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NOTE: I am in Sydney, Australia where it is already April Fool's Day. However, my blog is set to NYC time cause I was too lazy to change it.
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April Fool's is the day I began my career as a
full-time freelance writer. Back in 2003, having sold only
one short story, I took the completely insane plunge.
The first year did not go well, but since then it's mostly worked out great. I've been very lucky indeed.
For my own benefit some stats:
Books sold: 8 ((One non-fiction tome, two anthologies, five young adult novels.))
Books published: 7 ((8 in September))
Countries books have been sold in: 15 ((Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, the ...
Posted by Justine at 18:33, March 31st, 2010 under Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones, Young Adult literature |
I have been asked for my take on last week's question about
teenagers and reading. To be honest, it's difficult to know where to start because there are so many assumptions embedded in those questions. I'll start by unpacking them.
1. There seems to be an implicit assumption that all teenagers are the same.
2. There's also an assumption in all these discussions about YA that it is primarily read by teenagers.
3. Another assumption is that a) only reading fiction counts and b) reading is better for you than any other pastime.
4. Then there's the assumption that there is such a thing as good writing and bad writing and we all agree on what those are.
Teenagers
Let me take numbers ...
Posted by Justine at 21:45, March 29th, 2010 under Ranting, Reading, Young Adult literature |
If you're in NYC in the next couple of weeks here are two YA events you might want to check out:
The latest
New York Review of Science Fiction Readings features
Barry Lyga,
Marie Rutkoski, &
Robin Wasserman
curated by
Carol Cooper
Tuesday, 6 April, Doors open 6:30 PM, event begins at 7:00 PM
SoHo Gallery for Digital Art
138 Sullivan Street (between Houston & Prince St.)
Admission is by a $5 donation. (If circumstances make this a hardship, let them know and they will accommodate you.)
Me and Scott will be taking part in the
Read This Books for NYC Schools Day on the 10th of April.
Read This collects books for people who need them, especially ...
Posted by Justine at 21:57, March 28th, 2010 under 1930s NYC novel, Cons & Other Gatherings, New York City/USA, Young Adult literature |
The wonderful
Kathleen T. Horning sent me a link to
this discussion of Twilight on NPR in which much mock is made of the writing style of Twlight. Judging from the comments if you love Twilight then the NPR people are being condescending meanies and if you hated Twilight ((Even if you haven't read it---how do you hate a book you haven't read?)) then their comments are hilarious and spot on.
Now, I do not want a discussion of the merits or otherwise of Twilight here. In fact, I will delete any comment trashing Twilight. We do not diss living authors on this blog. What I'm interested in is a broader discussion of adults' attitudes to YA literature.
My question ...
Posted by Justine at 18:10, March 25th, 2010 under Bloggery, Reading, Young Adult literature |
For those of you who've been asking ((And for me to gaze at longingly when I'm far from here.)) here's
more photos of the
garden.
First up here's one of our lovely
Eucalyptus ficifolia or flowering gum. They're incredibly common here in Sydney. I swear almost every street in Surry Hills is lined with ficifolia. I miss them like crazy when I'm in NYC. Hence the need to have some on the deck:
Isn't that adorable? Baby ficifolia reminds me of a puppy dog whose feet are way bigger than the rest of it. Only it's the leaves that are outsized compared to the currently spindly trunk and ...
Posted by Justine at 17:36, March 24th, 2010 under Garden, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Viewing |
Why do so many people read any statement, no matter how innocuous, as being about them? For example, I have mentioned my dislike of chocolate and people have gotten cranky. As if my chocolate hatred will somehow deprive them of it. Huh?
Every time I talk about my love of fashion someone says, "I just want comfortable clothes! Give me jeans and t-shirts!" Which always strikes me as deeply bizarre because a) no one has said a word against jeans and t-shirts, b) t-shirts and jeans are items of fashion, c) having a desire for a ballgown does not mean that person doesn't also wear jeans and t-shirts. (For the record I am wearing jeans and a New York Liberty ...
Posted by Justine at 21:41, March 23rd, 2010 under Bloggery, Fashion, Ranting, State of the World, Writing process |
Tessa Kum is a wonderful writer. She does not write full-time. She has not had any novels published. Like the vast majority of writers she finds time to write at the edges of her paying job. She knows, however, many career writers and sometimes
winds up in conversations where they tell her what a real writer is:
Various people at WFC (World Fantasy Convention) told me what it is necessary to achieve in order to be a 'writer'. You must make this amount of money per year from your writing, or you must sell this many stories, or you must be able to live solely from your earnings as a writer. Most of these people shot me down ...
Posted by Justine at 18:29, March 22nd, 2010 under Bloggery, Publishing business, RSI, Writing goals & milestones, Writing life |
As some of you know Alexander McQueen committed suicide earlier this year. He was one of my
favourite living designers. I own a shirt, two jackets and a skirt of his. I have gotten a great deal of wear out of them and yet they still look new. They're gorgeous, exquisitely cut, not to mention comfortable. When I wear them I feel taller and stronger and more stylish. They make me happy.
It's hard to explain to people with zero interest in fashion why designers like McQueen have such loyal followers. Why his death made me cry. It's even harder to explain it to people who actively hate fashion. But I want to try.
Clothes like the ones Alexander McQueen made ...
Posted by Justine at 17:56, March 21st, 2010 under Fashion, Praising, Viewing |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
Meg Reid is another one of my pen pals. ((Pen pal, still
making me giggle.)) We started corresponding to each other when Meg was sixteen and my father, who is friends with her parents and was staying with them in the US, gave her a copy ...
Posted by Justine at 16:44, March 18th, 2010 under Guest post, Reading |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
Kristin Cashore is one of the bright new stars of YA fantasy. I met her at a Books of Wonder event last year and we had a lovely time gossiping talking of serious matters and have been pen pals ((I love the phrase "pen pal." It's so ...
Posted by Justine at 17:01, March 16th, 2010 under Guest post, Praising, Writing life, Writing process |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
I first came across Courtney Milan when she very intelligently
defended my honour on
her blog. Turned out everything on her blog is witty and/or smart. Then
Sarah Rees Brennan, my guide to romance, started raving about her writing. I commend both to you. ...
Posted by Justine at 16:42, March 15th, 2010 under Guest post, Liar, State of the World |
There's a lot of shockingly bad advice about how to get published online. Much of it comes from unpublished people who know nothing about the publishing industry and are bitter about their own inability to get published. ((Before you yell at me for this statement you should know that I spent twenty years trying to break into mainstream publishing. I know how it feels. Also very few of those unpublished writers are bitter about it and decide that the big publishers are evil. Most suck it up and keep trying.)) But some of it is from actual published writers with careers, who have a bug up their arse about the evil of agents, or small presses, or big presses, or ...
Posted by Justine at 16:44, March 14th, 2010 under New York City/USA, Publishing business, Ranting, Writing goals & milestones, Young Adult literature |
As some of you know I've been dealing with an injury that means I spend way less time at my computer. I thought I'd say a little bit more about what that means as I've had a few people frustrated at my not responding to them.
When I'm at my computer for my scant four hours my top priority is my novel. After that I deal with the most important email (from agent, publishers etc) after that I tackle this blog. So far that's pretty much all I get to. Which means I am not reading anything on Twitter and I have not read any blogs in a donkey's age.
Thus I do not know what you've been saying about ...
Posted by Justine at 17:31, March 12th, 2010 under 1930s NYC novel, Admin, Bloggery, Garden, Reading, Whingeing |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
Alaya Dawn Johnson is a wonderful writer, whose short story in Zombies v Unicorns, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is jaw-droppingly good. Her next novel, Moonshine, out in May is my fave New York City vampire novel. I love it so much that it's been killing ...
Posted by Justine at 18:35, March 11th, 2010 under Guest post, State of the World, Young Adult literature |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
Melina Marchetta is probably Australia's most popular YA writer and with good reason her books are deeply awesome. I just finished her latest, The Piper's Son and I think it's her best book to date. I was up reading it till 3AM and then I couldn't sleep ...
Posted by Justine at 17:30, March 10th, 2010 under Guest post, Ranting, Reading |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
Claire Light is many things including a writer, a blogger extraordinaire, and a teacher. She provides this blog with its first guest post on how to write, which is odd. I was kind of expecting that there'd have been more than one by now. See what happens ...
Posted by Justine at 19:37, March 9th, 2010 under Guest post, Writing process |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
I just want to make it clear that I'm only letting Diana be a guest here because she has threatened me with a fate worse than death. Mind you, she's already mentioned uni**rns like ten times. Surely that's a fate worse than death? My blog has been ...
Posted by Justine at 17:39, March 8th, 2010 under Guest post, Ideas, Writing process |
My good friend John Scalzi believes that we authors should all
own our one-star reviews. I am with him. It is good and wise to toughen up and learn to, if not love them, at least enjoy them. To this day one of my fave punter reviews ever is from the Barnes & Noble site and declares that Magic or Madness is like a bad Australian episode of Charmed. Never fails to make me giggle.
Some days though I find bad reviews of my own work a bit hard to take. When that happens I turn to the
one-star reviews of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice which are the best therapy in the universe and never fail to cheer ...
Posted by Justine at 22:04, March 7th, 2010 under Frippery, Reading, Writing life |
I just came across a
blog post from someone who'd borrowed a copy of Liar from their library in the US only to discover this:
So, last night I checked out Justine Larbalestier's Liar out of the library. I curled up on the couch and happily got to page 34, only to discover that someone ripped out pages 35-36. Upon closer examination, I discovered someone did the same for pages 82-83 and 137-138.
Unfortunately, I don't have a US edition of Liar here in Sydney and I confess I'm dying of curiosity to know what's on those specific pages. Could one of you help me out? If you could give me the first sentence on page 35 & the last on ...
Posted by Justine at 16:55, March 6th, 2010 under Liar |
Scott is in mourning because
mango season is over. I share his pain and yet . . . mangosteen season just started!
My heart fills with joy:
ALL MINE.
Er, um, Scott can have one. If he's good.
Must go. Have a whole bowl of mangosteens to gobble.
Posted by Justine at 20:27, March 5th, 2010 under Food, Sydney/Australia |
I have decided that I love songs about women who don't want to be married. I decided this while listening to lots of Gillian Welch. Twas the song "Look at Miss Ohio" which triggered this decision. Also my annoyance with certain lines in Beyonce's "Single Ladies". "Put a ring on it"? What are we living in the 1950s or something?! Uggh.
Then I realised I couldn't think of any other songs about women who have priorities in life other than getting married. ((This probably reflects more on my dreadful memory than anything else.)) Other than the "I never will marry" song:
I never will marry
I'll be no man's ...
Posted by Justine at 23:17, March 4th, 2010 under Bloggery, Feminism, Listening |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
David Levithan's a writer, an editor, and class president of the NYC YA scene. He got the YA drinks night going and the NYC YA Lit Festival. He does not sleep and must be at least part cyborg. (Or there's more than one of him, which his ...
Posted by Justine at 23:59, March 3rd, 2010 under Guest post, Writing goals & milestones, Writing life, Writing process |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
Ron Bradfield Jnr blogs as
Belongum. I discovered his wonderful blog via
Cellobella, another fabulous WA blogger, who I met at the Perth Writers Festival last year. See sometimes you can discover fabulous blogs via real life. Amazing, innit?
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Ron Bradfield Jnr is ...
Posted by Justine at 23:59, March 2nd, 2010 under Guest post, State of the World, Sydney/Australia, Words & Language |
Due to
boring circumstances beyond my control, I will not be online much for awhile. Fortunately I’ve been able to line up a number of stellar guests to fill in for me. Most are writers, but I also thought it would be fun to get some publishing types to explain what it is they do, teach you some more about the industry, and answer your questions, as well as one or two bloggers.
Today's guest, Carol Cooper, is one of an increasingly rare breed, a working journalist. I have known her for many, many years now. I suspect since my first visit to NYC back in 1993. ((Momentary pause while Justine contemplates the weirdness and fastness of time. It is, ...
Posted by Justine at 19:54, March 1st, 2010 under Guest post, New York City/USA, State of the World |
