Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
How Did The Crow's Feathers Turn Black?
I'm happy to announce that my short story, How the Crow's Feathers Turned Black, was published today as part of a Random House Australia anthology, Stories for Seven Year Olds!
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/linsay-knight/stories-for-seven-year-olds-9781742756622.aspx
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/linsay-knight/stories-for-seven-year-olds-9781742756622.aspx
Monday, October 29, 2012
Only two days until NaNoWriMo!
Yes, it's only a couple of days now until the big writing event happens! Between now and then, several of us will be dressing up and running around like idiots. My choice is red devil horns, cape and trident. It's Halloween!
How are you getting ready for NaNoWriMo? I'm enjoying the chance to actually nut out the story before I begin typing. A nice chance from the rollercoaster that has been The Ferryman Chronicles.
More NaNoWriMo updates soon from the DarkLight Collection Agency!
JB xxx
How are you getting ready for NaNoWriMo? I'm enjoying the chance to actually nut out the story before I begin typing. A nice chance from the rollercoaster that has been The Ferryman Chronicles.
More NaNoWriMo updates soon from the DarkLight Collection Agency!
JB xxx
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Defending the 'derivative'
I once read a short review of Mammon where the reviewer said
that she found the book ‘derivative’. This was on Goodreads; it was not a
formal review in a journal or newspaper. I assumed this woman was in her
thirties. Of course, I was bothered by that because as an English teacher, I have
access to a book room full of the most original books ever written, and I felt
that I had a standard to maintain.
Not so. Not in the way you might think.
I’ve been teaching English for ten years. During this time, I
have watched my students suffer while reading books that many adults deemed
appropriate (and indeed, these books were award winners). The clue to their
boredom, for those who might not have been paying attention, was the raucous
applause they gave as we reached the last page. One would assume it was
something to do with the narrative that displeased them. Slow pacing is the
most common complaint, but I have to wonder if it had something to do with shared
understandings and the assumptions that adults make about teenage readers.
Over the past ten years, I have had many kids ask me to
explain common words, sayings, ideas and understandings that are presented via
the written word: language that we as adults take for granted that other adults will
understand.
Guess what? Kids don’t. They don’t know the old
fables, fairytales, songs and poems that were part of our mainstream culture
when we were growing up. They don’t know about political, social and historical
contexts that are touched upon in books. Okay, some teachers will say, ‘It’s
your responsibility to fill in those gaps.’ That is quite right. However, when
a teenager is reading a YA novel outside of the classroom, there may not be a
suitable adult nearby to explain said concepts. So, this is where a novel’s
derivative nature can be of benefit.
As YA authors, we are responsible for passing down stories and
ideas to the next generation. This is particularly important for a generation
that has become detached from many of the old stories, and the aforementioned
ideas, sayings, etc.
Therefore, it is okay to be derivative! I challenge the
reviewers who dismiss YA novels as such. Mammon is not the first to be labelled
as derivative, but I am pleased that it is!
We should also remember that a good YA novel will encourage
reluctant readers to pick up a book again. By filling in gaps, derivative
novels can re-engage those who feel intimidated by the so-called
more ‘challenging’ YA texts.
I am passing down
story structures and ideas to the next generation. Archetypal characters and storylines
are part of the practice of passing stories on to a new breed of readers, many
of who have never heard of the old tales, fables, sayings and myths.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
NanoWrimo and the terror of the first draft
Okay, so NanoWrimo is coming and I'm hoping to churn out a 50,000 word draft for my next novel during November. Previously, this would have freaked me out, but now I feel that this is attainable. I managed to nail down the first draft of Rise of the Shadow Wolf in 10 months.
You're probably thinking: that's a lot longer than four weeks!
True, but it's a heck of a lot shorter than the three years it took me to write Mammon.
The thing is, I've learned that if you self-flagellate over every word, you will never get anything written. It's best to just vomit up what you have to say on to the page. That's right, vomit. Just chuck it up because otherwise, it will remain a bilious lump in your gut - or worse, stuck in your throat - and fester there until you go mad. Of course, what you see on the page may well be crap. But we can work with crap. We can't work with a blank page. So my advice to all the would-be NanoWrimo authors out there is: just get the story down on the page and worry afterwards about fine-tuning the structure and language. The feeling of accomplishment at getting a first draft done is MAGIC!
Good luck! I'll report back during November with regular NanoWrimo updates!
JB xxx
Monday, October 15, 2012
Dredd is coming!
Not long now until the 3D release of Dredd. I love Karl Urban anyway, and the preview looks...very Dredd.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Interview with acclaimed fantasy author, Marianne DePierres!
JB: Marianne, how does it make you feel to be a popular,
successful author?
MDP:
I acknowledge my achievements (e.g. 15 books published etc, some awards
received) but I don’t consider myself either of those things, and really, those
kinds of tags can make you a little bit crazy. I write what I want, help the
people I can along the way, and let the rest take care of itself.
JB: Considering the present state of technology,
what do you think the future of storytelling will be?
MDP:
I honestly don’t know exactly where it will go other than to say ‘electronic’
will rule eventually. After that … who knows?? I do believe, however, that the
art of storytelling will never disappear. The human race needs it to make sense
of their existence. Without stories we would devolve.
JB: The Burn Bright book is very original. Do you
feel pressure to create in-vogue storylines that fit in with popular culture?
MDP:
Thank you. And absolutely not. This was a story that took seven years to write.
I didn’t even know if it was YA until I finished the first draft. The story
came to me and I went with it. Never had a second thought for what was around
in the marketplace.
JB: So, in your creative process, do you prefer to
use word processors or write by hand?
MDP:
I loathe handwriting. My fine motor coordination isn’t great and I have a very
awkward pen grip. I don’t think I would ever have finished a novel if WP’s
hadn’t been invented!
JB: I know just what you mean! So, how have you found working with a publishing house? In general, do you think that publishers help writers to evolve?
MDP: I'd dread NOT working with a good publisher - the collaborate effort that goes into making your books better is quite remarkable. Good publishers rock.
JB: I know just what you mean! So, how have you found working with a publishing house? In general, do you think that publishers help writers to evolve?
MDP: I'd dread NOT working with a good publisher - the collaborate effort that goes into making your books better is quite remarkable. Good publishers rock.
Thank you, Marianne, for joining me at Dark Ink for the first of my Author Interviews!
Monday, September 24, 2012
NANOWRIMO is coming!
Nanowrimo offers writers a challenge: to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Whoa! That's huge. But I am going to take it on.
I'm writing a new novel, called DarkLight. It's an urban fantasy set in a modern world where demons and angels work together, hunting down members of their own kind who have gone astray.
My goal is to finish the first draft (or, at least 50,000 of the planned 70,000 words) by the end of November.
I'm running NANOWRIMO with my Year 10 and 11 Writers' group as well, and hopefully we'll be able to publish their work online. What a thrill!
I'm writing a new novel, called DarkLight. It's an urban fantasy set in a modern world where demons and angels work together, hunting down members of their own kind who have gone astray.
My goal is to finish the first draft (or, at least 50,000 of the planned 70,000 words) by the end of November.
I'm running NANOWRIMO with my Year 10 and 11 Writers' group as well, and hopefully we'll be able to publish their work online. What a thrill!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
US Blog Post!
To celebrate Mammon's November paperback release in the US, I was invited to contribute a post on banned books to the website of E. Kristin Anderson, author and poet who runs The Hate-Mongering Tart. Every year, Anderson joins in the celebrations for Banned Books Week. It was awesome to write about such a rebellious topic!
Read my post on Banned Books at the Hate-Mongering Tart HERE
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Sharing what I learned at the CYA Conference 2012
It's incredible really, how much I learned in such a short space of time. We flew in to Brisbane on Friday night, negotiated the roads with the phone's navigator on the blink (4G, my backside!) and attended the conference on Saturday before flying out again at 5.30pm.
In the morning, we listened to Isobelle Carmody speak for a short time about sensory writing before doing what all good teachers should: involving her students in hands-on writing activities. She passed around some mysterious bags of scented goodies and we wrote down the descriptive words that came to mind. We also had to jump out of our comfort zones and feel each other's faces, describing the contours, textures, etc. It turned out I was paired up with Isobelle's daughter, who was lovely.
With another YA author, Kaz Delaney, we explored the social media world (oh my freakin' God, there are so many sites out there that I didn't know about!) and how an author should be a brand, or a product - more so than her books. So, JB Thomas is a brand!
Paul Griffin, a YA author based in the US, (who writes incredible realistic fiction targeted towards at-risk youth) spoke about the importance of distribution. The question was: where does your book fit in? Schools? Libraries? Commercial fiction shelves of bookstores?
This was just in the morning - so much good stuff crammed in before we had our paper bag lunches (nice) and the afternoon's sessions, which were just as interesting.
I would strongly recommend that new authors attend these conferences. They're a great way to keep learning.
- JB xxx
In the morning, we listened to Isobelle Carmody speak for a short time about sensory writing before doing what all good teachers should: involving her students in hands-on writing activities. She passed around some mysterious bags of scented goodies and we wrote down the descriptive words that came to mind. We also had to jump out of our comfort zones and feel each other's faces, describing the contours, textures, etc. It turned out I was paired up with Isobelle's daughter, who was lovely.
With another YA author, Kaz Delaney, we explored the social media world (oh my freakin' God, there are so many sites out there that I didn't know about!) and how an author should be a brand, or a product - more so than her books. So, JB Thomas is a brand!
Paul Griffin, a YA author based in the US, (who writes incredible realistic fiction targeted towards at-risk youth) spoke about the importance of distribution. The question was: where does your book fit in? Schools? Libraries? Commercial fiction shelves of bookstores?
This was just in the morning - so much good stuff crammed in before we had our paper bag lunches (nice) and the afternoon's sessions, which were just as interesting.
I would strongly recommend that new authors attend these conferences. They're a great way to keep learning.
- JB xxx
Friday, June 29, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Supanova Perth, June 23rd 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
A Night With Our Stars
Saturday, January 14, 2012
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