Hey cHEwY gum gums!

I’m here in Perth, halfway through a school tour and enjoying the Gypsy Summer, temps of 34 degrees everyday. Yesterday I received some cool news, Punchlines is a CBCA notable book for younger readers! I got it from various Facebook and Twitter messages, wishing me congrats. I wonder what it would have been like if I’d rocked up the AAA event in Sydney, where we toast and celebrate the shortlist.

The last two years I was there, Con-nerd and Thai-riffic! were talked about by the speakers as a book likely to make the list but they didn’t make the cut hehe. So maybe it’s third time lucky for cHEwY creations. I feel blessed for Johnny’s tale to be recognised 🙂

Speaking of comedy, I did two awesome gigs last night in Perth. The Rooftop Comedy at the Conservatory and then Lazy Susan’s Comedy Den at the Brisbane Hotel. The first one was a stage literally on the roof of the building, very classy hehe. The other gig was in a small cooped up room but man, the atmosphere was just as good. It’s a thrill to be on stage, particularly as a newcomer in the scene, when nobody knows you. I just unleashed all my classics and they all went down well. I can’t wait to be back out west again sometime in the year.

But in the meantime, I have some more comedy to do, I’m part of an open-mike event at the Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre. It’ll kick off the festival of the Asian-Australian voice on the weekend. I’ll be joined by Benjamin Law, Lily Chan and Yan Zhang. More on that soon 🙂

O.W