Satima's Blogspot: Icing the WIP - and another great little con

Sunday, 19 October 2008

Icing the WIP - and another great little con

Sunday, October 19, 2008 |

Posted by Satima Flavell

Time, I think, to set the WIP aside for a few weeks. It's all down except the two sex scenes, which have got to be so special I really don't want to tackle them without adequate thought and preparation. You can see that I'm already over my projected first draft target, and I suspect that the book will eventually come in at about 130-odd thousand words. In the meantime, I'll start outlining book two.

But not just yet! This next couple of weeks are going to be busy. I have loads of critting to catch up on, including half a Fat Fantasy I'm beta reading (more on that another time: for now, just be assured it's a great read!) and there's a Specusphere deadline looming on the first of November, which means there are books to review and reviews to edit. What's more, it's tax time, so there's a busy fortnight ahead of me.

Having finished my Freddie-minding for now (although I hope to do more of it next year) I'm back with my son in Mount Lawley for this week. Next weekend I shall move to Subiaco to house sit for friends who are off to India for a month. I'll probably be doing quite a bit of socialising over the next few weeks as I won't see my Perth friends again for several months after I head back to Mount Gambier on 23 November.

I'll be taking some super memories back, though. Today I was at the Wastelands Convention, which was organised by fannish friends John Parker and Sarah Parker. Helen Venn and I were on a panel with John and Sarah about running a small convention. We all agreed that it's hard work but very, very rewarding. Carol Ryles, a very talented lady who plays a mean game of Scrabble, read a paper on Steampunk (the theme of the con) which she is researching for her PhD thesis. Sadly, I couldn't get there yesterday but I'm told Carol was right on form.

I'm really pleased to see that there are at least two genre writers, including Juliet Marillier and Anthony Eaton , short-listed for this year's Western Australia's Premier's Award for Literature. I'd like to think that attitudes towards genre writing are slowly changing as people realise that genre and excellence in writing can often be found within the same covers. Certainly this is true of Juliet Marillier's Cybele's Secret, a historical fantasy full of intrigue and mystery that appeals to real grown up readers, not just its target audience of Young Adults. I haven't yet read Anthony Eaton's offering, but I do plan on rectifying that asap.

There is little doubt that we are spoilt for talent here in the West. I feel privileged to know so many gifted and enthusiastic people.

Labels: Premiers Awards, Wastelands, writing

14 comments:

Jo said...: I wish it were possible to get some of these books you mention. Sounds like you have a busy time ahead of you.

Sorry to hear about your shoulder.; Monday, October 20, 2008
Satima Flavell said...: You should be able to get Juliet's books in Canada, Jo. I don't know about Anthony Eaton since I haven't yet read him myself, but most things published here in Oz seem to find their way to the UK and North America through one route or another - often though, not for a year or more after they come out in Oz.

The shoulder will recover within a few months (or years!) but I can't do Yoga in the meantime, which is really disappointing as it's my favourite form of exercise. I can't raise my left arm more than 45 degrees in any direction and I ceertainly can't take any weight on it. And there won't even be any more dog-walking until next March, when the next house-sit is booked:-(; Monday, October 20, 2008
Carol Ryles said...: Hey Satima,

Glad you like my scrabble skills :) Thanks for the other kind words as well. It was so fun, sorry I couldn't stay to the end. I ended up with a bit of a migraine and got home just in time to stop it from taking hold. See ya Sunday.; Monday, October 20, 2008
Jo said...: Some of the books make it here, but some just seem to stop at the UK for some reason.; Monday, October 20, 2008
hrugaar said...: Does that mean you're visiting the son who has Fenris the Furred? :)

I'm not sure I want to ask how ones 'prepares' for writing sex scenes ... some things are perhaps best left as mysteries of our craft ...; Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Satima Flavell said...: Carol, great day at the con, eh? CU Sunday!
Jo, I think it depends on the publisher whether you get the UK or the US versions of books in Canada. I seem to remember reading something about some kind of international agreement whereby Canada got divvied up:-)
Ru, I'm talking serious research here. A friend who writes erotica has sent me e-copies of her work. Trouble is, it's M/M gay erotica, and the nuts and bolts are obviously different from M/F. The bells and whistles, however, are pretty much the same, I'd imagine, so will concentrate on those;-); Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Satima Flavell said...: Oh, I forgot - the son I'm staying with is Scott, my youngest, who lives here in Perth. Kurt, Erinn and Fenris the Furred live in Canberra.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Jo said...: For a woman who has been married twice I cannot believe you really need to do research in order to write sex scenes. It seems to me the thing you need to do is take the restraints off your own experience, which I agree is very difficult to do and I would have problems with. But reading someone else's erotica probably won't help.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Satima Flavell said...: Heh heh - not only have I been married twice, Jo, but I've had more lovers that one could shake a thingumajig at. The sex isn't the problem; it's the characters' motivations and hidden agendas and the effect of the relationships on their personal growth that interest me. My character has a relationship with an woman who is using him. She is not just in control; she actually has him under a spell. He finally sees through her and leaves, and takes up with a younger woman whose only previous sexual experience was a rape. I need to show the second relationship as being a real eye-opener for both parties as they realise that it's possible to have sexual relations as an equal partnership without any power struggle or mind games. If I can't do this then there's no reason for the sex scenes even to be included. But if I can swing it will be a huge step forward in my writing and will add an extra dimension to the book.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Jo said...: Aaaah, now I understand. Left yourself with a couple of difficult scenes to write. All the best for it.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Marilyn Z. Tomlins said...: Satima --

You should write about your travels ... Do however work on those sex scenes.

Marilyn; Thursday, October 23, 2008
Satima Flavell said...: I gues travel - and any other experience - feeds into our fiction writing. Any actual travel book I could write has already been written - e.g "Holy Cow" "Eat, Pray, Love" were written by people whose backgrounds and experiences were similar in some ways to mine. In fact, after my 3 year backpacking, casual working and dharma-buming stint in the mid 90s, I full intended to write a book - but fiction took over and that book remained in the realm of good intentions!; Friday, October 24, 2008
Glenda Larke said...: Great news about Marillier and Eaton! And I envy you the Wastelands...; Saturday, October 25, 2008
Satima Flavell said...: Oh, I dunno, Glenda. I'm sure I'd rather have gone on your American trip:-); Saturday, October 25, 2008

Popular pages

About Me

My books

Buy The Talismans

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Follow me on Twitter

Share a link on Twitter

For Readers, Writers & Editors

Interviews with authors

My Blog List

Favourite Sites

Blog Archive

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Inner Peace Blog

Versatile Blogger Award

Fabulous Blog Award

Search This Blog

Icing the WIP - and another great little con

14 comments:

Some reviews of The Dagger of Dresnia

Goodreads reviews for The Dagger of Dresnia

Followers