Birthday Books

These are my birthday books.

These are the reasons I chose them:

Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan -  It was CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers but that's not why I chose it (although that would have been good enough to influence me). I read Tender Morsels last year and it really engaged my brain. Not many books make me concentrate hard when I read. Usually I find myself reading exponentially faster because I am excited to know what happens in the end. Unfortunately this sometimes interferes with my enjoyment - it's over all too soon. Tender Morsels made me think. And if I got ahead of myself I would quickly realise I had missed something. I like that. It was one of my favourite reads of 2012. I was hoping Sea Hearts would treat me similarly. I say "was" because I've read it now and I was not disappointed. I liked it even more than Tender Morsels.

Pureheart by Cassandra Golds. A Cassandra Golds book changes the colour of my day. Time spent between the pages makes the real world a little more ethereal and magical - not necessarily softer but certainly sharper and more sensefully aware. (Yes, Sensefully. I made that up because there is no word I know that fits better). I've read lots of reviews for Pureheart and I am intrigued. Even if I hadn't read all Cassandra's other titles, I would still have chosen it.

The Wishbird by Gabrielle Wang. I've only read one of Gabrielle's books, Little Paradise. The others are on my To read List. I can see from the glowing reviews I've read of The Wishbird that while I enjoyed Little Paradise, this is a lot different and I'm going to enjoy it even more. I admire the creative space inside Gabrielle's head. I know all about that because I read her blog all the time.

The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth. I'm a fan of historical fiction and Kate's previous release, Bitter Greens, was another of my best reads of 2012. I love fairy tales so this is history especially for me. I am fascinated by the research she does because as a writer, that's one of my favourite parts of the process.

Lastly, the book I didn't choose. Armed with a very definite list and instructions "not to swap one for anything else" my other half added a book of his own choosing. He doesn't read MG or YA but he knows me well enough to get it really right .

Looking for Alaska by John Green. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I haven't read a single John Green book. So many books and so little money. I always wanted to.  And now I can.

Week 17, 2010

It's taken me a year and a half to work it out - but then I am a slow learner - finally I have realised what I should be blogging about. It was right under my nose all the time. 'This blog is about my personal experience in the (stories are) light' my blog header promised. Except I never did that. I tried to be all the things I wasn't. Now I am going to concentrate on what I am. I am a puddler. I write short bursts in between long stretches of thinking. I am a cyber-flit hopping from blog to blog, giggling and learning. I spend half my life inside my head and I like it in there. I think with my heart and my gut. I am an obsessive wordsmith.

So from now in this blog is about all the little bits and pieces of this writerly journey. Starting with last week.

WHAT I READ
I reread Margo Lanagan's TENDER MORSELS. First time round I had mixed feeling. Parts I loved. Parts I cried to have written. Some bits I didn't like and others I just didn't get. But I kept the book. It was confronting and it made me think a lot. I was still thinking about it when I picked it up again this week. And I loved it. This is a book that grows with the reader. I am richer for reading it. Now I am reading TALLOW by Karen Brooks

WHAT I WROTE
I completed the first complete draft of Samurai Kids 6, tentatively titled Golden Bat and rumoured to be 'the blue one'. While I am sorry to see the end of this book (lots more to come in the series though) I am super keen to get started on my new project. It's unlike anything I've written before and it keeps invading my head space.

WHAT I DID

On Tuesday I had my first shakuhachi flute lesson with Dr Riley Lee who I initially interviewed as part of my research for White Crane. You can read the interview here. I can now produce a consistent note - and it wasn't an easy journey to get that far! Next I have to be able to hold it for 30 secs and I am only managing 13 secs. But I am determined. Maybe I will post a sound file soon.

On Saturday I spent 2 hours in a writing workshop with 16 keen kids. Two of them had driven for 2 hours to get there! If the kids had half as much fun as I did the afternoon was a huge success. Some very impressive pieces were read out and that night a mum emailed me to say her son was in his room writing. The workshop was part of Wollongong City Gallery's Just Imagine program 'which encourages children’s creative writing skills by the exploration of real and imagined worlds experienced through close engagement with art'.

WHAT TWITTER TOLD ME
Did you know you can knit a Dalek? Thanks to Alice Bell I found a pattern here: http://www.entropyhouse.com/penwiper/who/extermaknit.html (I am not much of a knitter these days but still a huge Dr Who fan). And here are some great book recommendations thanks to Fiction Focus who pointed me to Why the Wierd Books Matter. I've added GOING BOVINE by Libby Bray, PUNKZILLA by Adam Rapp and THE WHITE DARKNESS by Geraldine Mccaughrean to my must read list

WHICH BLOGS I ENJOYED MOST
WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON had popped up on my radar before but this is the blog post at FairfieldBooks on Station that made me go out and buy it. The Book Chook provided me with some great on-line history resources.

WHICH BOOK TRAILER I ENJOYED MOST
Frane Lessac and mark Greenwood's Ned Kelly and the Green sash. Enough said. Have a look.


OTHER GOOD STUFF
This week I got a Gold Certificate from Engadine High School for 'attending the Year 5,6 &7 Literacy Linkages Program and for being a fabulous, inspirational and interesting speaker'. Do I feel proud? Yes I do. More about the day here

REVIEWS I RECEIVED
Jaguar Warrior: Set 500 years ago in Aztec Mexico, this gripping and gory adventure will have you on the edge of your seat - DMAG, May Issue

Jaguar Warrior: This is a fast moving, intriguing book, where not everything is at it seems and the true motives for some character’s actions aren’t immediately obvious. - ABC Book reviews by Deb Abela

Jaguar Warrior: This is a great adventure, which will appeal to those who enjoy sport and love to run – as the front cover says ‘nothing will stop him’ - Virginia Lowe, Create a Kids Book

White Crane: I thought this was the best book ever! It is good because you can't tell what will happen next and there are some facts about samurai life. ... I give it 5 out of 5 - James, Year 6 who read it for the VIC Premiers Reading Challenge The Age Education resource Centre

Friday Websites for Writers

One of my New Year resolutions was to put something back into the writing community. I feel as if I have taken my fair share of late. But what can I do? Some people might laugh but despite having had six books published, I don't know anything about writing.

I don't even write by the seat of my pants. It's more primal than that. Recently I read a wonderful article by Margo Lanargan in Newswrite (the magazine of the NSW Writer's Centre) about writing from the gut. Everything fell into place for me then. Aha... that's how I do it. I write what feels right in the bottom-most pit of my stomach. There's a pile of words down deep under the mush and that's where I find my stories.

Unfortunately that doesn't make me very good at passing on my tips and methods to others. Nor does it promote personal writing growth. So I have designated this my Year of Spit and Polish. I am going to learn to become a much better writer. I'm going to do this by soaking up absolutely everything I can find on the subject and reading widely outside my comfort zone. Strangely enough, I started this with a tentative step from Neil Gaiman to Edgar Allan Poe (okay, it was a desperate leap with my eyes closed) only to find my comfort zone is moving with me. Already my writing has expanded its horizons and perhaps I even found a tip Tip #1 Read outside your comfort zone. Immediately.



So I thought as I charge through the year spitting and polishing, I would spend Friday sharing where I had been and what I found. Today I downloaded Richard Harland's Writing Tips. This is an extensive free resource. Yes, free. 170 pages packed with advice, information and anecdotes from the author of Worldshaker and a long-timefavourite of mine, the Ferrin trilogy. Richard is a survivor of 25 years of writer's block! More about Richard here. Download the document here.
I love the wonderful sit-across-the-kitchen-table-from-me style. Writing Tips is definitely a writer's manual - all the good stuff is in there - but it is obviously wrtten by an excellent writer who's been down the road he's talking about. It's both interesting and educating to read.

And when I found Edgar Allan Poe on p7... I had to smile.

My first Friday Website for Writers is Richard Harland's Writing Tips.