I'll start tomorrow, I promise...

I read a few books while I was away on holiday. Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher which I loved and City of Bones by Cassandra Clare which mostly annoyed me. There are few things as satisfying when reading a book as figuring out the subtext and feeling clever because you have done so. I realise now how important 'voice' is to me - Ketchup Clouds has a strong voice. Its a common quality in my favourite reads. I know books are such a subjective art form. Enough readers have loved the (best selling) Mortal instrument series by Clare to inspire a major studio to make it into a movie. Don't get me wrong - there were things I liked about the City of Bones book, but ultimately the annoying things outweighed them. Things like repeating the same description for the same character, often on the same page, or contradicting a description with a second description soon after the first. There was a lot of 'telling' and info dumping. World building for alternate or new worlds should feel natural (think Lord of the Rings or Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy or Holly Black's Curse Worker books- as complex as these were I didn't struggle to recall details or connections between them with those books) but I didn't enjoy having to remember all the elements required in City of Bones. And what does 'green-scented' mean???? I liked the three main protagonists and consequently found the relationship twist at the end of this first book a little repugnant. I didn't really enjoy the writer's style and I respect that this is a taste thing. But having recently picked up another best seller which I quickly put down again because the writing was so unsubtle (I hate it when I can see the author trying so hard) and the plot so, so ... clunky ..... I am a tad grumpy. It probably didn't help that I came home from the holiday and went to see The Hobbit and wasn't entirely happy about what Mr Jackson had done with it. Much respect to Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman and James Nesbitt (in that order) however. And I am now reading Ian Rankin's Standing in Another Man's Grave and am happy to report, so far, so good. If nothing else, all this serves to remind me I must try harder when writing my own books and find a hobbit hole to hide in if anyone ever makes one into a movie.

I must admit it's been hard to get back in to writing mode after being away. I'm still feeling quite holidayish...

We waved goodbye to the Sydney Opera House on Dec 12th

and tried picking coconuts on Lifou on Dec 16th

and went rock climbing while at sea

played table tennis

and mini golf

and went swimming at tropical locations

I am not waiting three years for my next holiday. And I promise, tomorrow I start writing again...

Angst is a life-shortener...

eeek - the days are flying by. Time for a new post methinks. As you will all know if you have been reading along it has been quite a year. When I think back on all the things that have happened this year I have trouble believing that I squeezed all that in to less than 12 months. At times I was chasing my tail, juggling too many balls and feeling stressed. Thank goodness I wasn't juggling chainsaws. My health has been a bit rubbish and I'm not sure if that was a cause or a symptom of other things. Looking back over what I have been up to, after moaning and groaning probably more than I should have, I can't actually help feeling a little bit proud and pretty happy about all the things I achieved. Lots of deadlines, appointments and events mean you get a lot of things done. Now that the pressure has eased off I am feeling guilty that I'm not doing stuff and am wasting heaps more time doing silly pointless things. Of course this week is an exception because we are going away next week and all the things I have been avoiding while I twiddle my thumbs in a decorative fashion now need doing before we go. So I am making lists and working my way through them - suffice to say I will have enough underwear to wear on my holiday and I WILL remember to pack the power cord for my laptop so I can keep writing.

I am also assembling everything I need to upload my junior fiction as an e-book. The manuscript is edited and I am about to start formatting. I have been thinking alot about e-books and print books and the publishing industry and publishers, agents, booksellers and everyone else. If you are agonising about ANY aspect of publishing, know that you are not alone. It is an imperfect science. The best way forward is to keep informed, make decisions you can live with and don't angst over everything. Angst is a life-shortener. My experiment in publishing my junior novel Sally Bangle: Unexpected Detective myself is a terrific opportunity to test it all out. I want to know, so I am finding out. After all, knowledge is power.

And I was extremely thrilled to see this in the post last week.

The latest Magpies magazine. And look who is inside it!!

Yes, it's me!!Thank you to the very lovely Julie Harper who interviewed me and wrote a very nice article about me for the New Zealand section of the magazine. I was most excited (still am).

Writing explained simply....

Hallelujah!!! - We have booked ourselves a fabulous family holiday and the hardest part is reminding myself it is still a few months away and I have some big jobs to complete before we pack our bags and check in with immigration. Because, really, I am ready NOW!! As we did a few years back, we depart these fair shores on December 12th and return just after midnight on the 24th. I love leaving the craziness of pre-Christmas behind and coming back just in time for the Szymanik Family get together. Tis perfect and I will be well rested and maybe a little tanned for the festivities.

Things are still busy, busy, busy. There is my fabostory chapter to finalise, judging to be done and posted up. How will all the Titanic Games dramas end??? There is university research to be nutted out and written up. I have been a school visiting (big waves to the lovely children of New Windsor School, Westmere Primary and Sunnynook Schools where I have been this month) and have hung out at the Kiwiwrite4kidz stand at the NZ Ed show over three days. Somehow, for a driving phobic, I have put a lot of miles on in the car, either ferrying myself or family to our appointments, workshops, classes, trainings, entertainments and the like. When we are away on holiday letting someone else do the driving (or steering, or flying) will be a highlight. I have been reading and rereading and sweating a little over my soon to be pubbed novel. This is my last chance to get all the facts, figures, commas, spellings, pronunciations, and story telling right. Sometimes this feels like the hardest part (although really the part of the process you are in at any given moment is always the hardest part). I am currently casting my eyes over the final, final proof. Time will tell if we need a final, final, final proof.

I am also currently being interviewed for a magazine article and I must say it is a very strange thing. There will be times when I will have to invoke 'magic' to explain my writing process. Tis a bit like when people ask where you get your ideas and at times I just want to say "can't you see them? They are everywhere..." But I know it isn't that simple. I just can't remember how I learned to see them and find them now like I do. Maybe its just because I love words so much, and some words when they come together create a kind of frisson or fusion - maybe like a nuclear reaction, where when separated the two elements are inert but then, when you join them up they create a lot of energy and power - yes maybe that's it. Anyways when you see those particular words together your mind kind of explodes and a story is created, or maybe at least born, and then you have to grow it to maturity. So if you have a fantasy background you call it magic but if you have a scientific nature you call it a nuclear reaction (or if, like me, you owe a lot to both fantasy and science, you just throw your hands up in the air). And then you spend a lot of time putting words in and then the rest of your time taking words out and then you have your story. Simple really.