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"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 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 18:47, December 25th, 2008 under Cricket, Food, Praising, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 0:02, December 24th, 2008 under New York City/USA, Next novel, Praising, Research |
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 17:11, December 15th, 2008 under Praising, Sydney/Australia, Whingeing |
Posted by Justine at 0:25, December 14th, 2008 under Bloggery, Fans & readers, Praising, Ranting, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, December 1st, 2008 under Fans & readers, Praising, Reading |
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 |
I have decided that I will do all future signings my way and ignore Scott's advice entirely. The only people who can tell me to hurry up when signing is whoever is running it. So there, Scott!
I hasten to add that crazy long signings are not a regular occurrence for me. They pretty much only happen at places like
NCTE or
TLA or on school visits. If I had lines like Scott gets routinely I would probably study how he gets through a line speedily while also managing to chat to those he's signing for. He is a master. He does in fifteen seconds what takes me a minute. ((This could be because he's a USian and I'm ...
Posted by Justine at 17:28, November 26th, 2008 under Cons & Other Gatherings, New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 16:33, November 15th, 2008 under Frippery, New York City/USA, Praising |
Posted by Justine at 14:53, November 8th, 2008 under New York City/USA, Praising, State of the World |
Posted by Justine at 1:00, November 6th, 2008 under Praising, Ranting, Unicorns, Zombies |
Posted by Justine at 1:00, November 3rd, 2008 under New York City/USA, Praising, State of the World |
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 |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, October 29th, 2008 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Praising, Travelling |
One of the biggest culture shocks for me as an Australian living (some of the time) in the USA is
voting. Every election year I've been here there have been
voter intimidation and
fraud scandals. Maybe I missed it, but that does not happen at home. Not every single election.
Seems to me that the aim in the US is to make voting as difficult as possible. Why? I don't get it. I've had friends disallowed to vote because the official said they had the wrong ID. It didn't exactly match the name on the voter rolls. As in, their driver's license had their middle name spelled out in full, "Rachel", but the voter roll had just ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, October 22nd, 2008 under New York City/USA, Praising, Ranting, State of the World, Sydney/Australia, Zombies |
Posted by Justine at 1:00, October 19th, 2008 under New York City/USA, Praising, State of the World |
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 12:54, October 15th, 2008 under Next novel, Praising, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 13:32, October 4th, 2008 under Praising, Viewing, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 14:08, October 3rd, 2008 under Book tour, Cons & Other Gatherings, How To Ditch Your Fairy, New York City/USA, Praising, Viewing, Whingeing |
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 |
Posted by Justine at 12:40, September 23rd, 2008 under Basketball, Cons & Other Gatherings, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liar Book, New York City/USA, Praising, Sport, Writing goals & milestones, Young Adult literature |
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 |
Steam + eucaplytus oil
It may not cure anything but, damn, it eases the symptoms.
You?
Posted by Justine at 9:28, September 1st, 2008 under Excuses, Praising |
Posted by Justine at 16:45, July 31st, 2008 under Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, July 27th, 2008 under Praising, Viewing |
Posted by Justine at 11:50, July 18th, 2008 under Praising, Reading, Viewing |
You know the homesickeness has gotten silly when you watch this lovely video what's been doing the rounds and making everyone smile and you burst into tears at the brief shot of Sydney . . .
Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from
Matthew Harding on
Vimeo.
Posted by Justine at 20:18, July 7th, 2008 under New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Viewing |
Atlanta Dream: 91; Chicago Sky: 84
The first win for the Atlanta Dream has made me very happy I can't imagine how thrilled the Dream fans are. They have had the longest losing streak (0-17) in WNBA history without actually being a bad team. Quite a few of those losses were thrillers. I know. I watched the game where the New York Liberty barely beat them.
I think it's astonishing and wonderful that more than 8,000 people have shown up for every one of those games even when they'd lost ten, fifteen, seventeen in a row. And now they have their first win. Woo hoo!! And w00t! It's good for Atlanta and it's good for the whole league. May it be ...
Posted by Justine at 21:52, July 5th, 2008 under Basketball, Praising, Sport |
Posted by Justine at 1:43, July 5th, 2008 under Praising, Viewing |
Posted by Justine at 14:18, July 2nd, 2008 under Praising, Publishing business, Reading, Sport, Travelling, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 7:13, July 2nd, 2008 under Bloggery, Praising, Young Adult literature |
There's a
fascinating article in The New Yorker, "The Itch" by
Atul Gawande. It's all about what causes itching, how we experience it, and what happens when it goes horribly wrong. HORRIBLY WRONG.
The case the article revolves around is so gross that I had to stop reading for awhile. Me, who is a connousieur of grossness, who is proud of
how gross my story in the First Kiss anthology is. And yet I feel compelled to share. Since I am a good person I will share after the cut.
WARNING: If you are easily grossed out DO NOT continue reading. If you have ever had shingles DO NOT continue reading. I am not kidding about this warning.
Posted by Justine at 12:59, June 27th, 2008 under Praising, Reading, Science, State of the World |
Posted by Justine at 12:18, June 2nd, 2008 under Liar Book, New York City/USA, Praising, Publishing business, Young Adult literature |
The best part of our recent trip was seeing ginormous
peregrine falcons swooping overhead:
Posted by Justine at 10:41, May 31st, 2008 under New York City/USA, Praising |
I have been noticing much skiting on the internets of late. "Oh look," says a blogger, "look what amazing Advanced Readers Copy I has been sent! Is mine, not yours. Hahahahahah!"
Well, now it's my turn. I has an ARC of
Margo Lanagan's first novel in years and years, Tender Morsels. I hugs it to my chest and will share with no one! Well, okay, I'll share what I thinks of it with you but not the actual ARC cause that's mine!
But before I get to actually, you know, read the delicious bookie which is calling to me---seriously, everything about it screams, READ ME!, from the gorgeous cover to the jacket copy to the fact that Margo Lanagan wrote it---I ...
Posted by Justine at 12:10, May 30th, 2008 under Liar Book, Praising, Ranting, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 9:27, May 24th, 2008 under Liar Book, Praising, Travelling |
Posted by Justine at 12:33, May 19th, 2008 under Listening, Praising, State of the World, Sydney/Australia |
When homesickness eats at me I listen to
podcasts. I listen to
news broadcasts,
talk shows, shows about
sport,
science,
design,
culture. I don't care just as long as I'm hearing voices from home.
One of the my favourites is
The Book Show ((Which I can't help thinking of by it's old name,"Books & Writing")). Ramona Koval's voice and sense of humour soothe me and the range of coverage is excellent: old books, new books, local books, o.s. books, books in translation, poetry, essays etc. etc. ((Though it'd be nice if there was more YA coverage. I keep waiting for the show devoted to all the Oz YA writers storming the world: ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, May 18th, 2008 under Listening, Praising, Reading, Sydney/Australia |
. . . Is USians what know zero about cricket writing about it.
Today's example comes from the New York Times and concerns
a novel that's been written about the Staten Island cricket club ((And apparently other things such as 9/11, family, politics, identity. That kind of stuff. Obviously, none of it as important as cricket.)) by one of the members, Joseph O'Neil. Here's my favourite bit:
That Mr O'Neill in his other life happens to be a novelist is a matter of indifference to most of his teammates. They're more interested in him as an accomplished batsman, a sure-handed fielder and a decent off-speed bowler.
Off-speed! Hahahahahahah! Perhaps they meant "
off-spin"? Or has the Staten ...
Posted by Justine at 12:13, May 17th, 2008 under Cricket, New York City/USA, Praising, Reading |
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 |
As usual I'm not going to mention the books that I didn't like because I don't want the authors to hunt me down and kill me. ((Or their family and agents.)) Writers are scary people.
I'm still on a bit of a crime binge. And have been reading a scary amount of adult books. Who'd've thunk there was some good books over on those shelves? Colour me, shocked.
So here are the novels:
The final book in
Denise Mina's Garrnethill trilogy, Resolution, was every bit as good as the other two. I have a major writing crush on Mina. She's amazing. I love the way she writes. I love it so much, in fact, that I typed out an entire chapter of ...
Posted by Justine at 0:18, May 6th, 2008 under Manga, Praising, Reading, Travelling |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, May 5th, 2008 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Praising, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
Posted by Justine at 10:46, May 3rd, 2008 under Praising, Publishing business |
Posted by Justine at 16:12, March 26th, 2008 under Liar Book, New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Travelling |
