Archives
Posted by Justine at 13:32, October 4th, 2008 under Praising, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
Posted by Justine at 14:08, October 3rd, 2008 under Cons & Other Gatherings, How To Ditch Your Fairy, New York City/USA, Praising, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
1) The fabulous
Guarina Lopez, who is a genius with the camera and took
my author photo as well as
Diana Peterfreund's, now has a
truly gorgeous website showcasing her beautiful work.
Check it out!
2) The Magic or Madness trilogy has sold in Korea! Woo hoo! Chungeorahm Publishing have made a very lovely offer for the trilogy and I have said yes! For those keeping count the trilogy is now published in
eleven different countries: Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States. My happiness is huge. All hail
Whitney Lee of
The Fielding Agency who made the majority of those sales. She's incredible.
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 12th, 2008 under Magic Lessons, Magic or Madness, Magic! Magic! Magic! Oi! Oi! Oi!/Magic's Child, Praising, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
I've been thinking about the
Bechdel-Wallace test which comes from
this twenty-year old comic strip. A movie or book pases if:
1. It has at least two women in it,
2. Who talk to each other,
3. About something besides a man.
I'm very proud that all my books pass the test. But then so do the books of the majority of women writers. And I can think of quite a few YAs by blokes that pass. It's Hollywood movies that really suck at this test. To such an extent that if you were to apply it you would see very few movies.
It depresses me that twenty years on the test is still an accurate ...
Posted by Justine at 3:11, September 3rd, 2008 under Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
One aspect of the strong fan reaction to Meyer's Breaking Dawn is the notion that some of them have that Stephenie Meyer owed them a particular book and a particular ending. ((My apologies for the worst sentence ever I'm hoarding the good ones for the Liar book.)) As a writer I have to say that does my head in. No writer owes their readership anything. NOT A SINGLE THING. They have to write the book they have to write. Writers should not be thinking about giving their audience what the audience wants. For starters there is no unified audience. They don't want all the same things. So pleasing them is IMPOSSIBLE.
On the other hand, Joss Whedon owes me big ...
Posted by Justine at 0:56, August 6th, 2008 under Reading, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
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 |
Just saw
Warriors with
someone who had never seen it before. She was disappointed that the mime gang has so little screen time. She concedes however that other than that it is the best film ever made.
Then we decided that we need to form a YA novelist gang but we couldn't agree on the colours. On account of
one of us kept insisting on fuchsia and certain
others of us were dead against it.
I think my next novel is going to be Warriors meets The Wedding Planner. There will be lots of mimes. It will go off!!
Posted by Justine at 1:43, July 5th, 2008 under Praising, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
Seriously, I'm not sure I want to watch tellie any more now that
The Wire's gone. What's the point?
Posted by Justine at 1:50, March 15th, 2008 under Viewing, Whingeing |
In my new I-will-go-to-shows phase I has already been to three shows this year. Three! Manon Lescaut, South Pacific, and last night
Passing Strange. I know none of you recommended that one but I was taking Emily's advice that it's best to see a show that's still fresh and whose cast isn't jaded and cranky.
Passing Strange was definitely that show. I loved it.
Some brilliant music, some fabulous sendups of proper Broadway show tunes and dancing. The acting was wonderful and the writing sharp as. But what I loved most about Passing Strange was that I recognised so many of the characters. I don't think I've ever seen a musical about people so familiar to me. Twas eerie.
What kind ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, March 14th, 2008 under New York City/USA, Viewing |
I went and saw
South Pacific this week with the fabulous Delia Sherman and Ellen Kushner. My head's been stuffed full of those songs ever since. It's definitely one of my favouritest musicals. I'd only seen the movie before and, well, "good" is not a word you can use to describe it. But the stage production at Lincoln Centre is wondrously good. I'd go see it again in a heartbeat.
I've seen so few musicals live. Kiss Me Kate is, I think, the only other one I've seen as an adult. Loved it! My resolution for this year is to see many, many more. I'm dying to see
Passing Strange. And I'm convinced that getting to see good productions ...
Posted by Justine at 12:41, March 7th, 2008 under Listening, New York City/USA, Viewing |
A friend of mine, Nick Stathopoulos, is a fabulous artist. So fabulous that two of his portraits have made the finals of two of the most prestigious art awards in Australia.
The
Archibald, which really is THE most prestigie:
David Stratton, a well-known film critic back home
Getting into the Archibald is the Holy Grail of portrait painting back home. More, actually, because it's the most famous art prize we have. Gets covered by all the media at home. Is very big deal. There's even a special packers's prize given by the people who unpack all the entries.
And the
Doug Moran:
Shaun Tan
While they're both brilliant, my fave is definitely the portrait of Shaun Tan. I ...
Posted by Justine at 20:51, February 28th, 2008 under Praising, Viewing |
The wonderful Kathleen T. Horning of
Worth The Trip ((Oh, and yeah, she's a
mover-and-shaker librarian in her spare time.)) sent me this fantastic art by Madison Hartup:
You can check out Madison's other work over at
DeviantArt.
And my apolgoies for posting this to
Maureen who's a little bit zombied out right now.
Posted by Justine at 0:00, February 28th, 2008 under Viewing, Zombies |
Cause Anne Hathaway has on the WORST dress ever.
I promise I will stop being shallow some time in the future.
Posted by Justine at 20:53, February 24th, 2008 under Fashion, Viewing |
Imitation of Life by Fanny Hurst was published to great success in 1933, made into a film in 1934, and then again in 1959. All three are a fascinating window on race in the USA. Fascinating and deeply depressing.
The movies are kind of an
obsession of mine. Particularly the contrast between them. So much changed in those intervening 25 years, and so very little. David Kehr in today's New York Times
describes the films thus:
Douglas Sirk’s 1959 "Imitation of Life" is among the most closely analyzed films in the Hollywood canon, a Lana Turner soap opera turned into an exercise in metaphysical formalism by Sirk’s finely textured and densely layered images. Less well known ...
Posted by Justine at 11:47, February 5th, 2008 under New York City/USA, State of the World, Viewing |
Thanks to everyone for
all the photos. You are all the bestest and most wondrous people EVER! As Jeff Fenech would say, "I love youse all!"
It was kind of weird to see how many photos there are of me and Scott I never knew existed. Eerie even . . .
I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologise to my sister,
Niki Bern, as well as my good friend,
Cat Sparks. I'm sorry I'm always so recalcitrant about having my photo taken. You were both right that some day I would be happy you both insist on documenting everything.
That said, I now no longer need to have my photo taken ever again. Hallelujah! I shall keep ...
Posted by Justine at 0:01, January 31st, 2008 under New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Travelling, Viewing |
The death of Heath Ledger got me thinking about all my favourite teen movies seeing as how he was in one of my faves: Ten Things I Hate About You. And because thinking about fabby teen movies is more fun than thinking about talented people dying. I love 'em---almost as much as I love YA.
Here are my off-the-top-of-my-head favourites:
Bend It Like Beckham
Better Off Dead
Bring It On
Clueless
Dirty Dancing
Drumline
East of Eden
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Flirting
Ginger Snaps
Gregory's Girl
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
Looking For Alibrandi
The Lost Boys (added because of reminders in the comments)
Mean Girls
Rebel Without A Cause
Saved
Say Anything
She's All That (mostly for the dance sequence at the end)
The Sure Thing
Ten Things I Hate About You
The Warriors
The Year My Voice Broke
You ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, January 25th, 2008 under Sydney/Australia, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
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 |
I get a lot of beginning writers asking me
how to rewrite. This post is aimed squarely at them: the ones who are unsure how to fix a story they have written from beginning to end. Which is my way of saying that any experienced writer is going to find what I am about to say obvious, boring, and un-useful. You folks should go read Samuel R. Delany's About Writing or, you know, get back to work.
(It's also a really LONG post. Hence the cut.)
"How can I learn to rewrite?" is an incredibly hard question to answer. It's sort of like asking a pro tennis player (or coach): "How do I improve my tennis?"
Posted by Justine at 0:16, January 2nd, 2008 under Reading, Scott's books, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
This vid exactly expresses my current feelings. Be warned that it involves intemperate language and violence:
Do not ask me how many times Microsoft Word has crashed on me today. Let's just say I better not run into Bill Gates anytime soon.
The first person who tells me I can switch stupid Mr Clippy off gets punched. He is switched off. But when Word crashes it magically gets switched on again. Have I mentioned that I HATE Microsoft Word?
Oh and the first person who tells me to switch to
Scrivener gets yelled at. I have switched, but I'm doing final rewrites, and have to keep my doc in smelly ...
Posted by Justine at 11:29, December 17th, 2007 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Ranting, Viewing, Whingeing, Writing & Publishing |
Cedarlibrarian, a major Harry Potter fan,
doesn't care about spoilers. Her arguments are smart and convincing.
And yet.
I'm really not a very evolved consumer of texts cause spoilers bug the crap out of me. I want my first experience of any narrative---be it book, manga, graphic novel, TV show, movie, play, whatever, to be untrammelled by knowing stuff about it. I don't read reviews unless there of something I've already read/seen or it's something I don't care about.
Frankly, I'd almost prefer not to know what genre it is.
I don't want to know if people liked it or not. All the spoilery grumbling about the latest series of TV shows I haven't seen yet drives me spare. ((And I almost ...
Posted by Justine at 22:51, October 21st, 2007 under Ranting, Reading, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
Libba Bray ((and since I'm mentioning Libba I should also mention that
Maureen Johnson is not the only one to have already read The Sweet Far Thing. That's right! Me too. It is deeply awesome. The best of the trilogy.)) is the best friend a girl could have. Look what she done gived me:
I screamed.
Do you notice the choking hazard warning? And that the evil uni***n is call "Destructicorn"?
Happy sigh.
Have any of you seen High School Musical? I think it may be the most conflict-free movie I've ever watched. Quite astonishing. I admit I was a tad disappointed by the choreography. The dance sequences were much better in She's the Man. Also how ...
Posted by Justine at 13:45, September 15th, 2007 under Basketball, New York City/USA, Sport, Unicorns, Viewing |
A warning: this is one of those stumbly thinking out loud posts.
I just read a dead interesting essay by
Jim Huang reflecting on twenty years of selling books. Most of his comments have to do with mystery books but a lot of it applies to other genres. I've been thinking about this comment:
When I think about the center of gravity of the mystery genre, I still believe that it lies in series. Seventy percent of the titles on the bestsellers lists of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association in 2007 year to date are part of a series. Seventy percent of these series titles belong to long-running series of five or more books. Sales in IMBA member stores ...
Posted by Justine at 11:45, September 11th, 2007 under Bloggery, Manga, Praising, Reading, Viewing, Writing & Publishing, young adult literature |
According to Scott these two didn't know each other---they were just grouped together by photographers:
Photo by Scott.
Posted by Justine at 19:02, September 2nd, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Viewing |
The train trip was fun. Biggest difference between travelling by air in the US of A and travelling by train is that the staff are happy and relaxed and like to talk to you. We heard all sorts of stories about train life (includuing gruesome stuff about what happens when someone throws themself under one).
Although the cabins are kind of on the squalorous side---especially compared to first class sleepers in Europe---it was fun hanging with Holly and Theo and Cassie and Maureen while kudzu covered forests zipped by. We dissected the YA publishing world, described the plots of our next five books, and planned collaborations that will never ever happen but would be amazing if they did. I could live ...
Posted by Justine at 22:01, August 30th, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, New York City/USA, Praising, Viewing |
Okay, why did no one tell me what a flawed masterpiece
American Gothic is? Is there any other brilliant tellie of the last twenty years you're hiding from me? I mean I never even heard of American Gothic before! Why? Twin Peaks is total rubbish in comparison. (Don't get me started on my Twin Peaks hatred. What an evil tease of a tv show!)
If my next novel features an evil but charming sheriff trying to corrupt their illegitimate child you'll know why.
Posted by Justine at 21:18, August 10th, 2007 under New York City/USA, Praising, Viewing |
Am I alone in finding
Anne Hathaway not even remotely Jane Austen-like?
Didn't think so.
Gah!
Posted by Justine at 23:30, August 2nd, 2007 under Ranting, Toilets, Viewing |
Someone just told me I'm wrong about Bring It On being the best movie of all time. Excuse me? If I say it is then it is! This is my personal list of the best movies of all time. I cannot be wrong about it.
I'm not saying there aren't other best movies of all time. There are! The Princess Bride is one. Rififi is another. Not to mention Out of the Past and Lagaan.
I am also not wrong about
mangosteens being the best fruit.
Or The Wire being the best television.
Or Emma and Hellsing and anything by Osamu Tezuka being the best manga.
Or zombies being the best monsters.
And cricket absolutely is the best sport.
So nyer!
Though, of course, I reserve the ...
Posted by Justine at 17:23, August 1st, 2007 under Food, Mangosteens, Ranting, Reading, Viewing, Zombies |
Apparently there are
lots of people out there who hated Sunshine and think it the worst movie ever. I beg to differ.
While I don't think it was anywhere near best-movie-ever-made status, there was a lot I enjoyed about it compared to your average sf movie, which as a genre I mostly hate. Seriously the amount of sf films I think are okay (in a non-camp way) is very very small. Sunshine gave me a mission to save the world without big long speeches about saving humanity, uniformly good acting, no boredom, plus it was pretty.
What I didn't like were the standard annoying Hollywoodisms, like, and here come the spoilers,
Posted by Justine at 0:17, July 29th, 2007 under Viewing, Whingeing |
For research purposes, I am going to drastically increase my zombie culture consumption.
Thus far I've been reading and loving The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman. (I read the trades not the skinnies---so no spoilers for the latest issues!)
I also plan to read World War Z, An Oral History Of The Zombie War by Max Brooks. So no spoilers, people!
Update: Forgot to mention I have read the entire and very excellent Kelly Link zombie oeuvre.
What other zombie books and graphic novels should I be reading?
And there's the movies---because really the whole zombie thing is very movie driven.
Obviously I've seen and loved all the George Romero zombie films. Yum. My faves. Yes, even the recent Land of the Dead that I've ...
Posted by Justine at 12:11, July 27th, 2007 under Reading, Research, Viewing, Zombies |
On Saturday I ran into wondrous super-librarian Carlie Webber at Book Expo America (BEA). She was wearing the best T-shirt of all time. Check it out:
And how about the back:
I laughed and laughed.
For those who do not know what a
Mary Sue is or have not read any of the
Harry Potter books---where have you been?
Update: The T-shirt of greatness was created by Amy
Tenbrink of
Narrate Conferences.
Posted by Justine at 10:38, June 4th, 2007 under Frippery, New York City/USA, Praising, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
Today at the New York Liberty versus Phoenix Mercury game (we won!) the
Rutger's women's team stood in the middle of the court during one of the breaks. We gave them a standing ovation, stamping, and clapping and yelling for them. At every timeout thereafer they were beseiged by well-wishers and autograph seekers. They may not have won last years' finals but they definitely won the battle against racist radio announcers. Yay!
Kay Yow one of the greatest coaches of women's basketball ever and
Vivian Stringer the fabulous coach of Rutgers were also there. So was Teresa Weatherspoon the best pointguard the Liberty has ever had. All were applauded and mobbed for autographs. It made me so happy. ...
Posted by Justine at 20:41, June 3rd, 2007 under Basketball, New York City/USA, Praising, Sport, Viewing |
Tired, overstimulated, happy. I have lots of news but none that I can share. Mostly because I'm too tired to type straight.
Has anyone read any of Somerset Maugham's writings on writing? You should. I loves him. (More coherent thoughts on it when I get my brain back.)
Also what's the consensus on Cormac McCarthy's The Road? I read it on a plane. Started off hating it, warmed to it, got teary, but am now completely unsure what I think of it. I found it kind of slight oddly enough. But I may change my mind. Maybe I'm having hype allergy?
I do know what I thought of Sergey Lukyanenko's Day Watch sequel to Night Watch. Loved it. More please! For ...
Posted by Justine at 20:33, May 8th, 2007 under Reading, Viewing, Writing & Publishing, young adult literature |
El and
Rachel Brown correctly surmised that the fan half of
my question was inspired by
the bruhaha about whether John Scalzi should be nominated for a fan writing Hugo or not.
For the record: yes, Scalzi should, and I hope he wins for all the reasons that have been described in great detail
here,
here and
here. I'm also not comfortable with people telling other people that they are or aren't "fans" or "geeks" or anything else. Those are the kind of labels you get to choose for yourself.
The geek half was inspired by my being asked to contribute a story to an anthology about geeks and geekery. My instant response ...
Posted by Justine at 12:52, March 31st, 2007 under Bloggery, Cons & Other Gatherings, Cricket, Listening, Praising, Ranting, Reading, Research, Sport, Viewing, Words & Language |
I've been dipping my toe in the worlds of manga and graphic novels over the past year or so. Allow me to express some neophyte enthusiasm: WOW!!! Seriously, I've loved the majority of what I've read and the stuff I haven't like that much in the early volumes (I'm looking at you, Saiyuki) has become fabulous later on.
I'm pretty sure the 90% rule ((Otherwise known as
Sturgeon's Law: "Ninety per cent of everything is crap".)) still applies, I just happen to have very excellent guides (thank you, Micole, Rachel, and Doselle). And
Anne Ishii of
Vertical Books who led me to
Osamu Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito, which I loved so much I feel compelled ...
Posted by Justine at 23:55, February 27th, 2007 under Manga, Praising, Reading, Viewing |
So apparently knowing my position on zombies and unicorns is not enough for you people. You need to know my stance on all the other important issues. Here you go then:
Werewolves versus vampires
Gotta be werewolves. There's the whole monthly cycle thing. What could be worse ((Some would say better. There are times when I would rather be a wolf than menstruating . . . )) than menstruating? Turning into a wolf! The whole metaphor for adolescence: "Ew! My body is changing in hairy and grotesque ways!" Plus wolves! What is not unbelievably awesome and fascinating and wondrous about wolves? Nothing!
Best examples:
"Boobs" by
Suzy McKee Charnas which is possibly the best short story ever written ((Except for all ...
Posted by Justine at 0:01, February 23rd, 2007 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Frippery, Reading, Unicorns, Viewing, Writing & Publishing, Zombies |
For ages people have been telling me that I have to see
Lagaan. Well, now I have. And everyone's right. It is the best movie of all time. No contest.
It has everything that should be in a movie: cricket, the British are the baddies, more cricket, dancing, singing, a love triangle, and more cricket. Lagaan is perfect. (Well, it could have been longer with a wee bit more cricket and a few more songs, but other than that---perfect.)
At least seventy minutes of the movie is a cricket match. How did that make any sense to American viewers? Cause most of the folks who've recommended it have been yanquis who know nothing about the noble game. How did you keep ...
Posted by Justine at 1:34, February 6th, 2007 under Cricket, Sport, Viewing |
On the plane from Sydney to NYC, I watched a lot of films and most of them were awful. Especially The Departed. Once again, I sat there, jaw dropping, thinking this is what racks up gazillions of award nominations? What are they seeing that I am not? Am I the only one who cares that no one's motivations make any sense? That there are plot holes so deep and wide you could ride all the world's horses through them?
Warning: Spoilers follow.
Not that you will care within about ten minutes of the film starting. Frankly I was hoping they would all die. It was the only way in which the film gratified my wishes.
Like why would you, on finally (at long ...
Posted by Justine at 12:50, February 4th, 2007 under New York City/USA, Ranting, Viewing |
Sometimes I've been writing too much, my brain is broken, and all i can do is crash in front of the box and try not to dribble. Times like those I need
Resident Evil 2 because only zombies, motorbikes and Mila will unbreak my brain. Mmmm, zombies.
What are your favourite brain unbreakers? And why?
Posted by Justine at 0:09, January 18th, 2007 under Praising, Viewing, Writing & Publishing, Zombies |
This post is dedicated to
my beloved father, John Bern,
because the novel I dedicated to him
has not found a publisher yet
and because
I think it will make him gag
Happiness is . . .
Finishing the first draft of a novel that was tonnes of fun to write, which means the rewrites are going to be even more fun.
Celebrating said finish by going out to see fabulous theatre (Keating at the Belvoir) with my parents, sister and husband.
Continuing the celebration with a wonderful meal at Tabou (best mussels ever!), drinking loads of champagne, and filling Scott in on all the stuff he missed in Keating: Gareth Evans, Eddie Mabo, Native Title and why Alexander Downer was in ...
Posted by Justine at 14:25, January 10th, 2007 under Food, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liquids, Listening, Praising, Sydney/Australia, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
I've been just a few days away from finishing the first draft of the great Australian Elvis mangosteen monkey knife-fighting cricket fairy novel for weeks and weeks. What is it with that? I feel like there's someone up ahead with my ending, who---every time I get close enough to touch it---madly sprints away.
Bloody bastard! ((Just rewatched Bodyline. My favourite bit is when Douglas Jardine (evil captain of the English team) goes to the Australian dressing room to demand an apology for being called a bastard. The captain turns to his men and asks, "Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?" Jardine stalks off in high Pommy dudgeon. Tee hee! )) Stop it!
I can't tell you how much ...
Posted by Justine at 9:01, January 8th, 2007 under Cricket, Excuses, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
I haven't been blogging the third test because I've been sitting in front of it entranced, transfixed, and incapable of typing (plus there's the whole absence of wireless thing). Those first two inning were something else, weren't they?
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see Andrew Symonds back and making magic for the Australian test side. He's one of the best fielders of all time. His bowling was fabulously effective---if only he could stay in a tad longer he'd be a lock on the number six spot. Frankly, I think his performance in this test should bag him number six no matter what. His fielding alone makes an insanely big difference. Plus he's one of the most entertaining ...
Posted by Justine at 12:38, December 16th, 2006 under Cricket, Sport, Viewing |
So I have a genius idea for a book ((Scott does not believe in the existence of this genius idea. He thinks I just like watching the same old movies over and over. I'll show him!)) that requires me to watch lots of old American movies from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. It's tough but someone has to do it. Plus Scott's never seen a lot of these movies and I consider that to be criminal. Do you know before he met me he'd never even heard of Preston Sturges? What kind of a life is that?
So far we've worked our way through the films of (natch) Preston Sturges, George Cukor, and Douglas Sirk. As well as almost all the ...
Posted by Justine at 0:01, October 1st, 2006 under New York City/USA, Praising, Research, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
How long before you give up on a writer that you once loved? Or a TV series you adored? Or film director? Or actor? Or band you loved? How many dud books, TV eps, movies or songs before you say, "That is it. I'm never spending money on you again?"
Or do you never give up and keep hoping against hope that they'll regain form?
I'd tell you who this was apropos of, but then I'd have to kill you.
Posted by Justine at 0:11, September 30th, 2006 under Reading, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
My intensive google research has revealed that there is no biography of Fredi Washington. I demand that one of you get off your arse and write one immediately! (Or use your better research skills to find me one.)
Who is Fredi Washington, you ask? Why, let me tell you:
Fredi Washington was a light-skinned black actor and dancer. She largely starred in movies for the Jim Crow circuit and often with her skin darkened. She was such a compelling screen presence that the Hollywood bigwigs in the thirties offered to make her a big star if she'd pass as white. She told 'em all where to go. Yay, Fredi! (I also ...
Posted by Justine at 0:07, September 27th, 2006 under Research, State of the World, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
I got my very
first fan art by the lovely Kate of
Refrigerate Kate. Here are her sketches of Jay-Tee:
Isn't that fabulous? (Though for the record Jay-Tee doesn't smoke.)
There are also sketches of Tom on her site. I'm dead chuffed! I have fan art! Really good fan art! Thank you, Kate.
I've also neglected to mention what
novel I decided to write next. On account of it was
youse lot's overwhelming favourite (and me having already written 25 thou words of it) I will now be turning my attention to finishing the
Great Australian feminist monkey-knife fighting Elvis mangosteen cricket fairy young adult novel.
Anyone who'd like a sneak preview---I'll be reading the first ...
Posted by Justine at 0:26, September 5th, 2006 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Fan art, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness, New York City/USA, Praising, Vainglory, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
Last night after a hard day's work we thought we'd order up a movie. As you do. And we're trying to pick one, but the movies we know anything about we've already seen or would rather die than see. So we're reading descriptions of movies and we both start exercising the veto like you wouldn't believe:
Scott: not watching any movie that has the word "cop" in the description.
Justine: or "battered" or "gruelling" or "genocide".
Scott: not "lawyer" either or "detective".
Justine: Isn't that covered by "cop"?
Scott: No. Look "private detective".
Justine: I rule out "bleak", "heart-warming", and "family-oriented".
Scott: Also "doctor".
Justine: Not to mention "life-threatening" and "disease", especially if they're the one phrase.
Scott: Aren't those ruled out on account of my previous anti-"doctor" ...
Posted by Justine at 9:13, August 20th, 2006 under Frippery, Viewing, Zombies |
Magic! Magic! Magic! Oi! Oi! Oi! has a name and a cover:
Which means my trilogy is pretty much complete. Here's how all three covers look together:
I loves it! What do you lot think?
Posted by Justine at 9:21, June 13th, 2006 under Magic Lessons, Magic or Madness, Magic! Magic! Magic! Oi! Oi! Oi!/Magic's Child, Praising, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
I should so not be writing this post. Too much to get done before we leave Monday. No time! Aaarggh.
However, Gwenda's writing a quest novel and
thinking out loud about whether she can skip the whole boring refusing-to-take-up-the-call part. Also known as "but I don't want to be a vampire Slayer!"
In a fantasy novel the odds of the protagonist not taking up the call to destroy the one true ring or whatever are pretty non-existent. If they say "no" then book is over, or it becomes something else which is most definitely not a quest novel. So why should the writer spend too much time on that part?
I equate refusing the call with the passage of disbelief. And, ...
Posted by Justine at 12:16, May 16th, 2006 under Bloggery, Magic or Madness, Reading, Viewing, Writing & Publishing, Zombies |
You know how in Hollywood movies con artists are usually sexy, or interesting, or secretly kind of good guys, or all of those things (think The Grifters, Paper Moon, The Sting etc. etc.) and most of the people they scam are greedy bad people anyways, so it doesn't really matter? When I watch those movies I'm completely sucked in, and on their side, and want them to win.
In real life, not so much. Cause, you see, scam agents and publishers are also con artists. They prey on people who are ignorant of the publishing industry and desperately want to have their work published and read. I was once ignorant of publishing and desperate to become a real author with ...
Posted by Justine at 11:48, May 14th, 2006 under New York City/USA, Reading, State of the World, Viewing, Writing & Publishing |
I'm sitting at my desk watching the
flying foxes make their nightly voyage out from the Botanical Gardens. Hundreds of bat silhouettes against the darker-by-the-second sky.
Have I mentioned how much I love this flat? How sad I am that we're leaving?
Well, bugger that! I refuse to give into melancholy. Here's the view I'll be enjoying soon:
© good friend, brand-new father, and all round artistic genius
Robin Cave
That view's not so bad as all that, is it? Even if there are no flying foxes, or rainbow lorikeets, or ibis, or cockatoos . . .
Posted by Justine at 17:38, May 12th, 2006 under New York City/USA, Sydney/Australia, Travelling, Viewing |
