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 :)

If we ever met in the street you'd shake my hand...

So fellow writer Yvette Carol alerted me via facebook to this juicy post about writing about writing perhaps not being the best thing to write about (in my blog), and it has me thinking. I'm thinking this person has a point. There is only so much you can say about writing. And what many people want from writing advice is the penny dropping moment when they get what they need to do, write or say to make all their writing dreams come true. Which doesn't happen. Like magical diets or exercise equipment or fitness regimes (Zumba anyone?) nothing works like eating less and exercising more. Its the same with writing. Write more, and follow the rules of good writing. The magic has to come from inside. Its in there already. Its growing from the seed planted by the way you felt when you read that book that you loved. That book you loved that made you think "I want to do that too". And its getting in touch with that magic that I reckon makes all the difference. So maybe telling you things about writing in general isn't the best use of my blog?

So okay I do think its good to share the ups and downs of the writing to publication journey sometimes. When you are on that road it can seem endlessly long (are we there yet?) with no glimpses of the destination. And to know you are not alone on that road can help you place one foot in front of the other and keep going. And writing is not all I am and think (okay it is mostly) and...and...okay actually I'm thinking that link is a little cynical and I don't write this blog just so I can find readers and sell my books to them. My blog is me thinking out loud, forming my opinions, sucking it to see. And in this current publishing climate when things are changing and morphing and evolving faster than you can say dinosaur, its good to surf the internet and find out what's happening, how it's happening and how people are responding and share what I can with y'all. Its good to try different things, maybe even new things, and realise that mistakes and failures are not the worst thing that can happen and actually if one book dies a death or never gets to see the light of day, maybe even because I did the wrong thing, I'm still breathing air, my heart is still beating and my brain is still thinking oh my god how young did Daniel Craig look in Lara Croft Tomb Raider and I am so going to buy the latest Vanity Fair with him and George Clooney and Matt Damon on the cover... And I hope that reading this you nod your head, or laugh out loud (no loling here thanks) or think you'll keep writing a bit longer or search a little harder for that magic, or think if we ever met in the street you'd shake my hand or give me a hug and laugh with me about things like old friends.

No more changes please, I am already over my quota for 2008...

I must admit to feeling a little shell shocked. After 25 years with Scholastic NZ, the publishing manager has resigned. Twenty five years is a long time and a good enough reason on its own to have a break and try something new. I can't imagine that the strain of operating under the current financial situation would have helped, but its just more sad news for authors like me in what has been a difficult year. Scholastic has been my main publisher so far and I was just getting the hang of how it all worked. Now I guess it will be different. 2008 has been very different to how I expected it to go. I am having trouble imagining what 2009 may bring and making plans is almost impossible. At the moment the thing I am looking forward to the most is the Children's Writers conference in Wellington in September. Wellington is a most excellent place to visit and is further improved by the wonderful writers and illustrators who reside there and who it will be great fun to catch up with. To my way of thinking the conference cannot come at a better time (well maybe earlier in the year would be better but...) as we need to have some serious discussions about how we can move forward and make things better in the current environment. All you kiwi children's writers and illustrators need to be marking it in your diaries now.