Two big events have coincided in my life. We have moved house - yuck - and I now have a kindle. I ordered one of the new kindle paperwhites while we were in the States, and it has now arrived. This is my first excursion into e-books, and I'm still getting used to it. Biggest plus - the books are so much cheaper and accessible. Many titles are hard to find here in NZ, but now I just have to go onto Amazon, and seconds later they appear on my kindle. Second plus - it's so portable and versatile. The light works great, so I can read in bed at night, and it's fits in my bag easily when I go out.
I still like reading a Proper Book better, though. But I can't afford to read all the proper books I want to, given the cost of paperbacks here, or postage and currency conversion costs if you order through Amazon. And now I can read all the stories of friends who are published on e-book only. So many treasures awaiting!
As for the moving house, we've now managed to find most of the stuff we really really need. There are still boxes everywhere, but the new house has an honest-to-goodness office, so that is a big plus. But for the rest of it, for me moving house rates for down there with going to the dentist and public speaking. My arms are aching from packing things, carrying things and unpacking things. Why we accumulate so much stuff as we go through life is beyond me. One day, I might just learn how to throw stuff away - on second thoughts, nah, ain't gonna happen.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Music to write by
I have a new favourite album - or rather, two albums - by my latest find: the band Mumford and Sons.
It is a truism that life is a continuous cycle. Stay around long enough, and everything comes around again. I grew up in the years of folk. The Seekers got me through my senior college exams. The voices and words of Joan Baez, Celtic, British and American folk, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Crosby, Stills, Nash and John Denver spun my teenage dreams . And now we have the folk tradition, but reinvented for today. Grittier, louder, more rocking. And I love it. Yay for Mumford and Sons. I now have both their albums on my play list, Babel and Sigh No More. Plug into YouTube and search them out. They are also great performers. They reject that stupid tradition of musicians standing on stage looking like they are having their teeth pulled. Watch this live show and tell me you wouldn't have been jumping in the audience too!
It's also introduced me to the new phenomenon of folk rock. Lots of fun, words that mean something and that you can sing to, but with that driving edge of rock. Irresistable. Look out for the bands Fun and Dawes, and of course in a related vein, Florence and the Machines.
My son is horrified. What am I doing listening to his generations' music. They are good and I enjoy them, that's what. And they say things I want to hear. There is a future still.
It is a truism that life is a continuous cycle. Stay around long enough, and everything comes around again. I grew up in the years of folk. The Seekers got me through my senior college exams. The voices and words of Joan Baez, Celtic, British and American folk, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Crosby, Stills, Nash and John Denver spun my teenage dreams . And now we have the folk tradition, but reinvented for today. Grittier, louder, more rocking. And I love it. Yay for Mumford and Sons. I now have both their albums on my play list, Babel and Sigh No More. Plug into YouTube and search them out. They are also great performers. They reject that stupid tradition of musicians standing on stage looking like they are having their teeth pulled. Watch this live show and tell me you wouldn't have been jumping in the audience too!
It's also introduced me to the new phenomenon of folk rock. Lots of fun, words that mean something and that you can sing to, but with that driving edge of rock. Irresistable. Look out for the bands Fun and Dawes, and of course in a related vein, Florence and the Machines.
My son is horrified. What am I doing listening to his generations' music. They are good and I enjoy them, that's what. And they say things I want to hear. There is a future still.
Friday, October 26, 2012
US trip
I'm back home in NZ after travelling to Canada and the US. The highlight - a visit to NASA's Kennedy Space Centre. And as our guide there said, this is a place of hope. To see what man is capable of, is truly inspiring.
My husband reckons my eyes were whirling the entire time we were there - and he was probably right. I have a photo with a genuine astronaut - Bruce Melnick, one of the shuttle astronauts. I saw the Apollo 11 capsule, spaceships plural - rockets and all, inside an actual launch control centre room, one of the shuttle launching pads. So much, and we only had a day to spend there, so had to miss out on a lot more. It's an amazing place, perched on the edge of the Atlantic, surrounded by a wildlife refuge ( we saw a bald eagle and alligators during the tour) and yet on this flat island, linked to the land by a huge bridge, you have the pinnacle of human engineering on earth. And yes, men are going back into space from there, our guide assured me.
There were other wonders, - the beautiful heart of Washington DC, the colours of fall in rural Virginia and Tennessee, the crisp clean air of Vancouver ( a lovely city), listening to upcoming country singers in Nashville bars, and both Americans and Canadians are wonderfully polite and hospitable people. But NASA was it, for me.
My husband reckons my eyes were whirling the entire time we were there - and he was probably right. I have a photo with a genuine astronaut - Bruce Melnick, one of the shuttle astronauts. I saw the Apollo 11 capsule, spaceships plural - rockets and all, inside an actual launch control centre room, one of the shuttle launching pads. So much, and we only had a day to spend there, so had to miss out on a lot more. It's an amazing place, perched on the edge of the Atlantic, surrounded by a wildlife refuge ( we saw a bald eagle and alligators during the tour) and yet on this flat island, linked to the land by a huge bridge, you have the pinnacle of human engineering on earth. And yes, men are going back into space from there, our guide assured me.
There were other wonders, - the beautiful heart of Washington DC, the colours of fall in rural Virginia and Tennessee, the crisp clean air of Vancouver ( a lovely city), listening to upcoming country singers in Nashville bars, and both Americans and Canadians are wonderfully polite and hospitable people. But NASA was it, for me.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
US excursion
We are travelling in the US at the moment. It's my first visit, and a fascinating time to make it. Just weeks before a presidential election. I now understand why the US has relatively low voter turn outs. I wouldn't bother voting either after months of the election ads and endless media waffle about just how the candidates held their mouth when they said something.
On the other hand, there is the US print media. The New York Times is a Paper that employs real Journalists. And yes, those capitals are intentional. It's commentary on the presidential debate was a joy to read. It discussed policy, what the candidates actually said, why they said it, what the context was. And USA Today dissected the candidates more extravagant claims with a properly contextualised review of the real facts behind the claims. Including looking at more than what has happened in the last 5 minutes. America will not go down while such discussions flourish.
On a lighter note - paperbacks here are so cheap compared to NZ. I am going to incur some definite overweight charges on the way home - either that, or I may be forced to buy one of the fancy new kindles available here - and then I could download all the stuff that's off licence in NZ too. The wonders of travel!
On the other hand, there is the US print media. The New York Times is a Paper that employs real Journalists. And yes, those capitals are intentional. It's commentary on the presidential debate was a joy to read. It discussed policy, what the candidates actually said, why they said it, what the context was. And USA Today dissected the candidates more extravagant claims with a properly contextualised review of the real facts behind the claims. Including looking at more than what has happened in the last 5 minutes. America will not go down while such discussions flourish.
On a lighter note - paperbacks here are so cheap compared to NZ. I am going to incur some definite overweight charges on the way home - either that, or I may be forced to buy one of the fancy new kindles available here - and then I could download all the stuff that's off licence in NZ too. The wonders of travel!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Romance and strong women
I'm currently taking a paper at uni on Victorian literature, and specifically at the moment, Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines. The preposition put forward is that the adventure stories that came out around the end of the nineteenth century, such as Haggard's, Buchan's The Thirty-nine Steps, Dracula, and Sherlock Holmes and the very masculine-dominant view they portray of the world played a part in the empire building and self-belief of the men at the time. Which helped the men of Britain to expand and hold their enormous empire.
So following on from that, my theory is that if these books gave the men of the time the belief to go out and literally conquer the world, then maybe the thriving romance genre is having a similar affect on women. That one of the reasons romances are as popular today as ever, is that they help us to believe in ourselves, and to do the things we must in our ordinary lives. It's generally thought that romance is just escapist fiction, a way of getting away from reality. But modern romances aren't about weak women escaping. Read paranormal and suspense romances. Those women kick butt - often literally. They come up against enormous trouble and strife, and they make it through. They don't just survive; they win.
So maybe in these hard times, that is why romances are still thriving. Because they give us, the women who read them, the courage and strength to believe we can kick butt too. That we can win through.
So following on from that, my theory is that if these books gave the men of the time the belief to go out and literally conquer the world, then maybe the thriving romance genre is having a similar affect on women. That one of the reasons romances are as popular today as ever, is that they help us to believe in ourselves, and to do the things we must in our ordinary lives. It's generally thought that romance is just escapist fiction, a way of getting away from reality. But modern romances aren't about weak women escaping. Read paranormal and suspense romances. Those women kick butt - often literally. They come up against enormous trouble and strife, and they make it through. They don't just survive; they win.
So maybe in these hard times, that is why romances are still thriving. Because they give us, the women who read them, the courage and strength to believe we can kick butt too. That we can win through.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Clendon Reader's choice Award
I didn't win the RWNZ Clendon award that I finalled in, but I did co-win the Reader's Choice award, which was so cool. I now have a lovely trophy, a certificate and a whole basket of books. Very exciting, and I'm in good company - Nalini Singh is a past winner of the Clendon Reader's Choice award, so here's hoping I can have even a smidgeon of her publishing success.
The RWNZ conference has been exciting, and compelling this year. A great Friday workshop with Randy Ingermanson - my head is still fuzzy with all that has been packed in to it. All my pitches to agents and editors have so far resulted in requests to send in material - yay. The workshops have been very useful. But best of all is spending time with my fellow romance writers. A great bunch of (mostly) women - strong, opinionated, fascinating, diverse and fun. And tonight at dinner I also got to sit next to Birgit Davis-Todd, senior editor for Harlequin/Mills and Boon in Toronto - a warm and lovely lady.
The RWNZ conference has been exciting, and compelling this year. A great Friday workshop with Randy Ingermanson - my head is still fuzzy with all that has been packed in to it. All my pitches to agents and editors have so far resulted in requests to send in material - yay. The workshops have been very useful. But best of all is spending time with my fellow romance writers. A great bunch of (mostly) women - strong, opinionated, fascinating, diverse and fun. And tonight at dinner I also got to sit next to Birgit Davis-Todd, senior editor for Harlequin/Mills and Boon in Toronto - a warm and lovely lady.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Countdown to RWNZ conference 2012
One week to go before this year's RWNZ conference. Can't wait. There is the Friday workshop by Randy Ingermanson, the 'snowflake guy'; I have two pitches, one with a NZ editor and one with a US agent. And I have to admit to looking forward to swanning around with a Clendon finalist rosette on. For one weekend, I get to be a sort of VIP. Small things, I know, but it's a memory I can bring out every time I read another rejection. Boo sucks to you, I can say to the next grotty rejection letter, in those days of feeling miserable after you get one, and before you pick yourself up, and say - onwards and upwards. Or something like that.
Plus there are all the other great workshops, including ones on rejections, ones on blogging, on new technology, a panel talking about their path to publication, and Randy Ingermanson's weekend workshops.
And I get to spend an entire weekend talking writing. So exciting.
Plus there are all the other great workshops, including ones on rejections, ones on blogging, on new technology, a panel talking about their path to publication, and Randy Ingermanson's weekend workshops.
And I get to spend an entire weekend talking writing. So exciting.
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