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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 |
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 |
*If by "everywhere" I mean Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA, which, um, I do. Sorry, rest of the world.
Team Human is real! Team Human is out in the world! *bounce bounce bounce*
This morning (Australia time) we did a twitter chat about
Team Human and I can't quite believe this happened, but, well, there's proof. Our chat
#THchat trended worldwide!
How surreal is that? Thank you so much everyone for your participation and amusing questions. Yes, @colorlessblue, I promise I will add writing a bunyip book to my list. ((My list of books to write is really long. I make no guarantees I will get around to it.))
In ...
Posted by Justine at 11:49, July 4th, 2012 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Team Human, Vainglory |
You're going to have to excuse this post (and the crappy photo) but I can't help myself. A package just arrived from my wonderful Australian publisher, Allen & Unwin. It made me scream. In a good way.
This is what was in it:
That's the official
Children's Book Council of Australia short-listed book sticker and it's on Liar! And it's not a joke or an accident!
*Faints*
Um,
I may have mentioned that the CBCA awards have always been a huge deal for me. Ever since I was a tiny person. This really is a dream come true.
And on that cliched note ((Hey, they're cliches for a reason.)) I am off to ...
Posted by Justine at 12:15, April 20th, 2010 under Liar, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
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.
- - -
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 Freelance Anniversary, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones, Young Adult literature |
Because I just had a long discussion with some friends about what constitutes being crassly commercial I've decided now is the time to let you know where you can buy signed books of mine. What? Some people write and ask me that, you know. Also it's Sunday no one will notice me being crassly commercial.
I have scribbled on copies of my books in the following places in the US of A:
Austin
Book People
603 N. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78703
Chicago Area
B&N Skokie
55 Old Orchard Center
Skokie, IL
Anderson’s Bookshop
5112 Main St
Downers Grove, IL
Lake Forest Book Store
680 N. Western Ave.
Lake Forest, IL
Memphis
Davis-Kidd Booksellers
387 Perkins Ext
Memphis, TN
New York ...
Posted by Justine at 19:19, November 15th, 2009 under Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 2:22, June 27th, 2009 under Liar, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 14:45, June 14th, 2009 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Ideas, Liar, Vainglory, Writing life, Writing process |
Posted by Justine at 0:10, June 7th, 2009 under Liar, Publishing business, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 14:55, May 23rd, 2009 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liar, Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, April 12th, 2009 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Liar, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:11, February 19th, 2009 under Book tour, Cons & Other Gatherings, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory |
Yup, it's my annual what-I-did-this-year skiting post. I write these mostly for myself so I can easily keep track. Hence the
last day of the year category. Thus you are absolutely free to skip it. ((I would if I were you.))
This year was exceptional. I'm still pinching myself. My first Bloomsbury USA book, How To Ditch Your Fairy, was published and seems to be doing well. I was sent on my first book tour, which was fabulous. It's insane how much fun I had and how many fabulous schools, book shops and libraries I visited in California, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Thank you to everyone who came to see me while I was on the ...
Posted by Justine at 0:20, December 31st, 2008 under 1930s NYC novel, Book tour, First Kiss, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Last Day of the Year, Love is Hell, New York City/USA, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones, Writing life, Young Adult literature |
I've had a few folks write to me to ask where they can buy signed copies of my books. The answer is there are many many places. I was just on tour, see, and wherever I went I signed books. Even if you have zero interest in whether a book is signed or not these are all very fine bookshops that you should check out if you haven't already:
California:
Borderlands Books
866 Valencia St.
San Francisco CA 94110
Bonus: they have two gorgeous
Sphynx cats.
Kepler’s
1010 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA
The Storyteller
30 Lafayette Cir
Lafayette, CA
Copperfield’s Books
140 Kentucky St
Petaluma, CA
Books Inc.
601 Van Ness
San Francisco, CA
Michigan
Schuler Books & Music
3165 Alpine Ave
Walker, MI
Pooh’s Corner
Breton Village
1886 1/2 Breton Rd. S.E.
Grand ...
Posted by Justine at 9:05, November 30th, 2008 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 10:58, November 28th, 2008 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Praising, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, October 24th, 2008 under Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, New York City/USA, Travelling, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Many of you have been asking, "When is How To Ditch Your Fairy going to be published in Australia?" I apologise for not answering. For ages I did not know if it would be or not and then it sold and I was not allowed to tell you. But now I can!
How To Ditch Your Fairy will be published in Australia in late February by the fabulous
Allen & Unwin. That's right I am now published by the same house that publishes Ursula Dubosarsky, Margo Lanagan, Garth Nix, Penni Russon and Lili Wilkinson amongst many other fabulously wonderful Oz YA writers.
What's more A&U are not only publishing HTDYF, they're publishing the liar book too!
Keeping this news to myself has ...
Posted by Justine at 15:46, October 14th, 2008 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 12th, 2008 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Vainglory, Viewing |
I may have mentioned that
Leilani Mitchell of the
New York Liberty looks pretty much exactly how I imagined Charlie, the protag of How To Ditch Your Fairy, looking. And she's a point guard---just like Charlie! How perfect is that?
So here is a Leilani photo taken by Bruce Yeung to adorn the most recent reviews of HTDYF. ((I love this photo. How gorgeous is it that her coach, Patty Coyle, is taller than she is? Also that Leilani's so ready to get back into the game that Coyle has to hold her jersey to finish giving her the rest of the play.))
The first review is over at ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, July 19th, 2008 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Sport, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 12:05, May 12th, 2008 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Fashion, Frippery, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, May 5th, 2008 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Praising, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
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 10:32, April 1st, 2008 under Freelance Anniversary, Publishing business, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
Posted by Justine at 10:48, March 16th, 2008 under Fashion, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 12:35, March 4th, 2008 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Another review of
First Kiss (Then Tell) edited by Cylin Busby and here's my story's mention:
Hands down favorite for sheer grossness (it was so gross it was funny!) was Justine Larbalestier's "Pashin'", a tale of her friend's first kiss.
I am the grossest of them all.
Posted by Justine at 11:41, March 1st, 2008 under First Kiss, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, February 8th, 2008 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Vainglory, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, February 1st, 2008 under New York City/USA, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 17:36, January 30th, 2008 under First Kiss, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
I will confess that I was nervous about going to
High Voltage ConFusion. There were several reasons for this:
I'm afraid of cold places. And Detroit in winter is COLD. ((How cold? Minus a million cold! That's how cold. So cold that I'm back in NYC and it's freezing and it seems warm in comparison.))
I'd never been a guest of honour before and was worried I'd be crappy at it.
I was aware that most of the people at the con would not have heard of me or Scott and was worried that they would feel dudded of a proper author guest of honour what wrote adult sf and fantasy.
I need not have had any concerns at all. I was right ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, January 24th, 2008 under Basketball, Cons & Other Gatherings, New York City/USA, Praising, Sport, Travelling, Vainglory, Viewing |
My first appearance in a YA anthology is now on the shelves: First Kiss (Then Tell): A Collection of True Lip-Locked Moments edited by Cylin Busby. I'm stoked to be in this collection. It's dead funny and there's not a dud story in sight. How could there be when they're penned by the likes of Cecil Castellucci, Shannon Hale, David Levithan, Sarah Mlynowski, Laren Myracle, Robin Wasserman and Scott Westerfeld? ((Though, Scott cheated and wrote a haiku.)) If you don't believe me about the fabulosity of this anthology then would you believe Booklist?
This entertaining collection of true "first kiss" stories by popular YA authors arrives just in time for Valentine’s Day. The risk of veering into groan-worthy, "when-I-was-your-age" territory always ...
Posted by Justine at 17:17, January 16th, 2008 under First Kiss, Praising, Vainglory, 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 11:45, December 9th, 2007 under Unicorns, Vainglory, Writing life, Young Adult literature, Zombies |
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 |
Guess what? The entire Magic or Madness trilogy just sold to the Japanese publisher, Hayakawa Shobo. That's right! I'm going to be in Japanese! I can't tell you how over the moon I am. Woo hooo!!!
Ever since I first heard about the whole foreign-rights thing there were two languages I've been desperate to be translated into: Spanish (cause I speak it un poco) and Japanese on account of my Japan obsession (oh, okay, mostly Kurosawa movies, Kimba, and now manga).
I screamed when I got the email. And started entertaining fantasies of a manga adaption following on from the straight translation. How cool would that be?
Now we just need to get a Spanish-language publisher to pick up the books and ...
Posted by Justine at 1:10, October 4th, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Manga, Praising, Travelling, Vainglory |
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 |
My first interview for Colleen Mondor's summer blog tour went up this morning. Twas conducted by the lovely Liz B of
A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy.
Bored with reading about me? (Elvis knows, I am!) Then check out
all these other interviews with folks like Gene Yang who won the Printz for American Born Chinese.
This whole week will be awash with
interviewy goodness.
PS This is the post I was trying to put up when everything went down (again) this morning. It's post number? 666.
Posted by Justine at 23:14, June 18th, 2007 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Thanks to Sean and Tole, I just found out that Daughters of Earth has won the
William Atheling Jr. Award. Woo hooo!!!! This is the award given by the Australian science fiction community for the best criticism.
I'm stoked beyond stokage.
Posted by Justine at 12:40, June 10th, 2007 under Daughters of Earth, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 22:24, June 9th, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Magic or Madness trilogy, Travelling, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Thanks so much for all the warm yummy wishes. I'm bubbly and bouncing!
I've been getting some questions about my next book. I figured it would be most efficient to answer them all here:
Q: Will it be in hardcover or paperback?
A: Hardcover first and then later (don't know how much later) paperback.
Q:
Penni asked: Are you signing a contract for a book you haven't written yet?
A: It's like this: Bloomsbury have bought two books from me, the already-written UFB + an unwritten second book. Yes, that means I'll be writing one novel of the contract to deadline. I know
I said I wouldn't do that anymore. But the writing-a-book-at-my-own-pace thing (which resulted in the UFB) was an experiment. I ...
Posted by Justine at 11:02, June 8th, 2007 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Mangosteens, Vainglory |
My big news is that my next two books are going to be published by
Bloomsbury USA. That's right the great Aussie cricket mangosteen monkey knife fighting fairy YA novel has found a home! Not to mention an actual title: The Ultimate Fairy Book.
I am so excited I cannot sit still. I'm bouncing as I type this. I am all over with yays!
My new editor is Melanie Cecka who is wonderful. We had a three-hour lunch last year where we learned conclusively that we are each girls after each other's heart. Hot sauce! Mexican food! Dessert! Love of many of the same books!
The whole team at Bloomsbury are incredibly impressive and seem to be almost as excited ...
Posted by Justine at 11:39, June 7th, 2007 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, New York City/USA, Praising, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 4:53, June 1st, 2007 under Frippery, New York City/USA, Praising, Travelling, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Am in the pretty churchy city of Adelaide for a wedding. What larks. I love weddings! And these two crazy kids are great together. But internet access is not so much limited as BLOODY EXPENSIVE. Stupid gouging hotels! Colour me outraged.
So quickly: "gaol" is an another spelling of that place where people are locked up which is usually spelled "jail". It ain't slang. It used to be the only way the word was spelled but is on its way out. I cling to it out of love and perversity.
And thanks again for all the congrats on the Norton win. I can't believe I'm still getting them! Yay! And an even bigger yay for the impact it's had on ...
Posted by Justine at 6:04, May 18th, 2007 under Ranting, Sydney/Australia, Travelling, Vainglory, Whingeing, Words & Language |
Posted by Justine at 2:22, May 14th, 2007 under Frippery, Reading, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
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 |
Posted by Justine at 0:05, April 21st, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Today we leave for San Antonio where we'll be attending the Texas Library Association annual conference. I'm dead excited. We went to the ALA conference last year and it was fabulous. I met so many cool librarians and student librarians and writers and publishing people I thought my head would explode. Talk about over-stimulation! I look forward to more of it.
Unfortunately, we won't be doing any public signings in San Antonio. So if you're not signed up for TLA we won't get to meet you. Sorry!
Our one public appearance of the trip will be in Austin:
Monday, 16 April 2007, 7PM
Justine Larbalestier &
Scott Westerfeld
Book People
603 N. Lamar (at Sixth)
Austin, Texas
This Texas trip is also a chance for us ...
Posted by Justine at 7:18, April 10th, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Travelling, Vainglory |
