Every cloud...

I hadn't even heard about the movie until I was nosing around the 2013 Oscar nominations. The Silver Linings Playbook - best movie, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actress, best supporting actor and a few more besides. I was impressed with Argo and that movie had nowhere near as many nods. I am a movie fan. I keep myself informed. Where had this one been hiding? I still don't have the answer to that but folks I went to see it with my girls on Saturday evening and I am so glad the Oscars brought this to my attention. After an 8 month court-appointed stay in a mental institution following a violent breakdown Pat is out and back home with his Mum and Dad. Obsessed with getting back together with his wife who has a restraining order out against him, Pat's path crosses with that of recently widowed Tiffany who agrees to help Pat connect with his wife if Pat partners Tiffany at a dance competition. You have to admit aspects of this storyline sound lame but it all makes perfect sense in the movie and is ultimately very satisfying. Mental illness was, I thought, honestly depicted - the stigma, the fears and concerns, the manifestations, the denials, the lows and the misunderstandings. The humour was real life humour, not inserted funny lines, and the acting was gob-smackingly good. Bradley Cooper is not just a pretty face. Nor is Jennifer Lawrence. If you want to know how to tell a good story, go see this movie. It is an excellent and most enjoyable lesson.

Meanwhile I have been racing through reading some more books - I am now on to book 3 of the Demon's Lexicon Trilogy by Sarah Rees Brennan. I can see occasional problems with the writing (although I think the awkward rhythm of the first book has lessened), and switching to a different main character for each book also presents a few difficulties and awkward moments (how can it be orchestrated that she overhear that conversation between the two previous MC's?) but you will have noticed people that I am still keeping on reading. I'm not that keen on the main character of the third book. She wasn't that appealing in the first two books so its hard to embrace her in the third. And my favourites from previous books are too distant. There are some plot inconsistencies in this third book. For example I didn't get how one character could have been violently ill when travelling over water because of the proximity to water (it's a magical thing) and yet choose to be swimming in the third book. And it is not 'ironic' for a solution to be obvious to the reader and for every character in the book to not see it until the end. But I am still reading. What's with that. For all the things that annoy me, there is still something very compelling. That's the nature of books I guess. I am a romantic at heart and want to see how it all ends for the characters I do like. I will be surprised if I am surprised though but that's okay; the best surprise was in the first book - its hard to pull that off again. And in the end I am learning something from this too.

If you were hoping for part two of my digital journey, never fear, I will be posting this soon. I am just waiting on some things to be sorted before I mention them. In the meantime go check this out - one author's reasoning for her switch to DIY (thank you to Jane Bloomfield for alerting me to this link).

Feeling stuck with your writing? Go see a movie...

Often, more so than from books, I learn something about plot, setting and character from movies. Sure there are different constraints and different requirements, but the best movies tell complex stories with fascinating and compelling characters with endings that satisfy. And in a movie there is less time to achieve this end. A good movie must 'show' effectively, the motivations, the decisions, the emotions of the character. Good movies can teach us a lot about 'show'. Well chosen settings background the people and the action. Sometimes they play a character as well.

Last night I saw Drive, starring Ryan Gosling, and Carey Mulligan. The movie opens with the main protagonist (Ryan Gosling) doing one of his two occupations. By day he is a stunt driver for action movies, by night the wheel man of getaway cars. He is smart, ice cool and skilled. A man of very few words. He meets and falls for his neighbour, played by Carey Mulligan, who has a young son and a husband in prison. When the husband gets out, he is targeted by thugs to whom he owes money, who threaten his family unless he does one last job. The driver offers to help for the sake of the man's wife and child. And it all goes horribly wrong.

What we thought we knew about the driver changes as the movie progresses. The violence is graphic and hideous but explains subsequent (and previous) events. Who do we root for? Can bad people be redeemed? How can extreme and opposite emotional states be rationalised? If you are squeamish this may not be the movie for you. But it is a gripping and rewarding watch. 5 stars from me. Another good movie, although with considerably less violence, stamped with the same quality, is Super 8. From the opening scene when the man changes the 'number of days since last work accident count' to 1 at the Steel Mill we know we are in for some subtle and sophisticated story telling. If you feel stuck with your writing? If you feel like you aren't 'getting' how you can improve your storytelling, go see some movies. Even bad ones will teach you something. At least your book doesn't rely on the quality of the acting or the amount of money you can spend on costumes, locations and special effects. Your characters just have to 'be' who you want them to be. Show us why they behave the way they do. Show us who they are and what makes them feel the way they do. Remember you don't have to spill your guts completely at the beginning (metaphorically speaking that is) of the story. Hold some stuff back. Make your reader wonder and want to read on to find out. A good plot is like a plait or shoelaces - it isn't done until its all laced together.

I'll be talking up a storm about plotting, character and showing and working through some juicy exercises on writing for children at the Centre For Continuing Education Summer Workshop next January.

A scuba suit is not bullet proof....

Saw a bad-ass movie last night that I just loved. It had elements in it that I generally find a major turn off - lots of violence and a young person saying my least favourite word in the world - and yet Kick Ass was funny, moving, and thoughtful with great costumes and I would happily see it again. And again. Perhaps it was the irreverent anti-pc tone. Perhaps it was the acknowledgement that despite our best efforts we live in a scary, violent world but you can't stop fighting it and the things we truely cherish, like love and family, don't change. I especially loved the part with the bazooka and the clever things Hit Girl did with a length of string weighted with one of those ninja star things. I loved too that director Matthew Vaughan paid silent homage to his wife in one scene. And as with any good movie, there were lessons here about great writing - because this movie turned lots of conventions on their heads and was the better for it. Be daring when you write people! And character development was so skillfully done. I quickly came to care about the key characters and had to watch through my fingers when I thought bad things were about to happen. It had a comic book feel even telling part of the backstory with an illustrated comic book sequence but this fitted seamlessly with the whole vibe of the movie. The only bad thing about good movies is that they spoil you for the rest. Hoohah - I'm so getting this when it comes out on DVD.

And my own writing? I have been eschewing my writing for fun things like GST tax returns and sorting out other bits and pieces like book cover photos and skype addresses and invoices and orthodontic appointments and book blurbs. All necessary and important things. I am marinating the first chapter of my next work, as well as mentally massaging the last few chapters of my YA but there are few typed words to show for it. And for some reason at the moment I am feeling wanderlust - the urge to travel to somewhere distant for a small adventure - New York, Morocco, Spain, Egypt, Ireland. Its most unsettling and most unlikely to be realised unless I win lotto. So back to the writing. At least the new story is taking me to Poland and Russia so I guess I do get to travel after all.

Juicy link for today can be found here at the Tall Tales and Short Stories Blog, with a feature on new publishers Nosy Crow.

I didn't know it was a horror movie....

I watched the movie Julie and Julia yesterday. Love Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci more than ever now. But I didn't realise that it was a horror movie. It was truely horrifying to realise Julia Child and Simone Beck and the sumptuously named but less involved Louisette Bertholle took eight years to complete Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julia wrote it on her typewriter with carbon paper between the sheets. What if she needed another copy? What if she wanted to edit one line on a page? How did she retain her sanity whilst writing a good proportion of a 700 page book on a typewriter? Okay it was a cookbook (instructions are less malleable) but STILL!! How long did it take to post anything across the world? And back again? And when publishers said no as Houghton Mifflin did (yes its absolutely gobsmackingly fabulicious but its too expensive to make a 700 page book that we don't think enough people will buy - okay some things don't change) the thought of rewriting it. I guess in the future people will look back on the way we do things now and wonder how we managed. You work with what you have because thats how it is, but it bends my brain cells to the point of hurting to think of how Ms Child had to work. And I wanted to throw things at the tv screen as the dvd played the part where Ms Powell has 65 messages on her answer phone from publishing editors, tv producers, magazine and newspaper editors etc.....all wanting a slice of the action after the article about her, her mission and her blog appeared in the New York Times. Throw things people. Oh for even a fraction of that response. Sigh...

Googling yourself is like a box of chocolates...

Both The Rejectionist and Jet Reid have linked to this lovely blog post on Failure by Rebecca Brown at The Stranger Blog. Failure can be soul sucking, so its nice to view it through a different lense and be reminded that it is just a small part of the whole, that it can be essential to the process, and does not neccessarily mean you are doing the wrong thing. Ha ha - take that Failure. Failure is not, and should not be, the end point.

It is excellent fun googling myself. Sometimes it is as good as chocolate. And if you were Forrest Gump you might say googling is like a box of assorted ones. My last googling discovery was that the Singapore Public Library system had purchased my novel Jack the Viking which tickled me pink. This time I have discovered that my book The Were-Nana is on the 2010 picture book list for The Sakura Medal voted for by readers from international schools across Japan. That my books are being read in other countries is a thrill.

Went to see Shutter Island with my older daughter on Wednesday evening. Based on a Dennis Lehane novel, this psychological thriller made for an interesting watch and one where concentration was required to take in and make sense of all the evidence and clues provided. I felt a little cheated/manipulated as the twist unravelled at the end, although post movie thought processing has made me feel a little more charitable. It really probably needs at least a second viewing to pull it all together although lines are conveniently blurred in places to fudge some of the story line. All that aside the final line of dialogue of the movie is a stunner which made up for any failures and easily justified the ticket price. This reminds me of the final scene in A History of Violence. The physical violence of the movie is a stomach churning difficult watch but is pretty much essential to the story. Yet, although I saw that movie months ago, that final scene has stayed with me and gives that story an emotional intelligence that raises it above the average dramatic action movie. I want to write stories that have the same effect (without the violence though). That make the ending a surprise you didn't see coming but make you think 'of course'. That stay with you after you close the back cover, that leave you feeling satisfied while making you wish you could see what happens next. Now producing something like that would be a thrill.

Have a good weekend folks

what a coincidence...

Hello to new blog followers - I feel very honoured that you've signed up. I shall do my best to keep it interesting.

As its holiday time we've been checking out a few movies at the cinema and I've been ploughing through a few books. Saw Sherlock Holmes on Boxing Day which I enjoyed and yes that enjoyment probably does owe something to the presence of Robert Downey Jnr (who I've been a fan of ever since the Pick-Up Artist) and Jude Law (who really can act but loses a few brownie points cos he's back with Sienna Miller). I loved the period background detail as well. The story was so-so but it had enough humour and credibly freshened up the whole Sherlock Holmes canon. Today we went to Avatar. Had my socks knocked off by this movie. Sure it had a few stereotypes, the story was a tad unsubtle with a brick like message and a number of plot elements were predictable but James Cameron just made the most of the medium and it was near three hours of cinematic bliss. Totally love that Weta Workshop contributed to the visual feast. My SO, who rarely rates movies much at all, thoroughly enjoyed Avatar

With books, I've just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and while its not without issues including a plot error (these always bug me) I can see the appeal and it was a ripping yarn. Best of all are the two central characters who are well drawn and demand we care about them. I think characters like this are what keep readers coming back and can make up for writery sins otherwise committed (if Mr Larsson's book sales are anything to go by). I'm now more than half way through Val McDermid's Fever in the Bone. I like the writing (apart from a little bit of repitition) but again its the two central characters which are keeping me reading as I've already figured out the plot. Of most interest is one of the central character's musings on the significance of coincidence. Ms McDermid's character eschews any meaning at all in coincidence (although his beliefs are being challenged in the book). But this argument (and the fact it is even in the book) freaks me out a little, as a word in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that I have never ever come across before, turned up in the dedication of Fever of the Bone. How weird is that. The word is Gallimaufry - go check it out and add it to your lexicon. Coincidences probably are no more than just coincidences but it sure doesn't feel that way. What do you think?

We live in risk-averse times...

Went to a christmas work do last night with my SO which included a screening of The Time Traveller's Wife. I enjoyed the movie and I cried. I think it successfully captured the essence of the book and managed to convey enough of the complex story although there is no doubt in my mind that the book is the superior beast. Yes we know in the movie that Henry and Clare love each other but the book gives us every reason why. And even though the movie is a summary that cannot fully capture the depth and breadth of the book, it is still a moving and satisfying love story. Rachel Mc Adams and Eric Bana were great.

Love Fifi's velvet Jesus. Go check it out here. Its especially cool that he has a hint of a smile - I like to think he might have smiled sometimes (after all he wasn't an author trying to get published).

Was interested to see on Beattie's Blog this morning that Viking is rejacketing Edward de Bono's backlist and Jeffrey Archer is being paid 18 million pounds for an as-yet unwritten 5 book series. While I might be persuaded by the argument that celebrity books and big name commercial writers might help publishers also publish less commercial propositions, this is a huge amount of money to tie up. How many books by new or mid list authors could be published with 18 million pounds? And who knew that a publisher even had that kind of money? Especially in the current economic climate?? And while I can only dream of having any of my books stay in print long enough to be rejacketed, rejacketing just seems another sign of these risk averse times. My sighs can probably be heard in Invercargill. I promise to try and be more cheerful soon.

stocking the idea soup in my brain...

I told my SO what I'd last posted on my blog and he asked what it had to do with writing. Apart from the fact that blogging is another form of writing itself, I explained how reading the newspaper and watching televised news is one of the ways I keep the idea soup in my brain stocked up. Even if the news doesn't provide me with a particular idea or spark, everything mixes in together and sends my brain off in all sorts of different cognitive directions as I wonder about stuff and mull things over. Somewhere inside that mysterious grey matter unpredictable connections are made which then contribute to the content of my stories, the makeup of my characters and the convolutions of my plots. Its a hard-to-explain alchemy and I like to keep it well fed.

I went to see the movie Transformers 2 yesterday with the famdamily. I can't say I didn't like it but a lot of my favourite things from the first one were missing. Especially the peppy dialogue and brilliant story line. There was a tonne of action and some fun transformer robots, big and small. But the individual parts didn't add up so well. And why did Megan Fox need her hand held everytime she ran anywhere - are women incapable of running to safety on their own? My children who enjoyed the movie thoroughly got the pip with me when I began analysing the plot and couldn't understand why the shortcomings of the story were so important to me - they just were alright? Sheesh! I'm a writer - its my job. Ultimately I wondered about the director and whether he'd understood why the first movie had worked so well. Were all those good bits the first time round a lucky accident? Or was he in too much of a rush to get No. 2 out to capitalise on the success of No. 1.

I thought in my next post I might tell you a few more things about myself so you can add some facts and info to the pictures. If you want to know anything in particular (not already covered by my bios at the Book Council, Scholastic, Storylines and Christchurch City Libraries websites) leave a question for me in the comments section.

Would I do it all again, knowing what I know now?

Sometimes I think having a writing career is like having a baby: you don't really know what it means until the baby has arrived. Before the birth you can't understand what people are trying to tell you, no matter how many times you've heard it, in however many different ways. You have to experience it yourself for the penny to drop. Once your offspring has turned up, just as you figure out how to get them to eat and sleep in a routine, they grow and develop into the next stage and you have to start the learning process all over again. This is a never-ending cycle. You can never get complacent or smug. Your children will always be one step ahead of you. And so it is with being an author. You wrote your masterpiece and some publisher finally said yes. And you thought, 'at last!' - Hell no - this is just the beginning. Now your novel/picture book/whatever, needs you more then ever. You have to learn new skills in marketing and promotion. You have to learn how to talk about writing to a variety of audiences. You have to talk about yourself to strangers. You have to learn how to look busy and not worried as you sit alone at your signing table at an event that didn't quite work. You have to figure out how to get over rejections for manuscripts that are just as good as the ones you've had accepted and you have to suck it up when your books don't sell. And then you have to go back and write another story. And then another one. Even though you're going to have to go through the baby raising thing all over again, every time. And there will be things in the future I don't even know I have to learn yet. Would I do it all again if I could start over, knowing what I know now. Are you kidding me? Hell yes!

By the way as my mother's day treat (no no it wasn't cleaning up the dishes after my children made themselves a cooked breakfast leaving an impressive trail of dirt and destruction) I went to see the new Star Trek movie on Imax. Yowza. Is it too soon to go see it again? It isn't perfect (revenge is so yesterday) but I loved what they've done with all the characters and as soon as the credits rolled I wanted it to be a weekly hourlong series on tv again because even an annual movie length fix isn't enough to satisfy my addiction.

And hey, check this out on youtube. Filmed in the neighbours back yard, the first bag jumper is my son, and the last is my SO. I think the plot is well developed, don't you.

When the voice isn't quite right...

Went to see the movie Watchmen last night. I can't say I was keen. This movie contains what I call extreme excessive violence. Ack. Now I ain't too squeamish. I like a good action flick and heck, I've even autopsied dead animals at 2 o'clock in the morning while all by myself, in the name of science, but this was a hard watch when I wasn't busy covering my eyes with my hands. I do have to admit, however, that I was fascinated by other aspects of the movie. I loved the idea of exploring a world where superheroes are part of the normal fabric of society. And that they weren't all good and noble. I loved the idea of the Dr Manhatten character - finding his humanity while being able to understand and control the physical nature of the universe. But after presenting a world where violence is the answer to just about everything and man is his own worst enemy, I didn't buy the characters rejoicing in the miracle of being human. And how many people was the most philanthropic character willing to kill? And that final act of altruism? The Dark Knight did it so much better. I'm glad I'm not immune to that level of violence but I'm worried about all the movie goers who might be. I also have to say it was weird being in town on a saturday night. I hope all those drunk young folk, especially the ones in their flimsy mini dresses didn't freeze to death and got home safely. Their parents were probably worried.

I have a truckload of writing work to do at the moment and I have been putting it off. However there's a deadline appraoching at a hundred miles an hour on this and I will have to suck it up and get on with it. I have this story idea I am very keen on and there is interest in it. I have already written an outline and a few chapters but I just know I haven't got the right feel yet. The voice is too old and too inside his head. I'm going to expand my outline and then try switching from first to third person and see what the result is like. The main issue behind the idea is quite a weighty one too and while respecting it, I don't want young readers to drown in the message so i have to keep a firm yet light control. I shall keep you updated. Oh and one of the short stories I submitted for this year's Random anthology edited by Barbara Else was accepted. Yay!!