Internet Roadtrip #1: From The Plot Whisperer to Kathleen Duey

Every day I spend up to an hour hitch-hiking from website to website. It’s good for my soul and it keeps my brain buzzing. My starting point might be a link that turns up in my morning Feedly. Or it might be a link someone posts on Twitter or Facebook. Or an article in my StumbleUpon feed.

One blog post or website always leads to another. Sometimes I jump via a link within the post, sometimes via a popular post in the sidebar or a category, even from a tweet displayed in the site Twitter steam. It reminds me of the two weeks the Love of my Life and I spent motorhoming around Canada. Before we could recover from one sign-posted Scenic Viewing Spot, another signpost appear. There's always somewhere interesting to go on the net.

I thought I’d share some of my journeys and the things I find on the way.

Image credit: libertyandvigilance

Today I was looking at picture book courses. My first picture book, Sad The Dog, will be published by Walker Books Australia next year and I feel rather spoilt. It’s a format that’s alien to me. The idea came to me reasonably fully-formed and with some pushing and poking by my excellent editor, it easily fell into shape. I was lucky.

But I need more than luck to write a second one and to learn more about the craft of picture writing is on my To Do List.

This afternoon, I opened the Saved For Later folder in my Feedly. I follow the Plot Whisperer blog and its host, Martha Alderson, has a “Write and Sell a Picture Book” series of vimeos with Jill Corcoran.[Viewing Spot 1:The Plot Whisperer]. I heard Jill speak at the Australia New Zealand SCBWI Conference and she gave me more good advice at a subsequent manuscript assessment session. That was for a YA but I was impressed with her considered feedback. I was keen to have the advice of both Jill Martha on writing and selling picture books.

Off I went to the website. [Viewing Spot 2: How to Write and Sell a Picture Book ] Unfortunately I missed the half price weekend by a few days and the full price of $125, although excellent value, is a stretch for my budget at the moment. So that’s still on the To Do List. I’ll be hinting in the appropriate direction for a Christmas present.

I headed to Jill’s website [Viewing Spot 3: Jill Corcoran Books] and under How to Sell a Picture Book found  a number of recommendations including one from my author friend, Dee White. That reminded to detour and call in to her blog and see what was happening [Viewing Spot 4: DeeScribe Writing Blog].

Back on Jill's website now, I was still gathering information [Viewing Spot 5: What makes a book sell?], I found this excellent analogy:

 Let me quote my friend and 80+book author Kathleen Duey: Almost no one expects musicians to get good on an instrument without years of lessons, books, years of practice. There is a similar learning curve for writing. (read full post here)

So I read the full post on Kathleen Duey's blog [Viewing Spot 6: Publishing Old, New, Self, Indie]. But even more interesting was the current post I found on Kathleen’s blog. The post was titled Limori: Book 3 post #17. [Viewing Spot 7: Limori: Book 3 post #17] It was 418 words that hooked me right in.

Limori: People are hiding. The City is changing hands again. The old families, the boys in the cliffs, the people in South End and all the Eridians …all of them are in danger now. I am afraid for all of them.

I had this wonderful sense of place, history and exoticism. I might be wrong but I’m going to find out. I tracked back through Kathleen’s books to find the series I was looking for: The Resurrection of Magic. Book 1 is Skin Hunger and book 2, Sacred Scars.

One title was familiar. I almost read Skin Hunger, seven years ago. In 2007 it came into The Reading Stack where I review books. It landed in my In Tray but another reviewer was seduced by the cover and asked if she could take it. I handed it over without even reading the Press Release.

And now, the internet has brought me back to that place. 

Tuesday Writing Tips Blog Tour

Today I am talking with Dee White as part of her Tuesday Writing Tips Blog Tour. Dee is the author of the excellent YA novel Letters to Leonardo and blogs a weekly writing tip every Tuesday at Dee Scribe Writing.

Dee: Hi Sandy, it’s great to be here. I’m wondering if you can tell me what you like to read and why?
I’m an avid reader – anything with words on it attracts my attention. I am that awful person who reads over your shoulder on the train. I can’t help it but I know it’s annoying (and rude!) so I always close my eyes to break the connection. I love words – words that tell a great story or simply sound wonderful tripping off the tongue.

My genre of choice as a reader is fantasy – of all kinds. I have a particular interest in ancient cultures. My personal favourite books are generally where fantasy and ancient cultures collide.

Dee: When you were writing the Samurai Kids books, were there any particular books you read that helped you decide what sort of stories you wanted to write? Not so much in terms of what sorts of stories I wanted to write. The book that did influence me however was Miyamoto Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings. It give me a personal insight into the life and beliefs of a master samurai swordsman and inspired the character of Mitsuka Minayoto, who appears in Samurai Kids 2: Owl Ninja. But the most important thing The Book of Five Rings gave me was a feeling of being in 17th century Japan. I was there with Musashi.

Similarly while I wrote Jaguar Warrior, my constant companion was The Broken Spears by Miguel Leon-Portilla containing translations of native accounts of the Spanish uprising. Some of the stories are beautiful poetry and others part myth, but they are all sad. The Aztec world was coming to an end.

Dee: Do you read outside your comfort zone?
Absolutely. It the biggest horizon expander I know. I make a conscious effort to do so to the point where I will often purposely choose a book that is not to my reading or writing taste. Dee: Why do you think it’s important for writers to read/ read widely? Market research, inspiration, awareness of techniques, expansion of horizons, remove personal boundaries, see through other eyes, improve writing basics, improve writing style… It’s a long list. And while reading widely is a learning process, it is also fun.

Dee: Can you tell me about a book you have read that has had a great impact on something you have written?
Something along those lines is happening to me right now. It began with The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and continued on to his Coraline and Other Stories. After that I took a jump to Edgar Allan Poe and that’s what I am reading at the moment. I have always been drawn to stories of darkness. I couldn’t write horror genre – I am too much of a scaredy-cat for that. But like Luke Skywalker, I can feel the dark side calling although I never quite worked that fascination into my writing. Until now. Inspired by Gaiman and Poe, I have an exciting new idea that I am keen to begin writing.

Dee: As a writer and thoroughly busy person, how do you find time to read?
I read very, very fast. As a teen, I read War and Peace in a weekend when my sister dared me to - so I've been in speed-read training since then. I can finish an average YA novel in an hour. But when a book really hooks me, I slow down quite a lot.

Thank you for dropping by Dee. I’ll be following closely along the blog tour to learn a few more tips. For anyone else interested, here is the schedule:

2nd February 2010 Claire Saxby http://letshavewords.blogspot.com/ Writing Picture Books - Leaving room for the illustrator.

9th February 2010 Dee White http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/ Reviewing ‘There Was an Old Sailor’ Reviewing vs Editing skills.

16th February 2010 Sandy Fussell http://www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com/ Writers Need to be avid free range readers

23rd February 2010 Robyn Opie http://www.robynopie.blogspot/. How to make your story longer – adding layers.

2nd March 2010 Angela Sunde http://www.angelasunde.blogspot.com/ More about Point of View – head hopping.

Dee: Do you have a tip for writers about what they should be reading to enhance their own writing skills?
I call it free range reading. Writers need to read all over the place. It's a bit messy and unstructured but it's fun and it will help improve not only your writing technique but the scope of your ideas. Read within your own writing genre, read what appeals to you as a reader, read what your target readers are reading, read non-fiction that catches your eye. Anything and everything. Perhaps the most important point is to read outside your comfort zone.

MONKEY FIST BLOG TOUR Day 1 - Dee Scribe Writing

It's blog tour day 1.

An easy day for me. Niya Moto, the narrator of the Samurai Kids series is doing all the talking. Check out his interview at Dee Scribe Writing where Dee White, author of the recently released YA novel, Letters to Leonardo will be finding out what it’s really like to be a Samurai Kid. "My name is Niya Moto and I’m the only one-legged samurai kid in Japan. Usually I miss my foot and land on my backside. Or flat on my face in the dirt."

Visit the Samurai Kids website and take a quiz to see Which Samurai Kid Are You?

Tomorrow you can find me at Orangedale Journal where Dale Harcombe, poet and children’s author (latest release The Mystery of Goanna Island) will be interviewing me about writing Samurai Kids. The complete tour schedule is here.

MONKEY FIST BLOG TOUR

My virtual pen is ready and my virtual decorations are all in place. But the smile is real and the books are very real too.

Tomorrow it all begins. Join me at Dee Scribe Writing where Dee White, author of the recently released YA novel, Letters to Leonardo will be interviewing the narrator Niya Moto of Monkey Fist to find out what it’s really like to be a Samurai Kid.

TEASER TUESDAY

The Teaser Tuesdays meme is hosted by Should Be Reading. It's easy and fun. Open your current read at a random page and share two sentences from somewhere between lines 7 and 12. There's one important rule - no spoilers!

I was secretly please when Letters to Leonardo fell open at one of Matt's letters to his long dead hero. It was so appropriate. Not just because of the title. But because of the story. Matt's letters are the heart of this gripping, emotional telling. Yes, I've read it now but that doesn't stop me teasing. Here goes - except it's just a little more than two sentences *grin*:

Dear Leonardo,
My life is layers of paint. Things keep getting peeled back and it's hard to know what's going to be revealed next.

Lies, lies and more lies?

Not sure where this journey's going to end but I have a bad feeling about what happens next.

Still, you and me, Leo, we have to know the truth - it's who we are.

Not sure Mrs D is going to get this letter either.

Matt

IN MY MAILBOX - GREAT BOOK COVERS

I was very excited to receive Dee White's Letters to Leonardo in the mail this week. I've listened with interest to Dee discussing her ten-year-journey from idea to publication and am looking forward to reading the final result. The cover looks wonderful. Dee's cyber launch is happening here on 1st July and her blog tour begins on 24th June at Sally Murphy's Writing for Children Blog with Dee and Matt (the main character) talking about promoting Letters to Leonardo online. 25th June 2009.

Talking of brilliant covers bring me to Little Bird by Penni Russon. Unfortunately this book didn't arrive in my mailbox, it came in to The Reading Stack and another reviewer saw it first. It's a cover no reader could ever go past. First in first served, and I was too slow. I'm going to buy this one as I thoroughly enjoyed her previous title in the Girlfriend fiction series, The Indigo Girls. A chance tweet led me to Allen and Unwin's Alien Onion blog where other designs by the same graphic artist are featured. Definitely worth a look here.