Author Archives: nickearls

Facebook: Are We Turning It Into FOMObook?

Posted on 29/01/2016 by nickearls

Recently, it seemed as if half the people I knew were skiing in Japan, while I was close to home, in various parts of southeast Queensland. I had little to complain about – it was a mix of short beach … Continue reading →

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On the Efficacy of Mess

Posted on 21/01/2016 by nickearls

It only took five years, but I recently worked out that my personal Facebook page didn’t have a cover photo. What could I put up there, I wondered, that might represent me fairly? Then I remembered this pic, taken at … Continue reading →

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It’s Not About Shelving The Books and Keeping Kids Quiet

Posted on 21/09/2015 by nickearls

Some schools no longer have teacher-librarians and, the more I see of teacher-librarians, the less sense that makes to me. What’s next? No teachers? Kids turning up to the classroom each morning and inventing the day ahead? Maybe there’s a … Continue reading →

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The Surprise Salad (or Why Writers Festivals Are Still Fun After 26 years)

Posted on 23/05/2015 by nickearls

My first writers festival was Brisbane, in 1989. That’s a story in itself involving dancing chickens, some terrible poetry on my part and time as a storytelling armchair, but for now let’s stick to my latest writers festival experience: Sydney, … Continue reading →

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So Where Has All The Reading Gone?

Posted on 05/04/2015 by nickearls

I’m on the road at the moment with a book for younger people – 8-12-year-olds my publisher says, and they would know more about that than I do (though it already has some adult readers too). Like anything I write, … Continue reading →

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Analogue Men – The Missing Chapter

Posted on 23/12/2014 by nickearls

Every novel goes through editing. Things come in, things go out. More is made of some things and less of others. And then a thousand tiny tweaks occur. Analogue Men lost very little – only one piece of any real … Continue reading →

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Why Sheppard (and Others) Say Geronimo

Posted on 01/12/2014 by nickearls

The success at last week’s ARIA awards of Brisbane band Sheppard and their irresistible hit Geronimo got me thinking – why does anyone shout ‘Geronimo’ before a leap into danger? Wasn’t Geronimo a 19th-century Native American warrior? Was his name … Continue reading →

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On cuts to the ABC …

Posted on 24/11/2014 by nickearls

Last year, I had the chance to be involved in the development of a TV series. I was flown to Sydney for two days in the offices of a big production company. I worked with people I respected, I learned … Continue reading →

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Cats and the Internet – a Review

Posted on 04/09/2014 by nickearls

Of all the unintended consequences of progress – or perhaps that’s just change – I don’t think any of us could have predicted the impact of the internet on cats. Yes, cats. Just when they’d breathed a collective sigh of … Continue reading →

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Travelling Tight – Three Work Travel Habits I Finally Need to Share (or Confess)

Posted on 19/08/2014 by nickearls

A work life involving a lot of plane travel and hotels can throw a lot of routines out. Or entrench them, and add a few more. For better or worse, I’m in the latter category. At home I aim to … Continue reading →

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