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Bringing on the boys-Author spotlight interview Alan Baxter

May 18, 2014 by donnamareehanson

Ah finally I get to drag Alan to my blog. I hear rejoicing!

Thank you Alan for answering some questions about your new book coming out with Harper Voyager.

Alan Baxter

Alan Baxter

Your new novel is coming out, Bound, the first novel in your new trilogy. Can you tell us a bit about it?

 

It’s the story of Alex Caine, a martial artist fighting in illegal cage matches. His powerful secret weapon is an unnatural vision that allows him to see his opponents’ moves before they know their intentions themselves.

 

An enigmatic Englishman, Patrick Welby, approaches Alex after a fight and reveals, ‘I know your secret.’ Welby shows Alex how to unleash a breathtaking realm of magic and power, drawing him into a mind-bending adventure beyond his control. And control is something Alex values above all else.

 

A cursed grimoire binds Alex to Uthentia, a chaotic Fey godling, who leads him towards chaos and murder, an urge Alex finds harder and harder to resist. Befriended by Silhouette, a monstrous Kin beauty, Alex sets out to recover the only things that will free him – the shards of the Darak. But that powerful stone also has the potential to unleash a catastrophe which could mean the end of the world as we know it.

The cover of Bound by Alan Baxter

The cover of Bound by Alan Baxter

 

Alan tell us a bit about yourself

 

I live on the south coast of NSW, among rolling dairy country. It’s beautiful, we’re very lucky to live here. I’ve been writing since forever, even as a kid I would make up stories and write them down. I’ve got three novels out now, a dark fantasy duology, RealmShift and MagesSign, and a short horror novel called Dark Rite, co-written with David Wood. My new trilogy is coming out from Voyager soon – Bound, Obsidian and Abduction. Bound is out in July. As for other work, I’ve had over 50 short stories published all over the place. I recently sold a story to Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, which is like the holy grail for me. I’ve been trying to sell the for a decade and it’s always been top of my short fiction wish list. My full bibliography is here:

 

Alan what do you find so attractive about the fantasy genre? In what ways do you find it fulfilling?

 

I like the total freedom it gives us to explore any ideas we like. We can expand any concept well beyond the boundaries of the real world and that makes it much more exciting for me.

 

I know you have had a new addition to the household. How does having a baby affect your writing time?

 

It makes it much more precious! I wrote my first novel during my lunch hours at a 9 to 5 office job, so I trained myself early to make time whenever I could to write. Having a baby means I’m drawing on those experiences again.

 

What are you working on at the moment?

 

I’ve got a new novel under way – a standalone horror novel that’s a kind of organised crime/Lovecraftian thing with other stuff mixed in. It’s slow going with the baby, but I’m working on it while also doing edits and final proofs of the Alex Caine books.

 

What is your writing process? (planner, panster, write every day, write sporadically, writers block etc).

 

My process is to make time to write whenever I can. No one can find time to write, so you have to make it. I also run a martial arts academy, so I can’t write every day, nor do I think people need to. But you do meed to be a writer every day – that means always thinking about writing and stories and characters even when you can’t be writing. Always look at the world with a writer’s eye. I’m a bit of a hybrid pantser/planner. I make loose plans and outlines, then wing it from there. I’m always happy to throw the plan out the window and go wherever the story takes me though.

What do you prefer drafting the story or revising and reworking?

 

Drafting. Get that first draft down no matter how shitty it is. Get it finished. I make notes along the way of things I think will need looking at later. Then edit and polish and edit and polish and edit again until it shines.

 

What part of writing do you find hardest?

 

The middle of books. I hate middles!

 

 

What do you plan to work on next?

 

Not sure. I want to get this standalone novel finished and hope the Alex Caine books go well. Beyond that, I’m not sure!

Thank you Alan. Here is Alan’s contact details on the web.

Website – http://www.warriorscribe.com

Twitter – @AlanBaxter

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alan-Baxter/115972625096325

 

Book cover and mugshot attached.

 

 

Posted in fantasy, Interviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Off to New Orleans

May 9, 2014 by donnamareehanson

So my bags aren’t quite packed, but my darling man bought a keyboard cover for the iPad Air so I can take it instead of the heavy laptop. I’m so excited by that. He is awesome. I didn’t have time today to go shopping but Matthew went after work.

Tonight my children cooked me a late birthday/early mother’s day dinner, with prezzies. Homemade lasagne and flourless chocolate cake with coconut cream/chocolate frosting. It was great to see them and I’ll miss them while I’m away. Matthew is staying here holding the fort, having horror movie nights, hopefully not eating too badly and enjoying the cold. I understand that New Orleans is warm. Yay, I had to totally rethink my wardrobe, but I’m quite prepared to shop!

I’ve printed out the stuff I need, now I just need to organise what I’m taking with me. Not easy to do when you’re on the computer.

I injured my knee in the move in November and have a torn tendon. Everything had been going fairly well, not hurting, able to walk, except these last couple of days it’s flared up. Now I have to get on a plane for 15 hours with a bad knee. I’ve bought a knee support and just hope I won’t need to buy a walking stick. Eek!

I’m looking forward to the RT Convention and the shopping and eating, except I believe I’m now allergic to fish so I have to be careful. I love fish so you can imagine not being able to eat it is going to be tough. The other night we had chips from the local takeaway and I reacted to them. I’m getting more and more sensitive.

I’m taking Invoked, my current WIP with me to work on. I’ve not done much in recent weeks except on writing dates, with  my mother being deadly ill over Easter and then family coming down to say their goodbyes, but mum rallied, but is still exiting this life, just more slowly. I really thought she was leaving and I went through all the saying goodbyes, the crying, the grieving and now I have to adjust to her being still here, but also with a different personality. It’s just plain odd, but the brain injuries do weird things.

Anyway, it’s time to cuddle my man and leave this computer be. I may blog while I’m away, it depends on how well wordpress and ipad get one.

Waves!

A shot of me and Cat Sparks

A shot of me and Cat Sparks

Posted in General excitment, New Orleans, RT Convention, Travel | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

Bringing on the boys-Author spotlight interview-Craig Cormick

May 7, 2014 by donnamareehanson

Today I’m lucky enough to have Craig Cormick as our interviewee on the blog. Craig is a Canberra local, well he has been since I’ve known him.

craig head and shoulders

 

So Craig, your new novel is coming out, The Shadow Master. Can you tell us a bit about it?

It is a kick-arse tale of alternative history, love and conflict, madness and magic. It has everything except a car chase. (see link below)

So imagine a city something like Florence. A walled city, to protect it from the plague that is ravaging the countryside. Then imagine two waring houses, the Medicis and the Lorraines – both battling for control of the city. And next imagine each house has in its employ a learned man – Galileo and Leonardo, who are versed in the arcane arts of science, that can control time and space and the very laws of nature. So science works like magic in this world.

Then imagine two lovers – Lorenzo and Lucia, who discover that together they too can change the natural laws of the world. But each belongs to a different waring house that refuse to let them be together.

And amongst all this there is a mysterious stranger – the shadow master. He is a hooded man that carries technologies not known in this world. He seems to understand all the mysteries of the Walled City, and even the long-lost secrets of the ancients, who built the walled city. And he possesses the knowledge as to how Lorenzo can save Lucia – and save all of civilisation while he is at it.

Sword fights and mad clerics and bombs and magical shape-changing people and an army of plague victims and fire and water and a wise-arse mystery figure. Gee – I’d read it.

 

Craig can you tell us a bit about yourself (where you live, how long you’ve been writing, previous publications etc)

I live in Canberra, Australia. I have always been writing since – well, since I could make up stories. I have published over 100 short stories and 20 books (including fiction, non-fiction, children’s and adult books. (Well, when I say ‘adult books’ – you know what I mean!!)

My writing awards include the ACT Book of the Year Award (1999) for Unwritten Histories (Aboriginal Studies Press, 1998) and a Queensland Premier’s Literary Award (2006) for A Funny Thing Happened at 27,000 Feet… (Mockingbird Press, 2005). I was a former Chair of the ACT Writers Centre and have taught creative writing at both university and community level.

What else is worth sharing?

Well, in 2006 I was lucky enough to be writer in residence at the Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, and in 2008 I was even more lucky to receive an Antarctic Arts Fellowship to travel to Antarctica, which I recounted in my 2011 book In Bed with Douglas Mawson. Link here.

My day job is as a science communicator and I’m fairly well published in academic journals on the social psychology of public reactions to new technologies. I’ve written two ‘outside-the-box’ reports for government agencies on this, Everything you always wanted to know about GM foods (2005) and Cloning Goes to the Movies (2006), (http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-59702006000500011) and have also done a lot of talks and articles on Why Clever People Believe Silly Things . (http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/a-scientific-view-non-science-beliefs/)

I have been lucky enough to have travelled to all seven continents for work, and it was at a science communication conference in Florence, while walking around the Galileo museum that I got the idea for the Shadow Master.

I have had a varied and interesting life and hope it is reflected in my work.

 

Craig what do you find so attractive about the science fiction and fantasy genres? In what ways do you find it fulfilling?

I like to write across many different genres and styles, from fiction to non-fiction and literary fiction to speculative fiction – and to mix them up as well – but I really enjoy the freedom that spec-fiction allows, to set your own boundaries and styles. I was at a conference where people were talking about spec-fiction styles: steam-punk and clock-punk and traditional sci-fi and speculative sci-fi – and I just put my hands on my ears and zoned out. I think getting too lost in styles or genres can get in the way of things.

I just write ‘stuff’ I really enjoy writing.

Though I must say I really, really like the spec-fiction community. Very supportive, a lot of fun to hang with and not so black-turtle-neck-wearingly-earnest and self-obsessed as the more literary community.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m currently working on the Sequel to the Shadow Master– the Shadow Master meets Godzilla. Oops – I meant the Shadow Master in the Floating City, which is a city something like Venice, that is kept afloat by the magic of four pairs of seers, who are being killed by monsters in the canals. And I am using the original Italian stories that Shakespeare adapted into Othello, the Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet throughout the novel too. It also doesn’t have a car chase.

What is your writing process? (planner, panster, write every day, write sporadically, writers block etc).

Each different book I write seems to have a different path to completion. Some I’ve just sat down and started toying with ideas and seen where they take me, and others I’ve meticulously planned and plotted out. I had a rough idea where I was going with the Shadow Master and let it take me aon a bit of a voyage, but the sequel has been more carefully plotted out.

My plan it to just get the words down first. Novels are written by doing a few pages a day. And when I’ve got them there I can roll up my sleeves and go to work on rewriting them. When things are really ticking the first draft I write is really quite good and needs little work, but of course some days things don’t come easily and the draft later needs a looooooot of work!

What do you prefer drafting the story or revising and reworking?

All of the above. The biggest buzz is when I’m working on a draft and say to myself, ‘Damn that was good!’ As if I’ve surprised myself I could have actually written that.

What part of writing do you find hardest?

Finding time to write amongst all the non-writing things: Job. Wife. Children. Eating. Children. Wife. Cleaning. Sleeping. Did I mention Children and Wife? Etc… Though I was once on an Australia Council grant and had the freedom to write all day every day and I found that after two weeks of bashing at the keyboard I couldn’t sustain the pace. As if I needed a lot of time away from the keyboard for ideas to germinate and work themself up so I could then put them down when I had free time.

What do you plan to work on next?

I’m finishing up a book on the science of the Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly. I’m editing a collection of pieces from all the different scientists who have worked on identifying Ned Kelly’s bones and remains that were recently located at Pentridge Prison in Melbourne. It involves forensic pathology and DNA testing and archaeology and detective work through the records and is absolutely fascinating. Watch this space!

(http://angryrobotbooks.com/books/the-shadow-master-by-craig-cormick/)

The cover of The Shadow Master

The cover of The Shadow Master

 

www.craigcormick.com

https://www.facebook.com/craig.cormick

Here is a bookmark version with the blurb.sm front bookmark copy

 

 

Posted in Interviews, Writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

Interview spotlight with SE Gilchrist

May 1, 2014 by donnamareehanson

Today I have great pleasure in bringing an interview to you with SE Gilchrist. Suzanne is an Escape Publishing author buddy, who writes steamy science fiction. Thank you for being here today.

SE Gilchrist

SE Gilchrist

Star Pirate’s Justice is your new SF romance novel out with Escape Publishing. Can you tell us a bit about it?

 

Set in Earth’s future, Star Pirate’s Justice is the second single title story about a group of women who volunteered to terra form a new earth only to find themselves ‘sold’ into ‘slavery’ in an alien world. Only the traders who sold them know the way back to Earth. And to make their lives more difficult there is a war going on for control of an amazing energy source which can not only be used to power intergalactic space travel but can be harnessed to form space/time travel vortexes. (I can hear my youngest son who studies physics yelling at me right about now!)

In this story, Carly is on a mission to find a Darkon warrior turned star pirate and return him to Darkos to face justice. She also believes the star pirate has gate way maps in his possession. But she arrests him at the moment when he is about to make a deal with a smuggler which will give him the evidence he needs to clear his name and reveal the identity of the true traitor. There’s space battles, bounty hunters and a ‘gun’ fight in a market place so this story has more ‘action’ than Legend Beyond the Stars.

Tell us about yourself.

I live in the Hunter Valley of NSW with my three adult children and two dogs and have recently added a rescue cat to our family. I was raised as a Novacastrian then spent quite a few years travelling, mainly around outback Australia. Like many, I’ve been writing off and on for like, forever, however have only taken my ‘muse’ seriously since 2008. My first publication was an erotic, post-apocalyptic short story, Paying the Forfeit, in the Hot Down Under series with Momentum Books on 1st Dec 2012. My next publication was with Escape Publishing, who released my single title and the first book in my sci fi romance series, Legend Beyond the Stars on 10th Jan 2013. Since then I’ve had two novellas published with Escape (also in the same series) and have indie published, two erotic historical/fantasy novellas, one erotic, post-apocalyptic novella and one sweet rural romance short novel. And now of course, Star Pirate’s Justice is out with Escape since 1st Feb 2014.

Tell us a bit about why you write SF romance?

I love it. I love the scope it provides, the ability to make up your own world with its own culture and laws. I love how it gives the opportunity to combine adventure action and romance all in the one package. I also love how a writer can explore controversial subjects, such as: climate change, cloning, genetic dna modelling etc. Plus I cant help myself where alpha warrior type heroes are concerned.

Star Pirate’s Justice is part of an epic saga. Are we going to see more of it in the future?

Definitely. The next single title (fingers crossed) may be out later this year, When Stars Collide. I also have another two novellas in the works (one is Elise’s story and the other introduces some new characters) and the first single title book in the follow on series when some of the women return to Earth, Beyond Aquarius, is also almost completed. Actually, Paying the Forfeit and Storm of Fire are set in this ‘new’ world.

What are you working on at the moment?

Two stories in my sci fi series (as per above) and another rural romance.

What is your writing process? (planner, panster, write every day, write sporadically, writers block etc).

I start with an idea, usually a situation or an event for example for Star Pirate’s Justice my idea was the search for the gate way maps to Earth and a traitor who has been framed. From there my characters evolve, still very much shadowy creatures in my mind. I usually write up to three to five chapters before I sit down and do a story outline and do a fairly indepth study on the characters’ world. I also do a lot of character background / history writing and sometimes I can get new ideas from working on their past that I add into the story. Working on their backstories also helps me with writers block. I would love to say I’m so disciplined I write every day but I’d be lying! I have a full time job and sometimes there is like zero creativity in me some nights. Any leave days and the weekends I try to squeeze in as many writing hours as I can manage.

What do you prefer drafting the story or revising and reworking?

Drafting the story is the bomb for me. I do a lot of revising and re-writing as I go so my first draft is usually fairly ‘clean’. Its a slower process but it works for me.

What part of writing do you find the hardest?

I would have to say writing the love / sex scenes in a fresh way. Sometimes I say ‘insert love scene in .X’s POV say 250 words’ and come back to it later.

What do you plan to work on next?

I have a list. (I know, so anal but I just love spreadsheets) So, after the stories referred to above, I’ve got a New Adult sci fi / futuristic novel I’m also keen to get out there and another fantasy erotic novella in my Bound series.

 

Thank you so much for your time today, Suzanne. Next interview I’m bringing on the boys!

Star Pirates Justice

Star Pirates Justice

 

Posted in Digital Publishing, Interviews, Romance, Science Fiction Romance | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Graduation day

April 14, 2014 by donnamareehanson

I’ve done it!

I’ve collected my degree in a graduation ceremony.

Image

What a hectic day it was. So crowded and so long, but it was awesome just the same. It was held in the Great Hall at Parliament House and there was a string quartet playing and all the pomp you’d expect.

I think I was a bit teary when I was putting the robes on. I remember what a big achievement it was for me to graduate in Economics at Sydney University in 1992. Something that I thought I’d never achieve at all.

Now twenty or so years later with a Masters in Creative Writing I’m so pleased and excited and wowed out.

I was accompanied by my daughter Shireen and my partner Matthew.

Image

Here are my graduation buddies. Jennifer Curry and Wendy Banham.

Then I met up with Tony Eaton, the course convener and all round nice guy (He’s tall). I figured if a lecturer can wear Tardis Damask T-shirt, he had to be ace (and he is).

Image

 

Here is a distance shot of Matthew and Shireen in the main foyer of Parliament House. Love all that marble.

Image

I have official photos but I’ve just looked them up. OMG! I’ll have to sell my soul for them and I already paid a sitting fee. I will consult with Matthew and see what I can afford. Expensive business graduating.

Edit. And here is me tossing my hat. The camera was too slow so we filmed it.

 

Posted in Masters of Creative Writing studies | Tagged , , | 4 Comments »

A break and enter interview with Ainslie Paton

April 11, 2014 by donnamareehanson

I thought I’d share this over here because it’s sadly overlooked over there. Sorry Dani.

donnamareehanson's avatarDani Kristoff author page

Consider this interview a break and enter.


I break in and steal your know how. Consider this a hit and run. I want what you have. So put up.

 

Ainslie I’ve read ( I almost wrote stolen) Floored, which floored me utterly. Sorry bad pun.

Floored 

Like with Grease Monkey Jive you really get into the characters’ heads, make them so three dimensional I think about them afterwards and wonder  how they are doing. The only other time that’s happened to me was when I read IT by Stephen King.

 

So spill. How do you do it? I’m not leaving here until you give me a hint, the low down, the how to, the…well how the bloody hell do you do it?

I wish I could give you satisfaction in a Rolling Stones kind of way. I fear I’m going to disappoint.

I assume I only do what…

View original post 1,145 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Aurealis Awards

April 11, 2014 by donnamareehanson

As I mentioned in my previous post about the Canberra Writers Day, the Aurealis Awards were on in the evening. Usually my involvement with the AAs is as an event. I go because it’s a fab evening. I get to see friends and network with the industry. I also get to see the people win awards, some of whom I’ve never heard of so in that case it’s a discovery.

This year I was a judge in the Graphic Novel category and I was…wait for it…the trophy chick. I said to Nicole wouldn’t it be fab if I was your trophy girl instead of some young beautiful thing…and she fell for it. The downside to being the trophy girl is that you get to stand through most of the award ceremony in very uncomfortable high heels and my post may reflect some of that pain and maybe a photo of sore feet.sore feet

So the venue at University House turned into a charming venue for the awards ceremony. First there was the cocktail party where we all got to mingle (but not sufficiently for me to get around to everyone I knew or meet new people. Sorry Thoraiya I didn’t even get to say hello properly). I managed to get a glass of bubbly in before the fun began (because I was a dutiful person who went to rehearse with the presentation).

So a few snaps from the cocktail party. Alan Baxter and the lovely Rochelle Fernandez. Alan has a trilogy coming out with Harper Voyager, coming July. I have a book coming out with Harper Impulse under Dani Kristoff (http://danikristoff.wordpress.com for details). BTW I wasn’t out to take photos as Cat Sparks and Mr Fitzgerald were doing that.

Alan Baxter and Rochelle Fernandez

Alan Baxter and Rochelle Fernandez

 

So here is the room, the Great Hall at University House done up with lights.

University House, Great Hall with lights for the Aurealis Awards Ceremony

University House, Great Hall with lights for the Aurealis Awards Ceremony

Here is a piccie of the candelabra that was next to me. They were placed around the room with real candles. Nice!

Candelabra Great Hall, University House, Canberra

Candelabra Great Hall, University House, Canberra

 

 

Then there were the two fabulous MCs, Sean Williams and Simon Brown who were very funny and who created fantastic tales of intergalactic woe and time spinning tales about the presenters.

Sean Williams and Simon Brown, Masters of Ceremonies Aurealis Awards

Sean Williams and Simon Brown, Masters of Ceremonies Aurealis Awards

And so there were a few surprises in the winnings. Having been a judge I know how close it is to decide the winners so if you were short listed you are amazing to be there.

The ceremony went off without a hitch. (As trophy girl I did not drop anything or confuse the names, even though I didn’t have my glasses on-that’s because Nicole Murphy is so organised).

Some of the winners

 

Ally (Allyse Near) with her two awards- a tie for Young Adult and for Horror novel. Fairytales for Wilde Girls (Oh no. Not a good photo!)

Allyse Near, Aurealis Awards April 2014

Allyse Near, Aurealis Awards April 2014

 

 

 

Joanne Anderton, best collection for The Bone Chime Song and other stories

Joanne Anderton, Aurealis Awards April 2014

Joanne Anderton, Aurealis Awards April 2014

 

 

Kaaron Warren best SF short story, Air, Water and the Grove.

Kaaron Warren, Aurealis Awards 2014

Kaaron Warren, Aurealis Awards 2014

 

Jackie Ryan-tie for best graphic  novel

Jackie Ryan, Aurealis Awards, April 2014

Jackie Ryan, Aurealis Awards, April 2014

 

Mitchell Hogan for best fantasy novel, The Crucible of Souls. This was a wow moment for me. It was self-published and his thank you speech included editors I knew and I realised I’d been down a similar road to him with my own fantasy novel (and got nowhere). It opened my eyes quite wide. Well done you, Mitchell. Fabulous.

Mitchell Hogan, Aurealis Awards, April 2014

Mitchell Hogan, Aurealis Awards, April 2014

 

A photo of Liz Grzyb-who tied for best and anthology for the Year’s Best (with Talie Helene). The awards are in the boxes.

Liz Grzyb, Aurealis Awards, April 2014

Liz Grzyb, Aurealis Awards, April 2014

 

A shot of the wonderful Nicole Murphy looking on at the end of the ceremony. The mastermind behind the flawless awards ceremony.

Nicole Murphy, Aurealis Awards, April 2014

Nicole Murphy, Aurealis Awards, April 2014

 

 

Now for some of the crowd, Keri Arthur and gang.

Leife Shallcross, David Versace, Keri Arthur and Rob Porteous. Aurealis Awards, April 2014

Leife Shallcross, David Versace, Keri Arthur and Rob Porteous. Aurealis Awards, April 2014

 

Liz’s fab shoes, which I snapped later at the after party. They are  Fluevogs. Want! That’s it from me. Don’t forget to come along next time.

Liz Grzyb's shoes, Fluevogs

Liz Grzyb’s shoes, Fluevogs

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Aurealis Awards, General excitment, General writing industry news, Networking | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Canberra Writers Day

April 10, 2014 by donnamareehanson

The wonderful Nicole Murphy and her team of volunteers put on a wonderful day last Saturday (April 5), presenting the inaugural Canberra Writers Day and the Aurealis Awards. The venue, University House, particularly the Great Hall, had wonderful charm. There’s this long gold fish pond in the quadrangle that I’d love to take home to my place.

Conflux Inc with Nicole at the helm put up bid to run the Aurealis Awards for two years in Canberra. Nicole wanted to make it worthwhile for people to come up for the ceremony and thought up a professional writers day.

The first thing I have to say is that both events were very well run. Nicole and the team were excellent. That’s pretty awesome for a multi stream event. Also, I know it was hard financially as there was absolutely no sponsorship money to be had for either event. That’s pretty tough going. I did note that Escape Publishing put an ad in the Conflux Writers Day booklet. Awesome.

I had a full day and I presented a talk. The plenary sessions were pretty amazing. Joanne Anderton, Kaaron Warren, Ker Arthur, Ian McHugh. All of them had inspiring and interesting presentations on their processes, their journey.

Joanne blew me away with her writing process and her copious notebooks, all so clean. Mine are NOT clean but I do have a similar weakness when it comes to notebooks and pens. I do much less thinking though. But then Joanne is an amazingly talented author and bloody hardworking.

Kaaron shamed me most terribly with her talk on using the minutes when you don’t have hours to write. I’ve known Kaaron a long time and I’ve always admired her talent but also what a devoted mother she is and how family focussed. She’s an inspiration.

Keri talked about her journey to becoming a published author and a New York Times best seller. Her story was a amazing. She persevered when many would have given up. Thank you for the inspiration Keri.

Ian McHugh talked about submitting work, write and submit and repeat was my take away message. Ian always inspires me with his focus and the stories he writes.

I went to the shorter concurrent sessions, which were 20 minutes long. I gave one myself on ‘You are not alone’ the value of writing relationships. It was about writing groups, writing buddies, writing dates and writing retreats. But I ran out of time, which surprised me and I forgot to talk about the really good part of writing retreats- the socialising (read drinking and talking crap). Someone came up to me afterwards and thought I was going to talk about relationships in writing, you know science fiction with romance. I laughed so hard. I would have loved to talk on that topic.

Craig Cormick was awesome.  I have to reprogram my head to say I’m going to win at this writing gig. Marcus Armann talked about Evernote and Scrivener and I’m now tempted to buy the later writing program, particularly after catching Phil Berrie with his word frequency proofing/editing talk. Scrivener has analytical tools that does that stuff. I’m always repeating myself when I don’t want to.

Russell Kirkpatrick sorted his mob into top downers and bottom uppers in the world building sense. He’s definitely a top downer, planning his worlds and then writing the story. I’m quite near the other end. To me it’s story first with an idea of the world, but often I build as I go.

Chris Andrews talked about blogging, which was an excellent session. I learned something. See Chris!

The lovely Shannon B Curtis talk about using Microsoft Word to navigate our novels. That was also very interesting.

The Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild had a table selling books (theirs and others) and I bought a copy of Joanne Anderton’s collection, The Bone Chime Song and other stories and lost it. (so if anyone found a copy. It could be mine).

Overall it was great to network with people and also see the new faces. Again I didn’t get around to everyone to chat.

Congratulations to Nicole Murphy and the team for a wonderful event.

 

I didn’t take many photos during the day, except this one of Russell Kirkpatrick. (Happy birthday Russell for tomorrow!!!).

Fantasy author, Russell Kirkpatrick, presenting at Conflux Writers Day

Fantasy author, Russell Kirkpatrick, presenting at Conflux Writers Day

PS I’ll have to write about the Aurealis Awards in another post. My time has run out this morning. I decided to get up early to write. Though technically writing a blog post doesn’t count as writing.

Posted in Conflux Writers Day, Editing, Networking, Writer conventions, Writing | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments »

Author spotlight interview with Glenda Larke

April 8, 2014 by donnamareehanson

One of my favourite people in the world is Glenda Larke. Not only is she a wonderful, knowledgeable and interesting person, she is an exceptional author. I’m so pleased her next book is out (or coming out) that I thought it would be a good idea to interview her.

Your new novel is coming out, Lascar’s Dagger. Can you tell us a bit about it?

It’s the first book in a trilogy, The Forsaken Lands.

It is set in a fictional world, evocative of our 17th to 19th centuries when the expansion of the Dutch and British East India Companies led to colonial wars and aggressive expansion. The wealth of Asia fed the prosperity of Europe at the expense of Asian freedom.

In my fictional world, a lascar arrives from the East with a magical dagger — and nothing is quite the same again…Image

Glenda, tell us a bit about yourself (where you live, how long you’ve been writing, previous publications etc)

I’ve spend most of my adult life abroad: Malaysia including Borneo, Austria, Tunisia–but now I’ve returned to Australia to live, not too far from where I was born. I started to write fiction when I was a kid, but my first published work was all photo-journalism articles (travel and nature). My first novel was accepted for publication when I was 52.

Since then I’ve had three trilogies and a standalone published. The standalone, Havenstar, was the first published, and — weirdly — has garnered the most passionately enthusiastic reviews and the least negative ones, yet has sold the least copies.

Glenda, what do you find so attractive about the fantasy genre? In what ways do you find it fulfilling?

It enables a writer to explore all facets of humanity with greater ease than any other genre. For example, within the pages of The Lascar’s Dagger, a reader will find cultural misunderstandings and irrational prejudice; the tragedy of arranged marriage; the greyer areas of murder and piracy; misuse of inherited power; religious compassion and spirituality alongside evil, sanctimonious self-righteousness; sacrifice, bravery and honour; battles and … Well, you get the picture. In a fantasy, anything can happen. The secret is to make it believable.

Have you had any feedback from readers about your fantasy worlds and if so what have they said?

Each of my trilogies is very different from the next. The Isles of Glory is more of a kick-ass swords-and-scorcery. With intelligent, aquatic aliens.

The Mirage Makers is really a story about an individual stolen from her culture and family, rather as children of Australia’s stolen generation were, and how she exacts her revenge — and the cost involved. All with mirages.

The third trilogy, called either the Watergivers or the Stormlord trilogy,  is about the preciousness of water and understanding what it takes to live in a desert nation and survive. With magic. And pedes and ziggers…

Some readers have loved them all; others have favourites. As I said above, everybody raved about Havenstar. Probably the least popular of all was the second book of The Mirage Makers. Some people found that very difficult to read because it reminded them of their worst memories of highschool!!

What are you working on at the moment?

Book Two of The Forsaken Lands. Publication is scheduled for January.

What is your writing process? (planner, panster, write every day, write sporadically, writers block etc).

Not much of a planner. Or rather, I plan like mad, then never follow it because I think of better ways to tell the story. I write anytime, anywhere – literally. In the past that has involved sitting on  the floor of crowded Asian airports, or the deck of a fishing boat chugging up the Kinabatangan River, or in a study so untidy I can’t find anything…

I do find that as I grow older, my ability to write for long hours has diminished. Writer’s block? I write anyway, knowing it’s mostly rubbish, throw it out and try again. Until I get it right.

What do you prefer — drafting the story or revising and reworking?

Reworking & revising, because that’s the fun part. That’s when you decide that maybe, just maybe, this particular story is not crap after all.

What part of writing do you find hardest?

Almost everything?

It’s self-torture. Nothing comes easy. You pick yourself up off the floor and try again. And again. The weird thing is that I never thought of myself as a masochist — yet I must be, because I would do it all over again. Every bit. And still believe I enjoyed myself.

What do you plan to work on next?

Book 3.

You write under different names. Does maintaining these identities (blog, twitter and facebook) it take a lot of time? Do you have any tips for those of us who write under more than one name?

Well, I do double up a lot. My webmaster set up a system whereby I can send blog posts on writing/publishing straight to my website. My tweets go straight to Facebook.

Changing my name was at the request of my publisher at the time. They thought Noramly was too difficult for readers to remember. If I were to do it again, I’d start with the name Larke.

There are only two reasons to use different names: 1) because books flopped and a change of identity seems a wise strategy, or 2) because you write several different kinds of books. For example, Melody Silver for romance, Morgan Sheild for fantasy and Mike Storre for military sci-fi.
You can find Glenda on the web

Blog:
http://glendalarke.blogspot.com.au/

Twitter: @glendalarke

Website: www.glendalarke.com

Facebook: The Glenda Larke Page
 http://www.facebook.com/groups/105625628881/

 

Posted in fantasy, Interviews, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments »

Author spotlight-Marianne De Pierres

March 23, 2014 by donnamareehanson

Today I am pleased to bring to you an interview with Marianne De Pierres. I’ve known Marianne for a long time now and as she was doing a blog tour for her new release,  Peacemaker with Angry Robot Books, I thought an interview in the author spotlight series was just the thing.

Here is a shot of Marianne (taken from Marianne’s website)3D-marianne2

Marianne Peacemaker is your new SF Western crime/urban fantasy novel out with Angry Robot Books. Can you tell us a bit about it? Sounds fascinating by the way. I’m looking forward to reading it!

Thank you, Donna.  Well the book blurb is probably the best way to answer this!

Virgin is a ranger in Birrimun (Big) Park, a huge natural landscape reserve in the middle of a sprawling coastal megacity. The park has been created to preserve Australia’s changing natural habitat, and to bring tourism to an over-urbanised world. Virgin’s duties are to maintain public safety and order in the park, but Parks Southern have brought out a hotshot cowboy from the US to help her catch some drug runners who’re affecting tourism. Virgin senses her boss is holding something back from her, and isn’t keen on working with an outsider, especially one as laconic and old school as Nate Sixkiller.

When she sees an imaginary animal (a wedge tail eagle she calls Aquila) that hasn’t been around since she was a troubled teenager, Virgin knows its re-appearance means one of two things: she’s having a breakdown, or it’s a warning. Dead bodies start piling up around her and Nate. Something terrible is about to happen in the park that threatens the basis of human belief systems.

I’ve tried hard to retain some standard Western tropes while writing a supernatural crime novel set in Australia. I grew up on Zane Grey novels and I read the entire Time Life Old West series back then, and again more recently. I feel I understand the genre historically.

Marianne tell us a bit about yourself

Though West Australian, I’ve been living in Brisbane for over fifteen years being a stay at home mum. And that’s pretty much the length of time that I’ve been writing full time. I’ve worked hard and had consistent publication since about 2004. My writing journey has taken me in many different directions and I have at various times been a blogger, freelance feature writer, children’s writer, crime and science fiction and fantasy writer. I won’t bore you with my bibliography but you can find it here if you are interested. I feel like I’ve been daydreaming, creating worlds and characters and stories for most of my life.

 I noticed on your webpage that there is a comic of Peacemaker. Can you tell us a bit about that and its relationship to the novel?

I actually started to write the novel first but got side-tracked by the notion of a graphic novel. The story seemed to lend itself to images. Maybe it’s because it was so vivid in my own mind. Nicola Scott recommended artist, Brigitte Sutherland to me and she really got my vision. She also got stuck with my complete inexperience in comics. After Brigitte had finished the inking process, she asked me who would be colouring the work. ‘Um…’ said I, ‘Oh, I thought you would.’ To Brigitte’s great credit she just hunkered down and did everything without freaking out. I love the colours she used and I loved her conception of the world. My only regret is that she moved on to other things in her life and wasn’t available to draw issue 2.

Should the comic ever get completed, it will follow a slightly different story arc to the novel. More episodic, I think. You also get to meet the bad guys much earlier than you will in the books.

How was exploring this new world in Peacemaker? I notice it different from Parrish Plessis and Sentients of Orion.

Well fun doesn’t even begin to describe it! I have a suburb in the book called the Western Quarter which is a mash-up of Australian and Classic Western clichés. Be ready for Stetsons, spurs, chaps, cacti, Akubra’s, and RM Williams to all be populating the same bars and saloons. And then there’s the park. How glorious to be able to inhabit the land so fully and then step straight out into the urgency of the city.

What is your writing process?

I write daily, in the mornings, beginning anywhere between 6am and 9am, depending on the amount of blogging I have to do first. I’ve never had writers block, though I have had periods where I’ve been quite fatigued. I deliberately and scrupulously counterbalance my writing life with sport and exercise, to give my brain chemistry time to recharge. And I’m somewhere in the middle of the PANTS and PLAN continuum. A little bit of planning, and a lot of organic writing. I’m big on narrative drive, so the story usually propels me, whether I like it or not.

What part of writing do you find hardest?

First draft is so exhausting. It feels like someone is draining the life out of me as I get those first words down. Rewrites and edits are much more fun. You know the shape of your story by then, and then it’s a case of making it all pretty.

What do you plan to work on next?

WOW – a lot! I refer you to this link. First and foremost, is book 2 of the PEACEMAKER series (working title DEALBREAKER). But I’m hoping to spend some of 2015 writing PHARMAKON, my SF thriller, because it’s an idea that just won’t silenced. I feel SUCH a strong compulsion to write it! I’ve already done a fair bit of research for it.

You write under different names (De Pierres and Delacourt). Does maintaining these identities (blog, twitter and facebook) it take a lot of time?

It does and, frankly, sometimes Marianne Delacourt suffers. The Tara Sharp books reach a whole different market to the Parrish and Sentients of Orion readers, and staying engaged in both those communities is hard work. But I enjoy my online outings, so even though it’s time consuming, it still gives me a great deal of pleasure. How fortunate am I, to get to do what I love?

Thank you so much Marianne. I’m glad you had the time to stop by and the novel sounds fascinating.

Here is the cover to Peacemaker.

Peacemaker-CR-329x500

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