Writer in Residence

Hi Everyone,

It’s Sunday and my last day as writer in residence at Insideadog.com.au. I’ve got a couple more photos to share from the Reading Matters conference, a mild rant about Dollhouse (the newish series from Joss Whedon) and last, but never least, a photo of my dog, Xander aka The Furry Lord of Darkness, to keep up the “tradition” of doggy sign-offs.

At the conference yesterday I was a guest on another panel called “The Wages of Fear” with Anthony Eaton (Into White Silence), Bernard Beckett (Genesis) and Adrian Stirling (Broken Glass). We discussed writing about fear. Particularly interesting was Tony’s thoughts about his trip to Antartica and how he wrote Into White Silence. Below is a photo of Tony post-panel (alas you can’t really see his magnificent blue hair).

I also caught the “In conversation” between James Roy (Hunting Elephants) and John Green (Papertowns). It was a hilarious and sometimes surprising session. Check it out as a podcast on the Insideadog site. In fact you can check out podcasts of all the sessions from the conference a on Insideadog. Below is a pic of James preparing for the session.I had a fantastic time at the conference and met a load of wonderful people, so thanks to the Centre for Youth Literature for inviting me to take part. It was great to talk about books and writing and storytelling with people who love it as much as I do.

One of the things that did come up in conversation was Joss Whedon’s TV series called Dollhouse. Now, anything that Joss does is worth a look (I am a HUGE Whedon fan) and Dollhouse is no exception. Briefly, the set-up is that a mysterious company called “The Dollhouse” contracts people for five years to be “dolls”. That is, they have their minds wiped and new personalities imprinted on them to order for clients (who can do what they want to them…supposedly within guidelines). It’s a bit of a creepy (as in icky) premise with issues of exploitation and free-will.  It’s also an interesting idea for a series, but in my opinion it does have one big storytelling problem: the main character, Echo, is a doll so her personality is constantly changing every episode according to the “client’s” needs. One week she is a back-up singer, the next a world class art burglar. This means, of course, that we, as the audience, don’t have a fixed personality as a protagonist and it kind of pulls the heart out of the show. There is a terrific supporting cast that try to provide that heart and the story arc moves towards a more stable protagonist personality, but it is not quite getting there for me. Nevertheless, anything that Joss does is about ten times better (and thought-provoking) than a lot of the other stuff out there. If you’ve seen anything of the show, what’s your thoughts? Is it working for you?

Well, it has been a great month here at the dog - I’ve enjoyed every minute of it (thanks CYL!). Thanks, also, to those who have commented on my posts and to anyone who has checked in. If you fancy keeping in touch with all my happenings, I post on my website at www.alisongoodman.com.au, so don’t be a stranger! Next on the dog are Tristan Bancks and Tempany Deckert who have co-written yr life - keep an eye out.

To follow in the fine footsteps of Mo, I’ll leave you with a photo of my resident dog: Xander, a Jack Russell Terror. His amber eyes were the inspiration for Lord Ido’s eyes, the villain in my book (and probably a bit of his bad attitude too).

Take care and thanks for reading. Cheers for now, Al

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Hi All,

The Hypothetical, held last night, was a hoot. Panel and audience had a great time, and from all accounts from the audience, it was a great mix of the funnys with honest information about the publishing industry. Big thanks to Jenny Lovell who did a fantastic job as facilitator.

Personally, I love a good hypothetical and I’m so glad I got the chance to be part of one. If you ever want to see the Master present one, look up Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals. They are brilliant.

This morning at the Reading Matters conference John Green gave a brilliant speech that came out in  support of Australian Territorial rights. This is a hot issue right now and you can find a great speech about it by author Richard Flanagan here. If Australian territorial rights are abolished (which the government is currently considering) then the Australian fiction publishing industry will be gutted. 

I had another gig this morning too - an “in conversation” with Isobelle Carmody. We had slightly misunderstood the format of the session and thought a facilitator was going to throw questions at us when in fact we were supposed to do that between us! So, at the beginning of the session, there was Isobelle and myself staring at each other stupidly while the silent seconds stretched between us and the audience started at us. It was hilarious! Thankfully we rallied and got the ball rolling and the session went brilliantly. We both have very different approaches to how we work - I’m a planner and Isobelle is a more organic writer - but agree on many other things like the importance of strong characterisation in fantasy and how we hate the “info dump”! Below is Isobelle and myself at the signing table after our session (see our smiles of relief that all, finally, went well).

Also, among others presenting today was Mo Johnson (my lovely predecessor here in the dog) and Chris Wheat talking about friendship and romance in their novels, seen here at the the signing table. On the same panel was international guest Cathy Cassidy, here signing some books for Jan Nicholls (standing). 

Okay, that’s all from me for now. I’ve got to get frocked up for the cocktail party tonight. More pics tomorrow from the last day of the conference.

Cheers, Al

Hi All,

The following photos are hot off the digital camera from Youth Day at the Reading Matters Conference in Melbourne today (Thursday 28th May 2009). I was in the morning teenage readers section with:

John Green, author of Papertowns, An Abundance of Katherines and Looking for Alaska. I’ve only read Looking for Alaska so far, and loved it, but have got a copy of Papertowns, so I’m really looking forward to reading that. Below is a photo of John before our session - such a nice guy. Terrific speaker too. Some very talented young actors did a dramatisation of a scene from Papertowns, which blew John away (and the rest of us too). It was really well done and a great way to give the audience a feel for the book.

MT Anderson, author of Feed and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party (among many other books). MT, who was intro’ed to us as Tobin, read from Feed himself which was brilliant. This is another book I’ve got to read - it sounds fantastic. And Tobin has a delicious sense of humour - he had us all roaring! Below is a pic of Tobin caught just before the deluge of fans at the signing table.

Bernard Beckett, author of Genesis. Bernard also had his work performed as a dramatic scene, and again, the young actors were fabulous (as was the material!). Bernard himself gave a hilarious and informative speech about brains (!!) among other things and had the funniest and smoothest departure off the stage I’ve ever seen. Bernard and I are both part of the Hypothetical tonight at Storey Hall, RMIT so if you fancy a fun evening discussing the in and outs of being a YA writer, come along at 7 - 8.30pm (Bookings on 8664 7555, $15 entry). Below is Bernard, also pre-signing.

My speech went well too. At least, no one threw anything at me, so I take that as meaning it was okay!

And here’s the teenage readers morning crew, including yours truly, after the session, relaxing in the green room.

Stay tuned for some more pics tomorrow. I’m doing a session with Isobelle Carmody which I’m really looking forward to, and then there is a cocktail party in the evening. I get to frock up again!

Cheers, Al

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Hi there,

Anyone seen True Blood? If you haven’t, it is a television series based on Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse/vampire books set in the Deep South. It’s directed by Alan Ball (who did the excellent Six Feet Under, and the movie American Beauty) and is very dark and sexy. In fact it is a LOT darker than the books. If you want to look it up, tread carefully if you are not keen on violent paranormal action,  and check with the parental/s if you are under the recommended age for MA+15 as it does have some out there stuff (let’s just say, Twilight is Disneyland in comparison).

I was blown away by the series. I’ve read a couple of the books and liked them a lot, but this is one of those rare instances when the screen adaptation surpasses the book. It doesn’t happen often, and in more cases than not, I have come away from the adaptation of a favourite book feeling slightly let-down. One of the joys of reading is that, in a book, you can get inside the characters minds. There is also that wonderful phenomenon where the reader “fills in the blanks” of what is not written, and so actively engages in the process of creating the story and the characters. In a film or TV series, however, it is someone else’s “reading” of the book that is being visually expressed, and there is always the extra distance of the camera - we are observing the characters, and their inner thoughts have to be shown to us via dialogue and physical action.

Keeping in mind the experience of reading the book compared to seeing the film/TV show, what’s the best and worst adaptations you’ve seen? Two of my best are the aforesaid True Blood, and Bridget Jones’s Diary. Worst, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and The Da Vinci Code (not a totally bad movie, but disappointing). Beyond worst and going into truly tragic is Starship Troopers (arrrrgh).

Cheers, Al

PS The wedding was terrific. The scones were downed with enthusiasm.

Hi,

The gazillion cheese scones for my niece’s wedding afternoon tea have been cooked, cooled, and cryoed, ready for tomorrow. I love scones - they are one of my favourite foods. Actually, I have a lot of favourite foods; I just generally love to nosh-down. I also like to include descriptions of food in my novels, and one of the challenges is finding phrases to describe taste, smell, and texture in new ways.

John Marsden, in his excellent book “Everything I Know About Writing”, urges us to push beyond the banal use of language. He says that we are all programmed from childhood to use language in certain patterns that “come straight from the data bank of cliches” e.g. oceans are ’sparkling and blue”, birds “twitter”, leaves “rustle”. However, good writing is about having the guts and determination to reach beyond those overused phrases to find something unique. In fact, he urges us to dismiss even our second and third attempts at finding something new, and really stretch ourselves to find our own exciting way of describing the world. It is not as easy as making do with that first cliched phrase, but it will produce truly original writing.

When I am looking for a way to describe a food, I often start by thinking about the physical experience of eating it, or a particular sensory detail about it, and use that as the base to explore what different and interesting words I can use. For example, in my book The Two Pearls of Wisdom, I describe my main character’s first experience of chocolate (in the form of a drink): “I raised the goblet. A smell, like the aftertaste of Ari’s strange coffee, filled my nose just before the cocolat slicked my mouth with oily sweet velvet. I swallowed and tasted a strange bitterness at the back of my tongue.”

Here’s a challenge. What’s your favourite food? Now, describe it by pushing past banal cliches (phrases like sour lemon, golden honey, etc), and even beyond your second and third ideas, to see what unique and sensory rich phrases emerge. If you fancy posting it, I’d love to see what you come up with!

Cheers, Al

Hi, I’m back in Melbourne after a great trip up to Sydney.

Well, first things first, I didn’t win the prize. Nevertheless, I had a terrific time and got to meet Marieke Hardy and her lovely partner, Tim. Marieke has got to be one of the coolest people in the world. She gave an excellent awards address (link to ABC video) which was thought-provoking and funny.  Below is a photo of us (pointing to the matching red flowers in our hair - great minds, huh?).

During the dinner, I sat next to Nette Hilton, my fellow shortlistee (see us below) who is very funny and a great storyteller. Check out her books and shortlisted novel, Sprite Downberry, at her website.

The award ceremony was swift and to the point (time was running a bit short!). Big congratulations to the winner of the Ethel Turner Prize - Michelle Cooper for her novel A Brief History of Montmaray. Other winners included Nam Le for Book of the Year, Joan London for Fiction, and Chloe Hooper for Non-fiction. You can check out all the winning authors and their books at the arts NSW site.

I also met up with long-time pal, Richard Harland (see us below) whose new book Worldshaker, is doing just that -  shaking the world and doing great things here and overseas. Richard has prepared a terrific Writing Tips website which is 145 pages of free advice about writing genre fiction. Check it out here.

I also met Kate Forsyth, best-selling fantasy author of such novels as Rhiannon’s Ride (among many others), for the first time at the awards night.  What a total sweetie! Below is Kate (on left) and HarperCollins Publisher Linda Funnell enjoying the evening.

That’s it from me, for now. My niece’s wedding is coming up on Saturday, so I’ve got to get cooking four gazillion cheese and herb scones for the afternoon-tea that comes before the evening reception. Wish me luck.

Cheers, Al

Hi from Sydney!

I’m here because my novel, The Two Pearls of Wisdom, has been shortlisted for the Ethel Turner Prize! I’m off to the big awards dinner tonight and then flying back to Melbourne tomorrow. I’m stoked to be shortlisted and, since I love to frock up, very happy to be going to the awards ceremony (courtesy of my very generous publisher). Stay tuned for some photos tomorrow -  if all my technology works. I’ll ko-mo as many authors as I can!

Cheers, Al

I thought I’d share a short writing exercise I use when I’m feeling stuck. I got it from my friend Simon Higgins, who writes great adventure series including Thunderfish, Moonshadow, and Tomadachi. I believe he got the exercise from Rodney Hall, who is another terrific Aussie author and, by all accounts, a brilliant teacher. It is a great way of starting off a piece, and by the end of the exercise you will have a paragraph of prose fiction that follows the “show don’t tell” principle which produces strong, engaging writing. If you do have a go and would like to share, please feel free to post it in the comments section for all to read. 

Okay, first think of two characters and in your imagination, place them in a setting e.g. the beach. Now, for each of the following questions (or instructions) write a response in prose fiction:  

1.                What is the weather like?

2.                Mention a sound the characters can hear.

3.                Mention a small object near, or between them.

4.                There is a change to the weather. What is it?

5.               Mention one article of clothing or accessory one of the characters wears or carries.

6.                Make the sound happen again, or make them notice it once more.

7.                Mention the object again, and connect or relate it to a human mood or emotion in one of

                    the characters.

8.              Recall the article of clothing or accessory, and make whoever wears it or carries it do something

                  with it.

9.                Mention one physical feature or trait of one of the characters.

10.              A snippet of dramatic dialogue. One of the characters finally speaks, and what they say or ask

                   is unexpected.

Here is an example of my responses to numbers 1 and 2:  

A cold, southerly breeze ruffled John’s hair and sent a shiver through Elise. They both looked up as a seagull flew overhead, screaming its hunger.

Hope you have fun with it.

Cheers, Al

Hey All,

I’ve got some public speaking engagements coming up later this month - a talk at Brighton Library for the Bayside Literary Festival, and talks and panels at the Reading Matters Conference. I have to admit that one of the more confronting things about being an author is the expectation that you will stand up in front of people and talk about yourself and your work. These days, it is an important part of writing professionally. Strange really, because a lot of the authors I know are terrified of public speaking. They write because they want to have their say…they just don’t want to have to SAY it OUT LOUD, in front of people. In fact, a lot of people hate public speaking. Someone did a survey somewhere (how’s that for accuracy) that asked “what do you fear more: death or public speaking? You guessed it, public speaking beat death, hands down. 

My first memory of public speaking was in a school debate in grade 6. Talk about tragic - I was so bad I single handedly lost the debate for my team. I was so bad that my teacher made fun of me!  I was scarred for life. From then on, whenever I had to get up and do a presentation for school, or Uni, I would feel sick for days. Literally days.

After I wrote my first book, Singing the Dogstar Blues, I got a job teaching Creative Writing at Deakin University. Two classes, every week for 26 weeks. That’s a lot of public speaking. At first, I was so terrified, I would spend three days preparing the class and four days just feeling sick. And then one day, I went to a talk someone else was giving. She was absolutely terrified - I could see it in her shaking hands, her shaking voice, and her jumpy all-over-the-place presentation. Her talk would have been great, but she was so scared that she transmitted the fear to her audience so that no one could enjoy the presentation. That was when I realised that public speaking was “not about me”. It was about the audience. It was about being clear and calm so that they could listen and enjoy the experience. Sure, nerves still hit me, but I’ve got them down to just five minutes before I “go on” and then as soon as I start, I’m okay. And even if I’m not, I keep in mind that most people will forgive a stuff-up. I just let the awkward moment go and get on to the next bit of the presentation. And I always have an emergency story up my sleeve that I know I tell well, so that if things get really hairy, I can fall back on it!

Of course, there are some people who love public speaking and are naturally good at it. Me, I’m not a natural, but after a lot of practice and observing other speakers, I finally feel okay about it.

What about you? 

Cheers,

Al

Hey Everyone,

I saw the new Start Trek film last night. As a very long-time Trekker (note TrekkER not TrekkIE), I was blown away by the film. It was terrific; a great story arc with very satisfying character developments and the optimism that is the hallmark of the Star Trek universe. Zachary Quinto is brilliant as Spock! I’ve also just finished Adrian Stirling’s novel, Broken Glass, which ain’t no Star Trek Universe, but is also satisfying, and very thought provoking. 

I don’t think it is any secret (or any spoiler) that the new Star Trek movie takes us back to when Kirk and Spock are at the Academy, how the meet, and the start of their friendship. And as I watched the masterful handling of the much-loved characters and “history” of the series, it occurred to me that the Kirk and Spock friendship must be one of the most long-lived male friendships explored through a television series, and then into a series of movies. In the Star Trek world, Kirk and Spock bring out the best in one another; they are complementary, their differences compensating for each other’s flaws. 

Adrian Stirling’s novel, Broken Glass, (nb: this is a link to the Penguin catalogue page) is also about male friendship. But this one is the opposite to the Kirk/Spock friendship.  Clarkey and Nile, the main characters, are like Matter meeting Anti-matter. Totally destructive. It is a chilling and suspenseful ride that pulls no punches. Check it out and be prepared to be blown away in a totally different way. Adrian is also appearing at the Reading Matters conference at the end of this month, so I’m looking forward to getting the chance to discuss his work during our panel together!

You know, I’ve experienced both kinds of friendships - the supportive and the destructive. When I think back about my Anti-matter friend, she wasn’t a bad person (and I trust, neither was I). We just brought out the worst in each other at that time in our lives. Hmm, come to think of it, maybe I was the Anti-matter and she was the Matter. Or maybe my simile is just disappearing down its own black hole…

Live long and prosper. 

Cheers, Al

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