In a Sunburned Country Story Event: Official Support Thread

What category are we writing in?

LaRascasse said:

Mine is lesbian.

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Mine is "Romance". Halfway through final chapter and a short epilogue still to draft. Hovering presently about the 60k mark but may be able tighten it and shave some off. Working towards a deadline of 25 October, so I can tackle NaNoWriMo, which I haven't even done any planning for yet.

this is gonna be a little ripper

A true-blue, totally sick, you beaut, grouse, fair dinkum...

No. Please don't write like that. Please make us Australian, but not ridiculous. YouTube anything with 'Bazza McKenzie' in it to find out how we DON'T speak.

I'm inspired. I'm going to try & get that connection to country we have (move out of the big city to the country & you'll see it's real & it's there).

And don't bring recent politics into it. It's just confusing!

ReefBeach said:

A true-blue, totally sick, you beaut, grouse, fair dinkum...

No. Please don't write like that. Please make us Australian, but not ridiculous. YouTube anything with 'Bazza McKenzie' in it to find out how we DON'T speak.

I'm inspired. I'm going to try & get that connection to country we have (move out of the big city to the country & you'll see it's real & it's there).

And don't bring recent politics into it. It's just confusing!

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Yaaay. Good to see more stories coming. This is going to be really interesting.

ChloeTzang said:

Oh great!!!! And your first post too. Welcome to the hangout and do stay around. It's a very chatty forum here as you can see. Drop by Tex's Coffee Shop and introduce yourself. Aussies always welcome and I'm so glad you decided to join the fun.

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Thanks, Chloe. I'll have to search for Tex's.

LaRascasse said:

Now comes the hard part. I must resist the temptation to tweak it every single day all the way till the contest deadline.

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Same here, 100%. I finished my story, maybe a week ago, and since then have added about 5000 words through tweaking! Time to get my hand off it...

ausfet said:

What categories is everyone writing in? Mine is romance.

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Romance.

ReefBeach said:

A true-blue, totally sick, you beaut, grouse, fair dinkum...

No. Please don't write like that. Please make us Australian, but not ridiculous. YouTube anything with 'Bazza McKenzie' in it to find out how we DON'T speak.

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"sick" and "fair dinkum" are fairly common still. Well, at least with me! Actually, I don't think i've used the word "sick" in the "fully sick" context in a long time...come to think of it, I haven't heard "grouse" used in many, many years either.

Thefireflies said:

Thanks, Chloe. I'll have to search for Tex's.

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Otherwise known as the AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room thread, hosted by TxRad.

Spencerfiction said:

Mine is "Romance".

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Romance! I know a few aussies who claim that a Romance is the relationship a New Zealander has with his sheep.

colddiesel said:

Romance! I know a few aussies who claim that a Romance is the relationship a New Zealander has with his sheep.

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There are those who've reckoned a similar relationship with Welsh hill farmers, but I reckon it's just an old joke

Handley_Page said:

There are those who've reckoned a similar relationship with Welsh hill farmers, but I reckon it's just an old joke

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Probably HP, but you only have to check for hoof marks in their wellies (gumboots). An even older one methinks.

Can someone prepone the contest before I succumb to the temptation of adding a dozen more pages (and undoubtedly more mistakes I will miss while editing)?

Buckley's

ReefBeach said:

A true-blue, totally sick, you beaut, grouse, fair dinkum...

No. Please don't write like that. Please make us Australian, but not ridiculous. YouTube anything with 'Bazza McKenzie' in it to find out how we DON'T speak.

I'm inspired. I'm going to try & get that connection to country we have (move out of the big city to the country & you'll see it's real & it's there).

And don't bring recent politics into it. It's just confusing!

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As I'm one mug Pom who's given it a burl, and already knocked off the first draft of this lurk, even though it may come out crook, it’s probo too late to cut out the Humphreyisms. Far be it for me to request you pull your head in, but I'm too rooted to redo. About to give it a once over before passing it onto my editor for her to have a gander at it. I just hope it'll come good.

Spencerfiction said:

As I'm one mug Pom who's given it a burl, and already knocked off the first draft of this lurk, even though it may come out crook, it’s probo too late to cut out the Humphreyisms. Far be it for me to request you pull your head in, but I'm too rooted to redo. About to give it a once over before passing it onto my editor for her to have a gander at it. I just hope it'll come good.

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She'll be right.

I just handed "American Girls Down Under" back to electricblue66 for his contribution. It's just a hair shy of 27k words. We're closing in on the end now, and since he wrote the beginning, I suspect the next time it comes back to me, I'll be writing the end. It looks like it will end up in the "Group Sex" category.

Goddamn, this one is heavy lifting!

I’ll get ‘er done.

Voboy said:

Goddamn, this one is heavy lifting!

I’ll get ‘er done.

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No joking. I'm with you on that.

I think the reason Chloe got this started is to give all the Aussies here a good reason to pee themselves laughing.

Story line is easy. Dialogue is easy enough. Making it sound like real Aussies vice somebody working off a phrase list? Not so easy.

TarnishedPenny said:

I think the reason Chloe got this started is to give all the Aussies here a good reason to pee themselves laughing.

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Pretty much. She has an evil mind, that girl. Also, she's now up to speed on panel vans and Oz rock, so she's an honorary strine chick, knows when ocker is acceptable and when it's not.

electricblue66 said:

Pretty much. She has an evil mind, that girl. Also, she's now up to speed on panel vans and Oz rock, so she's an honorary strine chick, knows when ocker is acceptable and when it's not.

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Ha! You realize you guys are in this one and someone's got to get eaten by the demon croc and it's not me. Be careful, mate, or fair dinkum you'll be toast.

ChloeTzang said:

Ha! You realize you guys are in this one and someone's got to get eaten by the demon croc and it's not me. Be careful, mate, or fair dinkum you'll be toast.

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Honorary rights can be revoked, Chloe, just remember that. Mind you, if you've got Alex with another of your spicy little chickadees, he's not going to complain.

TarnishedPenny said:

Story line is easy. Dialogue is easy enough. Making it sound like real Aussies vice somebody working off a phrase list? Not so easy.

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Fortunately I'm just writing the American tourists. The great cerulean one is writing the Australians. If I was writing the whole thing, I'd end up with a Paul Hogan/Steve Irwin/Yahoo Serious mashup character that wouldn't flatter anybody, especially me. *shudders*

Just curious, besides Chloe and me, are there any other non-Aussies writing in this event?

LoquiSordidaAdMe said:

Just curious, besides Chloe and me, are there any other non-Aussies writing in this event?

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Who am I to deny my Aussie friends their chance to laugh and scorn?

Sorry, I have not replied to a few questions PM-ed this week but as they are similar themed, forgive me for answering them here in one post:

1. Yes there are diamonds in Australia, about a third of the world supply. The ones in production are in the Kimberlies in Western Australia, and another one in the NT.
2. Yes you can prospect for sapphires. The Gemfields near Emerald in central Queensland is one area, the rivers of northern Tasmania is another. There are other regions.
3. Geologically, the eastern seaboard is an add-on to the continent. Some rivers flow inland from that point, others flow to the sea. The north west is analogous to Andrah Pradesh in India from when it was joined.
4. The US-Australian spy facility in the middle is next to Alice Springs. There is not any gold or gemstones on that land. "Just up the road" is the ionosphere radar at Harts Range, which yes is well known for garnets. Perhaps you can take literary licence on that one. The mystery runway mentioned in the CIA report is at one of the diamond mines in (1), here.
5. The rich mineral bearing fault line is the Mundrabilla Fault. It starts in Indonesia and runs more or less down the Western Australian border.
6. Yes a number of politicians in times gone by proposed using nuclear explosions to create a canal and inland sea in the middle of Australia. Yes, with all the weird stuff out back of Maralinga test zone, I agree it would have created some weird animals. Good story line concept, well researched and well done.
7. Nambung National Park is otherwise known as The Pinnacles. Purnululu National Park is known as the Bungle Bungles. Both are spectacular.
8. Uluru/Ayers Rock is not the biggest rock. The largest is Mount Augustus/Burringurrah which is about twice the height and length of Uluru. It is in WA. Mount Bruce/Punurrunha is not a single rock but "just" a mountain.

Hopefully that answers what was being sought. I have to say that it has me intrigued as to how these are going to fit into stories, so lets see what comes out!!

Cockatoos are tough birds - this is a fun read:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-12/cockatoo-gets-stuck-in-grille-of-car-and-survives/10370850

LoquiSordidaAdMe said:

Fortunately I'm just writing the American tourists. The great cerulean one is writing the Australians. If I was writing the whole thing, I'd end up with a Paul Hogan/Steve Irwin/Yahoo Serious mashup character that wouldn't flatter anybody, especially me. *shudders*

Just curious, besides Chloe and me, are there any other non-Aussies writing in this event?

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I was going to, but I've gotten tied down with other stories, including trying to finish a contribution to the Halloween event. It's too bad, because I was looking forward to working on my story involving hot romance with a sexed-up female Aussie zoologist and drop bear horror. Maybe next year.

electricblue66 said:

Cockatoos are tough birds - this is a fun read:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-12/cockatoo-gets-stuck-in-grille-of-car-and-survives/10370850

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Sulphur-crested cockies really are nature's arseholes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZldc5A9qrM

Bramblethorn said:

Sulphur-crested cockies really are nature's arseholes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZldc5A9qrM

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Gold.

I have nothing classy to offer this thread, so instead I'll share two shining examples of classy, classy, Queensland folk.

Exhibit A - https://www.couriermail.com.au/news...s/news-story/91d9831bc4defa4aa2495cca34cd4b1b
Exhibit B - https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/r...s/news-story/c977b0ce95060a21ceb79a90e0f12bf7

Just in case you're interested, the Sunshine Coast brothel is currently up for sale.