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This one breaks my brain.
From the Sydney Morning Herald the
Australian cricket team responds to accusations of being arrogant, rude, sledging bastards:
"The way I look at cricket, you do everything possible to win. Some people like the verbal side of the game, some don't, but you just get one with what your job. I take what Vincent is saying as a backhanded compliment."
Hayden, Clark's Australian teammate, was equally indignant.
"If he considers that to be the case, I'm not unhappy about it, to be honest," Hayden said. "It's a great clash between New Zealand and Australia and long may it continue. It doesn't matter what sport---we could be playing kick a cockroach from here to the wall and we'd want ...
Posted by Justine at 12:39, January 31st, 2007 under Cricket, Ranting, Sport, State of the World, Words & Language |
Orangedragonfly wants to know
When you are in sydney, what do you miss most about new york?
and (of course) when you are in new york, what do you miss most about sydney?
My answer is much the same for both questions: above everything else I miss my family and my friends. My parents live in Sydney so when I'm there I don't miss them, but I do miss my sister who lives in Los Angeles. So I miss her and my parents when I'm in New York.
I mentioned in an earlier post that no matter where I am I'm always missing someone. That's pretty much a definition of what it is to be human. Even the most stay-at-home types have friends ...
Posted by Justine at 4:35, January 31st, 2007 under Bloggery, New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 16:33, January 30th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 20:59, January 29th, 2007 under New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Travelling, Whingeing, Writing life, Young Adult literature |
I've been
boingled again! Mr Doctorow has
now read the whole trilogy, yes, including Magic's Child and has many kind words to say. Like this, for example:
Justine Larbalestier has concluded her wonderful young adult fantasy trilogy, Magic or Madness. The third volume, Magic's Child, brings the series to a really satisfying, complex conclusion that's both brave and thought-provoking.
This trilogy is ready-made for smart, curious kids who look to fantasy for more than escape---who look to fantasy literature to stretch their understanding of the real world.
I blush.
For those of you who want to rush out and grab a copy of Magic's Child, it's available for
pre-order, but won't be out till March.
In the meantime, Magic or Madness, ...
Posted by Justine at 17:31, January 27th, 2007 under Bloggery, Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Wicked Jenny D requests that I write more
scathing posts about novels you don't like in which we have to guess what they are and you annoyingly and mysteriously refrain from telling us.
First up I have to establish the rules of this game.
Rule no. 1: If you are a friend of mine who has heard my rants and knows what books I refer to you may not act like you're guessing in the comments thread. That would be evil, immoral and wrong.
Rule no. 2: All guesses must be as vague as possible and not include actual book titles or author's names. That way no author will get offended that you're even guessing that any of these dreadful books could be by ...
Posted by Justine at 8:25, January 26th, 2007 under Bloggery, Ranting, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 18:04, January 25th, 2007 under Bloggery, Cons & Other Gatherings, Cricket, Excuses, Fashion, Young Adult literature |
Pt wants to know how to cope with jetlag. I have but two pearls of wisdom:
1) Be very very rich and fly first class. On those rare occasions I've been upgraded to business class I've recovered from jetlag many days earlier than when I fly cattle class. I can only imagine how much faster the whole thing would be in first class. Or in your own private jet. Or if you could teleport. I would not say no to a door between Sydney and New York either . . .
2) Don't fly anywhere. You get no jetlag and the environment will thank you.
Little Willow asks what my favourite fruits are and gets extra points for being an American and ...
Posted by Justine at 0:06, January 25th, 2007 under Bloggery, Cons & Other Gatherings, Food, Frippery, Mangosteens, Ranting, Travelling, Writing life |
The first post of the inaugural
request week (rw) was suggested by Rebecca:
Ooooh, and a day-in-the-life thing, kinda like
Maureen Johnson had up the other day.
Someone asked me to describe
my average working day a while back and this is what I came up with:
Today I typed, yesterday I typed, tomorrow I will type. Words were written, words were deleted. Dictionaries and thesauruses and Scott (do Americans say "poxy"?) were consulted, as were various other reference books, and things were googled. Then there was more typing. And around about five or six I gave up and had a glass of wine, unless it was an alcohol-free day (curse them!) in which case I merely contemplated the glass ...
Posted by Justine at 0:03, January 24th, 2007 under Bloggery, Vainglory, Writing life |
A few folks have written me demanding that I write posts solely for their amusment on topics of their choosing. I figured if I was going to succumb to their whingeing I might as well throw the blog open to requests.
So if there's anything your little heart has been pining for me to write or explain or
lie about speak ((Or you know type now. I suspect that will be more effective.)) now.
Update: I'm crossing them off as I do 'em.
Posted by Justine at 3:28, January 23rd, 2007 under Bloggery |
Most of Australia is in drought right now.
Has been for years. Some say this is a
thousand-year drought that Australia may never come out of. That this continent will get hotter and drier until agriculture becomes impossible. Until recently a visitor to Sydney would never have never known it.
But that's changing. Since we go back here in December, I've noticed how much more seriously everyone in Sydney is taking it. The conversation often turns to the
level of water in the dams that supply Sydney (at the moment they're at about 35%---not good), when the water restrictions are going to be ...
Posted by Justine at 15:18, January 22nd, 2007 under State of the World, Sydney/Australia |
I cannot explain why this make me so very very very happy. It just does.
Australian fast bowler, Brett Lee, in a duet with Indian legend
Asha Bhosle. Why don't more cricketers sing?
The song is currently no. 4 on the charts in India. Wonder if they'll release it here?
Posted by Justine at 14:49, January 21st, 2007 under Cricket, Frippery, Listening |
The
comments continue to flow from my post on speedy writing. Many of them
here and
here. Though my musing out loud seems to have boiled down to books written fast can be good too! Maybe I shouldn't have called it "speedy writing".
The main points I thought I was making is that the pace of a writer's production are influenced by many many different factors. A writer who will appear to be fast when independently wealthy and waited on hand in foot, would be slow if they had considerably less money and a family to look after. The opposite can be true. I have seen writers who wrote in the margins of their life, finding themselves suddenly ...
Posted by Justine at 7:24, January 19th, 2007 under Bloggery, Writing process |
Sometimes I've been writing too much, my brain is broken, and all i can do is crash in front of the box and try not to dribble. Times like those I need
Resident Evil 2 because only zombies, motorbikes and Mila will unbreak my brain. Mmmm, zombies.
What are your favourite brain unbreakers? And why?
Posted by Justine at 0:09, January 18th, 2007 under Praising, Viewing, Zombies |
I keep coming across two assumptions about writers who publish a lot of books per year. The first ((I see it so often I'm not even going to bother with an example.)) is that if a book takes less than a year to write then it can't be any good. So if a writer can produce two or more books a year they are total hacks.
It ain't necessarily so. People write at different paces and in different circumstances. Some so-called slow writers are slow because they also have a full or part-time job, because they have a family, because they're running the household, and their writing is snatched in the time between waking and going to work. Or before the ...
Posted by Justine at 0:10, January 17th, 2007 under Bloggery, Writing process |
I misspoke. Turns out that it's more than possible for my name to be bigger than the title.
You can see the proper cover of Magic's Child in the sidebar to your right. And, honestly, my name is so small you can barely even read it. How humiliating!
Now, this, this is much better:
Isn't that a vast improvement? I likes it! I likes it a lot!
Well, okay, yes, my photoshopping leaves much to be desired. But work with me! You can see where I'm going with it, right?
You may add my name to the list of writers who dream that one day their name will be bigger than the title: "Look, Ma! That's me! My name's in lights!"
One day, one ...
Posted by Justine at 1:17, January 16th, 2007 under Frippery, Writing life |
This time it's
Daughters of Earth ((Which means every single one of my published books has been up for an award. Isn't that amazing? Of course, when the award noms dry up, does it mean my career is over?
Nah. I can think of gazillions of wonderful books that have slid under the award radar. I'm very fortunate that mine haven't. It's good to remind myself that like everying in publishing award nominations are mostly just luck.)) on the
British Science Fiction Association's non-fiction shortlist. Let there be w00ting! Here's the other nominees:
The Arthur C. Clarke Award: A Critical Anthology, ed. Paul Kincaid and Andrew M. Butler (Serendip Foundation)
Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century, ed. ...
Posted by Justine at 21:07, January 15th, 2007 under Daughters of Earth, Vainglory |
There's been
much debate about what authors owe their readers out there in bloggyland. I think the whole thing is really rather simple:
When I've got my writing hat on then it's very clear that authors owe their readers absolutely nothing. Do you hear me readers? I owe you nothing!
I can write about what I want, when I want, and how I want. If I want to set fire to your favourite character's hair, push them off a cliff, and then jump on them, I can and I will, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. So nyer!
When I've got my reading hat on, then it's very very clear that authors owe me exactly the book ...
Posted by Justine at 0:03, January 15th, 2007 under Bloggery, Frippery, Praising, Ranting, Reading, Whingeing, Zombies |
Next Saturday, the 20th of January at 2PM, me and
Scott will be doing an appearance at the fabulous Kinokuniya bookshop. We'll be appearing with Deb Abela and Michael Parker and talking about science fiction and whatever else grabs our fancy. If you're around we'd love to see you.
To recap:
Where:
Kinokuniya Books
Galeries Victoria
500 George St, Sydney
When:
Saturday, 20 January 2PM
Who:
Deb Abela, me, Michael Parker and Scott Westerfeld
What: talking 'bout science fiction
Posted by Justine at 17:57, January 14th, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Scott's books |
I just learned from
Scalzi that last week was delurking week. And around the blogosphere folks stepped up and introduced themselves and declared, "Hey, I read your blog and enjoy it. But usually I'm just not the commenting kind."
There are heaps of blogs I read and don't comment on. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because I feel more comfortable commenting on
the blogs of people I know in real life. But I know Patrick and Teresa, and yet I rarely comment on
Making Light, even though I particularly enjoy the comment threads there.
Sometimes I find myself talking with friends and I realise that for the past few hours ...
Posted by Justine at 17:16, January 13th, 2007 under Bloggery, Praising |
A few blogs have picked up my intemperate tongue-in-cheek comments about
reading habits. Here's
my favourite comment. It's from over at
Bookshelves of Doom:
I'll also avoid the book if the author's name is bigger than the title. That's a dead giveaway.
That's a hilarious. I can't tell you how many authors I know who dream---dream I tell you---that one day their name will be bigger than the title.
I do not share this dream.
Not because I'm not as vainglorious as the other writers, but because my name is not short and compact like, say, Garth Nix. No, my name is long. Good luck on getting Justine Larbalestier bigger than the title and fitting it all on the front of ...
Posted by Justine at 0:02, January 12th, 2007 under Bloggery, Writing life |
It has been brought to my attention through various means such as
comments here, my email box, and this
lovely loudmouth that me and Scott are on
the preliminary ballot for a
Norton Award.
What does that mean?
The award is given in memory of the late great Andre Norton to honour her considerable contribution to fantasy and sf young adult fiction. While it's administered by SFWA and is announced along with the Nebula Awards, it is not actually a Nebula Award. This is the second year the Norton Award has been given. Last year it went to the fabulous Valiant by Holly Black. Woo hoo! (And much fun was had celebrating that win, wasn't it, Holly?)
At ...
Posted by Justine at 8:02, January 11th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 14:25, January 10th, 2007 under Food, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liquids, Listening, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Viewing, Writing goals & milestones |
Posted by Justine at 12:56, January 9th, 2007 under Bloggery, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
Posted by Justine at 0:03, January 9th, 2007 under Ranting, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 9:01, January 8th, 2007 under Cricket, Excuses, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Viewing, Writing goals & milestones, Writing life |
The last day of this year's Ashes series didn't even amount to two hours of play, but it sure did sum up the series. Australia bowled well; England crumbled. Didn't run except when Andrew Symonds was holding the ball ready to run them out. Then Langer and Hayden got the handful of runs necessary for the 5-0 sweep. It took five overs longer than I thought it would on account of Harmison finally decided to bowl some scorchers. But then it was done.
And for years I will have fun telling folks that I was there to see Langer, McGrath and Warne say goodbye to cricket. The way I've already been able to skite about being there to watch Steve Waugh ...
Posted by Justine at 18:22, January 6th, 2007 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Today I will share with you one of the many reasons I love cricket. This is more for me than for you, because I am currently very cranky with cricket---specifically with the Australian and English cricket teams---and I need to remind myself of the love.
Australia because they got out way too early: Warne? Gilchrist? I'm looking at you! Where were your centuries?
And England because they crumbled and lost five wickets. Yet a-bloody-gain.
I would like to remind you both that I have tickets for tomorrow's play and right now I'm not seeing it go past lunch. A pox on both your houses.
I am also pretty dirty on the weather. What? You can rain all night? But barely disturb the cricket? Curse ...
Posted by Justine at 18:47, January 4th, 2007 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 0:15, January 4th, 2007 under Writing life |
I just attempted to read a screed that everyone's been linking to and had to give up because the paragraphs were so crazy long my head exploded. Co-incidentally I've been reading a wonderful novel for a friend and it too has lots and lots of endless paragraphs which majorly interfere with my reading pleasure.
Stop it already!
Paragraph breaks are your friend.
White space is gentle on the eye.
Embrace it!
Forget what you were told in school: A paragraph does not consist of one point or one idea. That bogus notion leads to paragraphs that go on for pages and pages and pages as the writer explicates everything they can which supports the one point they are making.
Gah!
In beginner fiction, you see ...
Posted by Justine at 0:57, January 3rd, 2007 under Bloggery, Unicorns, Writing process |
What is the difference between young adult literature and plain old adult literature?
Now there's a question that should be first on my faq. I sure do get asked it a lot. Invariably by someone who knows nothing about ya, often by someone who hadn't even heard the term until they asked me what I do for a living, and sometimes by someone with a big ole sneer on their face.
It's a hard question and my answers depends on how irritated I am by the asker. Here are a few:
Unlike adult fiction YA is actually good
YA can be read in less than a day
YA is never about a middle-aged professor who has affairs with his students
Or about anyone moving to Mexico ...
Posted by Justine at 6:40, January 2nd, 2007 under Ranting, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Sometimes when the writing is not going as fabulously well as it could, I procrastinate do other work, like update mine and Scott's websites, or muck around with
various plugins for this blog, or
list software.
So, um, I now
appear to have a newsletter. It's mainly for those folks who write me wanting to know when my next books are coming out, when my books are going to be made into movies, when they can read me in Italian, and when I'll be doing an appearance in their town.
If you want to get the newsletter you can
subscribe here.
Is there anything else you'd like to hear about? The weather in Sydney? Fashion tips from Tom? ...
Posted by Justine at 0:26, January 2nd, 2007 under Vainglory |
