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It is now TEN WHOLE YEARS since I became a freelance writer.
I know, right? How did that happen? Ten years!
And one more time because truly my disbelief is high:
I HAVE BEEN A FULL-TIME, FREELANCE WRITER FOR TEN WHOLE YEARS.
I know it's also April Fool's day but I truly did begin this novel-writing career of mine on the 1st of April. What better day to do something so very foolish? Back in 2003, having sold only
one short story, I took the plunge.
The first year did not go AT ALL well, but since then it's mostly worked out.
Here is my traditional
anniversary post writing and publishing stats:
Books sold: 9: One non-fiction tome, two anthologies (one co-edited ...
Posted by Justine at 9:12, April 1st, 2013 under Freelance Anniversary, New York City/USA, Praising, Publishing business, Sydney novel, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones, Writing life |
Yesterday the prime minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, gave a stirring, passionate and inspiring speech about misogyny and sexism in the Australian parliament and in particular the misogyny and sexism of the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott:
Posted by Justine at 13:56, October 10th, 2012 under Feminism, Praising, Ranting, State of the World, Sydney/Australia |
The last three weddings I attended were heterosexual. At each hopes for marriage equality were expressed and the audience applauded.
In Australia pro marriage equality sentiments are polling at more than 60%. In the USA it's now over 50%. It's all happening much faster than I thought it would and I'm glad. There are many places in the world where same-sex marriage is legal. I truly did not think I would see that in my lifetime.
I want everyone to be able to marry if they want to. And just as importantly if they think marriage is an antiquated institution of social control then they should be able to say, "Hell, no! I don't need no stinking government or church ...
Posted by Justine at 9:42, September 17th, 2012 under Praising, State of the World |
My last post may have given the impression that I am not a fan of rewriting. So not true! I loves it.
For me the first draft is the least fun because I’m never quite sure I have a novel until there’s a complete draft. The Sekrit Project is the first solo novel I've finished since 2008 so finishing this year was a HUGE RELIEF. I honestly wasn't sure if I would. If I knew how to write novels anymore. That made the first draft---even the most fun times of writing it---stressful.
So no matter how unfun some parts of the rewriting process are I have none of that anxiety: because I have a manuscript. I mean, yes, it's a less ...
Posted by Justine at 8:34, September 14th, 2012 under Praising, Sydney novel, Vainglory, Writing life, Writing process |
Went for a long walk yesterday through Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Rushcutters Bay. It's spring here and almost everywhere smelt like jasmine. ((
Sorry, Margo, but it truly did.)) The sounds weren't quite as lovely. Spring seems to be the season of renovations in Paddington so the hills were alive with the sound of jackhammers. That and really pissed off birds. One of which shat right in front of me: had I been a fraction faster . . . splat of eww on my head. ((No, I don't care that it's meant to be good luck.))
Mostly I was thinking about Sekrit Project, which I've been rewriting since THE DAWN OF TIME and seems to be getting no closer to as ...
Posted by Justine at 12:25, September 13th, 2012 under Ideas, Listening, Praising, Sydney novel, Whingeing, Writing life, Writing process |
Me and Scott took the day off last week to go to the movies. I cannot remember the last time we did that. Sat down in an actual cinema with actual other people and watched a movie. It was a great audience. We mocked the Australian-Mining-Will-Save-the-Environment ad together. Then we laughed and cried and cheered our way through
The Sapphires.
The Sapphires restored my faith in movies. I was on the verge of sticking to TV and never bothering with movies again. The Sapphires pulled me back from that brink. I walked out of that cinema elated and happy and almost a week later the feeing hasn't worn off yet.
For those not in Australia, The Sapphires is a ...
Posted by Justine at 16:27, August 13th, 2012 under Praising, Ranting, Sydney/Australia, Viewing |
A friend of mine, a librarian and blogger and reviewer, has had a handful of authors attack her because she wrote what they considered to be bad reviews of their books. ((Mostly, of course, these were not bad reviews but more like three-star, has-some-good-points-has-some-bad-points kind of reviews.)) She did not enjoy it.
This is not an isolated incident. Reviewers have had authors dummy spit ((USians: look it up! You are online. You can find out the meaning of any unfamiliar word or phrase in heartbeat. Embrace this gorgeous future we live in.)) at them, sic their fans on them, and generally make them wonder why they're bothering to write reviews.
What can bloggers do when wrathful authors and their hordes descend up ...
Posted by Justine at 8:20, August 13th, 2012 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Praising, Ranting, Writing life |
As I may have mentioned, once or twice, I recently finished the first draft of my Sekrit Project novel. And, yay verily, I was full of joy. There was dancing. Bouncing. Happiness and even more joy.
After the joy I spent a few days tinkering with it, fixing the egregiously rubbishy bits, adding things that needed adding, moving chapters around. As you do.
Then I sent it off to my wondrous, fabulous, worth-more-than-their-weight-in-mangosteens-and-other-precious-things first readers.
Then I kicked back and watched loads of Olympics and blogged and did many things that have nothing to do with Sekrit Project. And there was more joy.
After a week there was still some joy on account of OLYMPICS OH HOW I LOVE THE OLYMPICS but there ...
Posted by Justine at 12:20, August 8th, 2012 under Praising, Sport, Sydney novel, Writing goals & milestones, Writing process |
When I talk with women friends about sexual harassment it turns out that we've all experienced it at some point. But almost none of us have ever reported it. I have never been raped but I have friends who have been. None of them reported it.
The women who do report their rapes often say that it was like being raped all over. They were made to feel like they were the criminal, interrogated about what they wore, how they behaved, how they "provoked" the attack. Somehow the assault must have been their fault. Many say that if they could have a do over they would not report it.
Many of us no longer go to certain places---night clubs, friend's places, science ...
Posted by Justine at 8:13, August 6th, 2012 under Feminism, Praising, Ranting, State of the World |
Yesterday I did my first school visits in Sydney. ((Actually, they were my first visits as an author to any school in Australia. That's because for the duration of my writing career I have mostly been in Australia during the summer when schools are not in session.)) I went to Willoughby Girls High and Ravenswood Girls School on the North Shore. ((Or as we inner city types think of it Here Be Dragons.)) I was dreading it as I always am when I have to speak in front of people I don't know. Why can't I stay home and write?! Waaah! I hate public speaking! I hate school visits! Etc.
But then, as always, I got to Willoughby Girls High ...
Posted by Justine at 8:16, July 26th, 2012 under Book tour, Cons & Other Gatherings, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Writing life |
Yesterday I listed some of my favourite recent US TV shows. It got me wondering what your favourite shows are and why? Because I'm just about to finish the first season of Legend of Korra and will have to find something else to watch that's every bit as wonderful.
I only noticed that I watch completely different kinds of TV in Australia than I do in the US. Here in Australia I watch lots of non-fiction: Australian Story, Four Corners, pretty much all the cooking shows, lots of sport, Rockwiz. Stuff like that. My US shows as listed yesterday are mostly fiction, genius shows like The Wire and Deadwood.
So what are you watching wherever in the world you are? Yes, ...
Posted by Justine at 8:10, July 25th, 2012 under New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Viewing |
But I would sell my soul for any one of my books to be turned into a Hollywood TV show.
US TV is in a golden age. How many shows are there on right now that I enjoy? Let me see: Legend of Korra, Scandal, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Revenge, Louis, Bunheads, Justified, Nurse Jackie, Community and I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of. Do I think they are all perfect? As diverse as I would like them to be? Not hardly. But they are a million times better than any recent Hollywood movie. Frankly, even formulaic TV like Drop Dead Diva ((My secret vice or it would be if I kept it secret. What? I love Margaret ...
Posted by Justine at 8:57, July 24th, 2012 under New York City/USA, Praising, Ranting, Scott's books, Viewing |
I hear this is a big deal over in the US of A. Given that many of my readers are from there and that I myself am now also a citizen of your fine country---dual nationalities for the win!---I thought I should blog in a USian way or about the USA on your day of celebrating being a nation. ((It is still the fourth of July there even though we Australians have already moved on to the fifth of July.))
First I thought why don't I tell you everything I think is wrong with that mighty nation. But given that I haven't even been USian for a whole year it seems a bit premature. It's all very well for me ...
Posted by Justine at 0:37, July 5th, 2012 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, New York City/USA, Praising |
StreetAngel has done it again. In fact, she is producing a
whole week's worth of fanart to celebrate Team Human landing on 2-3 July. ((Depending on whether you're in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the USA. I have heard rumours that some copies have already been sighted in the wild.))
I am beside myself. These are so lovely and full of so many details from the books and oh! I know, I know, I am very daggy about fan art. It's just
so new for me to have any.
I have placed the art below the cut because I know some of you want no spoilers no matter how tiny. For the rest of you---feast your eyes!
Posted by Justine at 9:05, June 29th, 2012 under Fan art, Fans & readers, Praising, Team Human, Writing life |
Since a few of you expressed mild interest in the speech I gave at
Sirens in October last year I thought I would share it with you. The theme was monsters and my speech involved me showing many monstrous images. Yes, that's my disclaimer, I wrote this to be spoken to a real life audience with funny pictures and the funny may not work so well without the kind and appreciative live audience. Or something. *cough*
Here it is:
Monsters I Have Loved
Ideas = Brain Monkeys According to Maureen Johnson
Like every other writer ever I get asked “where do you get your ideas” a lot. Today I thought instead of answering that question in the ...
Posted by Justine at 7:02, May 31st, 2012 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Fans & readers, Feminism, Ideas, Ironical (This is Writ), Listening, New York City/USA, Praising, Ranting, Reading, State of the World, Sydney/Australia, Travelling, Viewing, Writing life, Writing process |
Cassandra Clare has written an important piece called
Rape Myths, Rape Culture and the Damage Done. If you haven't read it already you really should. Be warned: she discusses much which is deeply upsetting.
What I want to briefly comment on here is the notion that to write about rape or war or any other terrible thing is to automatically condone it. Cassie writes:
[T]he most important point to be made here is that to depict something is not to condone it. This is a mistake that is made all the time by people who you would think would know better. Megan Cox Gurdon in the Wall Street Journal,
for instance, excoriated YA books for being too dark, zoning in ...
Posted by Justine at 13:27, May 22nd, 2012 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Feminism, Praising, Ranting, Writing life, Young Adult literature |
Team Human has its first piece of fan art and it hasn't even been published yet! I am beside myself with excitement. Seriously, I screamed when
Sarah Rees Brennan tweeted it.
Unlike many of my YA author friends, my books do not attract a lot of fan art. It would be more accurate to say that they attract almost no fan art at all. Seriously click on the
fan art category for this blog and see how little there is. Now go over to Scott's blog and check out his
Fan Art Fridays. Or check out the paucity on
deviantART. ((Not that I do that and not that I weep salty tears when I don't do that.))
I've put it below the cut because it's spoilery and if you're anything like me you don't want to read anything that might even possibly lead to the vague chance of spoilification. So really don't look at it!
Posted by Justine at 9:10, April 29th, 2012 under Fan art, Fans & readers, Praising, Team Human, Whingeing |
This is
my annual post where I sum up what happened in my professional life in that year and look ahead to what's going to happen in 2012. I do this so I can have a handy record that I can get to in seconds. (Hence the "last day of the year" tag.)
This was not a fabulous year for me but it was a whole lot worse for so many other people around the world that whingeing would be tacky. I'll focus on the good:
Finally, finally, finally we were able to announce,
Sarah Rees Brennan and I, that we wrote a book together, Team Human, ...
Posted by Justine at 11:02, December 31st, 2011 under 1930s NYC novel, Food, Garden, Last Day of the Year, Praising, RSI, Team Human, Whingeing, Writing goals & milestones, Writing life, Writing process, Zombies v Unicorns |
A question for you, dear readers: what are your favourite long-running series?
Mine is probably Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins series. Because it got better and better with each book. The characters and the world grew. It never felt like Mosley was churning them out for a buck. They more than stand up to rereading.
To define my terms: I consider a series long-running if it has six or more books in it. A series can tell one continuous story like Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond books or have same character(s) but different stories in each book.
So what are your favourites? And why?
Posted by Justine at 8:27, April 26th, 2010 under Praising, Reading |
One of the results of
my recent injury, which has meant that I spend no more than four hours at my computer each day, is that I've been reading a tonne more. Here are some jetlagged thoughts, without any spoilers, on stuff (of all genres, not just YA) what I have read and loved recently: ((My apologies for how bad that sentence is. And for the bad ones which follow.))
Battle Royale Koushun Takami: Do not read this book if high school students murdering each other in graphic detail appalls you. And let's be frank, it should appall you. I'm appalled that I was not appalled. But then I kind of like boxing too so clearly I have no ...
Posted by Justine at 8:23, April 12th, 2010 under 1930s NYC novel, Praising, Reading |
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 |
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.
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 in February. 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 blogger is
Baby Power Dyke whose blog I discovered last year and instantly fell in love with. She's rude, smart and funny. We have shared crushes on Rachel Maddow and Melissa Harris-Lacewell. So, clearly, she has excellent tase. She is my kind of a gal. ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, February 25th, 2010 under Guest post, New York City/USA, Praising, Ranting, State of the World |
First a confession: I love
Sir Kingsley Amis. That's why the heading of this post says "Kingsley & I" rather than "Kingsley & me" (which is my preference cause I reckon it sounds better) but not old Kingsley, he was a sucker for good grammar. ((He would be appalled by my grammar, spelling, and punctuation skills. Or lack thereof. Sorry, Kingsley.)) I does not wish to offend him. ((Though I do feel free to use his first name. I guess I've been reading him for so long I feel that we are now mates. A very safe feeling what with him being dead and all.))
I love Kingsley Amis for so many reasons. Because he's dead funny, because he wrote ...
Posted by Justine at 22:08, January 31st, 2010 under Liquids, Praising, Reading |
My romance reading project continues and I realise that I haven't explained what the project is. Very remiss of me! A few of the many books I'm writing at the moment are romances. I'm using that term very broadly to mean not just the publishing genre, but pretty much any book in which the romance between two or more characters is a big part of the overall story. To put it in fandom terms, I guess I'm talking about the kinds of stories that lend themselves to shipping.
For a long while now I've been aware that writing romance is not my strong point. While I love many of them as a reader, somehow I'm not quite able to write that ...
Posted by Justine at 22:57, January 15th, 2010 under Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
I recently read House of Mirth by Edith Wharton for the first time and I was gutted. Unlike, most USians, who've at least some inkling of what to expect from a Wharton book I had zero expectations or, rather, zero correct expectations. Wharton is not nearly so well known here as she is in her native country. Those Aussies who do know Wharton tend to know her from the Hollywood adaptations of her novels. I have managed to see none of them. So, I went in to the House of Mirth blind, like a lamb to the slaughter. Let me tell you: There was NO mirth.
I also went in kind of expecting her to be the USA's Jane Austen. I ...
Posted by Justine at 23:57, December 21st, 2009 under Praising, Reading |
Well, that was pure unalloyed pleasure. Though I wish I'd written this post immediately after finishing Persuasion, rather than now, when I'm still in post traumatic stress from having just read House of Mirth for the first time. ((More on that in another post. Complete with a detailed description of just how hard I wish to shake Selden and Lily Bart. Aaargh!))
Heh hem. Persuasion. Love it. Remains my favourite Jane Austen. With Pride & Prejudice only slightly behind. As I'm doing all this (re)reading in order to think about romance and heroines let's start there.
The Romance: This books seethes. It's full of glances, almost everything between Anne & Wentworth is unspoken. Until they get to Bath that is, ...
Posted by Justine at 18:43, December 20th, 2009 under Praising, Reading |
Well, that was a long break, wasn't it? I return refreshed and ready to resume blogging activities.
First boring admin: I have yet to tackle my mail, given all the totally urgent work on my plate, I won't get to it until the new year. Resend if urgent. I do try to answer all mail so if I still don't answer in January could be my spam filters ate it.
And now
some commentary over at the
Misfits' Book Club on the new covers of
E. Lockhart's Ruby Oliver books. It made me really happy for two reasons:
It's a very interesting discussion of covers. I've been working on a big fat post about covers for a while now. ...
Posted by Justine at 18:36, December 16th, 2009 under Admin, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
I have fallen in love with yet another city. Istanbul is glorious. We have met with our lovely agent here, Asli Ermiş, who took us to meet our publishers, Omer Yenici at
Epsilon (who will be publishing Leviathan) and Ilgin Toydemir at
Artemis (who will be publishing Liar and already publish Midnighters). They in turn took us out for fabulous lunches.
In Istanbul we have eaten.
A lot.
First course at
Borsa restaurant.
A baklava shop, which sells many sweet and wondrous things. Yes, we bought and we ate.
The Egyptian spice market....
Posted by Justine at 5:54, December 11th, 2009 under Excuses, Food, Praising, Publishing business, Travelling |
Today (yesterday) I had my last school events of the Liar tour at Joliet West High School and Glenbard South High School in the outer suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. The students at both schools were amazing and asked many smart, engaged, funny questions. It was a total pleasure to meet you all. Thank you.
In other news
Cristina Hernadez posted her midterm project for her painting class on her blog and I was so impressed I asked if I could share it with you here. Remember, Cristina? She's the one who photoshopped a very
disturbing version of Maureen Johnson's Suite Scarlett.
Here's her midterm painting:
Wow, huh? Cristina also had to write an essay about the painting and I ...
Posted by Justine at 3:10, November 5th, 2009 under Book tour, Ideas, Liar, Love is Hell, Praising, Writing process |
Today Louisville's Courier-Journal has a most excellent article
about adults reading YA by Erin Keane. I don't just say that because I was interviewed for it, but because the article is smart and non-sensationalist, and includes some actual facts:
Young adult fiction's appeal has grown way beyond the school library. What was once considered entertainment for kids has become big business for adults, who are increasingly turning to the children's section for their own reading pleasure, according to publishing experts.
Nielsen's BookScan predicted U.S. book sales will remain flat this year, but amid this industry slump, sales of young-adult titles are expected to continue to rise. It's not only teenagers who are browsing the shelves
There's no hint of panic about this ...
Posted by Justine at 12:35, October 27th, 2009 under New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
In the last few weeks I've spent an inordinate amount of time talking about the writing of Liar and making much use of
jigsaws as a metaphor to describe said writing. Turns out that Margaret Drabble has also been thinking long and hard about jigsaw puzzles---longer and harder than me, truth be told--- ((Though can truth be told when I'm discussing Liar?)) and has written a whole book on the subject: The Pattern In The Carpet, which I am now longing to read.
You all need to listen to this
interview with Margaret Drabble about her personal history with jigsaws. Romana Koval is one of my favourite interviewers and the whole thing is utterly delightful from start ...
Posted by Justine at 19:37, October 26th, 2009 under Book tour, Liar, Listening, Praising |
Today I blogged
over here. Those of you who've been wondering about the process of writing Liar might find it interesting.
Today I prepare for my appearance in
Larchmont tonight and the many appearances I'm doing next week in
Seattle and Portland. Then I'll be at the
Teen Lit Festival in Austin next Saturday. That's quite a temperature range. Packing's going to be fun!
For those of you who only read the posts and not the comments, you really need to check out the comments on the
White Writer Advantages thread and the
Hating Female Characters one. People are being astonishingly smart.
Posted by Justine at 13:23, October 16th, 2009 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Liar, New York City/USA, Praising, Writing process |
Today, as I'm sure you know, is the official release day of
Scott Westerfeld's latest novel,
Leviathan. I am completely biased about this book. As I am about Scott. He's my husband, my best friend, my first reader, my ally, my So Many Things. We read and critique every word each other writes. His books are my books and vice versa. So, um, you can totally grain-of-salt what I'm about to say.
I think this trilogy is the best YA Scott has written. ((I may be slightly jumping the gun because I've only read the first two books, Leviathan and Behemoth (which will be out this time next year).)) I've loved it ever since he first started talking about ...
Posted by Justine at 11:43, October 6th, 2009 under Praising, Scott's books |
Several months ago, the agent Kristin Nelson got in contact with me via my agent to ask if I would take a look at the debut novel of one of her clients with a view to blurbing it. I agreed to do so, mostly because I love
Nelson's blog, but warned that I rarely blurb cause I only do so when I'm excited about a book. I am picky.
But the book---
Megan Crewe's Give Up the Ghost---hit all my sweet spots. For starters it was a ghost story. I adore a good ghost story. Secondly, it wasn't the same old, same old ghost story. It surprised me. It was fresh, original and sweet and I cried when it ended. ...
Posted by Justine at 10:49, September 23rd, 2009 under Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
I have never ever wanted to learn to fly, yet
Sheri L. Smith's
Flygirl almost had me calling up flight schools. ((I suspect you need to know how to drive a car before you move on to planes. Not that I actually want to learn to fly or drive a car for that matter. Nasty smelly things.)) Ida Mae Jones lives to fly. So much so that she passes as a white woman in order to become a
WASP during World War II. The book is about race, class, gender, about friendship, obsession (for flying), love, and family.
Cut for mild spoilerage:
Posted by Justine at 13:12, September 8th, 2009 under New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
I has one.
Back in May I mentioned that I wanted one on account of all the elecronic documents I read. I tried reading on my iPhone but it did not work out: too small and awkward.
After talking to friends and hearing what youse lot think I wound up getting a Sony 505. While it's not perfect and lacks many features I want, ((It does not produce mangosteens whenever I want them or set off fireworks. Honestly!)) it's made a huge difference. While flying home to Sydney, I did not have to carry the usual 5 books in my backpack on top of the entire suitcase of books. All I carried was the eReader. My back thanks me. ...
Posted by Justine at 18:56, August 31st, 2009 under Admin, Praising, Reading |
Yes, I seem
to have become one of those birdwatching types. What of it?
rainbow lorikeets
sulphur crested cockatoos
crows
flying foxes
magpies
myna birds (alas)
spotted turtledove
pied currawong
noisy miner
white ibis
ducks (!)
pigeons
sea gulls
And a tiny little wee birdie smaller than the palm of my hand that I haven't been able to identify. Zips by too fast for me to even figure out what colour it is. I'd love to hear any suggestions as to what it might be. I am new to this birdwatching caper.
Here's this morning's sunrise:
First bird I heard this morning: rainbow lorikeet. They really do have the happiest-making calls.
Posted by Justine at 20:27, August 19th, 2009 under Praising, Sydney/Australia |
Since
everyone else is professing their love for
Strange Horizons and urging folks to support their
fund raising efforts I thought that I would jump on the band wagon. What can I say? I'm a sheep.
Like Scalzi and Nora,
my first fiction sale was to Strange Horizons way back in 2001. At the time I had been trying to sell one of my short stories for just about a gazillion years. I thought it would never happen. So I would love them for that alone. But that is not even close to the best thing about Strange Horizons I love it and read it because it is a breath of fresh air in the stale ...
Posted by Justine at 22:19, August 16th, 2009 under Praising, Writing goals & milestones |
My last week in NYC I was invited to visit the studio where the audio book of Liar was being recorded. Even though I had a gazillion million things to do I made sure to get there. I'm so glad I did. It was an amazing experience.
I'd never had my prose read out loud by a talented actor like Channie Waites before. It was a revelation. I know it's a cliche but she really did make my book come alive. Bits that I hadn't realised were funny, she rendered funny. (In a good way!) It was strange and wonderful and gave me chills. And as you can see I'm really struggling to articulate how incredible it felt to listen to ...
Posted by Justine at 2:44, August 12th, 2009 under Liar, New York City/USA, Praising |
Sometimes when people read a book of mine and tell me it reminds them of some other book, especially if I have not read that book, I get in a snit. I am well aware that this reflects very poorly upon me. Please don't judge. ((Well, not too harshly.)) So when I was told that Liar was reminiscent of
Jacqueline Woodson's If You Come Softly ((And I'm very embarrassed by this but I can't remember who told me.)) my first reaction was pursed lipped muttering to myself about the special petal-ness of Liar and how it's not like any other book ever. ((Which is utter rubbish. Any book that was not like any other book ever would be completely ...
Posted by Justine at 1:11, August 11th, 2009 under Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
As you've probably heard by now Liar is getting a new cover for its publication in October. ((No, it's not actually out yet.)) First Bloomsbury considered going with the Australian jacket of Liar and specifically with the black and red version you can see
here because that would be the easiest thing to do. The design already exists after all and the window to make the change was very narrow.
However, given the paucity of black faces on YA covers, and the intensity of the debate around the original Liar cover, Bloomsbury felt really strongly that a more representative approach was needed. Rather than using a stock photo, Bloomsbury went the whole hog and did a photo shoot. The ...
Posted by Justine at 17:41, August 6th, 2009 under Liar, Praising, State of the World |
I always forget how gorgeous Sydney is.
Having highs in the late teens/ early twenties celsius in the middle of winter is how it should be.
Saw my first flock of rainbow lorikeets at 8AM walking up the hill around the corner from the flat. I'm home, I thought.
Sometimes NYC being a very long way away is a truly marvellous thing. I feel my head clearing by the second.
There were mangosteens at the local grocery. If that's not a sign of goodness I don't know what is.
Posted by Justine at 1:51, July 29th, 2009 under Praising, Sydney/Australia |
Because I'm in transit, ((These two guest posts are timed to post while I'm travelling. If your comments get stuck in moderation you'll have to be patient. Sorry.)) I asked
Ari if she would step in for me today and tomorrow, and she kindly said yes. Thanks, Ari!
A little bit about Ari MissAttitude: I'm a teenager who loves to read, dance, laugh, listen to music and just live! I also love my fine brown skin =) I started my blog
Reading in Color because I would visit teen book blogs and I never saw reviews of books with poc (people of color). This frustrated me so I decided to start my own blog in an attempt to slightly ...
Posted by Justine at 7:24, July 27th, 2009 under Guest post, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Diana Peterfreund has a request:
Um, can someone help me with an anime rec? I watched one episode a long time ago and I can't remember what it was called but it was recommended to me.
It starts with a girl falling through the sky. then there are all these kids at a school --- they're angels, with little wings and halos. And they are cleaning up in a library that has what looks like a giant cocoon in it. And then you see inside the cocoon and the girl who was falling is inside of it.
Anyone know what series she's talking about?
And thanks everyone for all the
amazing anime recs. I can't wait to start watching. I'm particularly excited ...
Posted by Justine at 11:54, July 20th, 2009 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Praising, Viewing |
This year my favourite show is
Avatar . Scott and me watched all three seasons in a greedy one-week rush. Loved it, loved it, loved it. If you haven't seen it you really really should.
Ever since I've been wanting to watch something that hits the same spot. Thus far without a lot of success. Miyazake's films, which I adore, have some of the same feel, but I'm in the mood for a series, not a standalone movies. I want interesting world building, plots that make sense, strong female characters.
The last is particularly important to me. We've been watching
Death Note and while there's a lot I like about it, the main female character, Misa Amane, is absolutely ...
Posted by Justine at 13:43, July 18th, 2009 under Praising, Viewing |
Charles N. Brown was the publisher of Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field. He was well known throughout the SFF world for this love and support for the field and his enormous generosity.
I first met him at the 1993 World Fantasy Convention in Minneapolis ((I think. It was some time that year.)) when I was researching my PhD thesis. He was extremely enthusiastic about my research and gave me many leads and suggestions including inviting me to make use of his insanely extensive library in Oakland. His help was invaluable. He knew everyone and pretty much everything about SFF in the USA. We remained friends even after my defection to YA. My case is not ...
Posted by Justine at 14:21, July 13th, 2009 under New York City/USA, Praising, State of the World |
Sunday afternoons are meant to be lazy. It's like a law. Which you're not allowed to ignore even if you have a tonne of work to do.
So Scott and me went to visit
Lauren McLaughlin and meet her and Woofy's new baby, Adelina. She's a darling. We were there for more than three hours and she didn't cry once. Astonishing!
Here's Addie after being fed:
Isn't she a darling? (Who is that strange man in the background?)
In other news the stalker contest continues. Many excellent entries. If you want to enter do so
over there not here.
And now I must get back to work. Sadly . . .
Posted by Justine at 16:40, July 5th, 2009 under New York City/USA, Praising |
Posted by Justine at 15:54, July 1st, 2009 under New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
