Happy New Year!

We have been...

eating ham,
watching the cricket,
marvelling at how there is no one on the tram*,
reading, reading, reading,
hiding from 35-degree heat,
sheltering from massive hailstones**,
and gearing up for a year of very exciting things.


What things, you ask?***
Well, here are just a few key things you can expect more about in 2012.

1) Forget the NBN ****. 2012 is the year of the NGN: a New Garth Nix!  Can you believe it? Can you bear to wait until April? Here are some key facts you need to know:

• There are ten million princes in the galaxy, but only ONE can become emperor.
• Our edition will have a special never-before-published, exclusive-as-all-get-out, awesome-beyond-the-bounds-of-the-known-universe Garth Nix short story.
• Yeah you read that right.
• The NGN is called A Confusion of Princes.
• We will have more to say on This Subject.

2) Lili Wilkinson is bringing it in 2012.
What is she bringing? Well, apart from the home-made tonic water and the honey-and-ginger infused whisky, she is bringing A NEW BOOK IN APRIL. It's called Love-Shy. And here is everything you need to know: girl meets boy meets East Glendale Secondary College Gazette.

3) October will see the third and final volume in the Keepers series by Lian Tanner. Path of Beasts. It is, quite simply, a triumphant conclusion. If the series had to end (and quite frankly I would have been happy reading about Goldie and Toadspit until the crack of doom), then it had to end like this. More on this by-and-by - maybe even a sneak preview of an illustration or two QUITE SOON.

4) Two Words: Margo. Lanagan.
Two more words: Sea. Hearts.
Two further words: Read. It.
Two more further words: No. Really.


And that, friends, is all just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much goodness in the House this year. It's bursting out the doors; it is streaming out the windows; it will flow through this blog at least semi-regularly, because we just can't contain it.

BRING ON 2012!



***SPOILER ALERT***

Also, we will eat cake in 2012.

In fact, the cake eating has already begun. And how!

* Because everyone else is still on holiday. *sob*
** Oh Melbourne, don't ever change.
*** Those of you who aren't at the beach do, anyway.
**** What's that, you already have forgotten it? Sshhhh, we're trying to make a joke.