Killing Me Softly – Leisl Leighton

Congratulations to Leisl Leighton, fellow writing group buddy and friend, on the launch of her debut novel Killing Me Softly published by Penguin Destiny.

On Saturday, I was thrilled to join Leisl in celebrating the launch of her first book – one I know will be the first of many.

Leisl is a prolific and dedicated writer of both romance and paranormal suspense and extremely talented storyteller. We, in our writing group, always knew it was only matter of time before she was published.

Fellow writing buddy, and beautiful writer, Liz Corbett (left) launched the book and told the story of how Killing Me Softly came to publication. (In the end, it was a chance enquiry by Penguin to see what else Leisl had in her bottom drawer, so to speak.) You can read about Leisl’s inspiring writing journey in Liz’s launch speech on her blog Hannercymraes and also pick up a terrific tip on Leisl’s own website that proved a defining moment in her writing and, along with her persistence, helped lead to her publication.

Check out Leisl’s website and get to know this new author that we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of in the future.

The Littlest Bushranger comes to town

Today I welcome wonderful writer and friend, Alison Reynolds to celebrate the launch of her latest picture book The Littlest Bushranger.

Alison is the multi-talented, much published author of the Ranger Danger series, A Year with Marmalade and For You Mum amongst her many other titles. Prolific, dedicated and professional describe Alison’s work ethic. Gorgeous, evocative and imaginative describe her books.

The Littlest Bushranger embodies all these adjectives and is a delightful rendering of a child’s imagination at play. Vivid descriptions transform an ordinary backyard into the bush, a bird into an outlaw, a hose into a snake and the adventure begins with Jack in pursuit of the villain.

When Jack’s big sister Lil starts school, he is left with only his faithful dog Hector for company and Lil’s favourite toy to protect. But an ordinary day transforms into an extraordinary one when Jack’s called upon to do battle with a fiendish villain… 

 

This book will prove inspirational to today’s child readers who often miss the chance to day-dream and explore their imaginations with so much fully formed fare lade on for them in video games, instant digital amusements and movies on demand. It brought so many memories back to my mind of games of make-believe my sisters and I shared as children and adventures in my own imagination. I love the reminder that make-believe is fun and can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

The text of The Littlest Bushranger evokes Jack’s adventure through strong verbs and fast paced action. The fantastic imagery of the “murky billabong”, a dark shape swooping, hurdling a snake, splashing through a billabong, paint word pictures in my mind as vivid as the wonderful images on the page.

Heath McKenzie’s  http://www.heathmck.com fabulous illustrations show the wild adventure in Jack’s imagination – the fierce battle, his grim determination and the friends who help him battle their foe. I love the return to reality at the end when the billabong reveals as a wading pool, the sword reverts to a broom and Jack’s trusty stead becomes his bicycle.

I can’t resist asking Alison a few questions on the topic of make-believe.

Alison, I got the strong feeling whilst reading The Littlest Bushranger that you were closely connected to this type of imaginative play. How much did your own childhood influence the idea and development of Jack’s story?

A huge amount. I didn’t realise until I finished how much of myself was in the book. I loved playing imaginative games, including some that lasted for days. I had a secret passage behind the cotoneasters along the driveway, I would make tomato soup out of rust on top of the incinerator and dragged all the furniture out of my cubby house onto its. That was my penthouse!

Can you share one of your favourite childhood games of make-believe?

I played one named, rather macabrely, Death. With my two friends we would act out a scenario that resulted in Death, which we would all chant in sombre, dramatic tones.  I remember the first one I did as a sort of demonstration model was me staggering along in a desert, panting and then slowly collapsing into the sand. I was lost in a desert. The death throes lasted for a long, long time.

What do you believe is the role and/or benefit of make-believe in children’s lives?

I think make-believe is extremely important. You can control your own environment. Often children feel as if they have no control in their reality. Children can express their feelings in play and storytelling.  It’s also a lot of fun. I remember how there were no limits in my imaginative play. If I wanted to fly, I could do it!

Will we see further adventures of Jack?

I’m crossing my fingers as I have some more adventures up my sleeve that I would love to share with Jack.

As part of Alison’s blog tour she is offering some fantastic prizes along the way, plus a great opportunity for non-fiction writers, and a fantastic MONSTER drawing competition. 

Jump the Slush Pile!

Win a free pass to a adult non-fiction commissioning editor’s desk.

Just comment on this blog post or any other blog during the The Littlest Bushranger blog tour and add the initials NF. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win the draw.

Monster Competition:

There are a couple of monsters in The Littlest Bushranger. One’s a bunyip, and the other an outlaw/monster who steals Lil’s telescope. What sort of monster do you like? Send along a painting/drawing/model of a monster and you could win a piece of Heath McKenzie’s amazing artwork for The Littlest Bushranger.

Upload your own best monster to https://www.facebook.com/alison.reynolds.524 or email it as a low res jpeg file to alrey@msn.com.au and we’ll upload it. If you don’t have a scanner, take a photo on a smart phone and email that!

Two categories. Under 12 and 12 plus, including grown-ups. Entries close 25th June!

The Littlest Bushranger The Five Mile Press June 2013 ISBN 97817434664977

Follow the other stops on Alison’s book tour and watch out for further prizes along the ride including: a piece of Heath McKenzie’s artwork from The Littlest Bushranger, a picture book assessment by Alison Reynolds, 2 free passes direct to an editor’s desk (you get to skip the slush pile), copies of The Littlest Bushranger. Just comment on the posts.

June 11 Kat Apel  http://katswhiskers.wordpress.com/blog/

June 12 Chris Bell  http://christinemareebell.wordpress.com/

June 13 Angela Sunde  http://angelasunde.blogspot.com.au/

June 14 Boomerang Books  http://blog.boomerangbooks.com.au/author/dpowell

June 17 Ask the Sales Rep. Interview with Melinda Beaumont  www.alisonreynolds.com.au

June 18 Dee White  http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/

June 19 Kids Book Review  http://www.kids-bookreview.com/

June 20 Ask the Editor. Interview with Melissa Keil  www.alisonreynolds.com.au

June 21 Heath McKenzie and Alison Reynolds interviewed by Juliet Chan, Marketing & Publicity Executive  www.fivemilepress.com.au

 

Celebrating Poetrix, Poets and Adieu!

Saturday 1st June saw the birth of this new poet with the publication of my poem Life in the final issue of Poetrix. It was a thrill to see my first published poem in print and have the opportunity to read it aloud in front of poetrix peers and poetry lovers, all gathered to celebrate the launch of Poetrix 40 and herald its farewell at the Williamstown Literary Festival.

It was inspirational to hear the thanks of poets who read their work and how Poetrix gave many their first chance at publication too. Some said that first acceptance also gave them the confidence to continue submitting to both Poetrix and other publications and grow their body of work.

I am honoured for my poem to be included in this final issue alongside some powerful and beautiful poetry and some very well-known, well-published poets. I mourn the closing of Poetrix, just when I am just starting out, but none could argue that Sherryl Clark and her editorial team deserve a rest after producing two issues a year for over two decades. That’s a lot of reading, editing, collating and organising!

Poetrix has seen twenty years of production, the publication of hundreds of poems and the birth of many new poets. In her launch speech, Sherryl explained how Poetrix began in 1993 after a survey revealed the disparity between the numbers of female to male poets being published and reviewed, and after a reported slur by an editor who refused to publish women’s poetry calling their poems “domestic, suburban vignettes”. Western Women Writers went to work to remedy the disparity and through lots of hard work raised the funds to set up Poetrix magazine.

I loved Sherryl’s explanation for the logic behind the title – how if a female aviator is called an aviatrix, a female poet must be called a poetrix.

Thank you Poetrix for enabling my poetry debut and for the warm encouragement of those I spoke to on the Committee. Now to honour your faith by continuing to submit and hopefully see my poetry further published. And now, I can call myself a poet.

Writing Through the Ages (of my children)

When I first started writing, my kids were six, nine and eleven, and I found coming up with ideas on what kids were into doing, liked, disliked, got up to, came very easily, especially when inspired by my live-in research/demographic sample. It took a long time for me to realise that as my children grew up, the ages of my protagonists had increased too.

Now my babies are all adults and I find it interesting that I’ve written an adult novel. I think there might be a connection there. (I am, of course, still writing YA and kids’ books too. Mind you, they are novel-length of late and the output slower than shorter-length works.)

So I’m really excited that I’m going to become a grandmother shortly. I could gush here all day about the multiple, personal ways, I’m excited, but this a writing blog. With that in mind, I’ll just say how excited I am that I will get to tell lots of spontaneous, made-up stories and see the world again through the eyes of this special little person. Also I know that I won’t only go exploring through his or her experiences, because I remember the wonderful world of make-believe my own children reopened the door to – in my imagination.

Being busy writing some tough and reality-based stories over recent years, I’ve missed the world of whimsy and fantastical imagination. I’ve missed cuddling the soft, downy cheeks of newborns and giving horsey rides around the house too. I can’t promise the knees are up to any horsey rides, nor wait to welcome this new member of our family and, dare I say selfishly, lots of new story ideas too.

So a question for fellow writers: Do you find that the ages/stages of children in your world have influenced the age group or genre you write for?

Young Writers’ Competitions and Opportunities

It’s that time of year  to flex your writing muscles and get your entries in to the fantastic number of competitions and exciting opportunities open to young writers right now. You’ll find further details and some cool new resources on my Young Writers’ Resources page, such as writing residencies, including: three great KSP places in WA, the Ray Koppe Residency – offering a week at Varuna Writers’ House; writing conferences, including:  CYA Hatchlings  combined with the full CYA program in July 2013 and  the National Young Writers Festival blasting off in October 2013, plus lots more competition details, events and workshops.

All fabulous opportunities to get your writing in front of judges, publishers and selection panels and there’s some not insignificant cash prizes going.

So get those stories and poems in fast for those comps closing soon.

Some tips for success:

• Follow submission guidelines (exactly)
• Redraft, redraft, redraft
• Read your work aloud to pick up jars and jolts and to check for rhythm
• Vary your sentence structure
• Be strenuous at spell-checking and proofreading
• Flick off that fear goblin nagging on your shoulder. If you’ve put in the work – it’s ready. Repeat – flick and submit.

If anyone reading here knows of any writing opportunities or competitions for young writers, not listed on the YWR page, I’d love you to leave me the details in a comment or email me the link. Thnx.

How Sweet It is…

to be a writer!

Got to love it when you get to make old-fashioned toffee in the name of research.

This batch is a tad bitter because I was trying to make it as if I couldn’t adjust the heat on the gas, since the toffee in my story is being made a very, very time long ago, under less than ideal conditions, in my new YA historical.

And since I must suffer for my art, I had to eat it too. It was actually very delicious toffee. But don’t tell anyone, because a writer’s life is supposed to full of bitter pills.

What fun/scary/fabulous things have you done lately for your art?

The Next Big Thing

I have been tagged, in the writers’ blog chain The Next Big Thing, by the lovely and talented Corinne Fenton. The idea is that one one writer tags five more writers to talk about their Next Big Thing (project) and then those writers pass the baton on so that we can read about what lots of writers are writing about. So here we go with my Next Big Thing.

1)  What is the working title of your next book?

The Swing Tree

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

The Swing Tree began as a passion project after a visit to the State Coal Mine, Wonthaggi, exploring my family history back in 2008. My Irish great-grandparents journey to Australia from a tiny pit village in Scotland cried out as a backdrop in need of a story and so began a four-year love affair that has taken me to my ancestors’ birthplace, down a Lanarkshire coal mine and onto the battlefields of France.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Historical fiction

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Hmm, a tough question, especially since my main character, Maire, is Scottish and I’m not so familiar with Scottish actors. During the writing of The Swing Tree,  I kept a photograph of the gorgeous Olive Thomas, star of the twenties silent movies, attached to my monitor as inspiration for Maire’s character.  I think today, young Scottish actress Jayd Johnson would make a fabulous Maire. I can see James McAvoy playing the role of Liam. He’s cute and cheeky, but he would also bring the hard edge to Liam’s character when necessary.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A young Scots immigrant follows the lad she loves to the far side of the world only to find him much changed and herself no part of his plans.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Fingers crossed – an agency.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Eighteen-months for the first draft. The completed manuscript is now 120,000-words, but I would have written over 170,000-words during three years of writing, researching, rewriting and multiple drafts.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I think my story compares with the struggles of the characters in Gillian Mears Foal’s Bread and Geraldine Brooks Year of Wonders, showing ordinary people trying to carry on living ordinary lives in the face of extraordinary circumstances, adversity and changing times. Though my book is more a crossover to mainstream fiction than literary.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Beyond the visit to Wonthaggi (discussed in question two) and my love of history and the Great War era, my great-grandparents’ journey to Australia inspired me. That challenge and their courage in uprooting their family and lives, for a new start in a country so far away, ignited a passion in me for the immigrant journey, particularly one that occurred during a time of enormous change, especially for women. Beyond the parallel migration journey, the story of The Swing Tree is entirely fictional.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

I believe readers will be interested in the female viewpoint shown of life on the home-front during World War One as opposed to the more frequently portrayed male viewpoint and life in the trenches. Life in Australia during WW1 was quite different for women compared to wartime life for women in United Kingdom, where women were encouraged to take over the jobs of men, drive ambulances, work in factories. Here, women’s war effort was confined to knitting and sewing for the troops, unless they were involved in the Red Cross. This proved frustrating and ground-breaking times for women here attempting to expand their roles, yet, many women had to take on the role of breadwinner when the men returned “changed” and often unfit to hold down fulltime jobs. Shellshock was yet to be recognised.

The BIG Question in your Novel?

The first time I was asked: “What is the big question in your novel?” I responded with a blank look.

BIG question??? Hmm! Hadn’t really thought about a BIG question. I was just writing what I hoped was a cracker of a story and following my main character’s journey through a testing and changing time for women during the era of The Great War.

“Wrong. No! You must be writing to answer a question,” insisted my uni research tutor.

Really!???

Turned out, I was actually asking and exploring quite a few questions, but it took me some considerable effort to seek them out and, even more so, to articulate them and find the core question.

Being an historical novel, I thought, at first, that my questions would be very different to those that might be posed in a contemporary story. I considered them to be all about a woman’s right to happiness and did they have any rights to it, over duty, in the era of 1912 – 1920? I thought the question not relevant to young women in western society today, who often have so many choices.

Eventually I worked the major question in my novel through to:

At what point do we question the rightness and rationale of what we’ve been taught? (Or should we?)

Of course, this turned out to be a timeless question, relevant to as many women/people in the world today as much as a century ago. A right of passage and a question that – in some form – has  been explored and debated in books the world over – through every genre.

I remember having a debate with my Writing for Children tutor, several years ago, when I wrote a glowing review on the picture book Bunyips Don’t by Sally Odgers and illustrated by Kim Gamble. My tutor maintained how could the book end with a celebration when Young Bunyip had moved to the sunny side of the swamp with new friends leaving old Bunyip alone? To her, Young Bunyip was bucking his heritage and a selfish creature for deserting Old Bunyip. I argued that Young Bunyip tried to encourage miserable Old Bunyip, living in the dank and dark, that he could dance and play (be happy) on the sunny side of the swamp and to come with him. Old Bunyip chose not to just because Bunyips Don’t dance and play and live on the sunny side. He chose to live the same old unhappy life rather than make a choice to change. In the end, my tutor was more convinced but still struggled with Young Bunyip “abandoning” his heritage and his kind’s way of life.

Doesn’t enjoyment and love for a book often come down to reader perspective?

If I hadn’t been going to uni, would I have ultimately learned as much just in the writing of my novel and formulated the same BIG question? Perhaps!

But the scope of my Master’s degree insisted I explore and articulate the social context and big question of my novel leading me to discover and thrill to what I discovered were the many layers to my story. Many intentional but some that I found had emerged organically too.

So last week, I walked the ramp to the RMIT graduation stage with a huge grin on my face and grasped my degree, very pleased and proud to be a Master of Creative Media (Creative Writing) with Distinction.

Now – onward to get my novel published. And discover the BIG question in my new manuscript/s.

Often I hear writers asked, did your idea spring from plot, character or setting? Not, what question are you asking. So I’m asking you: Do you write with a BIG question in mind?

Who Stole Santa’s Mail? Will author Dimity Powell tell?

I’m really delighted to welcome debut author Dimity Powell to From Hook to Book and congratulate her on the launch of her exciting new chapter book Who Stole Santa’s Mail? published by Morris Publishing Australia.

Welcome, Dimity, and thanks for stopping by to answer some questions about the creation of your story and celebrate the publication of your very first book.

Let’s get started with an easy question.

Can you describe your book in five words or less?

Presents, elves, mayhem, it’s Christmas!

Of course, next, I have to ask how did the idea/s for the story come to you?

The original manuscript was the result of an assignment required for the completion of my Writing for Children Course back in 2008. The initial idea stimulus came from a newspaper article about how local council was rumoured to take away post boxes on the Gold Coast thereby decreasing their numbers dramatically or perhaps entirely. I thought this would make a good light-hearted mystery novel based on the ‘what if all the post boxes in a small boy’s town suddenly and inexplicably disappeared just two weeks before Christmas?’

What would you most like readers to take from your story?

That there really is a Santa Claus! That Christmas is worth believing in. Oh, and that believing strongly enough in something and yourself can achieve great and magical things. 

What led you to writing in the kid’s lit genre?

I delight in writing for children, especially those in the ‘golden age’ of independent reading. They seem have a greater propensity to believe in magic and that anything and everything is possible at that age while paradoxically being the hardest to convince. I find this simultaneously challenging and rewarding.

Does the life of your main character parallel yours in any way?

Yes. Sam is a firm believer in Santa Claus, as am I (hand on heart). Apart from that, I’m not as good on a scooter as Sam is and I don’t hang out in shopping plazas much.

How did you become a writer?

Like most people, I went to school first. My happy place was in the world of books and reading, which led me to spending long hours penning stories about lost ponies. In English class, I loved composition exercises the most. And to this day have never forgiven my Year 8 English teacher for ‘losing’ a story that had taken me weeks to perfect – an anthropomorphic tale about ants. Even at the tender age of 12, I suspected foul play. I never got it back and am still wondering why…

Can you tell me about your story’s main character, Sam, and what inspires you about him?

 Sam is a likeable small town 8 year-old whose main mission in life is to ask Santa for his first really big present, his own bike. I love Sam’s determination to track down the missing post boxes and rescue his little sister, and the missing Christmas mail. He shows grit and courage but is not infallible and would not succeed at times if it weren’t for his close bumbling friend, Tobii. I’d like to have a mate like Sam; not too overbearing, not too perfect, but steadfast.

Who stole Santa’s Mail? uses different settings and we don’t know a whole lot about Santa, so did you have to do much research for the book?

I confess, I have never actually made it to Lapp Land, current residence of Santa Claus, but I have been to his birth place in Turkey, if that counts.  Santa’s Winterworld is based on documentaries, articles and pictures I have seen and read of his Lapp Land home.

Congratulations, Dimity, on the launch of your first children’s book. I wish you and Who Stole Santa’s Mail? great success and sales. I’m sure we’ll be celebrating more books from you in the very near future. Meanwhile, I hope Santa brings you something truly wonderful and lots of writing time in 2013.

In conjunction with Dimity’s blog tour, Morris Publishing invites you to enter the draw to win one of three copies of her book PS: Who Stole Santa’s Mail? Send your answer to the question: ‘What do you think Santa wants for Christmas?’ to submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com. In the subject line put, PS: WSSM entry. The competition closes at midnight on November 30^th, 2012. All entries will be assigned a number that will be entered into the prize draw. Winners will be notified by email. If you are not the lucky winner, you can purchase the book at your local bookshop. Please ask them to order it in for you if it is not in stock. A signed copy can also be purchased from http://morrispublishingaustralia.com.

You can follow Dimity’s blog tour at the following stops:

Tania McCartney, Susan KBR     17 November 2012

http://www.kids-bookreview.com

My Little Bookcase     18 November 2012

http://www.mylittlebookcase.com.au

Sheryl Gywther     19 November 2012

http://sherylgwyther.wordpress.com

Morris Publishing Australia     20 November 2012

http://morrispublishingaustralia.com

Kat Apel     21 November 2012

http://katswhiskers.wordpress.com/blog

Elaine Ouston     22 November 2012

http://elaineoustonauthor.com

Renee Taprell     23 November 2012

http://booksforlittlehands.blogspot.com.au

Alison Reynolds     24 November 2012

http://www.alisonreynolds.com.au

Buzz Words, Vicki Stanton     25 November 2012

http://buzzwordsmagazine.blogspot.com.au

Chris Bell From Hook to Book     26 November 2012

http://christinemareebell.wordpress.com

Dee White     27 November 2012

http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com

Jackie Hosking PIO     28 November 2012

http://www.jackiehoskingpio.wordpress.com

Alphabet Soup – Rebecca Newman     29 November 2012

http://soupblog.wordpress.com

Angela Sunde     30 November 2012

http://angelasunde.blogspot.com.au

The Paper-full Office

It’s time to put my office back together, after emptying it for new carpet, but I cringe to re-store all the boxes of old manuscript drafts and files. I’m wondering what to keep and what to chuck?

Even the tax man only makes me keep my paperwork three years. Am I just being precious keeping all these manuscript drafts of my published books, not to mention multiple drafts of many unpublished titles?

I’m so far distant from a paperless office I’m out the other side. In fact, adding much more paper, I will be – on the far side of the door. I truly don’t mind lots of books and paper stuff, but… seriously, it’s time to cull.

Surely even well-known authors who donate their work and boxes of manuscript to the Lu Rees Archives don’t keep everything? Or perhaps they do and that’s why they donate their life work when still living, to get the boxes out of their homes.

With that thought, I ducked into the website of the Lu Rees Archive to get an idea of what they do hold. Heaps, it seems, and, very interestingly, they also tell you how to look after your papers. I discovered I’m breaking all the taboos and shortening my paperwork’s life span by using metal pins, staples and rubber bands amongst other no-nos. The website explains that “metal rusts very quickly and leaves permanent marks. Rubber bands quickly disintegrate, leaving marks. Self-stick removable notes easily fall off, and when they do remain, may shift from the desired spot and leave a sticky residue. Sticky tape eventually loses its sticking capability and leaves marks as well as a residue. Liquid paper and correction tape wear off and crack.”

One great and surprising tip recommends using HB pencil to label your files etc, because pencil lasts for centuries and doesn’t damage like inks and pens. Lots to learn if fame ever finds me and my work.

But, since I’m not famous, yet, and running out of room, perhaps a mini cull would suffice.

How many or much do you keep of old drafts, notes and paperwork from your manuscripts? Is there a good reason to keep all or any of it? Please let me know your method and ideas in the comments?