Just a little bit proud...

Well, what a week (or two). Lots of Olympy stuff. People exceeding expectations, others falling short, folk with extraordinarily long legs or fingers and toes or bigger biceps, triceps and trigeminals, and great guts and determination winning stuff. Good for them. As far as I'm concerned everyone who makes it through to the games after years of hard work, mental and physical discipline should receive a medal. I've been entertained and even swelled a little on occasion (mostly with national pride). There's been some sad things too though, muck ups, stuff ups and the occasional bit of rule over-application. Why can't Usain keep the relay baton with which the Jamaican team just won gold and broke a world record? Maybe the officials were grumpy because the competitors broke something - of course that's it, silly me (yay, I think they were allowed to keep the baton). All in all a riveting watch and it is hard to pick my favourite bit. Right up there is NZ's first gold at Eton Dorney where the double rowery blokes came from the back, right up to the front where the gold is. They had a lot of style. More swelling (with pride). All very smashing.

There have been other things too. My middle child had her first school ball. I went with her to the pre-ball and she looked like this. That's her on the right (with Joanna and Georgia) looking gorgeous. They all did. Gosh our kids do scrub up well. I am overdosed on pride.

Somehow (I can't quite believe it myself yet) I have managed to finish (mostly because, as all you writers will know, we never really truly finish) the latest novel. It is like dough through a pasta machine where you keep feeding it through to make the fettucine smoother and finer and yummier. I think my novel is now edible. Watch this space for more news on this particular book.

Yesterday I dressed up in wig and hat

and stripey trou's and long black boots, and piratey accoutrement and read Margaret Mahy stories at the Central City Library in Auckland with fab librarian Anne Coppell, as part of a nationwide read in Margaret's honour. Afterwards I attended a memorial for her at the Town Hall and sat listening in wonder to her stories and other peoples stories about her and felt even more starstruck. I felt moved then and I feel inspired now.

And my tale of adventure on the high seas, The House That Went to Sea, is an app!!!!!!!!!! Yay :) This is a fun story about stepping out of your shell and embracing life. Sailing out in to the unknown can be the best thing you ever did. It is currently at a tantalisingly affordable price - go check it out here

What will I do for the rest of the year without Harry...

I was looking forward to the November release of the next Harry Potter movie (HP and the Half Blood Prince) and felt pretty grumpy when I learned it was being held back til the middle of next year, apparently for commercial reasons. As much as I revere The Dark Knight, I'm afraid its partly responsible as it earned a million simollions on its mid year release this year and as the writers strike has left the film industry a little movie-lite for the middle of next year HP jumped into the mega-buck-opportunity providing breach. With no more books in the series, having the movie delayed seriously compromises the R n'R plans I'd made for what remains of 2008. I will just have to console myself with James Bond instead.

I have at least been cheered by the ongoing efforts of our Kiwi Olympians. Still trending up from all the fourth place showings at the last games, we now have a slew of bronzes. I like where this is going and look forward to London 2012 when we should be in the silver medal position for everything. Don't for one minute think I am dissing third place. Having watched a range of events I respect everyone who actually makes it to the games as a competitor in the first place. These are mostly people who have put just about every other aspect of their lives on hold to train right, eat right and mentally prepare themselves to battle it out on the day. When you think that many events are only of a few minutes duration, some even less then that, it blows my mind that people make so many sacrifices in the hope they will come first, second or third. Kind of puts into perspective all the difficulties of the writing business. Sure, I work for hours to maybe earn about ten cents an hour if my book is accepted, nothing for all that effort if its not, but I can write for years, I can still do other things, and I get to eat chocolate if i want to.

I've been a little worried the last few days. My current WIP is looking a bit setting-lite. In my last two novels (Jack the Viking and his sequel) the setting was kind of a character in itself. It was essential to maintain a sense of setting both in Jack's modern location and back in the time of the Vikings. Contrasting the two times was something I wanted to explore but I also needed a clear image of the Viking period to background Jack's emotional state and the changes he experienced. Now with the new story, place doesn't have a key role and as I progress, the characters dominate and I find, while I know where they are, the setting refuses to assert itself. I'm not sure whether this is a problem or not? But I have the feeling I should decide on this now. If i have to write more on setting after the first draft is finished i might be making a large and difficult job for myself. What do you think?

Yes that sentence is like poetry but IT HAS TO GO...

As well as the ability to objectively recognize when part of your story sucks there are some other fairly important weapons in the writers arsenal (I have to say I like that word despite the fact I am a peace loving person). Arsenal (sorry i just had to say it again and once more for good time) arsenal. Okay I'm good for now. So in addition to acknowledging the bad stuff, it is also handy to recognize the really good stuff that just doesn't belong. Sometimes the prettiest, most elegant, brilliant use of words isn't right. You know you love that sentence but everytime you read over it, it sticks out like a broken leg in a cast. Recognizing its a problem is the first skill but the even greater skill rests in being able to rip that sentence right out. What you take out can be as important as what you leave in. At the beginning of my writing career everything stayed in. Editing was a strange act that other people did behind closed doors. Worse still, I didn't need to edit. I'd worked too hard on those words to ditch any of them. Luckily things changed. The story rules. If the words don't tell the story, if they aren't relevant, or don't contribute they shouldn't be there. If they don't tell you something about the setting, or the characters what is their purpose? To successfully use these tools you have to have a clear vision about your story and your characters. Even if you don't have every detail mapped out before you start writing, you should be in control. If you have clarity and control of your story then editing will be fairly straightforward.

I stayed up late Saturday night watching NZ competitiors do their stuff at the Olympics. I felt for Mahe Drysdale getting pipped by two other rowers in the final 500m of his race. He got a bronze medal but deserves a gold medal for giving it his all despite the circumstances and then refusing to blame those circumstances for the outcome. It seems cruel that the product of years of training is decided in a few minutes at a specific point in time. I guess it is the same for all competitors but luck certainly plays a part. Whatever the results i'm proud to be a Kiwi and respect all of NZ's sportsmen and women for their dedication and their efforts. We do pretty well for a small country. Its very motivating.