Where the wild things grow ...

Should I talk about Eleanor Catton? Everyone else has been, and then some.  I don't know that I could add much to the conversation. Still, I have been thinking about it quite a lot. I think our politics have more in common than not, but whether I agree with her or don't, she should be able to express her views about her home country without fear of retribution. She's raised issues it would be useful to debate in a wider forum, but she was effectively told to shut up and called a traitor, which gives the lie to our recent top polling as a socially progressive nation. And telling her that she should stick to her writing and leave political comments to others is patronising and a few other things that I will let you draw your own conclusions about. It's a shame that the name calling might sweep the issues under the rug.

Catton called out a lack of support for arts and culture here. Yet she's received money and accolades and adoration nation-wide, as people have readily pointed out. But folks she's received these things because she is deserving of them. And if she's had $50,000 worth of support over several years as she's risen in prominence, this is not exactly living the high life and it's important to realise this is not what writers generally receive either. For every writer who receives some financial manifestation of support or encouragement there are many more who never get anything.

Most creative writers work on spec. We spend hours on a manuscript with no guarantee of income for that invested time. Yes, we could try something with an hourly rate, and actually, most do. Many writers have 9 to 5 jobs or do other casual work to bring money in, whether teaching, editing, or running workshops etc... I also, where possible, do paid work that utilizes my writing skills. If I am successful here in New Zealand with a novel, which might have taken me 1 to 2 years to write, I get, at most, royalties of $2 per book (often less if the book is sold through book clubs or special deals) with a print run of between 2,000 and 3,000. So I might, if I am lucky, receive up to, but most likely less than, $6,000 (half if it's a picture book as I share the royalties with the illustrator). And this will be over several years. Any advance I am paid for writing a book that gets published is not additional to any royalties paid on sales but must first be earned out from those sales. And I'm not pumping out ten books at a time. Even if I did there are no guarantees that all would be accepted for publication. It's not 'easy' money. We aren't greedy. And what we do isn't indulgence.

Our stories are part of our culture. They reflect and shape who we are as a people. They help us stand tall on the international stage. They influenced the development of people like Catton, and Lorde, whose triumphs we have rightly applauded and shared as a nation. We liked their success.The fruits of their creative labours are admired as sophisticated and fresh by overseas critics. Our culture contributed. Lets make sure we don't throttle or starve that culture. If anything we should invest more in it to create and influence more fresh and innovative thinking amongst our future generations. Still, I know I'm likely to be preaching to the choir with this. And I do worry that we might no longer be talking about increasing funding and support, but doing all we can to maintain the little we have.

And that tall poppy thing? We have an uncomfortable relationship with success. It's not just a New Zealand phenomenon and I confess I admire those who behave with restraint and humility and wish I was more like them. I grew up in this kind of environment where we like our heroes to be humble.  Does the point exist at which there is a right balance of pride and modesty? Where we can talk about our achievements without being thought of as bragging. Some middle ground between Sally Field and Kanye West perhaps? I think a more troubling thing is a sense of entitlement. It's an unattractive quality in any industry - whether it's writing, politics, big business or radio hosts.

Off to do a little sprunting...

well, that was fun! As far as I am concerned, words are an endless source of goodness and entertainment. Thank you to everyone who entered for providing me with some delicious, odd and infrequently used words that I will treasure forever. But there can be only one, and (drum roll please) the winner of a copy of my new book While You Are Sleeping is Stephanie Thatcher who wooed me with nomophobia ( the fear of being out of mobile phone contact) and then clinched the deal with this link to ten outstanding-in-the-field words of dusty and obscure origin, limited meaning and fantastic roll around in your mouth fun-to-sayness. 'Uhtceare' especially seems to have been made for me. And I am now desperate to find a way to use sprunt and groke in a story although I should have no trouble with ultracrepidarianism, as this happens so often I'm surprised it isn't in current use. Congratulations Stephanie - email me with your address and whether you want a softback or hardback.

And special congratulations to New Zealander Eleanor Catton; fabulous, smart and youthful winner of this year's Man Booker Prize for her novel The Luminaries. That has to look pretty bloody amazing on the old writing CV. And it makes a nice change to have a writer getting this much press in the NZ media. It almost makes up for the lack of a book page yet again in the Sunday Herald. I am always surprised at how little is known (and how little interest is shown by the wider community) about books and authors outside my writery circles. At times I think, well it's a fringe topic that most people don't give attention to, and then I realise how much I know about a wide range of fringe topics or even just the interests of other people that aren't my own interests, and then I think dammit, books aren't a fringe topic, they are the gateway to a healthy, educated, empathetic and caring society. And then I get grumpy. I think Neil Gaiman was feeling a little grumpy too when he spoke so elegantly and eloquently on the topic of why our futures depend on libraries and reading. We shouldn't have to work so hard to encourage folk to pick up a book or two or discuss them in an everyday fashion. Books matter people.

Not dead yet...

For some reason at the moment I seem to be in no-man's land, or all at sea (get your free overworked metaphor here ladies and gentlemen). There is progress with upcoming and previously published books, I am writing (not as much as I would like, but getting some work done) and reading (although only books prescribed by my university course) and getting ready for several upcoming author events (see next post). There have been some disappointments (things I applied or hoped for and didn't get) and then some small surprises (things most unexpected which I will tell you about soon), so business as usual really. But too much multi-tasking is making me a little jumbled. If everything would just slow down for a minute.

But as we all know change is happening all the time. Children keep growing up, publishers keep dropping by the wayside (we bid a sad farewell to Hachette who will be departing our shores in the near future, following Pearson and Harper Collins). And of course Penguin and Random are now a married couple and while it kind of seems business as usual I assume there will be changes there too. And educational publishing seems to have been attacked by the Borg. So far all these departures and transformations haven't impacted directly on me. I wasn't published by most of those folk and in some respects they have created a small vacuum which will in part be filled by those publishers remaining, some of whom are mine. But my friends are affected. And publishing as a whole in New Zealand is affected. And people are shocked and afraid and sad. In some respects we are powerless to do anything about it.

But then there is the news that Eleanor Catton's latest novel The Luminaries is longlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. And you look at the awards locally and you can't help but notice the writing in New Zealand is in really good shape. Our books are stronger than ever I reckon. And more beautiful. And perhaps gaining more notice overseas. And did you see the crowd funded nominee among the NZ Post Book Award finalists and the fact that the supreme winner of the NZ Post Children's (and YA) Book Awards was self published. So I don't want to despair. Things are a changin' but writing isn't dead or dying. I don't quite feel 'really excited' by all the changes either as some would exhort me to be - I came up through the traditional publication route and there are plenty of things I like about it. There are challenges ahead. I just reckon I'll get further by being positive about it :)