Entering a new writing regime

So today my self-imposed holiday ends, and I’m back to work – but just writing. For the foreseeable future (and that could change at any moment, should I receive a phone call for a job interview) I’m a full-time writer.

I’m looking forward to this. I have great dreams of this being a marvelous time. Not only do I get to write every day (or nearly every day – being full time I might actually get to have a day off a week), but I also anticipate that I’ll develop a routine to stay on top of the housework and have a shiny, clean house.

Stop laughing. I will do it. You’ll see.

I hate you all.

I’ve not had the chance to write full time since Feb/Mar 2008, and back then I was still the wannabe, striving to achieve the great goal of publication. Yet, I was very disciplined and did a sterling job of writing every day. Now I have a contract. Deadlines. Expectations. Hopefully my discipline will be up to the task.

I’m making another change to the writing situation. Currently, I work out in the dining room. When I started, this worked well but as the pressure and stress built, my ability to ignore what was going on around me decreased significantly and I started to be easily distracted. I’m generally quite good at ignoring distractions (comes from being the eldest of seven children and my first job being a teacher) so it’s been hard to have to work at it.

The obvious solution would be to move into the spare room, except that would involve taking the bed down and we kinda need that until after the launch. So, onto my temporary solution which is more psychological than anything else.

I’ve bought myself a cheap and strangely attractive cane room divider. I say strangely attractive cause I actually don’t like cane as a furnishing material, but for some reason this piece actually looks OK in our mix of wood, metal and glass furnished dining room.

So when I’m just mucking around on the computer, it’s off to the side but when I’m actually working, it’s going to be up and round me. A temporary, not very efficient writing room that will hopefully help me to concentrate. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Today, I start work on Rogue Gadda, going over it myself and with the aid of readers comments. I’m expecting the copyedits of Power Unbound to arrive June 21, so I’m hoping to have Rogue Gadda just about ready by then. Take a few days to polish it before handing it on July 1, then get copyedits finish and hopefully field lots of media requests and letters of congratulation and the launch of Secret Ones.

My book, my book!

On Friday, the whole ‘I’m getting published’ rollercoaster hit the biggest high yet. I went into the offices at HarperCollins in Sydney to meet with various people and discuss publicity, marketing and the way forward from here. The second best bit of the day was having lunch with my editor, who is a lovely person (as well as damn good editor) and who loves my books, so she’s therefore fantabulous! No, really, it was great to chat and I left the building a little in love with her. And the people at the meeting loved my ideas for things to do on the website to promote the book, which made me very happy.

However, as wonderful as that was, it was kinda overshadowed by this:

Yes, my friends, that is it. An actual copy of Secret Ones. After spending some time oohing and aahing over it, I actually sat down and flicked through it and I have to say, that was a very surreal experience. For six years now, these words have existed in one of two formats – on the computer screen or printed on A4 paper. Even the proofs were printed on A4 paper. That’s the way my brain’s used to reading this book. At the same time, I’ve been reading books by other people, with other people’s words. So my brain has the divide worked out – other people’s words in books, my words on screen or paper. It didn’t deal well with seeing my words in book form.

It’s been weird as well to come across scenes and be surprised to find that while I considered it something that happened early in the story, in the book it’s two-thirds of the way in. That’s got me thinking about structure and plot and how it can seem one way in planning and on the screen but then in the book, it looks different and maybe that affects the reader and how they perceive the book and maybe I need to think about how it looks in book form as well and whether something’s taking too long to happen or not -

At that point, my brain exploded.

So now I’m just looking at my book and sighing prettily at it and I’m not going to actually read it until I feel my head can cope with the fact that my story is now a book, and they are actually two different things.

Reading 2010

I decided to follow what I did last year and aim to read one new book a week, to get back into the reading habit.

Well, it’s not even the end of May, and I’m already well over half way to the goal of 52 books. At this rate, there’s going to be well over 60 books on my list, maybe even 70+

I feel like I’m getting back into my reading groove, back when I was in my early twenties and I could easily devour two or three books a week. It helps when you sit down, for example, with an eight-pack of Sookie Stackhouse novels and pretty much inhale them over the course of just a few days.

I decided this year to give the books scores as I read them, so I would be able at the end of the year to comment on my favourites. Here’s how it’s all working out so far:

Leading the pack are the now nine Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris (I read book nine in the past couple of weeks – the eight pack was in March). Well, what can I say? There are certain things that are like crack to me – pacy writing, great characterisation, threat, romance, hunky vampires (Hi Eric!). Interestingly, Ms Harris’ books appeal to me much more than say the Anita Blake books. I gave the Sookie books more than 9 points, whereas the sole Anita book so far this year, Bloody Bones, only got an 8.

There are three other nines on the list. One is Lucy Sussex’s A Tour Guide in Utopia. I love Lucy’s stories – they are interesting, intellectual, thought-provoking yet the style of writing is accessible, so even someone academically challenged like myself can get into them. It’s a book I think I will re-read often in my life. The other nine is Mao’s Last Dancer, by Li Cunxin. I do like me a good biography, but this was also like reading a fantasy, the world he was describing was so alien to my own. His courage and commitment to his art was inspiring. Lastly was Scary Kisses which as I’ve said here before is one of the best anthologies I’ve ever read.

On the eight scale (apart from Bloody Bones) was Heather and Velvet by Teresa Medieros, a book on Wicca for the sole practitioner by Scott Cunningham, Spell in Your Pocket by Kate West, The Fragrant Mind (on aromatherapy) by Valerie Wormwood and Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts. I didn’t really like the voice of Garnet at the beginning of Tansy’s book – that’s the only reason it didn’t get a nine, cause otherwise it was one of the most exciting books I’ve read all year (and yes, that’s in a Sookie Stackhouse year).

Three of my eight books were actually research books for Rogue Gadda – it’s nice when you actually enjoy the books you have to read for work.

The worst book of the year? A few got fives (so nothing horrifyingly terrible). The most disappointing was Girl’s Night In, a huge collection of short stories from some of the best selling female writers in the world (and Nick Earls). Some of the stories were quite good but most were generally either meh or bordering on bad and that was sad, cause I was looking forward to seeing some of the supposed best strut their stuff.

So, there’s my thoughts on my reading so far. I’m looking forward to see what books I fall in love with over the rest of the year.

Why I’m not excited about launch of Secret Ones just yet

‘When’s your book come out?’

‘July 1.’

‘Ooooh, aren’t you excited?’

At this point, I have to feign it. ‘Oh, yes, it’s great.’ Then my mind slips back into what’s really concerning it at the moment.

Either the edits of book two, or writing book three.

It’s not that I’m not excited about the fact that book one, Secret Ones, is out and about and people are reading it and it’s getting good feedback and it will be in bookstores in less than two months. That is all just amazingly fantabulous and there are days, such as when I got the final cover for Secret Ones, that I just spend all day smiling with glee at what’s happening. Nothing quite like living your dream coming true.

But on the whole, my head’s not in launch mode at the moment. At this exact moment in time, my head is actually split between two things. First, more editorial feedback on book two, Power Unbound, which I’m trying to work through and get back by the end of the week so I don’t hold up the copyedits too much. Second, finishing the re-write for book three, Rogue Gadda, by my self-imposed deadline of May 16 so I can get it to the readers in time to get feedback to polish before deadline of July 1.

From time to time, I get a moment to think about the launch. I have set the date for the private launch I’m having for family and friends and have a vague idea when the public launch will happen. I know the section of the book I’ll be reading at the first launch. I’ve even entertained myself with the marvellous things I will say. But then people ask where it will be, what time, if they can’t make this one what’s the date of the other one and I want to scream and say ‘Leave me alone, I’m doing book two at the moment, I’ll get back to you on book one when I’ve got time to organise it’.

So if you’ve gushed to me about Secret Ones and I’ve been less than enthusiastic, I apologise. It’s just that right now, I’m still finishing the story.

Come July, I’ll gush with the rest of you.

Come August, I think I’ll collapse with exhaustion.

Recharging the batteries

One of the great things in life is working out the things that recharge your batteries. I’ve always known that alone time works well for me, but I’ve discovered something else – going for a drive.

Yesterday, I took the day off (well, almost – had to do the housework first) and with much excitement, grabbed a book and my camera, jumped in the car and headed off to Captain’s Flat.

Captain’s Flat (apparently named after a bullock called Captain who often escaped there) is now a tiny town of several hundred whose claim to fame is a couple of small galleries (one of which is a nice cafe) and the allegedly second longest bar in the Southern Hemisphere. Having lunched at the pub, I can confirm it’s a damn long bar. The longest in the Southern Hemisphere? I can’t say I’m experienced enough at pubs, particularly non-Australian ones, to make that call.

But once – Captain’s Flat was one of the richest towns in the area, due to the mine.

The first boom was 1881 to 1920, with gold and silver being the most sought after metals from the area. However, transporting the ore out was expensive and as the easiest to reach deposits starting to dwindle, so too did  the mining.

In the 1930s, however, a railway was built out to the town and in 1937 the mine was opened up again. It continued until 1962, when it was closed.

It was accidental that I found the mine – I was driving into town when I noticed a sign for a lookout and decided to go look at it myself. To my surprise, the lookout was on the old mine site (the first pic was taken from the lookout – every day the miners would walk up the hill from the town to mine).

The company dismantled pretty much the entire mine complex and so all that’s left of the buildings are concrete slabs, bits of metal and some of the supports.

The town itself is quite a dishevelled looking little thing. It hasn’t really been discovered by the yuppies yet, so the houses are generally small and in some cases quite run down. It’s a cheap option for accommodation, being only about 45 minutes from Canberra but with housing at half the price.

I can really see myself living in a country town like that – close enough to the city to get the special things but in a quiet, peaceful place surrounded by mountains and history.

I smiled all the way on the drive out, and the drive back. There’s lots of little country towns to explore around Canberra (although choosing to start this in Winter may not be the smartest move I’ve made) but I’m going to go to one a month.

Logies disappointment

I love award shows, and the Logies are one of my favourite (Australian TV’s night of nights, for those who don’t know). At least, they were one of my favourites.

Over the past couple of years, my tv viewing habits have changed. As a result, there are now loads of shows on television that I just don’t watch. And a lot of those shows (particularly Home and Away, Packed to the Rafters and Masterchef) are the to be seen shows as far as the Logies are concerned.

So all these people are winning who I don’t know and I could care less about.

I watched a bit last night – KD Lang was just amaaaaazing – but ended up going to bed around 10ish when Tivo caught up with the ads. ‘I’ll finish it tomorrow’, I said to myself.

But I’ve done a quick google of the results, and I don’t want to watch, cause people I don’t know win.

This is quite heartbreaking to me – Logies night is one of my most anticipated nights of the year. Now, I’ll be checking out the nominations list and if it’s overrun with H&A and Packed to the Rafters again next year, I think I’ll just watch the red carpet (cause I loves me a good frock) and then I’ll find something else to do.

V.V. sad.