Favourite Books...

The festive season draws near and I am in a list making mood.

My Top 5 grown up books in no particular order

1) Lord of the Rings Trilogy - JRR Tolkien
2) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
3) The Time Travellers Wife - Audrey Niffeneger
4) A Room with a View - EM Forster
5) The Boy in Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne

My top 5 children's books in no particular order
1) The Wizard of Earthsea series- Ursula le Guin
2) Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) - Philip Pullman
3) The Outsiders - SE Hinton
4) The Moon in the Cloud - Rosemary Harris
5) The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
6) Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder
7) The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling

My Top 5 picture books in no particular order

1) Dear Greenpeace - Simon James
2) Anything by Lauren Child
3) Olivia - Ian Falconer
4) The Chicken Thief - Beatrice Rodriguez
5) The Sneetches and other stories - Dr Seuss
6) The Lion in the Meadow - Margaret Mahy
7) Tulevai and the Sea - Joy Cowley

as you can see I have cheated. I have always been terribly undisciplined and I am not in a mood for rules right now. And lets face it, 5 (except for adult books) is not really enough. I know there are other books that should be on the lists and they have temporarily fallen out of my brain - maybe Bond's Paddington Bear books and Enid Blyton's Famous Five and some New Zealand saga set in and maybe titled Pencarrow, along with heaps of others. I really clocked up some serious book mileage with those books as a child. And comics - Little Lotta, Archie and Jughead, Superman, Casper and Wendy, Beano, Jackie, Mickey and Pluto, Scrooge McDuck. I spent hours reading all sorts of things when I was young. Folk who worry about the quality of what their children are reading shouldn't. How can you sort the good from the bad, what you like from what you don't like, if you don't read widely. Nothing is wasted with reading. Discovering that reading can be a source of enlightenment and pleasure should be the goal because of course if you enjoy it you will want to do more of it.

A wave of apologies is not anywhere near as good as a mexican wave...

Now that I have free time on my hands, my brain has turned to jelly. Not even coloured jelly, but more like the almost transparent kind you get from boiling pigs trotters. I have been wondering if there could be a literary equivalent of the NZ music airplay quota? What do you think?

I am non-plussed by the whole Witi Ihimaera thing, thrown on multiple levels by the plaigarism, the apology (?), the level of media coverage (I would dance naked through the streets for this kind of exposure except without the negative aspect of course), what this means in view of his teaching responsibilities and for writers in New Zealand in general and a few other things as well.

There seems to be a wave of apologising going on at the moment and I feel uncomfortable about all of it. Its like people who say, "don't take offence but..." and then go on to say something offensive. That doesn't make up for the offensive comment folks, it doesn't absolve you. These are people who if they weren't already aware they were doing something wrong, should have known. And if they did know then they shouldn't have done it. Thats why they are in these well paid positions of trust and responsibility. Yes people make mistakes and should be able to say sorry and move on but the kinds of mistakes we make reflect who we are. For example Mel Gibsons anti-semitic rant when trolleyed. Where he said it was his mistake, but what he said is what he believes - his apology couldn't cover that. Well I guess if nothing else, I now know what NZ's current apologisers really think and how they really act. And I guess I am not that impressed.

And why is Spring back-pedalling into Winter? Where's the warmth? I am so over my winter clothing. I want short sleeves and bare-feet. I can almost see the confusion in the plants in the garden. I can just about hear them saying 'my buds are cold. Should I bloom?' At least there hasn't been as many as usual of the sad little egg-filled nests blown out of trees at this time of year. My dog is off his food and as I sit at the computer typing this I am being serenaded by his belchy, squirty stomach noises. Its not conducive to creativity (not mine anyway, and i hate to think what his stomach is working on!) so i am going to take a wee break. Talk to ya later...

Someone turned my crank handle...

Colour me cranky...I didn't get one of the fellowshippy things I applied for, one of my children is having a bit of a crisis, there's way too much on for a friday evening (I JUST WANNA VEGE PEOPLE!) and well...I'm just a tad fed up with all the doom and gloom abounding in this industry. Yes recessions are not sunny happy things and yes, look what technology did to the music industry and now its hungry again and is it eyeing up the book industry? Well folks, I keep buying books, and whats more I keep writing them too. And all you other writers out there are DOING THE SAME! We love books. Heaps of us love books. This is what author Jeff Somers had to say about the death of the book... Go Jeff! There is nothing we can do but keep writing and reading and hoping. And the next person who starts warbling on about the terminal nature of the book industry better keep out of reach of me!!

And btw children are still reading. I've seen them. We've talked about it. And I'm not talking about my own kids (although they do read too). I was in an article about the new library opening at Owairaka Primary School in last wednesday's Central Leader Newspaper along with fab author Kyle Mewburn. When we visited, the whole school was just fizzing about their new library. The children were excited about books. And I was so happy to find out that some children chose my books to write about for NZ Book Month's ASB wordbank competition. I would be super sad if focusing solely on the bottom line led to the decline of book publishing. What would that say about our society? Probably something similar to what some people's desire to dismantle the anti-smacking law says. Folks you have to think about the bigger picture and stop using only one colour to colour it in.

Respect the head you're in...

Awhile back I gave a talk which included a discussion on Point Of View and I think I confused more than I clarified. I'm very sorry folks. POV is one of those aspects of writing that just when I think I have it sussed, breaks free of my grasp like a wriggley two year old who turns around and blows a raspberry at me. I confess that once or twice I have written in first person just to avoid committing any POV sins. And I must also confess that I am not confident when head hopping is and isn't a legitmate thing to do. But what I can say about POV is, respect the head you're in. Whatever point of view you are writing from will have certain limitations which must be respected. If writing from my own POV I cannot know what is going on inside someone else's head or how they are feeling. I can make educated guesses based on physical and verbal cues which is how it should be spelled out in my writing. I cannot know what is going on beyond my hearing or vision except for some physical or aural cues which must be spelled out in my writing. Likewise from any character's POV. POV can change during a piece of writing but there must be a reason for doing so and there must be enough cues for the reader to know who the POV resides with. Readers like a challenge but if they can't tell what is going on they will put the book down. An omniscient POV does not necessarily solve all these problems as knowing everything can also lead to reader confusion. If you are having trouble with POV in your writing, try working in first person for awhile. The discipline of a more restricted point of view will show you what is and isn't possible and once you have it under control, can provide a good springboard onto more complex POV arrangements.

I learnt something from the movie Bull Durham

A snippet from Tomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard"

Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Sigh

Hi Honey....I'm home

Hi Honey, I'm home....sorry I was away so long...been busy with non-writing related things but now I'm back...

On sunday its November. Most of me is ready for September now. It usually happens around this time of year - the months are flying past faster than I can keep up with. I might be ready for christmas by next February. On Halloween my middle child turns fourteen.

I am writing an article at the moment on 2010 (even though I am obviously not ready for it yet). At this time of year we tend to spend a lot of time looking back and making 'best-of' lists and things like that. Its a good idea to look back at what was achieved over the year but also now is a good time to think about what might be achieved in the future. Okay, as writers, this is a bit tricky because so much of what we might achieve is out of our control. The only things we can control are the words. But now I'm thinking about the stories I have on-the-go that need finishing and polishing and how long realistically it might take me to do this. I'm wondering about how far afield I want to submit my manuscripts next year and how I go about this. Who might be the best fit for my work and how should I present myself - should I do things differently or stick with the same MO. Next year I think I would like to try some face-to-face meetings with local publishers but I would also like to send some things overseas and in order to put my best foot forward I need a starry query letter. Janet Reid, literary agent and blogger in NYC recently posted a summary on writing a good query letter. Go check it out here - its good advice. I'm also debating whether to do more study next year and wondering whether I can afford to go to the SCBWI conference in Australia (which I think is on in October). I guess attending the conference will depend on what manuscripts I will have to offer at that point, what has happened with my work between now and then, and what use I can make out of such a visit. It might be good to do an Australian based pitch slam if they have one.

Catching up on writery news on Beattie's blog today I saw that Mallinson are being taken in under the Penguin umbrella. The children's publishing industry in NZ needs to buy even slimmer fitting trousers now. Like the ones in that doctored photo of the model with the impossibly tiny waist.

In other news, Noddy, like Winnie the Pooh, is attempting a comeback. Sigh. If booksellers are saving their christmas budgets for Dan Brown in the adult section, will they be setting their childrens allotment aside for Winnie and Noddy? And superstar merino Shrek will be mixing and mingling with Queenstown shoppers this weekend to launch his new book. He's a bit of a dag but he has a good angle and as his needs are simple his royalties go to charity. If he sells more books than I did at my last launch I may cry.

Brain wrecks!...

Ha ha - people go on a lot about silly folk whose lives are like train wrecks but this week I am suffering from brain wrecks. I visited the lovely town of Thames on wednesday, reading to children from Thames South School and their parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles in the morning, and then conducting a workshop with adults in the afternoon. Thank you to the kind and welcoming staff of the Thames Library, especially Rachael who made me feel like one of the gang. Gorgeous place.

Friday, I was co-visiting author and official co-library opener with Kyle Mewburn at Owairaka Primary School in Mt Albert. Again I was made to feel so welcomed and staff and children, who had dressed up as favourite characters in some pretty amazing costumes, were wonderful. And to chief organiser Angela, congratulations for organising such a wonderful event. But today I suffer from brain wrecks - the poor little old melon is sucked dry.

Here are some juicy snippets that caught my eye this morning....

1) From today's Weekend Herald - in a review of Cut and Run by Alix Bosco (a pseudonym), reviewer Paul Thomas says, Ego, as revealed by a greater interest in recognition than achievement, often fuels the drive to be a published writer... Wow, thats a bit snippy. There are about a million easier ways to feed one's ego; a million ways over which you have more control, with much better odds of succeeding. Sure, having a publisher say yes or seeing a book with your name on the front cover are ego boosters, but there are many more ego deflating moments than there are ego boosting ones. Your average writer spends most of their time surviving with the aid of something much less fragile. And suggesting recognition rules over achievement - grrr don't get me started...

2) From Graham Beattie's blog posted saturday 24th, Patricia Wood, author of adult novel Lottery, takes a different, and I think very wise view of the relationship authors could be building with booksellers. She suggests it is useful to go past the book signing/launch type deal and the 'do you stock my book and how many copies have you sold' kind of interation, and find ways to help booksellers get more buyers (of any kind) in the shop. If bookshops survive, more authors might survive too, and in the great karmic wheel of life, what goes around, comes around.

3) During my workshop on Wednesday several people asked about how you go about getting an illustrator for your picture book manuscript if you are not an artist. The short answer is, you don't. Check out the latest post at Editorial Anonymous where she discusses this very topic. If you have not submitted a picture book manuscript before I can see how you might believe it essential to have illustrations to accompany your text. I can even, at a pinch, understand how you might wonder that the publisher will see the illustrations as you would like them to be. But folks, this is why they are professionals. They are in the business of producing books that sell (although they aren't always successful at this but it is still their goal) and they know what picture books look like, how they work and 98% of the time they will see the pictures your words suggest. And they know lots of talented and skilled artists/illustrators who will do a fab job. I did not meet the illustrator for The Were-Nana until the book launch but she knew exactly what I was trying to say. So it is best to submit your manuscript by itself. You do not need to attempt your own pictures or find someone to do it for you. If they like your story the publisher will try and find the right illustrator for it.