Featured post
Artshub Reviews
I love the Festival of Perth in all its manifestations - the Festival proper, the Fringe Festival, and the Writers Festival. However, I ...

About Me
- Satima Flavell
- I am a writer, editor, reviewer and dance teacher based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website, and I still teach dance at Trinity School for Seniors, an outreach program of the Uniting Church in Perth.

My books
The first novel of my trilogy, The Talismans, is available as an e-book from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. I do have paperbacks of The Dagger of Dresnia at the low price of $AU25 including postage within Australia. I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below.
Book two of the trilogy, The Cloak of Challiver, will be available again shortly.
The best way to contact me is via Facebook!

Buy The Talismans
The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. Book one, The Dagger of Dresnia, is up on the usual bookselling web sites as an e-book, and I have a few hard copies to sell to those who prefer Real Paper. Book Two, The Cloak of Challiver, will be available soon.
The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.

Buy Mythic Resonance
Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon.
Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.

For Readers, Writers & Editors
- A dilemma about characters
- Adelaide Writers Week, 2009
- Adjectives, commas and confusion
- An artist's conflict
- An editor's role
- Authorial voice, passive writing and the passive voice
- Common misuses: common expressions
- Common misuses: confusing words
- Common misuses: pronouns - subject and object
- Conversations with a character
- Critiquing Groups
- Does length matter?
- Dont sweat the small stuff: formatting
- Free help for writers
- How much magic is too much?
- Know your characters via astrology
- Like to be an editor?
- Modern Writing Techniques
- My best reads of 2007
- My best reads of 2008
- My favourite dead authors
- My favourite modern authors
- My influential authors
- Planning and Flimmering
- Planning vs Flimmering again
- Psychological Spec-Fic
- Readers' pet hates
- Reading, 2009
- Reality check: so you want to be a writer?
- Sensory detail is important!
- Speculative Fiction - what is it?
- Spelling reform?
- Substantive or linking verbs
- The creative cycle
- The promiscuous artist
- The revenge of omni rampant
- The value of "how-to" lists for writers
- Write a decent synopsis
- Write a review worth reading
- Writers block 1
- Writers block 2
- Writers block 3
- Writers need editors!
- Writers, Depression and Addiction
- Writing in dialect, accent or register
- Writing it Right: notes for apprentice authors

Interviews with authors
My Blog List
-
A To Z Blogging Challenge 2018: R Is For Gillian Rubinstein - Gillian Rubinstein writes for children and teens. You may have heard of her under her pen name of Lian Hearn, under which she wrote the Japanese-themed T...43 minutes ago
-
The complexity of medieval Soberton (1) by Carolyn Hughes - When, several years ago, I embarked upon writing the first of the " Meonbridge Chronicles", I read a lot of books in preparation. Most of the books were fil...1 hour ago
-
View From a Hotel Window, 4/19/18: Minneapolis - It’s a very vertical view today, because I’m downtown in a major American city. I like it! Tonight: 7pm in the Har Mar Barnes & Noble! Be there! Or don’t b...7 hours ago
-
Books by Tessa Bailey, Sabrina Darby, & More! - *The Vixen and the Vet* *READER RECOMMENDED: The Vixen and the Vet by Katy Regnery is $2.99 at Amazon! Several books in Regnery’s Modern Fairytale series...9 hours ago
-
Teresa Dovalpage - Teresa Dovalpage was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1966. She earned her BA in English literature and an MA in Spanish literature at the University of Havana, an...12 hours ago
-
Rome: the Paradise, the grave, the city, the wilderness - The following is an abridged extract from The Rome We Have Lost by John Pemble and discusses how Rome, the eternal city, the centre of Europe and, in man...13 hours ago
-
Flog a Pro: would you pay to turn the first page of this bestseller? - Trained by reading hundreds of submissions, editors and agents often make their read/not-read decision on the first page. In a customarily formatted book m...14 hours ago
-
Cover Reveal: Bookburners Season 4 - In which we showcase the cover of Bookburners Season 4, the latest season of the critically acclaimed urban fantasy serial about a secret team of agents ...14 hours ago
-
Easy Ways to Sell Signed Copies of Your Novel Online - *By J. Kathleen Cheney, @jkcheney * *Part of the Indie Authors Series * I’ve been in this author game for a while, and it still surprises me when someon...15 hours ago
-
Digital archiving: ‘Context is everything’ - What’s the difference between an archive and a data warehouse? How are digital archives different from other collections of data? Perhaps the most signific...16 hours ago
-
“I want my time with you” – and quite right, too - Tracy Emin’s new art installation at St Pancras station has hit the news, as her work always does. I have no expertise with which to Read the full article...18 hours ago
-
To Move Is to Live Is to Move - I walk five miles every day, using a Fitbit as a pedometer to keep myself honest. People praise me for this, telling me how virtuous I am to get all this e...19 hours ago
-
Marion Deeds - We were very pleased to have author Marion Deeds join us on the show to talk about her work and her interests. I started by asking her what her favorite th...20 hours ago
-
Victorian Home, Climate and Weather, Salmonella - I guess I didn't check properly, and it appears that what I was watching on Tuesday evening was Part 2 of Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home. Which I am...20 hours ago
-
Ready Set Discover Logan now available at Bookshops - Ready Set Discover Logan now available I’m thrilled to pieces Ready Set Discover Logan received *5 STAR Reviews and is now available at Bookshops in Bri...20 hours ago
-
Flogometer 1051 for Danielle—are you compelled to turn the page? - Submissions sought. Get fresh eyes on your opening page. Submission directions below. The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me ...1 day ago
-
How to Write a Series for Your Blog (and Why You’ll Want To) - Have you ever written a series of posts for your blog – a set of posts that are deliberately linked together? If you haven’t, I hope I can convince you t...1 day ago
-
Preview- First chapter of Skyfire - Hi all This might be of interest to some of you. This is a preview of the first chapter of Part Five of the Dragon Wine series, called Skyfire. I thought t...1 day ago
-
Preview- First chapter of Skyfire - Hi all This might be of interest to some of you. This is a preview of the first chapter of Part Five of the Dragon Wine series, called Skyfire. I thought t...1 day ago
-
Speculative Fiction Showcase: Double-Cross (In Love and War, Book 8) by Cora Buh... - Speculative Fiction Showcase: Double-Cross (In Love and War, Book 8) by Cora Buh...: Release date: March 28, 2018 Subgenre: Science fiction romance, Space ...1 day ago
-
Urban Fantasy tab added… - In a similar vein to The Book Review Directory, I’ve been sent freebies from authors in this genre. I’ve downloaded one and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve dec...2 days ago
-
New Medieval Books: Suger and Blood - Looking for something medieval to read? Here are five new books about the Middle Ages to check out...2 days ago
-
Another talk with Laurie Anderson - One of the people I love talking to most in the world is Laurie Anderson. Laurie Anderson is an experimental musician, avant-garde composer, storyteller, ...3 days ago
-
SFTV 101 - SFTV 101: 1952 to 1980 For anyone interested in the history of science fiction, fantasy and horror on television, here is a list of episodes recommended...4 days ago
-
#305 - Question: The pivotal scene in my manuscript is the rape of the main character. My last beta reader said she had nightmares for two days about the story and...4 days ago
-
The Abduction of Elizabeth de Burgh, February 1316 - The third and youngest of Edward II's de Clare nieces, who were the daughters of his second eldest sister Joan of Acre and her first husband Gilbert 'the R...4 days ago
-
Top 5 Concept Mistakes Writers Make - Concept IS Story Concept aka ‘premise’, ‘controlling idea’, ‘seed of the story’. Whatever you want to call it, that concept is the FOUNDATION of your sto...4 days ago
-
Publishers Weekly Includes Two Vanity Publishers in its List of Fast-Growing Independent Presses - *Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware* Once again, Publishers Weekly's annual overview of fast-growing independent publishers features not only in...6 days ago
-
Me, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Tongue Cancer, and Jason Fung, MD - Something you might not know about me. Back in the early 2000’s, I was fat. Not chubby. Not “just need to lose a few pounds.” Morbidy obese. The point at w...1 week ago
-
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ME AND A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE - What's the difference between me (and other professional writers) and a professional athlete? You know, like those talented young folk now showing us their...1 week ago
-
Unpublication - I’ve been slow to provide purchase links for my new hard-SF short story collection, Wide Brown Land: stories of Titan. There’s a reason for that: two days ...1 week ago
-
A Hike on the Wild Side by Gail Gaymer Martin - Sometimes it’s hard to face that certain times of life, we can’t do what we might have done ten years earlier. Living in the beauty of Arizona and surrou...1 week ago
-
Normans, Angevins and Britons - The History of the Honour of Richmond, Part 1 - Richmond Castle, situated on a cliff above the river Swale in northern Yorkshire, is one of the finest examples of Norman architecture since it has not be...1 week ago
-
When a Comma Isn’t Enough - Punctuating interrupted dialogue is a confusing topic for both writers and editors, but there is a definitive answer to the question, "how do you punctuate...1 week ago
-
Review: Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening - [image: Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening] Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu My rating: 5 of 5 stars Absolutely stunning combination of artwork, ...1 week ago
-
Selling Your Original Art? Get Ready For These Comments...And More - John Buscema, Hulk preliminary. Not my art, so don't ask me if you can buy it. Selling, and buying for that matter, original comic book art shouldn't be di...1 week ago
-
Steampunk Fly Girl - This is another one of my vintage digital photos, I call her Steampunk Fly Girl. I suspect she was actually dressed this way for riding in a motor car, but...2 weeks ago
-
Suspended in Dusk 2 - My story in the first Suspended In Dusk anthology was called “Shadows Of The Lonely Dead” and it won an Australian Shadows Award, and was reprinted in a ...2 weeks ago
-
Free Farseer Poster - I know why you are here. You want to pre-order the Farseer coloring book from the Dabel Brothers, and get the free poster. The free poster is different fro...2 weeks ago
-
April Fool's Day - I'm not a fan of pranks. In my opinion in general they tend to be cruel and hurtful and I really have no wish to watch someone being embarrassed. With the ...2 weeks ago
-
Welcome to WEP - Write...Edit...Publish APRIL challenge -- ROAD LESS TRAVELED - Of course the classic Robert Frost poem, *The Road Not Taken*, comes to mind with this prompt which went some little way in inspiring our choice. *What ...2 weeks ago
-
What we are seeing today is actually the second renaissance of indie bookselling, not the first - Publishing and digital change consultant Bill Rosenblatt — always worth paying attention to — pointed his contacts last week to a podcast from NPR celebr...3 weeks ago
-
The Despenser Inheritance - This link will take you to an interesting (but complex) article by Professor Hicks about the Despenser inheritance. You will see from it that Warwick "the ...3 weeks ago
-
Despenser Inheritance - This link will take you to an interesting (if complex) article by Professor Hicks about the Despenser Inheritance.3 weeks ago
-
Hummingbird Cake Recipe - This recipe brings together a few recipes I found online and combined/tweaked. It has a lot of ingredients, but it’s pretty easy to make, and fun. I migh...5 weeks ago
-
Edward III - *Frances, our Fearless Leader, has written an appreciation of a little known play, Edward III. Now accepted as having been written at least in part by our...1 month ago
-
New Yoga demonstration video - Hi Friends, I just returned from Sri Lanka where I attended the 3 day Global Mindfulness Summit. During the conference part of my participation was narrati...1 month ago
-
Writers [on Writing]: Hilmer Wolitzer - This is from the final page and final paragraph of the collected essays of *Writers [On Writing]* from *The New York Times*; and seems a fitting way to end ...1 month ago
-
Buying my books - So I have taken to Lulu - who originally assisted with the publication of The Woodcarver's Son . Anyone wanting to buy a copy of either the Woodcarver's S...1 month ago
-
Taking (off) the Pith - I’ve reached a quiet decision. Steampunk is marvelous; I love it, and I have greatly enjoyed my many and various excursions therein, both fantastic (e.g. m...1 month ago
-
Interview: Kevin Craig - Novelist, poet and playwright Kevin Craig, long known as KTC on Absolute Write, set some time aside for an interview, just days after release of his sixt...1 month ago
-
We're all living in the wound. Here's a way we can begin to heal together. - Never in my life have I felt such an urgent need for Something Good to happen for America. This is my contribution to a visionary discussion: I am consta...1 month ago
-
Here's an article based on an exercise I led in Active vs. Passive Writing course - https://novelrocket.com/2018/02/inhabiting-the-prose.html/ FEBRUARY 5, 2018 BY NOVELROCKET Inhabiting the Prose [image: author prose tips]by Patricia Brad...2 months ago
-
On Indefinite Hiatus - (Which I pretty much have been from this site for a while already, but for real now.) You can find most archive content through the On Writing page, and li...2 months ago
-
Amazon Ranking and Bestseller Lists - What's the Deal? - It's really hard to draw conclusions in the self-pub marketing game. After almost ten years of self-publishing on Amazon, I still don't know why some ebook...2 months ago
-
-
Coming Events In Germany - *Q and A* Tuesday 27th February 8.00pm DTK-Wasserturm Kopischstraße 7, 10965 Berlin, Germany *Lunebuch Bookstore* Interview Thursday 1st March 8.00pm Ba...2 months ago
-
Writer brain is back! - So, there’s this thing I call writer brain. That’s where, out of nowhere, characters start chatting with each other in my head … or plot solutions pop up w...2 months ago
-
Slave owners in the family tree - My mother, Judith Anson Robinson, did much of the family interviewing, letter writing, ordering of books and microfilms from genealogy libraries, and tra...3 months ago
-
More Regular Dance & Gymnastic Blog Posts - Although I am very active on both Instagram and Facebook uploading and sharing images from photo sessions, my poor website seems to be neglected. I am goin...3 months ago
-
A Decade of Reading: 2008-2017 - I’ve been a voracious reader my whole life, but it wasn’t until 2008 that I started cataloging my reading journey. Ten years later and I’ve just ticked ove...4 months ago
-
Review: Corpselight by Angela Slatter - Verity Fassbinder might have gone up against Archangels and Weyrd murderers before, but now she’s on a course that might just see her out of her depth – mo...4 months ago
-
Interview for Annie Douglass Lima's new book The Student and the Slave! - Take a look at this exciting new young adult action and adventure novel, *The Student and the Slave*, now available for purchase! This is the third book i...5 months ago
-
Poem (2): For Fear - For Fear As I fear to bend and break The grass upon which I walk ... As I touch not the lustrous bubble For fear of ending its fragile life; As I fear to t...5 months ago
-
Literary Executors: Why you don’t want to be one, and how to know if you need one - So. A writer friend asks you to be their literary executor. You’re not exactly sure what a literary executor does, but you know you should feel honoured: a...7 months ago
-
Promo for a promo - Check this out - it's my crowdfund campaign to fund an extra scene in my Cyrano film. The film is based on my novel *Pyrotechnicon: Being a True Account of...7 months ago
-
I’m teaching a fact-checking workshop in Seattle on November 4th - I’ll be teaching a fact-checking workshop in Seattle on Saturday, November 4th for the Northwest Independent Editors Guild. This will be a practical how-to...7 months ago
-
First comes painting, Then comes sketching - While enjoying my new acrylics hobby, I started a painting and decided I wanted to include a dragon statue in one of them. There was, though, a hurdle I ha...8 months ago
-
2017 Ditmar Winners Announced - Over the Queen’s Birthday weekend, spec fic fans gathered for Continuum 13: Triskaidekaphilia. Continuum is always a great convention, and this year it was...10 months ago
-
Writing about the Crusades and talking about a "meddlesome priest" - The Middle Ages are in the news again, so here is a roundup of recent news articles. We start with three good reads from historians talking about the crusa...10 months ago
-
The One and the Many – every Sunday - My first serious girlfriend came from good Roman Catholic stock. Having tried (and failed) to be raised as a Christian child and finding nothing but lifele...10 months ago
-
The ancient parish of Aghallow and the territories of Muinterbirne and Largie in county Tyrone, 1609/10 - My main objectives for studying the Manors of Kinard [later known as the Caledon estate] and Ballymagran are to determine the geographic extent and to tr...11 months ago
-
A Shameless Plug Ian Likes: Bibliorati.com - A little-known fact is that I once had a gig reviewing books for five years. It was for a now-defunct website known as The Specusphere. It was awesome fun:...1 year ago
-
Recommended reads of 2016 (part two) - Following on from my previous blog post about my favoured reads from the last year or so, which was my first blog post for some time, here is part two. I h...1 year ago
-
Book Review - Nobody by Threasa Meads - Available from BooktopiaThe subtitle for this work is *A Liminal Autobiography*. Liminal: 1. relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process. 2...1 year ago
-
A whole 'nother year-and-a-bit - Well, we have let this blog slip, haven't we? I guess Facebook has taken over from blogs to a very large degree, but I think there is still a need for blo...1 year ago
-
2017 Potential Bee Calendar – & ladybirds and butterflies - Bees on flowers – all sorts of flowers (& bees) – and lady birds and butterflies. There were hundreds (literally) of photos to choose from. This is a small...1 year ago
-
And Father Dragon said "let there be a planet...." - *Lo and behold, Dragon made a planet!!* Oh, I'm so very proud of myself so forgive me if I brag a little bit - way too much. I'm in the process of learni...1 year ago
-
What is dyslexia? - *" **The bottob line it thit it doet exitt, no bitter whit nibe teottle give it(i.e ttecific lierning ditibility, etc) iccording to Thilly Thiywitz ( 2003)...2 years ago
-
Maken Melodye on #WhanthatAprilleDay16 - Goode Friendes and Readeres of thys Litel Blog, Yt doth fill my litel herte wyth gret happinesse to invyte yow to the thirde yeare of a moost blisful and p...2 years ago

Favourite Sites
- Alan Baxter
- Andrew McKiernan
- Bren McDibble
- Celestine Lyons
- Guy Gavriel Kay
- Hal Spacejock (Simon Haynes)
- Inventing Reality
- Jacqueline Carey
- Jennifer Fallon
- Jessica Rydill
- Jessica Vivien
- Joel Fagin
- Juliet Marillier
- KA Bedford
- Karen Miller
- KSP Writers Centre
- Lynn Flewelling
- Marianne de Pierres
- Phill Berrie
- Ryan Flavell
- Satima's Professional Editing Services
- SF Novelists' Blog
- SF Signal
- Shane Jiraiya Cummings
- Society of Editors, WA
- Stephen Thompson
- Yellow wallpaper

Blog Archive
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Aurealis Awards, 2007


These were filched from the ABC website , where they were reported by SpecFic’s “inside man”, Gary Kemble.
Best Science Fiction Novel
David Kowalski: The Company of the Dead, published by Pan Macmillan
Best Science Fiction Short Story
Cat Sparks: Hollywood Roadkill, published in On Spec #69
Best Fantasy Novel
Lian Hearn: Heavens Net is Wide: Tales of the Otori, The First Book, published by Hachette Livre Australia
Best Fantasy Short Story
Garth Nix: Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz go to War Again, published in Jim Baen's Universe April 2007
Best Horror Novel
Susan Parisi: Blood of Dreams, published by Penguin Group (Australia)
Best Horror Short Story
Anna Tambour: The Jeweller of Second-Hand Roe, published in Subterranean #7
Best Young Adult Novel
Anthony Eaton: Skyfall, published by UQP
Best Young Adult Short Story
Deborah Biancotti: A Scar for Leida, published in Fantastic Wonder Stories (Ticonderoga Publications)
Best Childrens (8-12 years) Long Fiction
Kate Forsyth: The Silver Horse, The Herb of Grace, The Cats Eye Shell, The Lightning Bolt, The Butterfly in Amber. (These comprise The Chain of Charms, Books 2-6) published by Pan Macmillan
Best Childrens (8-12 years) Short Fiction - Co-Winners
Marc McBride, World of Monsters, published by Scholastic Australia, and Briony Stewart, Kumiko and the Dragon, published by UQP
Peter McNamara Convenors Award for Excellence
Terry Dowling, Rynemonn, published by Coeur de Lion
Golden Aurealis Award - Best Short Story
Cat Sparks, Hollywood Roadkill, published in On Spec #69
Golden Aurealis Award - Best Novel
David Kowalski, The Company of the Dead, published by Pan Macmillan
An excellent field this year: one that must have made hard work for the judges. While it’s good to see a novice writer take the Big Prize, it’s also pleasing to see some stalwarts of the SpecFic scene, especially Terry Dowling and Cat Sparks receiving well-deserved recognition.
I’m also pleased to see that David Kowalski spent ten years writing his debut novel. Maybe there’s hope for me yet!
Best Science Fiction Novel
David Kowalski: The Company of the Dead, published by Pan Macmillan
Best Science Fiction Short Story
Cat Sparks: Hollywood Roadkill, published in On Spec #69
Best Fantasy Novel
Lian Hearn: Heavens Net is Wide: Tales of the Otori, The First Book, published by Hachette Livre Australia
Best Fantasy Short Story
Garth Nix: Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz go to War Again, published in Jim Baen's Universe April 2007
Best Horror Novel
Susan Parisi: Blood of Dreams, published by Penguin Group (Australia)
Best Horror Short Story
Anna Tambour: The Jeweller of Second-Hand Roe, published in Subterranean #7
Best Young Adult Novel
Anthony Eaton: Skyfall, published by UQP
Best Young Adult Short Story
Deborah Biancotti: A Scar for Leida, published in Fantastic Wonder Stories (Ticonderoga Publications)
Best Childrens (8-12 years) Long Fiction
Kate Forsyth: The Silver Horse, The Herb of Grace, The Cats Eye Shell, The Lightning Bolt, The Butterfly in Amber. (These comprise The Chain of Charms, Books 2-6) published by Pan Macmillan
Best Childrens (8-12 years) Short Fiction - Co-Winners
Marc McBride, World of Monsters, published by Scholastic Australia, and Briony Stewart, Kumiko and the Dragon, published by UQP
Peter McNamara Convenors Award for Excellence
Terry Dowling, Rynemonn, published by Coeur de Lion
Golden Aurealis Award - Best Short Story
Cat Sparks, Hollywood Roadkill, published in On Spec #69
Golden Aurealis Award - Best Novel
David Kowalski, The Company of the Dead, published by Pan Macmillan
An excellent field this year: one that must have made hard work for the judges. While it’s good to see a novice writer take the Big Prize, it’s also pleasing to see some stalwarts of the SpecFic scene, especially Terry Dowling and Cat Sparks receiving well-deserved recognition.
I’m also pleased to see that David Kowalski spent ten years writing his debut novel. Maybe there’s hope for me yet!
Reactions: |
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
Vale Heath Ledger


I find myself really upset at the news of Heath Ledger's death. A West Aussie boy, he starred in one of my favourite fantasy movies, A Knight's Tale (I call it a fantasy because of its surreal elements and deliberate anachronisms.)
The horrible thing is that it looks as if it might have been suicide or murder. Either way, a terrible waste of a young life and a loss to the world of a great talent.
RIP, Heath.
The horrible thing is that it looks as if it might have been suicide or murder. Either way, a terrible waste of a young life and a loss to the world of a great talent.
RIP, Heath.
Reactions: |
Sunday, 20 January 2008
The Artist's Conflict


Last week I was complaining about a quandary that arose from my writing. This is becoming a regular feature of my bloglife: in fact, it’s starting to look to me as though writing a book is a journey through a multitude of quandaries, each treading on the heels of the one in front so that the writer is hard pressed to find a way through. Every week a different problem – no wonder we have a reputation for eccentricity. And, perhaps, for egocentricity, too, since these dilemmas can pull us into a lot of rather fruitless navel-gazing that leaves little room for outer concerns.
You might remember that last week my turmoil was about whether or not it is acceptable to leave one set of characters behind and bring in another lot once the novel is well underway. It was a double worry, because in this case I’m not only abandoning a cast of characters that many of my readers were already engaged with but I'm also skipping a decade and half before continuing – or, rather, starting afresh: a new place, a new time, all new characters apart from the main one. Time jumps are another thing that many readers do not like.
The nature of the current problem is not what brought me to write today, but rather the annoying frequency of such problems in a writer’s life. As I’ve pointed out already, they are all too common.
Every artist, whatever his or her field, must constantly deal with a certain kind of inner conflict, unique, I think, to the arts – the conflict between “what I need to do” and “what I feel”. In this case, my feelings are for the new situation. The early characters have done their jobs and I want to press on. But if we write what we want to write, the burning question is – will it sell? I know that if an author were to play such a nasty trick on me I would, very probably, be just as unforgiving as my critics.
There are writers, I know, who are able to churn out novels to order. They learn a formula: they know what people want. And they are able to produce it, again and again. This must, I believe, mean that the writer cannot engage emotionally with the work, because if he or she did, the aforementioned conflict would surely arise. The other side of the coin is the tortured writer: the one who takes ten years to write a novel; one who is constantly starting anew because his or her emotional engagement will not permit moving on until some set of unconscious parameters has been filled. I see the signs in myself and want to pull back from that road.
Perhaps the first kind of writer – the hack novelist – finds other things in life that satisfy the urge to engage deeply with something. It’s the sort of engagement we have with our partners, friends and children, and indeed most of the “hack” writers I’ve met seem to have satisfying outer lives that must fill that need for engagement. For the tortured writer, there is not only no such outlet apart from the work-in-progress, but neither is there anyone to point to the outside world and pull the writer back to it. So the inner life takes over, leading the writer in ever decreasing circles, and we all know what happens to people who do that. (In this country, rumour has it that they will disappear up their own backsides.)
Is there a Middle Way? My Buddhist training has taught me always to seek that elusive track, but it is not easy in any area of life and least of all in this. How much of an eye for the commercial market is too much? How much emotional investment in the work is too much?
Perhaps the Middle Way always involves some compromise. I hope that by the end of the month – when I’ve promised to get back to the WIP – my unconscious will have figured out just what that compromise needs to be.
Wish us luck, the WIP and me:-)
You might remember that last week my turmoil was about whether or not it is acceptable to leave one set of characters behind and bring in another lot once the novel is well underway. It was a double worry, because in this case I’m not only abandoning a cast of characters that many of my readers were already engaged with but I'm also skipping a decade and half before continuing – or, rather, starting afresh: a new place, a new time, all new characters apart from the main one. Time jumps are another thing that many readers do not like.
The nature of the current problem is not what brought me to write today, but rather the annoying frequency of such problems in a writer’s life. As I’ve pointed out already, they are all too common.
Every artist, whatever his or her field, must constantly deal with a certain kind of inner conflict, unique, I think, to the arts – the conflict between “what I need to do” and “what I feel”. In this case, my feelings are for the new situation. The early characters have done their jobs and I want to press on. But if we write what we want to write, the burning question is – will it sell? I know that if an author were to play such a nasty trick on me I would, very probably, be just as unforgiving as my critics.
There are writers, I know, who are able to churn out novels to order. They learn a formula: they know what people want. And they are able to produce it, again and again. This must, I believe, mean that the writer cannot engage emotionally with the work, because if he or she did, the aforementioned conflict would surely arise. The other side of the coin is the tortured writer: the one who takes ten years to write a novel; one who is constantly starting anew because his or her emotional engagement will not permit moving on until some set of unconscious parameters has been filled. I see the signs in myself and want to pull back from that road.
Perhaps the first kind of writer – the hack novelist – finds other things in life that satisfy the urge to engage deeply with something. It’s the sort of engagement we have with our partners, friends and children, and indeed most of the “hack” writers I’ve met seem to have satisfying outer lives that must fill that need for engagement. For the tortured writer, there is not only no such outlet apart from the work-in-progress, but neither is there anyone to point to the outside world and pull the writer back to it. So the inner life takes over, leading the writer in ever decreasing circles, and we all know what happens to people who do that. (In this country, rumour has it that they will disappear up their own backsides.)
Is there a Middle Way? My Buddhist training has taught me always to seek that elusive track, but it is not easy in any area of life and least of all in this. How much of an eye for the commercial market is too much? How much emotional investment in the work is too much?
Perhaps the Middle Way always involves some compromise. I hope that by the end of the month – when I’ve promised to get back to the WIP – my unconscious will have figured out just what that compromise needs to be.
Wish us luck, the WIP and me:-)
Reactions: |
Sunday, 13 January 2008
The horns of a dilemma


If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you will know that I’m writing a fantasy trilogy and have achieved very little, writing-wise, for the last five months. The work stalled two thirds of the way through the current WIP. My mood has varied from despair to anxiety to a shoulder shrugging laissez-faire ever since. But even under the laissez-faire there lies a feeling of desperation. You see, I really do want to write this monstrous little opus. I love the story, I love my characters and I want other people to love them, too.
But before people can love the books, they have to read them. And before the books can be read, I have to write them.
Which brings me full circle. I’m stuck.
I suspect it’s because somewhere deep inside I know I haven’t got the story properly pinned down yet. The problem, I think, might lie in the fact that the overall storyline covers several generations, and I have skipped a decade and half about one third of the way into the present book. Now, I don’t know about you, but I resent it when a writer introduces me to cast of interesting characters and just when I’ve become drawn into their story, deserts them, jumps a sizable gap of time and starts anew with an almost completely new bunch of people that I have to get used to. I don’t like it. It’s not fair. I feel cheated.
Apparently I’m not the only one, because the only two people who have read the whole thing in one go both screamed in frustration. How dare I deprive them of those characters! Who is this crowd of strangers I’ve dumped on them? What happened to the other lot? Where are they? Bring them back!
Not bloody likely, sez I. To write the story I want to write, I have to move on. Those characters have served their purpose. If I carry on writing about them, I will be writing a different story. A story I don’t actually want to write.
Stalemate.
But to be honest, deep inside, I have more than a sneaking sympathy for my poor readers. As I’ve already pointed out, I also hate being cheated in this way. So I am working on ways to keep at least the main Bad Guy from the early chapters in the story, but that is, I think, the best compromise I can make. And I can think of no way to avoid the time jump. I have to allow the next generation to grow a little before the story can go on.
In any case, I have promised to leave the work alone for at least a month to give myself some distance from it, so I'm trying not to panic. But it's hard. I miss my imaginary playmates, old and new.
What do you think? Do you hate it when characters you’ve come to love or hate make a sudden exit? Do you dislike time-jumps in a narrative? What other pet hates do you have in stories? Don’t be frightened: your secrets are safe with me and the other forty or fifty people who read this blog every week:-) We are waiting to hear from you!
But before people can love the books, they have to read them. And before the books can be read, I have to write them.
Which brings me full circle. I’m stuck.
I suspect it’s because somewhere deep inside I know I haven’t got the story properly pinned down yet. The problem, I think, might lie in the fact that the overall storyline covers several generations, and I have skipped a decade and half about one third of the way into the present book. Now, I don’t know about you, but I resent it when a writer introduces me to cast of interesting characters and just when I’ve become drawn into their story, deserts them, jumps a sizable gap of time and starts anew with an almost completely new bunch of people that I have to get used to. I don’t like it. It’s not fair. I feel cheated.
Apparently I’m not the only one, because the only two people who have read the whole thing in one go both screamed in frustration. How dare I deprive them of those characters! Who is this crowd of strangers I’ve dumped on them? What happened to the other lot? Where are they? Bring them back!
Not bloody likely, sez I. To write the story I want to write, I have to move on. Those characters have served their purpose. If I carry on writing about them, I will be writing a different story. A story I don’t actually want to write.
Stalemate.
But to be honest, deep inside, I have more than a sneaking sympathy for my poor readers. As I’ve already pointed out, I also hate being cheated in this way. So I am working on ways to keep at least the main Bad Guy from the early chapters in the story, but that is, I think, the best compromise I can make. And I can think of no way to avoid the time jump. I have to allow the next generation to grow a little before the story can go on.
In any case, I have promised to leave the work alone for at least a month to give myself some distance from it, so I'm trying not to panic. But it's hard. I miss my imaginary playmates, old and new.
What do you think? Do you hate it when characters you’ve come to love or hate make a sudden exit? Do you dislike time-jumps in a narrative? What other pet hates do you have in stories? Don’t be frightened: your secrets are safe with me and the other forty or fifty people who read this blog every week:-) We are waiting to hear from you!
Reactions: |
Sunday, 6 January 2008
A Trojan Tale


This is a very quick post to explain why I'm not posting:-) On New Year's Eve I found I'd picked up the Peacomm trojan, a particularly nasty one that you can get just by looking at an infected web site! It can only reliably be eradicated by re-installing Windows. Fortunately my son Scott was visiting and he undertook to reformat the hard drive and start again from scratch. Just as fortunately, I didn't lose any information. What I did lose, of course, was time. I'm only just catching up on things now.
To add insult to injury, I was not sure where I'd picked up the trojan, and to be fair, my machine appeared to have been infected with something for several weeks, because it was running extremely slowly and some processes had become unreliable. However, I returned to the web site I'd been looking at when my AV notified me of the infection and to my horror I picked up - wait for it - two more trojans! The AV was on the job and has, I hope, eradicated both of them.
I had no idea trojans could be passed on in this way. I imagine the hackers have done something to the site's cookies. It's sad that such people can't turn what is obviously a fine talent for software development to something that might benefit the world.
This was not, my friends, the best possible start to the New Year. I hope yours was better! I'll try to blog during the week if I catch up with commitments - and don't meet any more wooden horses!
To add insult to injury, I was not sure where I'd picked up the trojan, and to be fair, my machine appeared to have been infected with something for several weeks, because it was running extremely slowly and some processes had become unreliable. However, I returned to the web site I'd been looking at when my AV notified me of the infection and to my horror I picked up - wait for it - two more trojans! The AV was on the job and has, I hope, eradicated both of them.
I had no idea trojans could be passed on in this way. I imagine the hackers have done something to the site's cookies. It's sad that such people can't turn what is obviously a fine talent for software development to something that might benefit the world.
This was not, my friends, the best possible start to the New Year. I hope yours was better! I'll try to blog during the week if I catch up with commitments - and don't meet any more wooden horses!
Reactions: |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)