Thanks to the brilliant work of my very talented brother in law, there’s now a book trailer for Shallow Breath. Click below to view (if you can’t see it, click on the headline above to open this news item). Only three weeks to go until it’s in the shops in Australia!
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I’m currently working on making sure that Kindle editions of all three of my books are available in more territories, including the United States and the United Kingdom. I should have more news before Christmas – sign up to my newsletter here to be the first to hear when they are ready. Many thanks for your support!col-md-2
My guest today is Steve Rossiter, the editor of the Australian Literary Review, and one of the authors of a new supernatural thriller called Possessing Freedom. Read on to discover more about this fascinating fiction project, collaborative writing in general, and the fan fiction competition now open for entries, with a prize of $2000!
You have contributed two stories to Possessing Freedom, one of two collaborative fiction books released in the past month. What is Possessing Freedom about?
Possessing Freedom could be considered paranormal suspense or supernatural thriller fiction. Set in Melbourne in 2026, the book starts out with 17 year old Alice who discovers that her ‘imaginary friends’ are actually ghosts. The POV shifts between 6 characters, with 2 stories told by each POV character.
The book explores themes of freedom and confinement on numerous levels. It deals with life and death, friendship, despair, love, responsibility, and courage.
Tell me more about the processes involved in collaborative fiction? How do the authors work together?
We all got together around a table at a café and discussed the story direction, characters, etc, and came to a shared understanding of some of the big picture elements. Through fortnightly meetings and staying in touch online, we discussed story drafts, character profiles and ideas until we had developed enough detail to have all 12 stories written with a decent level of consistency and integration. Then it was my role as editor to do some tidying up of details between stories.
For anyone considering collaborative fiction, I recommend that each person be flexible and not get too attached to any particular idea, as it has to all fit in together as a whole. It is typically a good idea, especially for groups of more than two, to have one person with the final say on details so a coherent big picture is maintained and so clear decisions are made in a timely manner.
Do you prefer writing short stories or novels? What are the main challenges of each?
I am currently writing my first novel with the aim of publishing in 2014. I prefer writing novels. in the sense that the longer form of a novel provides a more sustained experience which is more rewarding for most readers, and more rewarding for me to create. This also means that novels are a more solid foundation for a writing career, as people tend to read and purchase what they find more rewarding.
There is a sense in which an integrated or themed short story collection can approximate a sustained novel-like experience, which is the general idea behind both Possessing Freedom and The Life and Times of Chester Lewis.
When US novelist Lauren Kate came to Australia last year, I asked her whether she liked writing short stories and she said that she naturally prefers the longer form of a novel where there is room to develop characters and a story more fully, but that part of her wishes she was more suited to writing short stories too so she could participate more in the social aspect of working with different authors.
The two short story books recently released are designed to strike a balance between providing entertaining and thought-provoking novel-length experiences, serving as author-development initiatives for Australian writers, and engaging emerging fiction writers to develop their skills and meet like-minded writers through the fan fiction competition for each book.
What habits do you think make you most productive as a writer? (and those that make you least productive if you’d care to share!)
An important fiction writing skill, which helps productivity by both improving the focus of the large-scale storytelling and improving the clarity of finer details, is to understand the difference between story and characters (what happens and who does it) and discourse (how a writer conveys what happens), and to have good idea of how each works for the story you are writing.
Retreating into a character’s head for a lot of introspection with little happening in the story, or lots of action with unclear character motivations or unsatisfying character development are the kinds of passages which are likely to be cut or to require a major rewriting later. On one hand, a rough draft of a chapter is better than no draft, but, on the other hand, a confused draft is nowhere near as good as a draft with at least a basic level of coherence which makes a clear contribution to the overall story.
I have come across plenty of fiction writers who don’t have a firm grasp of their subject matter or who have only a vague story concept in mind, who find they keep running out of ideas, second-guessing themselves or meandering, with no clear story direction, character development or theme to unify the story into a satisfying experience for readers.
A little forethought can go a long way, and knowing the subject matter, along with having a clear idea of both the big picture details and the way in which you are telling the story does a lot to help the writing process flow smoothly.
The books each have fan fiction competitions – what do you think are the key elements of a good piece of fan fiction?
The word range for the fan fiction competition stories is 2000-4000 words. With that in mind, I suggest picking a character to focus on and a significant episode in their life with a clear connection to something important in the book. The fan fiction stories just have to be recognisably set in the same story-world as those in the book and have a recognisable connection to a major character in the book, but something which also builds on a key aspect of the overall story or further develops the personality and life story of a major character seem likely to result in stories with greater impact and meaning, which also draw added depth from the other stories.
Beyond that, write something original, with clear character motivations, and stakes which matter to the characters.
I have an article with some fan fiction idea-starters and discussion on PossessingFreedom.net.
Thanks for coming on to the site, Steve, and best of luck with your books.
This blog is part of a blog tour for Possessing Freedom. Read other interviews here, purchase Possessing Freedom here, or find out more about the fan fiction competition here. Good luck!col-md-2
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick Dunne’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick Dunne isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but hearing from Amy through flashbacks in her diary reveal the perky perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister Margo at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was left in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
It took me a little while to get into this one, but the characters are superbly drawn. It’s a great mystery combined with a terrifying depiction of a marriage-gone-wrong – featuring two people who have slowly worn one another down to a point beyond all reason. I loved the unreliable narration, and I found myself swapping sides, rooting for one person then another, never sure who would ‘win’ in the end. Brilliant!col-md-2
Where am I?! Click on the picture to find out.
Want to know what I’ve been up to for the last couple of months, and what’s happening next. Read my newsletter by clicking on the picture (and to receive future editions every two months you can SIGN UP HERE).col-md-2
Addie is three years old, and desperately needs a new liver. Her mother, Camille, is used to dealing with the relatives of organ donors through her work at the hospital, but this is something altogether different. Caught in the nightmare of a critically ill child, Camille’s emotions begin to splinter, her marriage is tested to the point of fracture, and in her desperation to save Addie she is forced to question where the boundaries of her own morality lie.
One of the only distractions for Camille is the opportunity to curate a retrospective of her father’s sculptures. But as she compiles the notes for this exhibition, she is also drawn back into the lives of her parents, who both died when Camille was young. Her mother Alix had been one of the first female heart surgeons in Australia, but the details of her death have always been indistinct to Camille. As she learns more about her mother and father’s relationship, Addie’s condition continues to worsen, and the family begin a heart-wrenching wait to see if a donor will be found in time.
I was a big fan of Natasha’s first book What is Left Over, After, which won the TAG Hungerford prize, and I have been looking forward to reading If I Should Lose You for quite some time. In this poignant story, one person’s death might offer the chance of life for another. With tremendous emotional acuity, Natasha explores the complex contradictions of what this means in a world that is at once wretched, beautiful, agonising and sublime. The narrative deals with the many responses to loss, and the meanings we ascribe to our bodies, which both represent and hinder the essence of us. It is a book that draws you in on so many levels, and will leave you questioning, What if the unthinkable happened to our family? How would I react, and who might I become?
You can find out more about Natasha’s writing at www.natashalester.com.au
GIVEAWAY!: I have a copy of If I Should Lose You to give away to an Australian reader when I return from my holiday at the end of September. Just leave a comment on this review on my website for a chance to win!
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It took me months to pluck up the courage to watch The Cove. During the time I hesitated I couldn’t help but hear of it – this place where each year hundreds of dolphins are rounded up, pushed into a small inlet and butchered with long poles, the sea turning crimson around them. This was a real horror movie, and I don’t even like the ones that are made up.
I’m not sure why I eventually sat down and switched it on. It may have been the urging from other conservationists to ‘be informed’. It may have been because I felt uncomfortable about looking away. Or that I shouldn’t speak out if I didn’t know what I was talking about. But when I did look it was just as terrible as I feared. I cried for much of the movie.
Since then, it is one of the issues I cannot turn away from. I want to write about it, and talk about it. At the end of last year I visited Taiji. I spent the morning watching the fishermen go out on their daily hunt, returning empty handed. Later I was taken to visit the ‘training pools’ – small roped-off squares where dolphins are trained to become captive performers. They are starved unless they do tricks. They swallow the detritus in the pool and have hands plunged into their stomachs to pull it out. Sometimes they go mad or waste away – those dolphins disappear overnight. They have all witnessed the deaths of their pod members – who are their families, bonded from birth. Dolphins do not suffer silently, and their noises of distress and pain are much like our own.
These dolphins are all destined for the entertainment industry – to be ogled, and petted, and ‘loved’. Some go to other parts of Japan, and all over the world – if you have been to a dolphin show, you may have unknowingly seen dolphins who have been through the tragedy of the Cove.
There is a difference between witnessing distress and experiencing helplessness. I looked away at a time when I felt powerless to do anything – but now I don’t believe anyone is powerless, especially when they join forces and stand together as they do on Japan Dolphin Day. I want to use the anger and pain at what I witnessed to galvanise efforts to work for compassionate, lasting change – whether that’s through writing, supporting a cause, signing petitions, or making donations. I am learning to withstand my fears and take a closer look at things that trouble me. Already, life seems much more rewarding that way.
Over the next few days there are peaceful protests about Taiji in 93 different cities. The one in Perth is at 1pm outside the Consulate General of Japan, 111 Colin Street, please join us if you are able. You can view the events in other cities here: https://www.facebook.com/Savemistythedolphin/events
1st September is the first day of the dolphin hunting season, which runs through to March.col-md-2
If you buy Beneath the Shadows or Come Back to Me from this website over the next week, $5 for every book sold will go to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, to support Indigenous Literacy Day 2012. (Australia only). Check out the bookstore, where you can buy the books separately or as a bundle. Many thanks for your support.col-md-2
