I found out at the weekend that Beneath the Shadows is on the Premier’s Summer Reading Challenge for 2012. This Challenge is designed for kids and their parents, and reading lists can be found at http://www.summerreadingchallenge.org.au/what-to-read/booklists/. While taking part you can also raise funds for the Multiple Schlerosis Society. To find out more visit the website: http://www.summerreadingchallenge.org.au. Happy reading!col-md-2
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Signatures have been exchanged, and the deal is done. Most significantly for me at this stage, the deadline has been set. In January 2012, all being well, I will hand over my third novel. I began work in earnest this week, and welcomed back a familiar feeling of giddiness and discomfort – the usual combination of excitement and fear that is present when I’m writing.
I have given myself a huge challenge. All I’ll say about the story at present is that it takes place along the beautiful coastline of WA, and there’s a messy, complicated family (of course!), who are already hijacking my thoughts regularly. I have the feeling that however determined I am to take the reins of their story, there will be parts of the process where all I can do is hang on and try to enjoy the ride.
One of the best parts of this job is that readers I have never met are prepared to give my ideas and imaginings some of their precious time. My desire to write a fantastic story that will capture your heart and mind is as strong as your desire to read one, so wish me luck, and let the fun and hard work begin!col-md-2
I’ve reached a very exciting point in my fledgling writing career. With the two novels that have dominated my mind for the last six or seven years now completed, I finally get to let loose all those other little seedlings of ideas for what might make a great story. I’ve already whittled them down to a chosen few that I’m germinating both in my mind and on paper. I’m playing around a lot with different concepts and seeing what begins to bed down and grow. I have notebooks full of ideas and short pieces of writing, so I don’t feel stuck. The challenge is to come up with a clear and compelling plan that I can begin to work on in earnest. I had this crazy notion that I might take a short hiatus in between writing, but it seems that a writer without a story is like a sad little droopy plant starved of nourishment. Oh well, nothing for it but to keep scribbling and see what happens!col-md-2
