I’m not Australian. But might be a Rockstar?

Really Hard At Work. Really.

Recently, I overheard some associates talk about blogging. I was engaging in another palaver, but i like to think I’m a conversational multi-tasker and can follow more than one conversation at once. “Oh, Renee used to blog” the sidelined conversationalists convened.
Switching repartees, I defended myself as the ROCKSTAR of blogging. Not because I’m top of the charts or wear leather pants or demand high thread-count sheets (actually that bit is true) but because I write with fanfare then hide away for a while, then BAZAAM Batman, I am back … and expect everyone to follow my comeback with gusto.
But it doesn’t really work that way. I’m not a rockstar. I don’t even like karaoke.
So in my quest to be classed a blogger rather than one from the otherside (*shudder*, a non-blogger) I’m going to pick this up. It’s fun. It’s also a lazy way for me to keep the askers updated on what I am up to. And don’t try saying to your associate that said laziness is the reason for my blogging sloth. Remember, I am a CMT.

So here’s 10 facts I’d like to re-begin with to re-introduce my blog:

1. Yes, I am still in Abu Dhabi and I married a Sudanese-Czech-American-Arab after a few months here, and we now have a cat called Suitcase. (Rescued, of course – rockstars adopt African children. I marry an African and adopt a cat).
2. I can now confirm airport-stereotyping: Having an Arab surname does indeed mean more delays at customs. Especially in Melbourne.
3. When at Melbourne airport, it pays not to avoid extra-custom-checks-just-for-people-with-Arab-names with the line: “But we’ve just got married!” (Read: You married an Arab. No champagne nor upgrades; instead scrupulous searches and suspicious Australian stares).
4. Yes, I’ve taken most of this year off. Let’s be honest. I burnt out setting up an offshore office. Thanks to my team for allowing me to sleep 2011 away on my high-thread-count sheets while they carried on the project. It’s looking bigger and better than ever. So rock-ish!
5. I think I am one of the only people in the world who doesn’t want J.K. Rowling to write another Harry Potter book.
6. I am not Australian nor do I sound like one.  For external reference (esp for the annoying guy at the gymn) please view this Flight of the Conchords clip.
7. I secretly am terrible at grammar. Actually, read my blog and it isn’t so secret.
8. I secretly drink a lot of sauvignon blanc in a Muslim nation, even though I’m interested in adopting Islam as my religion. NOTE: because I am not a rockstar I will not be changing my name to Yusuf Islam.
9. I like to think of myself as down-to-earth, although when the electronic cat-litter-box doesn’t function right or the curtains don’t close properly –  I call the maid.
10. I read a lot. I am a New Zealander living in the Middle East. I am a Publisher. These three actualities (along with proving I am not an Australian) are what my blog is based upon.

“once upon a time: starting a blog

This all began for several reasons. First and foremost, I have been harping on about starting a blog for an age. Over the weekend, whilst sharing a glass of sauvignon with friends, the topic of blogging came up and I pronounced with excess enthusiasm “Oh, I’m going to start blogging!”. The friends looked at me with a tired, here-we-go-again look, the same way they do when I say I am going to sit my full-driver’s license test or drink less coffee or say more positive things about Auckland’s public transport system. That is, they looked at me as if to say, “It’ll never happen”.

But that isn’t the only reason I am starting blogging. (If it were, I’d have to go and sit my drivers license in a caffeine-deprived state and make nice conversation about buses, and that isn’t going to happen). Recently, I was chosen as one of 16 young publishers to be part of the 2009 Frankfurt Fellowship. Thus far I have done a couple of interviews on the upcoming fellowship… and I realised I have a lot to say about the book world.

So I should, it has been my life for the past five years.

Finally, my partner (Scott) came up with the ingenious blog title of “Reading Reneessance”.  If that isn’t reason to start blogging, I don’t know what is.

Seriously though, I’ll be utilising this space to share my perspective on life from inside the publishing world, upload a few book reviews and link to anything exciting happening in the book world.

And everynow and then I’ll probably have a rant about Auckland public transport.