Seen the new interview spot in The Age?
It asks minor celebrities for their secrets loves & hideouts in Melbourne. Well, I'm a minor celebrity - in my own mind at least - so here are my answers to the standard questions asked...
Name?
Leslie Cannold (or Dr Leslie to Dave Hughes and others at the 7pm Project)
Claim To Fame?
Ethicist and author of novel, The Book of Rachael, published in April but already in its third printing. I'm a columnist for the Sydney Sun-Herald, a chair and keynote speaker, and a commentator (I'm the resident ethicist on The 7pm Project and they kindly keep putting me on Q & A despite my slagging them off on Twitter for the perpetual gender imbalance of the panel). Oh, and I'm also a co-founder with Jane Caro and Cath Deveny of the No Chicks No Excuses website. A bit of Jill of all trades so most days my biggest claim to fame is that ending up in the right place at the right time with some clue about the right thing to say.
Favourite coffee in Melbourne?
Inker7 on Inkerman Street in St Kilda.
Favourite place to get a meal?
No contest there. La Cafe on Nelson Street in Balaclava. Great food, nice people and spacious non-wobbly tables where they let writerly-types spread out and take up residence for the day. The lovely waiting staff even try to steer noisy types to distant tables. I love that place.
Favourite shop?
I'm a writer and have no money. I don't shop.
Favourite Melbourne memory?
Talking to the crowd assembled in front of the State Library on Swanston for the first annual SlutWalk. Nearly half of the people there - standing up on an issue that largely though not exclusively affects women - were men. Only in Melbourne. Respect.
What's your best-kept Melbourne secret?
Oh, that fantastic mid-town restaurant that nobody knows about.... You're kidding with that question, right?
What are you working on at the moment?
Making money. It's my penance for having spent 7 years writing The Book of Rachael. But next month my two-day a week lease on a writer's space at Glenfern in East St Kilda begins. I can't wait, because underneath all the business and titles, I'm really a novelist and can't wait to get started on my second book.
Sorry to take the level of discussion down to the dumps, but thanks for the food recommendations. Aside of family and friends, the thing I miss the most in Australia is that blend of food you get in "Israeli" restaurants. That said, my toddler is bound to destroy any trace of tranquillity you might have had.
ReplyDeleteRaising the bar a bit, thanks for sharing stories on the writing experience. Helps me concentrate on my day job despite its lack of glamour.