Melbourne is filling up with bandits, bushrangers and bankrobbers this week after the Premier made mask wearing mandatory.

Bruce Springsteen says the writing life is a mix of high anxiety and grandeur

When I can’t take the thrill of lockdown life any more, I’ve been tuning into ThrillerFest, and it’s a hoot. Usually held in New York, the event was forced online this year by the pandemic. I bought tickets to the CraftFest and CareerFest parts of the program.

CraftFest is a thrilling feast of thriller writers.When I logged into the online site with my secret password I discovered about one hundred author video discussions brimming with ideas, hints, tips and motivation for writing.

I’m a pantser until I need to be a plotter and a plotter until I need to be a pantser

CareerFest contains five additional videos that take you behind the scenes to advice from top authors and publishing experts about pitching, publishing and brand.

The best news is you can still get tickets and access the videos for at least six months. It’s one activity you can do without wearing a mask, and I think it will see me through lockdown. My favourite piece of advice so far is:

How do you get that shit done when you work full time …. Because I’m sitting here writing on my phone, not playing angry birds.