User talk:Lookafar

Help desk inquiry
Hello! I noticed your inquiry at Help desk. I commend you for going about this in the proper fashion&mdash;in one post, you have already demonstrated a good understanding of the spirit and purpose of Wikipedia. At the help desk, several editors have offered links to policies and guidelines relevant to your query, and I'd like to offer my help in drafting an article.

I must confess that I am not familiar with your work. Do you have some biographical text, news articles, etc. that we could use to start? You can leave a note for me here or at my talk page, or send me an email here. Maralia 16:04, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Hello Maralia. Thanks for your offer. Although some days I feel like a shipwreck, I am but a minor writer who is perhaps not as notable as he would like to think (I've been off reading the guidelines and I'm feeling daunted).

Unless you're an Australian or a New Zealander with a specific connection to the world of children's books then I'm not surprised you haven't heard of my work. To use a style you're familiar with:

Ged Maybury (born in Christchurch, 1953) is a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Although his works are predominantly science fiction and humour, his themes concentrate on the individual's struggles with destiny, cross-cultural relationships and personal responsibility.

Two of his novels have been finalists in the New Zealand Children's Book of the Year awards (1994 and 2001) and his works have been published in New Zealand, Australia and Britain.

Bibliography:

CHILDREN’S SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS: TIMETWISTER 1986 ASHTON SCHOLASTIC SILICON STEW 1990 ASHTON SCHOLASTIC STARTROOPERS The Final Episode 1991 ASHTON SCHOLASTIC THE TRIGGERSTONE 1993 ASHTON SCHOLASTIC HIVE OF THE STARBEES The First StarTroopers 1995 SCHOLASTIC

COMEDY NOVELS FOR CHILDREN: HORSE APPLES 1998  SCHOLASTIC CRAB APPLES  2000 SCHOLASTIC PIG APPLES 2002 SCHOLASTIC

NOVELS FOR YOUNG ADULTS I AM LEATHERMAN 2001 CAPE CATLEY (co-authored by Anna Venczel) SNOWCAVE INN 2005 CAPE CATLEY THE SEVENTH ROBE 1993  HARPERCOLLINS THE REBEL MASTERS 1995  HARPERCOLLINS

TRANSITIONAL READERS SCUTTLE AND THE ZIPZAPS 2003  BANANA BOOKS

POETRY: TUBES OF LIGHT  1986  LOOKAFAR BOOKS

GRANTS AND AWARDS Q.E.II ARTS COUNCIL AWARD, 1991 CREATIVE NEW ZEALAND AWARD, 1995 AIM CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS, 1994, FINALIST ( “The Triggerstone” ) NZ POST CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS, 2001, FINALIST ( “Crab Apples” )

That's almost it. There are references and reviews in dozens of places around the Internet. I'm listed in a book titled "Beneath Southern Skies" by Tom Fitzgibbon with Barbara Spiers. Auckland : Ashton Scholastic, 1993. There may have been another since then.

A [famous search engine] search will locate many references in educational institutes and parent resource sites, but I really don't know what makes a solid cite here.

Enough! Thanks Lookafar


 * Thanks. I'm going to do a quick web search and link what I've found that looks helpful:
 * bio
 * first Internet interactive fantasy novel in New Zealand will appear in NZine
 * 2001 finalist, NZ Post Junior Fiction (ex-AIM Children's Book Awards)
 * ditto above, for 1994
 * mention of a previous name, NZ in 1970s
 * appearance: Brisbane Writers Festival


 * Okay, that's a good start. What I haven't found:
 * Reviews that are not someone's blog entry/equivalent of an amazon review - what would be ideal are newspaper articles, literary journal reviews, etc.
 * Confirmation of some of the grants/awards
 * I found a comment about speaking at a SciFi convention, but couldn't find any real info, not even the name/date.


 * Can you point me in the right direction on these? Maralia 17:01, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Good questions, Maralia! Good questions. 1) Reviews: I searched.  There are a several dozen reviews on-line, but all of the 'Amazon review' equivalent.  The reviews and write-ups I received in the more prestigious NZ newspapers and lit mags were all pre-internet.  No electronic copies exist unless I haul out my clippings and either type them up or scan them - an act of desperate egotism if ever there was! 2) There are archives in NZ listing the *winners* of all the various awards, but they do not list place-getters such as myself. Once again a bit of a blank. 3) I've done two sci-fi conventions, one in Christchurch (1997 I think it was: 'Constellation'(?)), and one recently here in Brisbane called 'Conquest Forever'. I don't regard them to be of any great import.  Just fun.  And I was hardly the guest of honour at either of them. 4) Yeeks! There's no secrets on the internet. I did change my name mid-life. I was not born Ged Maybury. But it is not something I want to necessarily emphasise. I have no dark secret, I was not Stalins's love child - just I don't feel right mentioning it. (There's dozens, if not hundreds of people in NZ who know who I was.) Well found on the other stuff. BTW, I currently live in Australia, married (my second), three children. And I don't have a day job. Cheers --Lookafar 12:10, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Ah! Following a link you found - here is the link to my other shortlisting: http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Kids/LiteraryPrizes/Aim/Fiction/ Now we do have references to my two literary high-points cheers --Lookafar 12:14, 4 November 2007 (UTC) Sorry, I did't read ahead - you've found it already --Lookafar 12:16, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

It was "Constellation", 1996: I quote "Queen's Birthday Weekend. CONSTELLATION. The Christchurch City Travelodge, New Zealand. Contact: Constellation, P.O. Box 29-119, Fendalton, Christchurch NZ." from: http://www.exnet.com/1995/12/18/scifi/scifi.html Only reference I found. (1996! - the internet was still a baby in NZ). --Lookafar 12:26, 4 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the info. I had no intention of referring to your name change; I made that list as I went through my Googling, and meant to remove that link before posting here. It probably wouldn't be considered relevant, since there's no indication that anyone found it newsworthy enough to write much about it :)


 * I need to do a little research into notability requirements for authors here, to see if we've put together enough support as far as references, etc. Maralia 18:50, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

I appreciate your efforts on this. I'll check in again tomorrow (Nov 6 here). Take care. --Lookafar 10:58, 5 November 2007 (UTC)