The Things I do for Art - Travel

When I was writing Fragments, the YA this blog was named after - I took pictures like this...


I spent a week in Nottingham exploring all the places the book was set in, getting all the details, noticing all the stone faces and the fantastic gargoyles.

I know I'm not alone in this. Most writers visit the places they're writing about, whether it's non-fiction or fiction. It's very hard to get those little unexpected details right if you don't know what the place your story exists in feels like. Even fantasy stories are set in some kind of root real existence that lives in the authors mind and is framed by their own real tactile experiences.

So, last weekend was Tahoe - because of course GREEN SKIES is set there, and I need to know what cold and snow and sky looks like up there, as well as getting the layout of the ski runs and lifts and gondolas and what does the Ritz Carlton really look like?

And if I hadn't have gone I wouldn't have found this...


Metal wood sculptures in the outdoor fire pits.














Or this....

The layout at midway.







And I wouldn't have known what it's like to wake up early to softly falling snow and try to drive over Donner Pass in sleety rain, or stop and put chains on and cut up your fingers on the rough wire stands of the cables from puling them around and trying to tighten them with snow-sleet hitting your face. Or how quickly the weather changes on the summit from clear but grey, to snow, to freezing rain, and dense fog, to white out from fast falling snow.

And I wouldn't have seen the pure joy that snow brought to Luka, who is only slightly older than Will, in the story.


So that's why I have to keep going up to Tahoe - and although it would have been possible anyway it would never be half as nice or as much fun if it weren't for my lovely friend Pam Turner, who keeps letting me stay in her gorgeous Northstar cabin. In fact it it weren't for Pam the story would never have happened as the seed started one summer at her cabin when Luka and I were staying there alone at night, and at night alone in a big house my mind started to wonder, and imagine, what if.... and from there many a story starts.

The Things I Do For Art - movies.

By art I mean writing. I know, artistic license, or what? Still...
This YA is set in Tahoe during a snow storm, with a ghost. Here's some of the things I'm doing. I've already told you what I'm listening to so now I'm sharing the visuals.

- Watching movies! Yes, movies can be great for pure research or getting in the moment, how would that character feel in that situation? Or getting into the mood, as in deep dark ghostly, or panicky society breaking down.

I'm going to see The Grey and The Woman in Black next week. Why?
Because in The Grey, they crash into Alaska with no pre-warned supplies, so it's a snow survival story with wolves. Mine doesn't have wolves but it does have bears. I do love a good bear story! The Woman in Black, because it reminds me of a Turn of the Screw meets The Others, and so I'm intrigued to see how they set up the tension and resolve the ghost aspect of the story.

See what you think...




This is a new Woman in Black trailer..


I'm not actually expecting these movies to be great, but I think they'll help my visual dictionary. What does breath look like in the cold, how red do noses go, at what point does your skin creep and why? What is the body language of cold? Of fear?

Other films I've watched include Spike Lee's amazing documentary on Hurricane Katrina, When the Levees Broke. Which is way more realistic and chilling than anything else Ive seen.


And the NPR documentary by Ric Burns, The Donner Party, The America Experience.


One of my greatest fears is spreading untruths. This may seem weird as I'm writing fiction but I think most writers write to find the 'truth' either in their characters or the situations. The details need to read real. This is even more true of historical fiction. Although this novel is set in the present, it relates to the Donner party of which there is a ton of well known information as well as a lot of untruths or not knowns. I don't want to spread things we now know to be untrue. Rick Burn's film has a few details which have been called into dispute so I've also read a heap of non-fiction to get my facts straight or at least as straight as I can.

Other films and shows brilliant for watching what happens when catastrophe strikes are zombie flicks! Okay, I love zombies anyway, but it's great to watch for details in how to survive in a hostile world and how society reacts when facing a massive breakdown. So, yes I'll be watching The Walking Dead when
it returns this Sunday.

BUT there are ZERO ZOMBIES in this YA - just so we're clear on that!

Finally a show that I would be addicted to anyway is The Fades , on BBC America. The character development, acting and writing is just brilliant. A total inspiration of how to make every character have depth and nuance. I only hope I can pull if off in my novel half as well!

Cheating & competitions but not cheating in competitions!

Okay, strictly this isn't cheating, it's how to get myself to work without feeling depressed/desperate/like I can't write/bored/distracted.

One of my many New Year's resolutions was to have more fun & laugh more. I'm applying this to my writing. So I'm sitting writing on my couch, bare toes wriggling in the sun, and while I write I'm listening to some of my favorite music. I know lots of writers do this, and it does help set the mood - I mean what's better for writing a novel set in Tahoe than listening to Kate Bush's new album, 50 Words for Snow? But some of the music is just plain raucous and makes me SMILE and sometimes I even sing along. When I'm in full writing flow I don't even hear the music but I need that little cheat to get going!

This is today's music list: Andrew Bird , Lykke Li , Grimes , Kate Bush , Bjork , Feist and finally Beth Orton . It's a long play list punctuated only by my cat Mimi's pleading to be let out!!

BTW did you see Bjork on The Colbert Report? Love, love, love her.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bjork
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Okay, COMPETITIONS! I think I shared that I'd entered some.. No word yet BUT I am going to give out books on WORLD BOOK NIGHT - yay, for that! I'll be giving them to teen parents at THE HORIZON school in Pleasanton. You can apply to give out books to light or non readers here... WORLD BOOK NIGHT

This one is open until Feb 5th - so HURRY! Amazon and Penguin have teamed up to find a Break Out YA Novel - winner gets a Penguin contract. - Good luck! Details here Amazon/Penguin

There's a great opportunity to PITCH to a closed agency. Tricia Lawrence, Erin Murphy Literary agency's newest agent is opening up her mail box for a short window from Feb 13-17th... PITCH DETAILS

My YA novel, GREEN SKIES is has suddenly gained momentum and is marching along at break neck speed, okay, almost - a chapter a day isn't too bad! Plus I've reached that part when the main characters whisper to me while I'm writing - heaven.

Finally for inspiration on your glum writing days I leave you with this blog I stumbled across today -- Distraction no. 99 - Guest bloggers post about their turning points as writers.

Three yays!

Happy New Year!

THE FIRST YAY!
So, mine has started with a leap and a skip,remember the haiku picture book I've been working on? Well I sent it off to Schuyler Hooke @ Random House (wonderful guy) last Friday -- yes, that's the first YAY! It's the culmination of a few years work on and off. Including lots of nature shots to try and figure out the species playing in my garden!



This is a California slender salamander I rescued it from the pool.

Each haiku took a long time,getting the syllables to say exactly the right thing, suggest the right tone, create the right mood, then there were rewrites etc. even sketches to see how all the creatures related to each other, and of course lots of time spent poking around the garden!

So, it feels wonderful to have sent it away - the best package I could do, and whatever happens to it I'm pretty proud of it. It feels like it's become it's own thing and I've sent it off into the world. Who knows what will happen now? I'll keep you posted!







THE SECOND YAY?



My friend Veronica Rossi's book came out and she had a book launch party at Rackstraw Books, Danville. It was fab! So packed with people - and what people, Eric Elfman, Lia Keyes, Ellen Hopkins, the YA Muses of course! and so many others there was barely room inside. Gorgeous excited wonderful event - and her book UNDER THE NEVER SKIES is racing up the charts and being made into a movie as we speak! See dreams do come true - you just have to work your butt off first!








THE THIRD YAY!
I'm off to see Laura Marling with my mate Karen and she's playing second fiddle to Andrew Bird, (Laura not Karen!) - know him? I didn't either BUT when we got the tickets they gave us some free music and it's fab - u - lous!! So new music yay! Here's a snippet - and with that I bid you adieu - got some serious revising to do on my Tahoe novel...

A Monster of a Writer - Newbery Ponders

WARNING CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS BUT REALLY ONLY FROM THE FIRST PAGE



So back again and for my wonderful Adults Read Kids Books club - I am rereading A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. We read the cream of the crop, all possible Newbery Award contenders. I've read a lot of comments about it recently from bloggers I really respect like Jonathan Hunt's, Heavy Medal and Fuse 8 , written by Betsy Bird.

To be honest I expected to like it because I love Patrick Ness's CHAOS WALKING trilogy, The Knife of Never Letting Go, (first book I've ever thrown across the room in a fit at the cliff hanger ending!) The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men. I also had the amazing good luck to meet his US editor - Kaylan Adair at Candlewick - what a gem! It is one of my life's ambitions for her to be my editor - I'm working on it Kaylan - seriously!

When I first read A Monster Calls, I found it almost unbearable in its portrayal of grief, how it clutched at you as you tried to come to terms with something that may or may not be inevitable. My good friend Grace - whom I wrote about earlier in the year, was suffering through chemo in her fight against never ending leukemia as I read this. She died this July. I was pretty raw emotionally.

Connor, the hero of the story is coming to terms with his mother dying. In a word it's bleak. But it is also so tightly written, so magical, so filled with a fabular, surreal dream like quality, that even though I found it gut wrenching, I also loved it.

As I said at the beginning, I'm rereading it and I am stunned by the writing, really.
It's so tightly constructed from the very first sentence...

'The Monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.'

...you know what you're up against. Yet, at the same time there's that tone of weary resignation - 'as they do', don't they always, seen it all before.

In that first short page (only 17 lines) we find out that his dad is unreliable and living somewhere else, Connor wouldn't ever tell his grandma, or his mum, 'obviously' implying the nightmare has something to do with her, or at least is closely connected to her. He feels no support from school and the end sentence, on the first page:

'Absolutely not.' implies he's a) a loner, b) resolute and c) these feelings are nothing new - okay that's my jump - but there's no exclamation mark so it's very level headed, a deliberately strong statement set out on its own like that.

It is a master class of show don't tell. What seem like tiny details, single word choices, lay out the whole story. Darkness, wind, screaming, building up the dramatic tension.

The hook is on line seven - it pulls you through, right to the very end. And even though you know it was sort of inevitable, it is still a shock - which totally mirrors Connor's journey.

No more spoilers - but that's all from the first page. It makes me want to do a Master class on Patrick Ness's writing!

My copy is a Walker Books UK version, according to a comment in response to Johnathan Hunt's blog post, the US dust jacket it's described as:

“An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.”

I'd go along with unflinching, and deeply moving, but I wouldn't call it darkly funny.

My UK version simply has quotes for other authors I admire, who's views on this book I completely agree with.

"Exceptional...This is storytelling as it should be - harrowing, lyrical and transcendent." Meg Rosoff

"Compelling...powerful and impressive." Philip Pullman

There have of course been mixed views on this book, and I wonder if it may appeal more to writers because of its impeccable crafting. In the same way a painter will appreciate more, the fine brush strokes, application and composition of a fine art painting.

For me this book is an instant classic, Like Meg Rosoff's, How We Live Now, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, or Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games, works of art which as I writer, I find so inspiring.

Barbados and rain

A dreamy video - I rediscovered The Real Tuesday Weld today whilst looking for musical Xmas gifts for far flung family members - love this and this...



Which despite being about rain is to me pretty Christmassy!

And here's a gorgeous room with a view..



Despite what you might think from this picture, I experienced pouring rain in Barbados last week - luckily only for an afternoon amazing torrents though turned the Holetown roads into rivers! So as there are no sidewalks anyway we traveled back to Paynes Bay and our hotel by Rasta Bus.

BTW a Rasta bus is bright yellow costs $2 Bajan dollars to anywhere and plays loud reggae music and is normally crammed.

We were only there for four full days, enough time, to get lost on North Bay, see a green monkey, swim with the turtles, eat flying fish and enjoy the warm Caribbean ocean!

I also became addicted to Sudoku and rum punch. Now back to life back to reality...
which is haiku with a novel coming up!

Book talk ----

In case you've been following the Newbery chatter, my bets are on: Amelia Lost , A Monster Calls and, Bluefish as a long but deserving shot. Read them go on I dare ya! Then tell me what you think. For a real up to date knowledgeable Newbery insider blog I recommend you visit here...HeavyMedal a Newbery Book blog from the School Library Journal.

Tahoe & Haiku

So, yes, two posts in a month, I must be feeling creative. Do you remember way back on Nov 1st when I said I was doing the NANOWRIMO? Well...it's stopped. I realized unlike many fabulous writers I am unable to write several genres at the same time. It's all or nothing and right now I am completely submerged in DAWN IN THE HIDDEN GARDEN (new title!).



I spent the whole weekend writing in Tahoe, with some fabulous writers, Anne Reilly, Lynn Hazen , Ellen Yeomans , and Connie Goldsmith , as guests of the lovely (and multi-talented - you should taste her cocktails!) Pam Turner. A blissful weekend given over to writing walking and critiquing, meeting new people and exchanging ideas.

I feel totally renewed and invigorated. Those amazing peeps were able to push me to new heights, which is what good critiquing is all about!

Now every time I try to think of something else, little poems sneak up on me, or I find myself looking very carefully at nature. Even walking or running I'll see something and think ah ha! Like this morning while running I saw a squirrel which darted up the tree running in spirals and I thought - ha- it skitters not scrabbles, and I'm running around the sports park making up the haiku in my head counting off the syllables with my fingers looking remarkably similar to a first grader doing math!



Later today while trying to fix an elusive worm haiku, I did some garden chores, I know yawn, yawn. I unfolded this piece of blue plastic that we use when we spray paint things - mostly silver, you know usual stuff - but then as it came undone a HUGE lizard darted out, freaking me and Mimi - me because no one expects a 12 inch lizard to be hiding in a tarp, Mimi because it was an animal running at her! It was seriously gorgeous and easily eluded Mimi's feeble huntress efforts as it darted for the rosemary bush.

So, of course there will be a lizard haiku now! The only worry I have about all this rhyme obsession is how much I enjoy it and how the YA I'm working on is disappearing into the background of my mind like a mist covered shadow.

What am I reading? 1Q84, Fracture, The Scorpio Races , Why we Broke Up and Across the Universe . I just finished Blue Fish with Luka - AM- AZ - ING!!!! So sparse and true,
to me a definite Newbery contender up there with A Monster Calls.

And that is all!

Later gator!