going to know who to call back?  Obviously there are some things still the same - 15 years after I left the corporate world!

It was also good to see the excitement amongst some who’d never heard of the VA industry and wanted to know more. I look forward to hearing from those ladies very soon!

This is the Message from the Festival Director:

Welcome to the 23rd annual Melbourne Writers Festival. I am thrilled to present this year’s program – it is without a doubt the largest and richest program we’ve presented and the breadth and depth of the talent is dazzling.

Last year, two of the most eloquent festival events concerned the poetry of WH Auden. This year, join us in St Pauls Cathedral where we have chosen to celebrate the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. Akhmatova lived through the darkest period of twentieth century Russian history and her poetry was a beacon of hope for ordinary citizens – the you and me of that time.

The other events which make my heart beat faster are both on the evening of Sunday 24 August when we link with our concurrent sister festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, by satellite. For the first time our audiences will be able to connect to Edinburgh’s event with Sir Salman Rushdie and their audiences will be able to connect with Nam Le here in Melbourne. I hope this is just the start of a long and productive relationship between these two great festivals.

Finally I’d like to welcome you to our new home in Federation Square and the Australian Centre of the Moving Image where most of our festival will take place. Please do take time to study fully our hard copy program and our website with its more detailed information – circle madly, choose wisely and then join us and your friends in your lunch hour, after work, or on the weekends for ten days of entertainment and enlightenment.

More details can be found at Melbourne Writers Festival site.

I’ve added a blog component to this site and will use it to keep you updated on events that I’m speaking at, or books that are being launched and other items. So feel free to comment, ask questions and keep in touch!