Archives
Posted by Justine at 21:35, January 2nd, 2009 under Admin, Bloggery |
Posted by Justine at 17:39, December 30th, 2008 under Bloggery |
"Write what you know" is one of the most frequent pieces of writing advice. Problem is, it's rubbish. As Cat Sparks discusses at length in
this excellent post:
We've all heard that old adage 'write what you know'. Well, that's a damn fine idea if you happen to be an articulate astronaut, outback adventurer, brain surgeon, fashionista, rock star, molecular biologist or trapeze artist. But if, like me, you're just another white middle class wage slave, maybe you want to rethink that hoary old chestnut. Because maybe we just aren't that interesting and maybe what we know about is duller than a public service tea break. I have developed a better idea. Find something you don't know much about, learn ...
Posted by Justine at 0:34, December 29th, 2008 under Bloggery, Praising, Writing process |
Posted by Justine at 4:48, December 22nd, 2008 under Bloggery, Excuses, Next novel, Praising, Research |
Diana Peterfreund and
Carrie Ryan saved me from writing a post I'd been sort of planning for awhile---on the various lame ways people dismiss YA---but which I kind of couldn't be arsed actually writing. So bless them both!
I've come across this example all too often:
“XYZ is pretty good, for a book for children, but I doubt the author will be allowed to take it to the next level, because children’s books rarely do that.” (The “that” in question, by the way, is a rebellion against the powers-that-be by the teen main characters, which is so common in YA fantasy and SF books that it’s practically a cliche.)
Succinctly put, Diana!
Though mostly what I get from adult writers and ...
Posted by Justine at 4:49, December 20th, 2008 under Bloggery, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Young Adult literature, Zombies |
Posted by Justine at 4:52, December 19th, 2008 under Bloggery, Publishing business |
Posted by Justine at 0:06, December 18th, 2008 under Bloggery, Book tour, Publishing business, Writing life, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 0:25, December 14th, 2008 under Bloggery, Fans & readers, Praising, Ranting, Writing life |
Taking up blogging is one of the least effective things you can do to promote your book.
There, I've said it.
Don't take up blogging cause your publisher says you should. Or because of John Scalzi. Yes, he's sold tonnes of books and gotten heaps of fans because of his blog. He is the exception. Very few writers who blog have thirty thousand plus hits a day.
Scalzi's been blogging for more than a decade. Ten years ago he had maybe a few hundred people a day reading
Whatever. It took him years of consistently good and frequent blogging to build that audience. ((And all those other authors with insanely popular blogs? Most of them were already popular---like, say, Meg Cabot---before they ...
Posted by Justine at 0:59, December 13th, 2008 under Bloggery, Writing life |
One more thing that I think some wannabe published writers don't understand. Being a professional writer means having homework ALL THE TIME. (Thanks to Jennifer for
pointing this out.) And when your homework comes back covered in red you have to do it over. Sometimes you have to do it over multiple times. And then your homework gets checked again by several other people (copyeditor, proofreader) and then you have to look at it again.
It's like the worst homework ever. Homework that NEVER EVER ENDS.
I'm just saying . . .
Posted by Justine at 0:28, December 9th, 2008 under Bloggery, Publishing business, Ranting, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 13:44, December 7th, 2008 under Bloggery, Ranting, State of the World, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 14:35, December 6th, 2008 under Admin, Bloggery, Excuses, Food, Frippery, New York City/USA, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 10:58, November 28th, 2008 under Bloggery, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Praising, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, November 27th, 2008 under Bloggery, Fans & readers, New York City/USA, Praising |
Posted by Justine at 15:46, November 9th, 2008 under Bloggery, Excuses, Fans & readers, Liar Book, Next novel, Whingeing, Writing goals & milestones, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, November 2nd, 2008 under Bloggery, Excuses, Frippery |
Over at Daily Kos, Meteor Blades (via Scott) has an
article on accents in which he points out that, yes, everyone has one and quotes Geoffrey Nunberg
being smart on the same topic:
If authenticity is a matter of heeding your true inner voice, then it probably isn't surprising that people listen for signs of it in the way you speak. And our idea of an authentic accent reflects our idea of the authentic self. It's the natural speech you sucked up from the surroundings you grew up in, unfiltered and uncorrected. It's how you're supposed to sound when you're talking to yourself.
It's also a delusion. Or at least if your speech is like yourself, it's because both are ...
Posted by Justine at 11:46, November 1st, 2008 under Bloggery, Listening, New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Travelling |
All the problems of the past two days appear to have been resolved. Sorry for the inconvenience. Especially to those of you who had your comments eaten.
Thanks for chiming in on last post. I no longer feel like I have lost my mind. Just my website for a couple of days. And, praise Elvis, may it never happen again.
We can now resume normal blog activity.
For those who missed
the post that was only visible to a handful of you for most of the day there's a
sneak preview of my latest published effort.
Thanks to everyone who wrote to share their concern about the absence and/or weirdness of my site today. It's nice to know you care.
Posted by Justine at 18:15, October 30th, 2008 under Admin, Bloggery, Love is Hell |
Posted by Justine at 20:46, October 29th, 2008 under Admin, Bloggery |
Posted by Justine at 14:09, October 29th, 2008 under Admin, Bloggery, Excuses, Fans & readers |
Allen & Unwin, my Australian publisher, has a blog:
Alien Onion. (See if you can figure out why it is thus named.) And they has written a post
welcoming me. I is dead chuffed. Thank 'ee!
There's also a
preview of the Oz cover of How To Ditch Your Fairy. See if you can spot what's different to the US cover.
Do check out the rest of
their blog it's the most lively fun publisher's blog I've seen. With lots of excellent guests and pictures of cake. I think it will give you an inkling of why I am so ecstatic that Allen & Unwin is my new Australian home.
Posted by Justine at 10:49, October 18th, 2008 under Bloggery, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Praising, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 30th, 2008 under Bloggery, Book challenges, Cons & Other Gatherings, New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Science, State of the World, Travelling, Young Adult literature, Zombies |
A while back I asked my faithful blog readers
what their fairy is or what fairy they wanted. Twas a popular post so in honour of the imminent publication of my latest book,
How To Ditch Your Fairy, set in a world where almost everyone has a personal fairy, I asked these questions of a tonne of writers. I'll be sharing their answers with you over the next few months.
Here's what
John Green, multiple-award winning author and all-round good guy, had to say:
The fairy I most wish I had at the moment is the Dog Whisperer fairy, because then I would understand why Willy just peed inside.
I seem to have something of a Spare Change fairy. I ...
Posted by Justine at 22:04, September 15th, 2008 under Bloggery, Book tour, How To Ditch Your Fairy, What's your fairy? |
Just to let you all know that the mighty
How To Ditch Your Fairy Tour begins on Monday in Northern California. For all those complaining that I'm not going to Southern California:
it's not up to me, it's down to demand and my publicist.
The tour page is constantly being updated with correct addresses and times and extra events. Today I added a couple of in-store stock signings as well as the address and time for the Schuler's event in Walker, Michigan.
What is an in-store stock signing you ask? It means I'll be stopping in at a book shop and signing but I won't be reading, or doing Q&A, or juggling, or anything fancy. But if you're ...
Posted by Justine at 0:01, September 13th, 2008 under Bloggery, Book tour, Cons & Other Gatherings, How To Ditch Your Fairy, New York City/USA |
I stopped studying maths in Year 7. Before that I'd made a bit of an effort but in my first year of high school (in New South Wales high school starts in Year 7) I downed tools. I was bored, annoyed, and couldn't see the point so I quit. Technically I kept going to maths class---it was compulsory until the end of Year 10---but I failed each year and was never made to repeat. I didn't learn anything new after Year 6.
At the time I thought it was excellent that I could get away with it. In class I read novels under the desk. I never studied and finished my maths exams quicker than anyone else cause I guessed all ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 9th, 2008 under Basketball, Bloggery, Excuses, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Praising, Science, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia |
Maureen Johnson has surpassed herself with
this post on the importance of honest sex education.
Go read it.
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 5th, 2008 under Bloggery, New York City/USA, State of the World |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 4th, 2008 under Bloggery, Ranting, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 18:22, September 1st, 2008 under Bloggery, Fans & readers |
Posted by Justine at 3:02, August 24th, 2008 under Bloggery, Fans & readers |
Scott and me has run away to finish our novels at an undisclosed location. Posting from behind the walls of our hidden bunker may be intermittent and on the shortish side. Book must be finished on the soonish.
In the meantime, it is
conclusive, "monster" and "white-ant" are verbs only in Australia. For confused non-Australians a white ant is a termite. Thus to white-ant someone is to undermine them: to bore away at their foundations, you know, like termites do. Is most useful verb.
Thanks for the Cadel Evans commiserations. Second two years running. Surely next year.
Yes, I is stoked that the Liberty are in the second place in the Eastern conference. Here's hoping we come out after the Olympics break ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, July 29th, 2008 under Basketball, Bloggery, Liar Book, Sport, Tour de France, Travelling |
Posted by Justine at 20:50, July 23rd, 2008 under Admin, Bloggery, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, Writing goals & milestones |
The Live Long and Marry auction has
topped $30,000 46,000. Wow. That's just astonishing. Thirty thousand dollars! Forty-six thousand dollars!
For those who are curious: the winning bid to have
me name a character after you (or something) went for $225. (Gulp.) So the biology teacher in my next novel, who already had a Japanese name, is now named Yayeko Shoji after the bidder's mother.
Great name, huh? I'm very pleased it worked out. I was worried I'd wind up with an unusable name, you know, like BrushWithDeath Mergatroid. But it worked out perfectly. Happiness for everyone.
Here's hoping that this nasty anti-love initiative to strip people of the right to marry is defeated.
Posted by Justine at 0:17, July 21st, 2008 under Bloggery, Liar Book, New York City/USA, State of the World |
Posted by Justine at 12:57, July 16th, 2008 under Bloggery, Liar Book, Ranting, Whingeing, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 12:30, July 15th, 2008 under Admin, Bloggery |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, July 14th, 2008 under Bloggery |
Scalzi riffs on the absurdity of the extremely wealthy and privileged Lady de Rothschild accusing Barack Obama of being "elitist". The
comments thread is most excellent and raises lots of interesting questions.
Like what does "elitist" even mean? And what does it mean when applied to Obama as it has been so often this year?
Educated? When was the last time there was a US president without a university degree? Or a serious candidate for that office without a high school diploma?
Rich? Pretty much everyone accusing him of it is much richer than he is. McCain is, Hillary Clinton ditto, and Lady de Rothschild very very much so.
I am very puzzled by the whole thing. I'm pretty sure that ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, July 11th, 2008 under Bloggery, New York City/USA, State of the World |
Posted by Justine at 7:13, July 2nd, 2008 under Bloggery, Praising, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 14:31, June 30th, 2008 under Bloggery, Search Terms |
Posted by Justine at 14:00, June 19th, 2008 under Admin, Bloggery, Excuses, Liar Book, Writing goals & milestones |
Posted by Justine at 8:27, June 19th, 2008 under Bloggery, Frippery, Liar Book |
Posted by Justine at 18:44, June 17th, 2008 under Bloggery, Excuses, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Publishing business |
Posted by Justine at 12:04, June 14th, 2008 under Bloggery, Food, Liar Book, New York City/USA |
Charlie Stross and
John Scalzi have been explaining their moderation policies. So I thought I ought to tell you mine. ((Even though it is much like theirs.)) Especially in the wake of the
recent "shown" wars. The link does not actually lead to a flame war because I deleted it.
Which is my basic policy: all flamewars will be erased. Anyone who's cranky or flamey gets nuked.
I really enjoy blogging. It's my favourite kind of writing. I find it relaxing and fun. I adore all the smart, witty comments youse mob make here. I'm loving seeing a wee community emerge.
People yelling at each other, being narky and mean, getting into fights, none of that is relaxing or fun, ...
Posted by Justine at 18:42, June 9th, 2008 under Bloggery |
I'm looking for someone to design a new wordpress template for this site. I've been googling around and not having much luck finding portfolios that really blow me away. Or the ones that I love are designed by people who have enough work to keep them going for the next thousand years.
I will pay professional rates. If you're interested please send a link to your portfolio and an inkling of your capabilities and experience to jlATjustinelarbalestierDOTcom
Posted by Justine at 20:20, June 8th, 2008 under Bloggery |
Like Scott, I was intrigued by
Emily Gould's article about blogging. She's a beautiful writer and her experiences are fascinating. I was a little frustrated by the article, though, because I kept hoping that she would push further past the anecdotal to the broader implications. What does it mean to be internet famous? How does that vary from regular famous? How has our world changed because of blogging? And why is it so often female bloggers who get such insane volumes of hate mail?
I was quite shocked by the ferocity of the comments responding to Gold's article. One thousand two hundred and sixteen of them and most of them astoundingly nasty. Many of them seemed to boil down ...
Posted by Justine at 0:02, June 5th, 2008 under Bloggery, State of the World |
Some stuff I have been remiss in sharing with you:
A while ago I mentioned that
E. Lockhart's
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is the best book she's written. It wasn't out then but it is now. This book is so amazing that I'm rendered dumb trying to come up with the words to describe its wit, genius and splendiferousness. Just buy it! Or borrow it from the library! Or steal it from a friend. You will thank me. ((Though your friend might be a bit cranky.))
Christopher Barzak who wrote the wonderful debut novel, One For Sorrow, is up for one of MTV's
LOGO's NewNowNext Awards: "Brink of Fame: Author". If you read and loved that ...
Posted by Justine at 10:56, May 13th, 2008 under Bloggery, Praising, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 12:05, May 12th, 2008 under Bloggery, Fashion, Frippery, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
Cricket Buzz just named its
top 51 cricket blogs and I'm on the list!
Yay!
And also---how embarrassing! I have been very remiss of late when it comes to cricket blogging. I mean I haven't mentioned the blessed sport since March and not written anything proper since January. Largely because (for reasons beyond my control) I have not been home since May of last year. ((Waaaaahhhh!!!!!)) Thus I have not been immersed in cricket culture and have not been keeping up with things such as the new
Twenty20 Indian Premier League. ((The link is to a NYT article explaining the League which will amuse those of us who know about cricket and hopefully be a clear-ish explanation for ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, May 12th, 2008 under Bloggery, Cricket, Liar Book, New York City/USA, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 10:59, May 11th, 2008 under Bloggery, Writing life |
I'm curious: Are any of you interested in reading about writers' word counts? And if so why? Cause I confess I'm not sure I entirely get the point of blogging about it. And those who post 'em on your blog why do you?
Don't get me wrong I keep an eagle eye on my word counts. They are the measure of my days. ((Better than coffee spoons.)) I'm aiming to hit 60 thou by the last week of July. But, you know, it's housekeeping. I don't keep people posted on how many dishes I've washed, meals I've cooked, or hours I've spent exercising. ((For the record: today I've washed no dishes, put together two meals, and spent an hour at the ...
Posted by Justine at 0:06, May 10th, 2008 under Bloggery, Sport, Writing goals & milestones |
