What do you think?
Rate this book
Willow Pattern 24 Hour Book Project
9 writers. 24 hours. 1 book. On 11 June 2012, Australia gathered a team of writers and editors together with the challenge of writing, editing and publishing a book - for both print and digital - within a single 24-hour period. This is that book. While its stories weave together a looming disaster, radio shock jocks, missing children, a beautiful vase, and a librarian name Sammi Bernhoff, both the project and the book that has emerged from it demonstrate an experiment in collaboration, distribution, and content generation.
- GenresShort Stories
150 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2012
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Nick Earls
74 books172 followersNick Earls is the author of twelve books, including bestselling novels such as Zigzag Street, Bachelor Kisses, Perfect Skin and World of Chickens. His work has been published internationally in English and also in translation, and this led to him being a finalist in the Premier of Queensland’s Awards for Export Achievement in 1999.
Zigzag Street won a Betty Trask Award in the UK in 1998, and is currently being developed into a feature film. Bachelor Kisses was one of Who Weekly’s Books of the Year in 1998. Perfect Skin was the only novel nominated for an Australian Comedy Award in 2003, and has recently been filmed in Italy.
He has written five novels with teenage central characters. 48 Shades of Brown was awarded Book of the Year (older readers) by the Children’s Book Council in 2000, and in the US it was a Kirkus Reviews selection in its books of the year for 2004. A feature film adapted from the novel was released in Australia by Buena Vista International in August 2006, and has subsequently screened at festivals in North America and Europe. His earlier young-adult novel, After January, was also an award-winner.
After January, 48 Shades of Brown, Zigzag Street and Perfect Skin have all been successfully adapted for theatre by La Boite, and the Zigzag Street play toured nationally in 2005.
Nick Earls was the founding chair of the Australian arm of the international aid agency War Child and is now a War Child ambassador. He is or has also been patron of Kids Who Make a Difference and Hands on Art, and an honorary ambassador for both the Mater Foundation and the Abused Child Trust. On top of that, he was the face of Brisbane Marketing’s ‘Downtown Brisbane’ and ‘Experience Brisbane’ campaigns.
His contribution to writing in Queensland led to him being awarded the Queensland Writers Centre’s inaugural Johnno award in 2001 and a Centenary Medal in 2003. His work as a writer, in writing industry development and in support of humanitarian causes led to him being named University of Queensland Alumnus of the Year in 2006. He was also the Queensland Multicultural Champion for 2006.
He has an honours degree in Medicine from the University of Queensland, and has lived in Brisbane since migrating as an eight-year-old from Northern Ireland in 1972. London’s Mirror newspaper has called him ‘the first Aussie to make me laugh out loud since Jason Donovan’. His latest novel is Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight, co-written with Rebecca Sparrow.
Zigzag Street won a Betty Trask Award in the UK in 1998, and is currently being developed into a feature film. Bachelor Kisses was one of Who Weekly’s Books of the Year in 1998. Perfect Skin was the only novel nominated for an Australian Comedy Award in 2003, and has recently been filmed in Italy.
He has written five novels with teenage central characters. 48 Shades of Brown was awarded Book of the Year (older readers) by the Children’s Book Council in 2000, and in the US it was a Kirkus Reviews selection in its books of the year for 2004. A feature film adapted from the novel was released in Australia by Buena Vista International in August 2006, and has subsequently screened at festivals in North America and Europe. His earlier young-adult novel, After January, was also an award-winner.
After January, 48 Shades of Brown, Zigzag Street and Perfect Skin have all been successfully adapted for theatre by La Boite, and the Zigzag Street play toured nationally in 2005.
Nick Earls was the founding chair of the Australian arm of the international aid agency War Child and is now a War Child ambassador. He is or has also been patron of Kids Who Make a Difference and Hands on Art, and an honorary ambassador for both the Mater Foundation and the Abused Child Trust. On top of that, he was the face of Brisbane Marketing’s ‘Downtown Brisbane’ and ‘Experience Brisbane’ campaigns.
His contribution to writing in Queensland led to him being awarded the Queensland Writers Centre’s inaugural Johnno award in 2001 and a Centenary Medal in 2003. His work as a writer, in writing industry development and in support of humanitarian causes led to him being named University of Queensland Alumnus of the Year in 2006. He was also the Queensland Multicultural Champion for 2006.
He has an honours degree in Medicine from the University of Queensland, and has lived in Brisbane since migrating as an eight-year-old from Northern Ireland in 1972. London’s Mirror newspaper has called him ‘the first Aussie to make me laugh out loud since Jason Donovan’. His latest novel is Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight, co-written with Rebecca Sparrow.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 14, 2015
This was an interesting social experiment but is it great literature? No, it is not. It's amazing that a book can be written, edited and published in just 24 hours. It is interesting how the nine authors worked together but this really isn't one voice and the story didn't really flow well from author to author.
February 19, 2013
Frustrating isn't usually the first word to describe a book you liked, but this book is damn frustrating. I'm having to massage my forehead to smooth out the frown lines.
I started off thinking it was meant to be a book; then, oh no, it is just a series of stories where they have had to use the same charcters and incorporate a vase - oh hang on, maybe it is one story.
Some writers seemed to have Charlie found, then she was missing, then .. I don't know. Most of the stories led me to think this was all happening on the same day, and then they were cleaning up, so it was obviously later - but the power was out, was that again, or was it really still all the same day? And, well, too many other questions to bore you with.
But I did enjoy most of the writing. I'm going looking for some of their other work.
I started off thinking it was meant to be a book; then, oh no, it is just a series of stories where they have had to use the same charcters and incorporate a vase - oh hang on, maybe it is one story.
Some writers seemed to have Charlie found, then she was missing, then .. I don't know. Most of the stories led me to think this was all happening on the same day, and then they were cleaning up, so it was obviously later - but the power was out, was that again, or was it really still all the same day? And, well, too many other questions to bore you with.
But I did enjoy most of the writing. I'm going looking for some of their other work.
October 6, 2015
Willow Pattern is an experimental piece, and applying the same rules to it as I would to any other work of short stories would be unfair. Instead, I find it helps to consider it less of a well-polished collection of stories as it is a quick and rough exploration of what can be achieved with no time and too much coffee.
The entire work was planned, created, and edited in 24 hours. This means that the writing isn't the absolute best possible, with some plot holes and logic issues. But given the time frame it was created in, it's actually rather good.
It's not a great read if you need stories to flow together seamlessly, and if you want your stories polished to a high shine. But if you're okay with the odd fumble, it's an interesting look at the writing styles of well-loved Australian authors taken far from their comfort zones.
The entire work was planned, created, and edited in 24 hours. This means that the writing isn't the absolute best possible, with some plot holes and logic issues. But given the time frame it was created in, it's actually rather good.
It's not a great read if you need stories to flow together seamlessly, and if you want your stories polished to a high shine. But if you're okay with the odd fumble, it's an interesting look at the writing styles of well-loved Australian authors taken far from their comfort zones.
June 28, 2012
An interesting concept. The variety of authors have built an out of the ordinary little story...not an award winning read, but well worth a lookin. A struggle to stay with the story at times, but what does one expect when each chapter owns a different writer? I rather enjoyed the strong contrast of writing styles linked together...even if a couple of them were way out of my reading comfort zones...
July 6, 2013
Really enjoyed this book and glad I finally got around to reading it. Of course, this has such an interesting backstory - if: book Australia organised with a bunch of talented writers for this writing experiment. Write, edit and produce a book in 24 hours!
July 23, 2012
And being there while it was being written was amazing too!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews