Katie Kilpatrick
Writers' Camp Log
Thursday, 9th September.
We arrived at the Conference Centre at around nine o'clock, signed in and got our room numbers. I discovered that, lucky for me, the two other people in my dormitory room I previously knew from my school, Mary Huntress and Katie Norsgaard. We set up our stuff on the two bunks and at nine-fifteen headed over to hear Andy Griffiths and Brian Caswell speak as a joint presentation.
I had previously heard Brian speak, and I had discovered that he was very funny and inspiring. Andy turned out to be just as inspiring, and even funnier. Andy was very laid back and he acted like a 'big kid'.
After morning tea we headed back to our small room near the boys' dormitory to hear Brian Caswell speak to us on his own. I took plenty of notes and also wrote them into my log.
After a lunch of hot dogs and a little exploration of the grounds we went and listed to Andy Griffiths tell us about his techniques and how he overcomes Writer's Block. He also told us about some of his characters and how he gets his ideas. I continually took notes so that I could also use his techniques. He also informed us that stealing ideas is perfectly fine.
After a short afternoon tea we went and inspected the original artwork from The Viewer, written by Gary Crew and illustrated by Shaun Tan. This also proved extremely interesting and Lesley Reece had a little more attention than the others, considering we had escaped from our very small room in which Brian and Andy had been talking.
We then went and had either a good hearty game of basketball or tennis, or just wandered around. I was lucky, being one of the wanderers, as I was the first to have a shower, meaning I got hot water.
Everyone slowly drifted in from what they had been doing and had a race for the showers. Getting ready for Literary Dinner was very … interesting. Kimberly Birt decided to run through the girls' dormitory stark naked and freak all of us girls out.
The actual dinner was delicious, all compliments going to the chefs. After eating our pumpkin soup, someone let the cat out of the bag, acknowledging that Andy Griffiths had always wanted to start a food-fight in a fancy restaurant, and so Mary Huntress started it for him. Pieces of lemon were flying everywhere, and Brian Caswell managed to receive one in his ear! Everyone clamed down quickly, and the Book Launch began after a wonderful main course of chicken, rice and vegetables and a dessert of chocolate mousse.
The Ghost of the Bell by Josie Santomauro and Mary Serenc was explained and was launched. We then went and performed a fun play of the story, which turned out to be very hilarious, all due to a typo!
We then headed back to our dormitory rooms, and those in my room told several ghost stories before calming down and sleeping.
Friday, 10th September
Early rise, and just fewer than ten of the girls decided to go for a morning swim as our constitutional. It was very refreshing, although a certain young male [who shall remain unnamed] kept pushing us in.
After a lovely breakfast of fluffy pancakes, the boys decided they would go for their swim. So, to pay them back for that morning, after packing up our belongings, about four girls went to watch them swim. After about two minutes, the four girls grabbed as many towels as we could and bolted for the girls' dormitory. Several of the boys chased us, but we made it upstairs and hid the towels. But, out of the kindness of our hearts, we returned the towels so the boys would not freeze.
We headed off to hear Christine Harris present a joint presentation with, once again, Andy Griffiths. Andy obviously has a lot to say.
Christine Harris turned out to be a laugh-and-a-half, by telling us several things that little children like to ask authors. For example, "How old were you when you were my age?" and "Did you do Maths when you were a person?" Think about it, little kids have got to be the funniest and silliest people on earth! Don't you agree?
After a quick morning tea we went to hear Christine Harris on her own, and then after a beautiful lunch of hamburgers, we had our last class of the camp, Andy Griffiths.
I thoroughly enjoyed the camp, learning plenty and having a great time. I am wishing to attend many similar camps, and hoping that if I do, they are as wonderful as this one. I want to thank everyone who helped and congratulate you on the wonderful job you have done, with planning, judging the nominations and fulfilling the task. I have so many notes that I don't think I will every have trouble writing or getting ideas again.
Katie Kilpatrick
Witch or No Witch As Leanne looked up from the pot of soup she was cooking she saw someone quickly duck. She
passed it up as a trick of the sunlight and went back to cooking the dinner she and her 17-year-old
daughter would eat that evening.
"Hey, Mum. How was your day?" Natasha asked as she walked though the front door after school.
Leanne looked up from the magazine she was reading and smiled.
"It was pretty good. Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes. How was studying at the library?"
"Good," replied Natasha, feeling guilty as she walked up the stairs to put her school bag away.
As she changed out of her school uniform she thought of Jonathon, her boyfriend. She knew her mother would never let her go to study at his house, so she had lied and went anyway. She reached into her school bag and pulled out the day's newspaper. Leanne didn't read newspapers, but every day Natasha bought one from Kulgera Corner Convenience.
She stared at the headline, not believing what it said … "Local Witch On Old Town Road "
Not many people lived on Old Town Road. Natasha and her Mum lived in one of the few houses there. Her eyes skimmed the article. She had to turn to page 3 for the full story. She stared at the photo before her eyes, not believing it. The photo was of her Mum, cooking at the kitchen stove, which had a book next to it, and in the act of stirring as well. They thought she was a witch! With a nervous laugh, she placed the paper on top of one of the piles and went down to dinner.
That night as she lay in her bed, unable to sleep, Natasha thought about what she had read. Could it be true? Unbeknown to her, could her mum really be a witch? She switched on her lamp and pulled the newspaper from under her bed. She would read it again. She read it so many times she could probably say it back-to-front. Replacing the newspaper, she switched off her lamp. Tomorrow was Saturday. She would go to Jonathon's and they would figure it out together. She was exhausted. She closed her eyes and within seconds, she was asleep, dreaming of the story in the newspaper.
When she woke the next morning she was exhausted and she felt as though she hadn't slept at all. She turned her head slightly so she could see her alarm clock. It was 8:00. She reached for the novel she was reading, but she couldn't concentrate on the words. They swam before her eyes in meaningless sentences. Pretty soon she just put the book down and thought about the newspaper article. Why did they think her mother was a witch? Was it because she always wore black clothes with her long black hair flowing down her back? Was it because she was always cooking at the stove, food for sick friends? Why, why, why? She had no idea, but she did know that she would have to prove to everyone that her mother was not a witch.
She reached over and switched on the radio, hoping for a soothing song. Instead she got a news report.
"Colin Davies here, reporting for C283 news. Today is the Kulgera Festival Carnival. Rides, Food and Fun. We expect to see everyone in Kulgera there. It is to be held at King's Park Show Grounds."
He went on with things like the weather, but Natasha didn't want to hear that. She had forgotten all about the carnival. Now she could go with Jonathon. She grabbed her cordless off her desk and dialled his number. It rang for a bit and then Mrs Jackson answered.
"Hi, Mrs Jackson. Is Jonathon there?" Natasha asked.
"I'll just get him for you," Mrs Jackson replied. A few moments later Jonathon came onto the phone.
"Hello?" he asked groggily.
"Hey!" was Natasha's reply.
"Hey, Tash. What are you calling this early for?"
"There's a carnival today and I wanted us to go. You want to?" Natasha asked hopefully.
"Sure. Where and when?"
"Uh. King's Park Show Grounds at 9:00."
"Fine. Meet you there then. See ya!" She hung up the phone and leant back against her pillows.
After a while, Natasha went down to breakfast. She was drawn by the smell. As she stepped through the kitchen door, she couldn't believe her eyes. French toast, sausages, scrambled eggs, hamburger patties and pancakes! Her mum was just placing it on the table.
"Oh, yum!" exclaimed Natasha.
"Yeah!" replied her Mum. "Are you going to the carnival today?"
"I don't know. I couldn't get hold of Joanna. I think I will try Chantel or Sally or someone. Now, let's eat!" said Natasha happily.
Leanne laughed and nodded. "You're right. We have to eat it before it goes cold."
They filled their plates and began eating.
"Man, this tastes even better than it looks!" exclaimed Natasha.
"Definitely!" was Leanne's reply.
When they were finished eating and had put the leftovers in the fridge, Leanne offered to do the dishes so Natasha could find someone to go with to the carnival. Natasha walked to her room, her stomach nice and full from the breakfast. When she reached her room, she changed out of her pyjamas and into clothes suitable for the carnival. She then grabbed her bag, checked her car keys and purse were in there and went downstairs.
"I'm going to the carnival!" she yelled when she approached the lounge room where she could hear the vacuum cleaner.
"Do you need any money?" called Leanne.
"If you're giving it to me, yeah!" Natasha replied walking into the lounge room. Leanne turned off the vacuum cleaner and reached into her back p[pocket for her wallet. She then handed Natasha thirty dollars.
"Have fun!"
"Thanks, Mum! I've got to go or I will be late." She gave her mum a quick kiss and ran out of the house. She took her car keys out of her string bag and headed for her metallic purple Volkswagen. She thought about how hard she had worked to get enough money to buy it on her own. She unlocked it and climbed in. She started the V.W. and headed for the showgrounds, as Jonathon's dad had offered to drop him off. As Natasha swirled along the dirt road, she decided to give her car a wash when she got home. It needed it.
She reached the showgrounds and quickly found a car park. After locking the car she walked up to Jonathon and they went to get tickets to go in. As they walked in, they were hit by the amount of rides and games they saw. They smiled at each other and headed for the games area.
At 11:30 that night, as Natasha was driving Jonathon home, they were talking about their good luck that day. Natasha had won 3 huge teddy bears and $50, whereas Jonathon had won only one teddy, but $75.
"I've made a decision," Natasha announced. "I'm going to tell Mum about us."
"That's great!" exclaimed Jonathan. He had always understood how Natasha's mother felt about men. As Natasha pulled up Jonathon's driveway, he leaned over and gave her a kiss.
"See you. Good luck with your mum," he murmured.
"See you. And thanks for the wonderful night out," she told him as she watched him trying to get the monstrous teddy out that he planned to give to his Mum. He finally got it loose and unexpectedly fell flat on his backside. As he stood up and brushed off his pants, Natasha laughingly drove away.
Pulling into her own driveway 15 minutes later, she saw that all the lights were off.
"That's strange," she thought. "Mum usually leaves the outside and lounge room lights on for me."She locked her car and walked slowly to her house so she wouldn't trip in the pitch black. In her hand she still had the keys which she was gripping tightly. When she reached the front door she grabbed the handle and carefully turned it. Natasha almost screamed. Her mum always locked the door she thought fearfully. She reached inside the door to turn the hallway light on. She gasped at what she saw. Things had been thrown everywhere! On the kitchen table she saw a note.
We have taken Leanne Allana Jones away under charges of being a threat to the community due to the practice of witchcraft. She has been refused bail and after a short trial, she has been jailed for 15 years. Constable Johnson
Natasha stared at the note. She crept to the kitchen wall and pushed the hidden button on the stove. The wall swung away and Natasha stepped inside, closing the wall behind her. She pulled on the black cloak that was there and started chanting and dancing. Leanne knew nothing of witchcraft, but Natasha did, and she planned to take revenge.
Andrew Bart, Kimberley Birt, Monique Cannell, Becky Christopherson, Emma Craggs, Hollie Crowley, Jennifer Eustace, Rebecca Evans, Alicia Eyres, Kieran Goulter, Mary Huntress, Robert Illingworth, Katie Kilpatrick, Siobhan Kranz, Kate Norsgaard, Samantha Ong, James Ramsey, Nathan Rieck, Ben Sielaff, Aleisha Sutton, Ruth Thomson, Michael Ward, Alex Wells, Jessica Weston, Kathleen Williams
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