Of Totaras and Saplings

 more than a bookseller

This is the briefest post I’m likely to write. I have problems with getting character counts down to Twitter brevity but it’s been 2 weeks of everything from the highest point to the lowest. Follow all the links to read the full stories.

Janine McVeagh and I launched a new book ‘Grandad’s Guitar’ at the Children’s Bookshop. Makaro Press published it and the champion of children’s books, John McIntyre launched it and we all had a great time with music, laughter and joy.

I got my Wearable Art entry off for judging. It’s in the science Fiction Section and if it doesn’t get into show, I’ll be questioning my very existence (part of the creative process). This is my 22^nd year with 27 entries… Here’s a pic of my studio after tidy up.

Torty and The Soldier got shortlisted for the NZ Children’s and Young Adults Book Awards, so Jennifer Beck and I are very happy, and now I get to wonder what to wear at the award ceremony.

Possibly black...

Because...

This weekend John McIntyre passed away.

I’m heartbroken.

He was the best.

You can support the bookshop by Buying a Book for John. Through the bookstore. Go directly to the bookstore, do not pass The Warehouse on the way. If you do, drive right on past. Aim for quality and service.

That’s it, the two weeks that was. RIP.

xxx Fifi

Cards on the Table- or 'I finished that sucker!'

my MA thesis submission cover- I got my daughter to pose!

I've recently been shortlisted for the Tessa Duder Award for YA Fiction; here's a bit about it and the shortlisted titles. My manuscript is one of 4 to make the cut and whilst I am confident that one of them is the winner and it isn't me, I am also over the moon that I got this far with my first draft. I also know that I have a lot of work to do on a second draft before I submit it to another publisher, but with the fantastic report and feedback of editor Anna Golden (sorry I can't link her anywhere but she's in Wellington and is just brilliant, thank you Makaro Press) I have definite things to go to work on to make my novel a piece of work that not only grips the reader but also makes sense!

So, can I tell you a bit about it? Not the plot and story- you'll have to wait for that, but how I came to write it. Just in case you think this is a flick of the wrist thing I just knocked off in my spare time. Like everyone, I have no spare time.

Wild Cards started as my Masters thesis project for the Scriptwriting MA I did at The International Institute of Modern Letters in 2003. This was a year I took out from freelance work to immerse myself in writing. That year I launched my first junior fiction novel 'Verity's Truth' (which had a contract before I started my studies) published by Scholastic. I also wrote 'Janie Olive- a Recipe for Disaster' that year in my uni break, as a holiday from writing. It was also subsequently published by Scholastic, and followed by 'Glory' a couple of years later. 

But Wild Cards, my thesis doc, the kids TV drama series with young teen protagonists sat with it's meritous grade, getting dusty on the shelf; my characters trapped inside in their world, mid dialogue, falling down plot holes.

I had a brilliant idea; why not write it as a novel? I addressed this in a post in 2008 here called A Novel in a Week which outlines my attack method. So given that was 8 years ago, what happened and why did it take so long? (I love this clip from Family Guy- Stewie on Brian's novel which best describes a writer's progress).

I started all fluff and feathers, full of squawk and thought I'd nail it for the Text Prize. That yearly deadline came and went. Several times. I thought that being a published novelist, I'd be in line for a Creative New Zealand grant or a funded residency to finish it. After unsuccessfully applying for several of these, and getting all bitter and twisted in the process, I gave up. The novel lay fallow, Jono, Becka and Evie once again in suspended animation. I'd pick it up every so often, write another chapter and get distracted. Wonderful author and friend, Melinda Szymanik cracked the whip every so often and I reported back with word counts. I gave my WIP to too many people to read and they all gave me different feedback. Then I felt like I had shown everyone my ratty undies and felt a bit embarrassed about it all. I had, as Stephen King says in his excellent memoir 'On Writing', let the steam out. It was all limp and soggy.

Then last year, at the Margaret Mahy Day where I received a a Storylines Notable Book Award for  my non fiction book, Ghoulish Get Ups (just thought I'd slip that in, still proud!), it was announced that the Tessa Duder Award would now be open to previously published authors. That's it, I said to all around me, I have a reason to finish that flippin' novel! I need crazy deadlines in my life - this is why I am not a fine artist, a result of my design school training in commercial art back in the day.

I had it all mapped out; I was going to finish my Wearable Art entries, do the Storylines author tour, and then get stuck into it. Except suddenly all my work came at once; a puppet for Maori Television, two more for a Corporate video, a huge commission for the new Waitangi Museum and craft items ongoingly for The WotWot's Pinterest page, not to mention a myriad of little illustration jobs and a picture book contract. I had a window of less than 8 days to get it done and submitted, if I worked really, really hard. It seemed highly unlikely- not the working hard, I'm good at that, but the time frame. However, I am nothing if not bloody minded.

So I did, but not alone. I asked my dear friend and highly successful author Tania Roxborogh, in the midst of her getting the family house ready to sell and move cities, (good god I owe her one) to read through my chapters as I wrote them, look for typos and inconsistencies, track changes and rough edit. I got up and was at the keyboard at 6am every morning (unheard of for me, being awake at that early hour). I wrote all day until midnight, every day. Tania my angel, sent through the edits, I'd make changes and get onto the next chapter. I wrote up to 8,000 words a day. In one particularly caffeine fuelled session I wrote 10,000. I was on fire. Nobody got fed and the house was a tip. I didn't go out, I lived in a tee shirt and jeans (I do not believe in pyjamas for writing and I have none, so there) and the cat took up residence in a filing tray beside my computer. 

And I finished it. I got it printed out and sent. The feeling of achievement was immense; like getting my wearable art creations in a box and off to Mainfreight for judging in Nelson. And I felt like I had released my characters into the wild, fulfilling their destinies and living their dreams. And in that process, done the same for myself.

To coin a few well worn slogans and phrases.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, don't die wondering. Just do it. 

Hats off to Team Work

I cannot believe it is over a month since I posted (the writers lament). Well all I can say is I have been neck deep in recyclables devising cool costumes you can make in less than an hour. My next book, tentatively titled 'Ghoulish Freaky Fun' is due in at the printers at the end of March which means if our designers the wonderful team of Vida and LukeKelly have a chance of getting any sleep for the next 4 weeks, I need to have it ALL done and pronto! Making a book is a team effort.

Speaking of teams, I have talked before about Harriet Rowland who has the blog www.myexperienceofwalkingthedog.blogspot.com and her walk with cancer. Should I mention this in the same post as my Ghoulish book? Well yes, because Harriet is not defined by her cancer- she is a writer- and what a writer. And now a published author!

Makaro Press- the wonderful team of Mary McCallum and Paul Stewart have made her blog into a book. The Book of Hat (Harriet's nickname) is being launched this Wednesday at an invite only function (she has so many friends and there is limited space) in Miramar. The book is not for profit (just for love) and $1 from each donation covering print costs goes to Canteen.

Hat's book is a thing of bittersweet wonder and Makaro describe it thus:

Harriet Rowland — known as Hat — was 17 when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that began in her knee. At the time she was a student at Queen Margaret College in Wellington, New Zealand.

Going through treatment was often a lonely time, as friends — while supportive — didn’t always understand Hat’s new life. This was until she fell in love with the character Hazel Grace from John Green’s novel The Fault in Our Stars, a girl who talks honestly and openly about living with cancer. Like her, Hat found life changed in ways that were both good and bad: falling in love and hospital stays among them. And she was surprised by how much happiness there was still to find.

Throughout her journey, Hat has kept a blog called My Experience of Walking the Dog, and this book is a collection of those posts edited with the author. Why the blog title? Her parents say cancer is like a dog — fine if it stays in its own yard. Hat’s dog got out. This is her unexpected story.

‘This way I will NEVER have to get a job, learn how to cook more than two-minute noodles or do anything mildly productive. I never have to grow up and I can forever be a kid! Though my ‘forever’ is shorter than most, I don’t mind. What I do mind is that I am going to have to leave everyone I love behind.’ — The Book of Hat

Hat's mum Jan, Mary McCallum and I all went to school together. We've had education, interesting and fulfilling careers and a bunch of children- but none of us expected this. Nobody does. Harriet has taught us all the value of living life fully over this last couple of years and never putting off your dreams. She's an amazing writer and an inspiration to us all, and we can't wait to celebrate with her on Wednesday.