Back from an exciting week, and into the doldrums of an annoying cold. But it was worth it. The previous week I had the joy of taking part in a 3 day writing workshop by Catherine Asaro - one of my favourite writers and author of the brilliant Skolian series. The workshop was magic. A whole lot more work than I'd counted on, but after 3 days she had made me invent new characters, a new world and a whole new book. The morning of the third day she asked us to present a draft synopsis for the story we had been working on the previous 2 days. Now if anyone had told me beforehand that I could come up with a complete outline for a book I hadn't even thought about and in 3 days, I would have told them they were dreaming. I'm a pantser. I find out what happens when I write the whole story. But I did it, thanks to Catherine. She was brilliant.
That was followed by NZ's annual con - this year called ConText, at which Catherine Asaro was the guest of honour. And did they make her work! She was involved in so many talks, and she was constantly gracious, warm and so interesting. A marvellous weekend all round. And it finished very nicely - I came runner up in the con short story competition with my story "Exile".
Now I just have to finish off my other works so I can start on the great new book I have the beginnings of.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Procrastinating
I'm currently in caught-between land. I've just sent off my latest assignment for the screenwriting paper I've done. Hathe, prts 1&2 are finished and waiting for me to get some time off, to spend a day printing them off and post off in submission. No short stories pending. So it's time to get back to my Gorge Creek book and start the 1st edit. Which is why I'm in classic writer phase of 'what else can I do'? Anything, please, anything to put off me opening up and starting the editing. Not that I don't enjoy editing. Just have my head space elsewhere at the moment, still caught up in other stories, and not quite ready to jump into the Gorge Creek space. Maybe I better just dive on in - rather like swimming in Lake Taupo as a kid. There was only one way to do it. Dive in and swim vigorously until the water temperature actually felt enjoyable. So I'm off to dive into Gorge Creek. Honest, really and truly. Maybe.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
ConText 2011 programming conflicts
I've just checked out the programme for this years NZ con - ConText, to be held in Parnell over Queen's Birthday weekend. See con website here http://context.sf.org.nz/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
There's such a lot of good stuff there, and the organisers are really making Catherine Asaro work! But they have scheduled too many great events at the same time. What to go to, what to miss? There are clashes with guest of honour talks and talks from NZ writers such as Grant Stone and Ripley Patton. Not fair.It's all too hard.
I'm also going to the writing workshop that Catherine Asaro has wonderfully agreed to give in the 3 days beforehand. Her Skolian series is my current absolute favourite SciFi series. A brilliant mix of innovative hard sci ideas with real human interest and a touch of romance to make it perfect. It's all about the people, the family at the heart of the stories.
There's such a lot of good stuff there, and the organisers are really making Catherine Asaro work! But they have scheduled too many great events at the same time. What to go to, what to miss? There are clashes with guest of honour talks and talks from NZ writers such as Grant Stone and Ripley Patton. Not fair.It's all too hard.
I'm also going to the writing workshop that Catherine Asaro has wonderfully agreed to give in the 3 days beforehand. Her Skolian series is my current absolute favourite SciFi series. A brilliant mix of innovative hard sci ideas with real human interest and a touch of romance to make it perfect. It's all about the people, the family at the heart of the stories.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Writing in the inbetween
My writing life has been a bit scrappy lately. I had an assignment to finish for the Massey screenwriting course I'm doing, and a story to complete for the ConText con competition. Plus everyday life rearing it's usual mucky head. But the assignment got done and just last night I pushed the send button for the short story contest entry. A straight scifi story, with the dark overtones that have been creeping in to all my short stories the last few years. I seemed to have developed a pattern of light historical NZ romances alternating with dark, even dismal, scifi & contemporary short stories. The SF novels fall somewhere in between. Hathe is a romance but is also pretty dark in places, and the latest one that is still in limbo is definitely darker. It deals with the farming of humans by an alien species. And yes, I know Ann MacCaffrey has done something similar in her Freedom series, as well as the amazing novel The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. But hopefully mine is different enough to still be original. I'm pretty sure neither of them first got the idea of their book by watching lambs watching the stockmen in a freezing works yard one day. So at least I can claim a degree of authenticity.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
No go from Carina
Another rejection, and this one really hurt. Not because it was unfair - quite the contrary. Deborah Nemeth from Carina Press said no to my revised version of Hathe. But she did so in a very nice letter, with both the things she liked about Hathe and what didn't work for her, and why overall it didn't make it.
Solid gold info for a writer, and I am grateful. It's very kind of an editor to take so much trouble. After I've stopped sulking and got over the initial downer, I'll go back and do some re-writing in line with her comments. The most annoying part is that I can see her point. She thought my heroine fell into love too quickly with the hero, so that it wasn't credible, which I had sort of wondered about and should have done something to fix before I sent it in. And she didn't like the hero. Which as a writer is totally my fault as I didn't show the conflicts that drive him fully. It's what hurt the most. I love my hero.
Plus she thought it needed to be more subtle. This is the bit I can't seem to win with US readers of all kinds. I seem to be either too subtle or not subtle enough. I'm not sure how much this is a problem of my ability as a writer, or if it's due to my poor understanding of how Americans communicate with each other. NZers tend to use a lot of non-verbal communications, as well as relying on social mores. In many instances, what we don't say is far more important than what we do say. Which is true for lots of cultures - we just seem to take it to the extreme. So when writing for other cultures, I'm always having to make a kind of guess as to what you need to have a character say or do, to communicate a given feeling or response. But since other kiwis can figure it out, then I just have to as well.
Solid gold info for a writer, and I am grateful. It's very kind of an editor to take so much trouble. After I've stopped sulking and got over the initial downer, I'll go back and do some re-writing in line with her comments. The most annoying part is that I can see her point. She thought my heroine fell into love too quickly with the hero, so that it wasn't credible, which I had sort of wondered about and should have done something to fix before I sent it in. And she didn't like the hero. Which as a writer is totally my fault as I didn't show the conflicts that drive him fully. It's what hurt the most. I love my hero.
Plus she thought it needed to be more subtle. This is the bit I can't seem to win with US readers of all kinds. I seem to be either too subtle or not subtle enough. I'm not sure how much this is a problem of my ability as a writer, or if it's due to my poor understanding of how Americans communicate with each other. NZers tend to use a lot of non-verbal communications, as well as relying on social mores. In many instances, what we don't say is far more important than what we do say. Which is true for lots of cultures - we just seem to take it to the extreme. So when writing for other cultures, I'm always having to make a kind of guess as to what you need to have a character say or do, to communicate a given feeling or response. But since other kiwis can figure it out, then I just have to as well.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Normality and Submitting
I am getting back into writing again. One of my goals this year was to submit more. So I have now followed up on a submission to Mills and Boon Historicals, which I made by email last year. It turned out they had not received my first submission, and they have now entered it into the system. So it does pay to follow up if you don't hear anything from a publisher.
And I have just sent off Hathe Part 1 to Carina Press, for which I received a 'revise and resubmit' request last year. At the last RWNZ meeting, a number suggested I send off the first part, even though Book 2 still needs a bit of work, to find out if they are still interested and do they want anything in the first part changed that might affect the second part. Since the 'suggestees' were a bookseller (Barbara of Barbara's Books no less) and published authors, it seemed very good advice to take.
RWNZ is an excellent organisation to join for any budding authors. It is particularly aimed at romance writers, but is chocka with published authors with spot on advice and knowledge for novices, and everyone is very helpful and supportive. Their conferences are very professional, and are always attended by at least one agent and an editor from significant overseas publishers and literary agencies( mostly US) .
My kids are still fine and slowly getting to terms with 'what now'. Two are relocating to Auckland and the one in his final year at uni is staying in Christchurch.
And I have just sent off Hathe Part 1 to Carina Press, for which I received a 'revise and resubmit' request last year. At the last RWNZ meeting, a number suggested I send off the first part, even though Book 2 still needs a bit of work, to find out if they are still interested and do they want anything in the first part changed that might affect the second part. Since the 'suggestees' were a bookseller (Barbara of Barbara's Books no less) and published authors, it seemed very good advice to take.
RWNZ is an excellent organisation to join for any budding authors. It is particularly aimed at romance writers, but is chocka with published authors with spot on advice and knowledge for novices, and everyone is very helpful and supportive. Their conferences are very professional, and are always attended by at least one agent and an editor from significant overseas publishers and literary agencies( mostly US) .
My kids are still fine and slowly getting to terms with 'what now'. Two are relocating to Auckland and the one in his final year at uni is staying in Christchurch.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Kids safe
My family are all safely out of Christchurch and they are starting to look at 'what next'. Two are at uni there - they are coming home for a spell, then back into it when uni restarts. Their side of town is quickly getting back to normal - they have showers and toilets. The greatest inventions ever. The third is going to come home and re-examine what he should do next. But is now sounding positive rather than shell shocked. Ain't people amazing. To all the heroes down there - thank you. There are no other words to say what all the country is feeling.
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