News & Events
This is not a blog. It is nothing like a blog. I remain convinced that no-one is breathlessly logging on for details of my dog's latest antics or my recent adventures in breakfast cereal choices. What I'll be posting here are decidedly un-bloglike updates about my writing life, publication, and related activities.
August 16, 2008: For Lunch Today, I Am Having ...
... a baby spinach and sunflower seed salad with lime juice.
Interested? Me neither.
That's why, despite the urging of various people (oh come on, it's so cool, you won't know until you try it), I will not be signing up for the aptly named Twitter.
I guess it's the hermit in me, but I can think of few things worse than getting constant updates from people as to what they're up to throughout the day. I just don't need to know what you're thinking about now, where you are, what you're eating. And I have no idea how people write or do anything creative, or for that matter, much of anything at all, when they're being constantly interrupted. When I sit down to write, I turn off my email and I don't answer the phone. I can't handle being interrupted and don't like being available. People who know me know this. They tolerate it. They never, never urge me to sign up for Twitter.
This is my News and Events page and yes, I've been stretching those definitions a bit. I've been getting a little chatty here. But that doesn't mean I need a blog. Or to sign up for MySpace or Facebook. Or that I accept the use of 'friend' as a verb. It doesn't mean I'm going to send you updates on my chicken salad or that I want to read yours.
Sorry about that.
July 29, 2008: Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You
I've begun receiving final confirmations and details of my BookWeek events and have noticed an alarming trend. Many of the documents seem to refer to me as 'the performer' and my sessions as 'performances'. Should I tell them I can barely carry a tune? That I have absolutely no sense of rhythm? That I've never really considered those qualities to be necessary for a writer (although the ability to spell the word 'rhythm' occasionally comes in handy)? Didn't they read my FAQ? Don't they know that I was planning to wear brown and sit in a corner muttering? It looks like I may have to rethink things a little. I'm sure I have those old juggling balls in a box around here somewhere ...
July 13, 2008: Not that Nathan Foley
It's been brought to my attention that the main character in Going For Broke shares a name with a certain AFL player. And that's not all. Another reader has pointed out that Nathan Foley is also a member of Hi-5. This is food for some thought. It's not that I thought my Nathan would be the only Nathan. But it does suggest to me the wisdom of Googling potential character names before setting them in stone, just in case. The last thing I need is to accidentally name a character after some less-than-savoury figure, or even someone whose real-life attributes somehow undermine or parody those of my character (although the ironic potential of naming an advocate for refugee rights John Howard or a conservative, morally upstanding teen Britney Spears is not lost on me).
June 30, 2008: Hello, yeah, it's been a while, not much, how 'bout you?
If you recognise the lyric I'm quoting above, you are probably too old to read my books!
So, it's been a while, and there are reasons for that. I've had some time off, but am starting to find that writing space again. Here's a summary of what I've been up to over the last month:
Writing: completed a picture book and a short novel and sent them off with fingers crossed. Uncrossed fingers again because I was finding it difficult to type, and started a new novel. This is another short one and is coming quite quickly so far, which is usually a good sign. I'm also working on a picture book, something I've been playing around with for a year or so. It's very conceptual and a bit tricky to write, but I'm in love with the idea, so keep hammering away at it. Hopefully I'll find a way through soon.
Launching: attended the launch of the FAW(WA) anthology Lines in the Sand, which contains my poem 'Ancestor Games'.
Translating: The Italian poetry journal Ludwig asked me to send them some poems. They said they are seeking work from 'young voices in the Australian poetry landscape'. When I queried how young 'young' was, they replied 'For us YOUNG means under 35 yo, but obviously it's the same if you're 36, 37 etc...'. It is excellent news to me that being '36, 37 etc' (with emphasis on the 'etc', in my case) is the same as being both under 35 and young. So I sent them some poems and they're going to translate a couple into Italian and publish them. If you follow the link above, you can see my name on their site, but that's all I understand on the page. Having done a bit of poetry translation myself (from Japanese into English), I'm excited that some of my work will be going through this process. I only wish I could speak Italian so I could have some insight into how it travels across the languages. Translation is a difficult art at the best of times, and translating poetry is a particular challenge.
Selling: Going for Broke seems to be doing well. I've had some great feedback from readers, and there's a chance the Lightning Strikes series will be out in the UK early next year. Italy! England! I wonder if I can now call myself an internationally published writer?
Preparing: For BookWeek 2008. At this stage, I'll be visiting libraries/schools in the cities of Melville, Joondalup, Swan and Armadale. I hope to see some of you there.
May 26, 2008: Actually/that/just/seems/kind of/a little
No, I didn't forget to finish that sentence. Because it's not a sentence. It's a collection of words with which I am currently engaged in mortal combat.
Every writer has words like these, words they throw in all over the place which serve little purpose, words which can usually be cut to make the writing tighter. These are some of mine, and now that I'm in the final stages of my novel and I've done all the major cutting and rearranging and wailing and gnashing of teeth, it's time for the small stuff. It's time for these words to be hunted down and destroyed.
I'm not indiscriminate - some of them will stay. Some of them are there for good reason. But most of them are just lazy writing. Most of them can be deleted without a second thought. It probably sounds like a lot of work for not much gain, but taking a scythe to words like this can really smooth out my writing, and also substantially reduce my word count. When I find these words in abundance somewhere, there's often more unnecessary padding around them, and I can end up cutting and re-shaping in those areas quite substantially.
So I'm nearly done with these words this time around. My next task is to take a look at how many times my characters sigh, shrug, smile and nod. Actually, that just seems kind of annoying ...
May 5, 2008: Have You Been Struck Yet?
My new book, Going for Broke, is part of a a new series called Lightning Strikes, which has just been launched by Walker Books. There are six books in the initial launch, with more to follow later this year. Along with Going for Broke, the first release includes Queasy Rider (James Roy), The Black Baron (Robyn Opie), Jinxed (Jill McDougall) Sucked In (John Parker), and The Great Shave (Clare Saxby). It's a crazy crew of fast-paced stories about everything from racing cockroaches, bloodthirsty eyeballs and bad hair days to, of course, amazingly amazing world record attempts.
Go on, check them out!
May 1, 2008: Launched!
Today, I'm launching my new book,
Going for Broke.
Sadly,
you are not invited. But don't take it personally, because no-one is
invited. This time around, I decided that a launch party was beyond me.
That doesn't mean that the book isn't launched, though. In fact, I'm
launching it right here, right now.
Imagine, if you will, some hardwood floors, some overstuffed couches, a balcony overlooking the street. Picture a room full of enthusiastic friends and some random people who just wandered in from the Fremantle night. Imagine some gourmet pizza, a bar in the corner, a 'kids table' left sadly unappreciated while my target audience instead heckle passers-by from the balcony.
Imagine me in a corner signing books all night, pausing only for a brief moment of bewilderment as a relative picks up a book, retreats several feet away to flick through it, frown, and then returns to replace it on my pile.
For the aftermath, imagine relief, elation, exhaustion, lots of washing up, and a stream of unflattering, poorly lit photos causing much email hilarity the next day.
And so, I declare you launched, little
book, with virtual fanfare and fireworks and all other kinds of
second-book goodness.
There! That was fun, wasn't it? I hope
you had a good time. I know I did.
* If you're wondering where these 'virtual launch' details came from, see my Annabel, Again launch notes from around this time last year.
April 25, 2008
All Saints' Literature Festival was fantastic. It was also three weeks ago, time which has rushed past me in a haze of work and school holidays and, yes, even a little writing. This year's festival, Storylines, brought together writers, illustrators, journalists, storytellers and a whole range of other people besides, to give talks and workshops, and to perform, debate and discuss.
This was my first time presenting (although I managed to sneak in last year to meet my Walker Books editor and fellow children's writer Sue Whiting) and I had a great time. I did a range of presentations, including general 'Meet the Author' talks focusing on my recent books, 'Meet the Poet' talks, using my own work to talk more generally about some of the principles of poetry, a Japanese Literature classroom session with some All Saints students and a haiku workshop. I was so impressed with the students who attended ‒ they were attentive, thoughtful, engaged and, in some cases, very, very funny. What was also impressive were the distances some had travelled to get there, including a group from as far afield as Leinster, who worked with me to write what I'm sure is a world first ‒ a haiku about a pet moth.
In short, it was an excellent few days
and an experience I hope I'll be able to repeat in the future. Next on
the agenda is Book Week,
when I'll hopefully be coming to a library or school somewhere near you.
April 9, 2008: That Was The Year That Was
It's been a year since I started this site, and this 'notablog' thingy, so I thought it was time for a recap. Here are my stats for the year:
1) The Good:
- books published: 2
- books contracted but not yet published: 2
- grants awarded: 1
- poems published: 5 (not including Cleanskin poems)
- school presentations/workshops: 14
- poetry readings: 3
2) The Less Good:
- books written but not contracted: 3
- poems rejected: 7
- stories/articles begun but unfinished: 8
3) The Utterly Random:
- references to my dog and/or breakfast cereal choices: 0
- days I missed having to get up in the dark and take the bus to 'a real job': 0
As you can see, getting published doesn't mean everything you write will then be published. This is as it should be. I still have a lot to learn about writing and who I want to be as a writer. This year, I'll continue to feel my way and no doubt collect a few more rejections in the process. Hopefully, a few acceptances too.
So, that was the year that was, that was. All things considered, it's been a pretty good one.
Older Posts:
- 12-22 August: BookWeek presentations at schools/libraries across the cities of Melville, Joondalup, Armadale and Swan
- 19 July: Reading from Lines in the Sand at Poets' Corner.
- 7 July: Reading from Lines in the Sand at WOW poetry reading.
- 29 May: Launch of Lines in the Sand, anthology of West Australian writing
- 1 May: Launch of junior novel Going for Broke
- 3 April: Reading from Cleanskin at Voicebox, La Tropicana Cafe, Fremantle (7.30 pm)
- 2-4 April: Presenting at All Saints Literature Festival