All that potential...

I must try and have more rubbish holidays. The most recent crop have been far too enjoyable which only results in the immediate desire for more holidays. This seems to be a flaw in the whole holiday concept. Or maybe I am doing it wrong. ?

I would say Happy New Year but that was like a month ago and there is 2018 laughing hysterically at me for thinking I'm in charge of the next eleven months. In truth I have no idea what this year holds for me. This isn't new. Every year in recent memory has been way more than half a mystery as it kicks off. And it is fair to say I have been busy enough each year. Too busy sometimes. But of course not busy enough is as bad as too busy and I have little control over the balance. I can say no if things get too hectic but shouting yes into the void won't bring me more events to be involved in or books to be launched. Or ideas to feverishly bring to life.

I passed on the retraining. I tried it on for size and I just knew it would hang in the wardrobe unworn season after season. A cool thing I paid good money for that didn't quite fit me the way I wanted it to. But it is good to be open to new things. And of course I never say never. It is a silly word that cuts off too many possibilities.

So where to now? I am currently looking for a routine that will work for me during the week. I have interviewed a few but they just weren't qualified enough or where overqualified and I knew they wouldn't stay in the job. And I need something flexible enough to work on a part time basis when the need arises. I'll keep looking and let you know how I get on.

Since finishing the last novel my brain has been lying fallow. A fallow brain is at risk of self doubt so I am looking to bring it back into use soon. Chuck Wendig made a great point recently about self doubt making it too easy for creative folk to put their tools down and resist picking them up again. I mean it's self doubt, right? It compels you to avoid the things that you feel doubt about and then you're not doing the things you should be doing. It's a slippery slope/ feedback loop hybrid. Fair call Chuck. Point taken.

So I'm casting about for some new projects and girding my loins to dive back into one that is like two thirds done, while eyeing up my empty dance card with mixed feelings. Feeling simultaneously nervous and excited about what the year might hold. All that potential.....

Winging it ...

Hey there (waves). I don't know where you are or what you've been doing over the last month or so but I hope it has been AWESOME!! And I hope you have big plans for 2017. Well, good plans, whether big or small. Good luck for your good plans!

I have one plan for the year ahead, and that is to not have a plan :) I'm kind of winging it (because I figure when you wing it, you might just fly). 

Of course I'm gonna keep doing the key things I always do. My key tasks are to try and produce great content and to deliver the best talks, workshops and readings I can if I am called on to do so. Content, first and foremost, is king. Without it I'm not a writer. If I'm not a writer than I won't be called on to talk books, reading, and writing. 

And I'm keen to enjoy my writing. Feeling joy in the process can't help but leak in to the product. It's a good way to work as a creative, and can easily be forgotten in the drive to capitalise on previous successes or in attempting to meet a market which turns out to be slipperier than a greased seal. So: a passive approach and few expectations, a focus on writing, and a desire to work on things that make me happy.

Okay, so I am cheating a little having actively pursued a few opportunities last year which might bear fruit this year. I already have a few things booked in and they are nicely spread out across the next 11 months. But at the moment taking my foot a little off the gas feels like the right thing to do. This may change though, as conveniently, winging it gives me the right to make it up as I go along (lol, just like writing). 

 I thought it might be handy to start the year off with a few observations

1) If it's really difficult, you're doing it right

2) Believe it or not, it's all about the writing. Just the writing. No, really.

3) Where do ideas come from? Take an interest in things. Be curious. Live your life. Where experience and curiosity and imagination intersect is where ideas hang out. Go hang out there too.

4) If you think other writers have it easier, it's probably because they have chosen not to share about the knocks and struggles they have faced. We are all facing obstacles, wishing things would go a little better, and doing the best we can

5) Don't put off following your dreams until tomorrow. Start as soon as possible because you will always wish you'd started yesterday.

6) Of course it sometimes feels like you have the absolute worst job in the world! All the best jobs do

And in seriously exciting news for the NZ children's literature scene, a new initiative, The Sapling - a new online magazine about children's books. Because books grow children - is starting up soon. This sounds amazing and I can't wait. The founding editors, Sarah Forster and Jane Arthur, are currently running a Boosted fundraising campaign to  enable them to start things off right. If you would like to contribute, go check it out here. They also currently have a facebook page if you want to keep in touch with their progress 

 

we must be bonkers...

Been editing a completed first draft of a little junior/middle grade mystery thriller I finished just before christmas. I'd written most of it a few years back but I've been fixing it up and put in a slightly different engine and now its getting a new lick of paint and a polish. As its been worked on somewhat in the past, its not too raw so I have hopes of getting it ready for a first drive to the publishers in a couple of weeks - how's that for ambitious :) Still want to finish the first draft of my YA ASAP. I think I can finish it before the university year starts in March. I hope by then I've heard back from the few publishers that have some of my material right now so I can get started on the great submissions plan for 2010. Its good to get cracking on a few things while I wait out the publishing doldrums of the summer holiday season.

I've been looking back over 2009 and someone asked me the other day whether any of my eggs hatched. I think when I blogged about it I had ten sitting in the basket. Of those ten, only one hatched, with Australian Standing Orders taking a small number of my PB, The Were-Nana. As they only select a small number of titles every year I felt very pleased about that. Was a bit sad and grumpy about the other nine eggs (and there have been other eggs that also never came to life)but there have been some unforseen hatchings (wild eggs?) like having a couple of dozen copies of my novel Jack the Viking purchased by Singapore Public Libraries and The Were-Nana picked as one of their favourite children's book by the Studio 2 Crew for NZ book month. I also sold four short stories and had some very exciting public speaking and school visiting opportunities which were a wonderful experience that gave me some new skills and honed others. I got to meet and work with some lovely people like Sarah Forster from NZ Book Council, authors Lucy Davey and Kyle Mewburn, librarians and teachers from a number of great schools around Auckland, and librarians from the Public library's in Westport and Thames who were all wonderful wonderful people. I got interviewed on National Radio and The Were Nana was also read out on the radio and nicely reviewed by John McIntyre on radio too. I went to a fantastic conference in Wellington in September for people just like me and hung out with the loveliest bunch of folk, meeting a whole new crowd of writers and illustrators for children as well as catching up with some much loved writery friends. Of course there was the Children's Choice Award thing which basically gave most of the year its impetus and was the biggest thrill. So on the whole, despite the mouldy egg thing, it was a surprising and very positive year. This year, I think, cannot help but be different (although not in a bad way) and I will be working hard on keeping that egg basket as full as I can with new stories and new submissions. Good luck to all of you out there toiling away on stories for children. Sometimes it is a business with the definite whiff of spoilt eggs but that doesn't seem to dampen the creative spirit does it - we must be bonkers :)

A new year is inevitable...

Happy new year folks! Happy new decade! As resolutions tend to have an air of failure about them I'm not going to make any, but I do have some plans. I'll probably sign up for another year of university study - only one paper and although last year's required a lot of reading and even more time on assignments, its ensures that some of my time will not be spent just navel-gazing. I wish it wasn't so expensive but as I get to do it in the comfort of my own home I shouldn't complain too much.

I'm determined to finish some of my bigger writing projects and start on something new. I also plan on more submissions. Some will be in NZ but I'm keen to try some overseas options as well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'm also tossing up whether to attend the SCBWI conference in Australia in September. At this point its hard to assess how beneficial such a trip might be so I can't tell whether the cost is justified. I think my initial overseas submissions will be to Australian publishers and agents then, so I get a feel for what the possibilities are and whether its worth a visit. Its hard to keep my enjoyment of travel out of the equation.

What 2009 taught me is how the unexpected can rule your life. I was lucky to have lots of opportunities to visit schools and give talks as a result of winning the Children's Choice Award. Even though I know there probably won't be so much of that this year, I hope I still get the chance to meet the readers and talk about writing from time to time and I have a proactive plan in place to try and make that happen.

Hope your 2010 is a good one. I'm off to create some 'firsts' for this new year, this new decade.

I predict 2010 will be a pantser...

I have spent very large, long chunks of time over the last fortnight not thinking about writing/editing/publishing. My brain feels very rested and uncluttered. But I could never forgo all of that work-related stuff completely. I wouldn't be me if I did (yes yes slightly obsessive and crazy - I admit it). So since my return home, even though it has been a time of birthday and christmas, I have trawled a few of my favourite writery/editory/publishy blogs and found this post from Editorial Anonymous in particular most interesting and more than a little disturbing. It has come to that time of year where thoughts of next year are unavoidable. Based on this years events (of which 99%, whether good or bad, were totally unexpected), my view of EA's post and how my book sales compare, and a few other bits and pieces thrown in for good measure I have no idea what to think or expect of 2010. This is unsettling. I am not ready for 2010 - it is going to be a big fat pantser! In the meantime here is a photo of me and my family taken on boxing day.

(Update - I just came across this on Kristin Nelson's blog here -

Dreamstate asked:What to do about those dreaded "Didn't love it enough" rejections? Should the writer response be persistence, querying with the belief that someone will love it enough. Or after 3 or 4 such responses, should the writer be looking at revising, albeit in the absence of any guidance from said rejections? I would be so grateful for any words of wisdom from you!Only 3 or 4 responses! Surely you jest. I wouldn’t worry until you’ve gotten at least 20 rejections on your sample pages. When you’ve hit that, then you might want to think about revising, working with your critique group, making it stronger, and following any feedback you might be receiving. Once that is done, go out full bore with it again. If you are still getting 20 to 30 “didn’t love it enough,” then you might revise again or keep trying. I wouldn’t be giving up on those sample pages until you have 200+ rejections.

and feel strangely uplifted by it. Even though it feels like I've been hacking away at it forever, I haven't really shaved much ice off the iceberg yet. Maybe I need to check out what's under the waterline in 2010).