Archives
Posted by Justine at 0:05, January 7th, 2009 under Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Publishing business |
There are a number of requests that touch on the same theme of getting stuck:
Jonathan says:
I’d be very interested in the pushing a dead plot post, since that’s where my novel is at.
On the other hand, I sort of know the answer already---stop reading blogs, sit down, and write.
Sylvia_rachel says:
I second the request for a pushing-through-a-dead-plot post (or perhaps a figuring-out-who-the-villain-is post). My writing projects tend to start with a strongly felt character/voice or scene, and then I have to go looking for a plot — sometimes easily found, sometimes … not.
Quiz question: Lois McMaster Bujold has said that the way she finds plots for character-driven novels is (I’m paraphrasing) to figure out what’s the worst thing she ...
Posted by Justine at 19:57, January 5th, 2009 under Ideas, Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Writing process |
Malcolm Tredinnick Says:
Picking a point of view and how you learnt to work with the different types would be something I’d be interested to hear about. As a reader, I kind of know when the point of view works for the story and when it doesn’t, but I don’t really know how consciously writers make the choice or how you do it.
Hmmm, a tricky one first up. Curses!
I think I may have mentioned that for most of my writing life i.e since I was five and first started, I wrote short stories, not novels. I'd start many but not finish them. But I finished hundreds of short stories. None of them were much good as stories, but ...
Posted by Justine at 4:03, January 2nd, 2009 under Liar Book, Magic or Madness trilogy, Next novel, Writing process |
Posted by Justine at 5:19, December 26th, 2008 under Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, Mangosteens, Praising, Reading, Sport, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, December 2nd, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Publishing business, State of the World, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 23rd, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Publishing business, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 12th, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Vainglory, Viewing |
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 |
Lately, I've been receiving a slew of lovely fan letters mostly about HTDYF but also about the trilogy. More than I've ever received before. Thank you so much.
I'm really sorry I haven't replied yet. Right now there are more than three thousand emails in my inbox. And lots and lots and lots of other more pressing matters---you know, the kind that pay bills---have to be dealt with before I can get to the non-urgent email. Please forgive me.
Obviously I'm not very good at managing my time, but I'm working on it. I will get to your letters I just don't know when. Please bear with me.
In the meantime, I remain committed to blogging every day. So if all else fails ...
Posted by Justine at 0:39, September 5th, 2008 under Excuses, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy |
Posted by Justine at 18:05, August 27th, 2008 under Admin, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy |
Posted by Justine at 20:50, July 23rd, 2008 under Admin, Bloggery, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, Writing goals & milestones |
Posted by Justine at 1:18, July 20th, 2008 under Fans & readers, Magic or Madness trilogy |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, April 30th, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
This is old news to many of you but I just found out that Scott and me are finalists for the Young Adult section of the
Locus Awards. And the woo hoos ring out across the Larbfeld world!
YOUNG ADULT BOOK
Extras, Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK)
The H-Bomb Girl, Stephen Baxter (Faber & Faber)
Magic's Child, Justine Larbalestier (Penguin Razorbill)
Powers, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt; Gollancz)
Un Lun Dun, China Miéville (Ballantine Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
Quite the strong list, eh? Being on a shortlist with Ursula Le Guin makes me feel faint. Let me fan myself a moment. ...
Posted by Justine at 16:01, April 28th, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Look what I saw in an actual bookshop, RavensBuch in Friedrichshafen! Isn't it gorgeous?:
Yup, it's the German version of Magic or Madness. It's even more beautiful in real life. Sigh. The book next to mine (the yellow one) is by John Marsden. Two Aussies together in Germany. I've been stunned by how many Aussie books I've been seeing in translation on our travels. Oodles of them by the likes of Trudi Canavan, Sara Douglass, Sonya Hartnett, John Marsden, Garth Nix, Marcus Zusak etc., etc. World domination!
Speaking of Germany. Random House Deutschland has just made an offer for How to Ditch Your Fairy. A very enthusiastic offer and they'll be publishing it in hardcover. I am very happy. I ...
Posted by Justine at 6:18, April 13th, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Travelling, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 16:27, April 9th, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Travelling |
Posted by Justine at 12:35, March 4th, 2008 under Bloggery, Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, January 16th, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Mangosteens, Whingeing, Writing life, Young Adult literature |
All three volumes of the
Magic or Madness trilogy will be out in Germany in the next few months. Here's what they look like:
These may well be my favourites out of all
the trilogy's covers.
Talk about eye-catching! She even looks a little bit like I imagined Reason looking. Though the nose is wrong, the face too narrow, and Reason doesn't have facial tats or elf ears or blue-black hair and eyes . . . details, details.
Here's the first page in German:
Posted by Justine at 0:00, January 11th, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, December 31st, 2007 under First Kiss, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Last Day of the Year, Love is Hell, Magic or Madness trilogy, Writing goals & milestones |
This is the Brazilian version of Magic or Madness. Quite a contrast to all the other versions, eh? I likes it.
Here are the four other covers ((Apparently I'll be seeing the Thai and German versions before too long.)):
US & Oz; Italian; French; Taiwanese.
I'm not sure which ones I like best. What do youse reckon?
Posted by Justine at 13:28, November 21st, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
If you're in San Francisco, Seattle, or New York City you can find signed copies of my books here:
Borderlands
866 Valencia St
San Francisco
415.824.8203
They not only have the Magic or Madness trilogy but also Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction and Daughters of Earth
Books Inc Opera Plaza
601 Van Ness
San Francisco
415-776-1111
All For Kids
2900 N.E. Blakeley Street
Seattle
206.526.2768
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
New York
212-989-3270
If you're hankering for a signed copy of one of my books but don't live anywhere near those shops---they all do mail order.
And because I'm curious how many of you like to have all your favourite books signed by the author? Do any of you collect signed books even if you've not read the book in question?
Posted by Justine at 13:12, October 28th, 2007 under Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, Daughters of Earth, Magic or Madness trilogy |
Posted by Justine at 13:58, October 25th, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Fans & readers, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Young Adult literature |
In my previous life I was an academic. Not a very successful or prolific one. I spent four and a half years researching and writing my PhD thesis, while on a scholarship and doing paid-by-the-hour teaching (what's known in the US as being a TA) as well as IT support. After that I was awarded a three-year post-doctoral fellowship that my university extended for nine months. In that time I wrote and published one book,
The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, and edited a collection of stories and essays,
Daughters of Earth as well as writing a bunch of essays and papers (and on the sly I wrote
short stories and a ...
Posted by Justine at 11:10, August 27th, 2007 under Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, Daughters of Earth, Excuses, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy |
Posted by Justine at 10:32, August 21st, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, State of the World |
I know I said blogging about writerly achievements is tedious but I have to share when my books are translated. That's not a writer skiting thing; it's a publishing geek thing.
I love seeing what books are called in other markets. In this case Magic or Madness, the first book of the Magic or Madness trilogy, becomes
The Revelation, book one of the Blood of the Witch trilogy.
Dark Magic is the name of the imprint. Also published on that list is none other than Margaret Mahy (!). Quite possibly the world's finest living YA writer (along with Diana Wynne Jones). Not too shabby company, eh?
But what's with the cat on the cover? There are no (living) cats ...
Posted by Justine at 0:01, August 14th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
So, um, I seem to have won three awards this year. I know! I was as shocked as you. Anyways, I thought it might be fun to have a squiz at 'em. For annoying scheduling reasons I managed not to be at any of the award ceremonies so I've only just got my hands on two of them and have yet to see the third. It's back home in Sydney being babysat by my parents (thanks Jan and John!).
Here's the Susan Koppelman (thanks for accepting it for me, Brian):
Photo by Scott Westerfeld
The Norton (thanks, Eloise):
Photo by Scott Westerfeld
And the William Atheling (thanks, Sean):
Photo by Niki Bern
Contrast in awards ...
Posted by Justine at 1:40, July 12th, 2007 under Daughters of Earth, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 9:14, June 28th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Whingeing, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 22:24, June 9th, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Magic or Madness trilogy, Travelling, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 15:31, June 5th, 2007 under Admin, Magic or Madness trilogy |
I appear to have won an Andre Norton Award for the first book in the Magic or Madness trilogy. Someone pinch me!
This is super amazing because:
The
books on the shortlist with Magic or Madness are absolutely fantastic.
It means I'm in the very tiny club of Norton Award winners with the brilliant Holly Black who won the inaugural award last year for Valiant.
I've won an award named in honour of one of the
most important writers of young adult fantasy books. How cool is that?
Now when I'm described as an award-winning author it's true!
Here's the speech that Eloise Flood who published and edited the trilogy (as well as Scott's Peeps and Maureen's Devilish, which ...
Posted by Justine at 2:20, May 13th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Off to Paris today. I'm not sure what my intramanet access will be like while there, plus I'll be busy, so I figured I'd best leave you with a slightly meaty post given as I'm not sure when I'll be posting again.
For your delectation some thoughts on the efficacy of spreadsheets for novel writing:
A while back I posted a tongue-in-cheek guide on
how to write a novel in which I suggested using a spreadsheet. I'm still getting letters from folks telling me what a revelation that was, how it's transformed the way they write, solved all their plotting problems, and made their teeth whiter.
And I'm still coming across comments from those who are appalled and outraged ...
Posted by Justine at 13:20, April 30th, 2007 under Bloggery, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, Writing process |
Posted by Justine at 0:05, April 21st, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Very flaky internet access---the wifi keeps dropping to one bar so I'm keeping this short. Also I don't seem to be able to reply to emails, but I'll be back in NYC by Saturday and will catch up then. If it's urgent call me on the mobile.
We're doing two more Texas appearances.
Details here. Come say hi.
Also I'm getting a lot of people asking me the same questions about the ending of the trilogy so I've started a
SPOILER FAQ over here [scroll down]. If you have questions about the trilogy that aren't already answered you can ask them on
the comments thread over there and I will respond. But please don't ask spoiler questions ...
Posted by Justine at 23:59, April 15th, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Magic or Madness trilogy, Travelling |
Courtesy of
Marrije, I now know what happens to Reason after the Magic or Madness trilogy:
She's now working advertising coffee in the Netherlands!
See the eerie resemblance?
It's a huge relief to me to know that at least one of my characters is not going to starve just because I've stopped writing about them. Phew!
Posted by Justine at 9:40, April 9th, 2007 under Frippery, Magic or Madness trilogy |
Posted by Justine at 9:38, April 4th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Publishing business |
Right now there are not one but two competitions to win a copy of Magic's Child.
Go to
Diana Peterfreund's blog and make a comment and you're in the running. She promises that she will ship the book anywhere in the world. I signed it and all! Or you can to the
Teenreadstoo site to win a copy. The intermanets are positively dripping with free copies of Magic's Child!
Posted by Justine at 22:16, April 3rd, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy |
Posted by Justine at 14:23, April 2nd, 2007 under Daughters of Earth, Magic or Madness trilogy |
Posted by Justine at 13:05, April 1st, 2007 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, Sydney/Australia, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 12:58, March 29th, 2007 under Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liar Book, Magic or Madness trilogy |
John Joseph Adams doesn't quite have the full set (that would be Scott who's not done his bit---he's too busy writing Extras) but here are his interviews with the other Norton nominees:
Maureen Johnson who's nominated for Devilish
me for Magic or Madness
Susan Beth Pfeffer for Life as we knew it
Megan Whalen Turner for King of Attolia
Pending: Scott Westerfeld for Touching Darkness and Peeps
I finally took a break from inhaling manga to inhale Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life as we knew it. Wow. I'll admit I'm fond of post-apocalypse books to start with, but this is a decidely superior example. I read it in one sitting. Could not put it down. Go forth and read! My only complaint: ...
Posted by Justine at 12:20, March 27th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Manga, New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Scott's books, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
I just received a lovely letter from a fan saying they'd just finished reading Magic's Child (that was quick!) loved it and now want to know what to read next. They want something that will give them the same "glowy" feeling. *Blush*
Now because I wrote the trilogy I feel really weird saying what books I think are similar. Might make it look like I'm writing tickets on myself and my trilogy. So can you help out my fan? What books would you recommend as a follow up to my trilogy? Preferably books that are readily available.
Thanks!
Posted by Justine at 8:58, March 24th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Reading, Young Adult literature |
This comes from Jennifer Laughran at Books Inc in San Franciso who reports:
It's on the register! And we've already sold two in the five mins its been out of the box!!!!!!!!
Woo hoo!!!!
Now since Jennifer works at a book shop I thinks it's only fair that I keep the prize open. So if you don't work in a book shop and you're the first to send me a piccie of my book out in the wild there's a signed Magic's Child and matching book marks just for you.
But you'll still get your prize, Jennifer. You were first first.
Posted by Justine at 16:18, March 23rd, 2007 under Fans & readers, Magic or Madness trilogy |
Shashi Tharoor has written a
wry op ed piece for the New York Times on the World Cup and how Americans are oblivious to what is preoccupying a billion plus folks at the moment. It ends thus:
In any event, nothing about cricket seems suited to the American national character: its rich complexity, the infinite possibilities that could occur with each delivery of the ball, the dozen different ways of getting out, are all patterned for a society of endless forms and varieties, not of a homogenized McWorld. They are rather like Indian classical music, in which the basic laws are laid down but the performer then improvises gloriously, unshackled by anything so mundane as a written score.
Cricket ...
Posted by Justine at 9:20, March 23rd, 2007 under Cricket, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 0:16, March 23rd, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Writing goals & milestones |
For the next month, there's an ad for Magic's Child up on
Locus online. Tis my very first one and I'm dead excited. Ordinarily, I can't stand ads but somehow it's different when it's an ad for one of my books. That makes me want to pat it and sing it songs. Lovely, lovely ad. Designed by the fabulous Courtney Wood who also made those beautiful screensavers which you can now download from the links in the sidebar.
There is now a cover for the Science Fiction Book Club's 3-in-1 version of my trilogy. It's called The Magic or of Reason.
In other vainglorious news, the
Hathor Legacy likes Daughters of Earth, describing it as ...
Posted by Justine at 11:35, March 22nd, 2007 under Bloggery, Cricket, Daughters of Earth, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Praising, Sport, Vainglory |
If you're around the fair city of New York in the Manhattan vicinity on Saturday, you might consider wending your way to the fabulous Books of Wonder children's book shop where me and some other writers for teens will be talking about our stuff. We will even sign books for those who desire it:
Saturday, 24 March 2007, Noon to 2PM
Great Teen Reads
Lisa Barnham, Olivia Birdsall, Celeste Conway,
Justine Larbalestier,
Lauren Myracle and
Margo Rabb
Books of Wonder
18 W. 18th St
New York, NY
I met Olivia Birdsall last night (thanks for putting us in touch, Kelly!) and I can vouch that she is decidely witty. I have never met Lauren Myracle but her wit is legendary and New York Times ...
Posted by Justine at 13:12, March 20th, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA |
Reason Cansino, the protag of my Magic or Madness trilogy, is somewhat of a mathematical prodigy, but she pales in comparison to
Terence Tao:
By age two, he had learned to read. At 9, he attended college math classes. At 20, he finished his Ph.D.
Now 31, he has grown from prodigy to one of the world's top mathematicians.
. . .
"I always liked numbers," he said.
A 2-year-old Terry Tao used toy blocks to show older children how to count. He was aquick with language and used the blocks to spell words like "dog" and "cat."
. . .
At age 5, he was enrolled in a public school, and his parents, adminstrators and teachers set up an individualized program for him. He ...
Posted by Justine at 15:41, March 13th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Science, State of the World, Sydney/Australia |
Now available for your delectation: gorgeous
Magic's Child screensavers complete with animated butterflies. I just tested it and it made me squeal with happiness. It comes in mac and pc flavours. Happy sigh. Thank you, Courtney Wood, for all your hard work!
What better way to celebrate the final book in the Magic or Madness trilogy's arrival (just eleven more days) then to have pretty butterflies flutter across your computer screen?
And now I will return to my manga binge. I gave myself a much deserved (truly!) holiday: I went out and gathered up armloads of delicious manga and now I'm reading it. Why, oh why, did I only get the first four volumes of Monster?! What was I thinking? Everyone ...
Posted by Justine at 17:43, March 12th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Manga, Praising, Reading, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 9:17, March 9th, 2007 under Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Scott's books, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
