Falling over the edge

We’re well into autumn here, and the fire is crackling over at our place almost every night.  It’s getting cold, working outside in the study, but I don’t mind – I’m really picking up speed with this new book, and everything seems golden.

But it isn’t always like that.  I was kind of inspired to write this post after reading another writer’s question recently, asking ‘what’s your hump point?’, and also because I’ve read a few articles lately about writer’s block.  To my mind, the two things are linked (and remember, folks, this is just my mind we’re talking about here –those of you who know me, you’ll recall that my mind is sometimes an odd and contrary place to be.  I just don’t want to generalise here about All Writers, cos, hey, for a few golden years there my kids thought I was some kind of super-being, but I ain’t that super).

First, the author’s question about ‘hump points’ might need some clarification.  The author was asking what’s the hardest point in your writing process with a book – do you struggle with beginnings?  Or maybe it’s middles or endings which you find hard.  Or is the whole thing just a slog from start to finish, like pulling teeth?  How do you combat that?

Writer’s block is a regular topic of conversation in the writing community – in fact, if you Googled ‘overcoming writer’s block’ you’d probably get thousands of hits for articles and queries about it.  I have a peculiar relationship with writer’s block, which is that I don’t really believe in it.  It’s not that I don’t think writers get blocked – I know they do, and I’ve experienced blockage myself – but I don’t call my periods of drought ‘writer’s block’, because to me that sounds like some sort of inescapable disease, and I don’t want to label it like that because I think that gives it power.

This post isn't really about writers block, but I do struggle with hump points in a manuscript draft.  I had one with Every Move, and I just got through one with the new book, so I may as well throw in my fifty cents worth on the subject (actually fifty cents sounds expensive – let’s just call it two cents).

So here’s the situation: you’re drafting a new project, and it’s all flowing well.  You’re excited, cos it’s new, and you’ve got lots of initial ideas, and the writing is really moving.  A few weeks in, and it’s all looking good.  Then one day, you wake up and pull out your pen and paper/keyboard/charcoal and crayons, and you look at it there, and…you’re drawing a blank.  Your ideas are kind of turning around in circles chasing their tails.  You don’t know what’s gonna happen in the next scene, or the writing feels flavourless and dull.  Everything feels foggy, and suddenly you’re just hitting keys (in my case) hoping and praying that your mojo will return.

You’ve hit your hump point.

For some people, it comes early in the process – getting the crank started is really really hard.  For others (and I think this might be more common), you hit a point at about the middle of the book, when everything you’re writing seems like crap, and you can’t figure out what to do next.  For yet others, it’s tying everything together at the end – oh my god, you’ve written yourself into a corner, now how the hell do you get out of it?

Other (way better and more experienced) writers have shared their wisdom on this issue, so let me summarise their suggestions: take some exercise, get some sleep, take a break and interact with friends and family (remember them?), get some fresh input (films, tv, music, art, nature, other people’s books), make sure your health is ok, try to reduce or wait out external stress, put the manuscript away for a week or more and go back to it for better perspective, go back to a point where the writing was flowing and see if you made the characters do something OOC, stop writing and do some plotting-out, or even stop writing and let the characters live in your head for a bit to find out where they want to go, change your work routine, do some research, work on something else for a while…  There are plenty of potential solutions.  Some authors I know have even opted to scrap the entire draft and write it again from scratch (*cue wailing and gnashing of teeth*), or put it aside and resolve that this manuscript is not yet sufficiently ‘baked’ in their head for them to complete it (again, weeping, but for some folks, they have a sense that this is the right course of action).

My own attitude is a bit of an amalgam of all these things (and yes, I have dumped a project at the 40,000 word point – never a whole book, though, that’s gutsy).  It’s also complicated by the fact that each book is different, and often your process varies (I like to say ‘matures’, heh) every time.  Which, as Lili Wilkinson once pointed out, is what it should be – feeling locked into a certain way of doing things, a certain way of working, can make your life kinda difficult if the project requires a change of attitude or approach.

With Every Move, I was on deadline, so I was under external pressure.  I’d also written a crazy-arse number of plot threads that needed tying up, and I felt overwhelmed.  That required some pleading with my editors (actually not too much pleading, cos they’re awesome like that) for a little more time, and some plain old sitting down and mapping out what had to happen (see ‘plotting-out’, above).  But my struggle with that manuscript was really about making a personal realisation: I didn’t want the story to end.  I loved the world, I loved the characters, and I was having a hard time letting go.  It wasn’t until another author friend (thanks again, Simmone!) kindly pointed this out to me that I had a little lightbulb moment, and after that, tackling the ending of the book was considerably easier.

With this new book, No Limits (working title), it was different.  I got stuck about a third of the way in.  But it felt familiar, and I realised that it was a bit like the way I’d felt when I was writing my first book, Every Breath.  That’s when I figured out something.  Again, this is a personal experience, so it won’t apply to everybody, but what I figured out was this:

By the time I’ve written about a third of the book, I feel a great reluctance to go on.  I can’t sit in front of my screen for more than a few minutes at a time without wanting to just jump up and do something else.  Turning on the internet to get on social media seems hugely attractive – in fact, doing the washing or sweeping the house seem hugely attractive at this point.  Or reading a book.  Or watching tv.  Anything but sitting down in front of that goddamn manuscript.  I’m not doing any work, but I’m thinking about the manuscript all the frickin’ time.  I get a horrendous amount of doubt – doubt about the characters I’ve made, doubt about the plot I’ve set up, doubt in my own ability to pull it off.  I become a tetchy, dissatisfied, all-round horrible person to live with, and then I feel guilty that my family has to put up with me (sorry, honey!). 

This is usually what writers mean when they say they’re stuck – they’ve hit the wall (in running terminology), and every word they put down at this point starts to sound terrible.  It’s like getting a cramp.  And because writers live in their heads so much, getting a brain cramp is really painful and frustrating (and sometimes, cos writers can be a bit insecure like that and doubt+insecurity is a bad combo, it can be really debilitating).

So here I am at my hump point.  I’ve invented all these threads, created this whole world with the characters, y’know?  But I’m stuck.  I do as many of the things on the ‘writer’s block solution list’ as I can – I talk to people, I get more sleep, I watch tv and read books, get some exercise, do research, yada yada – and some of them even help a little.  Although I’m still assailed by this awful feeling like I’m teetering on the precipice.

But that, I figured out, is a good thing.  It means that I’m coming to terms, within myself, with the idea of completing this thing I started. 

My tetchiness and dissatisfaction have a genuine cause - I’m about to fall over the edge, into the unknown.  I’m scared.  I’m working without a safety net.  Anything could happen.  I could fail.  I could write a really sucky book.  I don’t know if I’ve got the goods to make it work.  I don’t know if I’ve got anything meaningful to say, that people will want to listen to.  I’m at a crossroads moment.

I said I spend a lot of time with my characters inside my head at this point – that is actually really necessary.  I’m fleshing out their existence as people, and I’m churning over alternative ideas about what will happen.  I’m rolling it all over in my head.  Although I often scribble down notes in an exercise book when these points hit me, it’s a very mental process.  And it’s a kind of ‘dragging up your courage’ moment.  I have to come around to the idea that I’m capable.

So finally, after I’ve tetched and churned and agsted about as much as I can stand (which is about the time my family wants me to leave home and go live in a monastery or something), I finally throw up my hands (y’know, my mental hands) and say, okay, bring it on.

Do I really want to write this book?  Um, actually – yes.  Yes, I really do.

So now I’ve done it.  After this point, I’m committed.  I’ve got to go on, I’ve got to see it through to the end, no matter how difficult or frustrating or nerve-wracking it might be, or how doubtful I might feel about my own ability to make this story work.  Soon after that, most commonly, I’ll sit down with the manuscript and…it’s back.  I’m back.  The system has rebooted, my mojo has returned, the flame is burning again.  Interestingly enough, after I get past this point of decision, this point of mental commitment, I’m utterly invested – the ideas are coming again, and fast.  I’m eager to get back to the writing, I can’t wait to be in front of the keyboard.  I’m impatient for writing days to come round (which leads to its own brand of tetchiness, when I’m denied writing time by Real Life, but that’s another story).  This is the time when – like I did with my first novel – I actually jump out of bed at some ridiculous sparrow-fart time of the morning, feeling excited, because I’m getting the chance to dive back into it.

So to me – and excuse me if it sounds like I’m thrilled about re-inventing the wheel here, but personally, this was a recent revelation – it’s about making the mental commitment to continue with the work.  That’s my hump point.  And now I know, I can give myself a swift kick when it comes around again (or at least, y’know, not stress out so much about it) and remember that it’s normal.  What got me through, on this occasion, was a quote from multi-award winning, multi-book writing romance author Valerie Parv, in response to the question “How do you know when you start writing that you can do it?”.

Her reply?  “The answer is that you start writing to find out if you can do it.”

I hope your own writing is going well.  I hope you haven’t hit the wall, or gotten stuck, or blocked, or arrived at a hump point.  But if you have, I hope this helps, somehow.

And I guess that’s my two cents on the matter.

Xx Ellie

PS – you know how I had a massive giveaway here on the blog for the Every Move release?  Well, I had it, and it’s over, and there was only one problem – one of the winners didn’t get in touch with me.  And it’s been, like, two weeks now, and I really want to send this parcel to somebody!

If you are Elizabeth Gordon, can you please contact me in the next 48 hours?

If you’re not, and you entered, you’re still in the running.  If Elizabeth doesn’t get in touch, then I’m gonna have a re-draw from the existing pool of entrants (I still know who you are, so don’t stress).  I’ll pick a new winner, let people know on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  If I don’t hear from the new winner within 48 hours, I’ll choose a new name, and so on, until we get this parcel won!

That’s it.  Have a good week :)

Xe

Release

This is the week of Every Move’s release.  Wow – there were times when I didn’t think this book would even happen.  Again and again I’m reminded: writing is hard.  We wouldn’t keep doing it if we didn’t love it.  It’s work – deeply satisfying work.

My son has reached that age when he’s making decisions about the things he wants to do and be.  I don’t mean he’s consciously making those decisions – I mean, he’s following his gut instincts towards the things he likes, gravitating towards the things he enjoys, and slowing dropping out of the things he finds a bit ‘meh’.  We all reach that stage.  Sometimes it takes us longer, so the things we really like and enjoy get sidelined for a few years, to focus on the things we need to do.  But they simmer away there inside you, those things you are drawn to, the pastimes you love, or the hobbies you wish you had more time for.  If you’re really lucky, and you have good circumstances and the right encouragement, you find a way to utilise those talents early.  But for many of us, me included, it sometimes takes years of trial and error before you figure out just what exactly you’re hankering for, what it is that really fires your passions.

I have worked many jobs, and I have liked quite a few of them.  But there has always been something else there, bubbling in the background. I remember writing stories on sheets of foolscap paper in a special folder that I kept in my bag especially for the long trips to and from school on the bus.  I did it all through primary and high school, and I used to hang out in libraries a lot.  I read everything I could lay my hands on during this time, and used to hound the school librarians for the next books when they arrived on order.

By the end of high school I knew that saying I wanted to be a writer was a like saying I wanted to be an astronaut – one of those things that little kids say, not realising how far out of reach a goal like that could be.  So I looked at law and journalism and education and other things, all those stupid pamphlets they used to give you in high school when you’re trying to figure out your direction after Year Twelve, while surreptitiously sneaking the ones about writing and publishing into my bag.

But in the end it came down to two things: determination and patience.  By the time I had my first child, I was thirty, and knew that somehow I wanted to keep writing.  And then when I’d been patient a long time, and had developed a dogged level of persistence, I figured it was now or never.

Ultimately, if you want to follow the thing that inspires you, you have to be determined.  You will not be given the chance to pursue your dream or talent or whatever because some Fairy Godmother gave you a wish, or put an opportunity in your lap.  You will have to work for it.  You will have to be determined, and just stick with it, despite tedium and bad luck and frustration.  You will have to become a bit of a bloodhound about it. Because nobody owes you anything, nobody will give you anything for free.  So you will just have to suck it up and do it.

Fortunately, if you’re following the dream of your heart, the thing that inspires you, your passion, you will not find working at it a chore.  You will keep going because you love it. 

So here’s some of the new reviews for the thing I created out of love J

Here at UnfinishedBookshelf

A full series review at Behind the Pages

Here at Written Word Worlds

At Fictional Thoughts

And at DaringDamsels

I've also had some amazing reviews at ALPHAreader's blog and at Kid's Book Review. There will be more reviews coming in as the blog tour continues, and also in print media like Dolly and Birdee.  If you'd like to join in the giveaway, you can click on the link to GoodReads at right, or go back to my previous post, which tells you how to enter.

Tonight, I know lots of people are going to see Roxane Gay speak at the Wheeler Centre – I so wish I could be there!  She’s amazing!  But if you can’t make it to Roxane’s talk, and you’re around Castlemaine tonight, please feel free to come along to the Castlemaine Library, where me and three other female crime writers (Sandi Wallace, Kathryn Ledson and Sue Williams) will be having a lounge-room chat for the Killer Queens event.  It’s free, it starts at 6pm, there’ll be a door prize and refreshments, so please feel welcome!

I’m also gearing up for my visit to Queensland as part of the Somerset Celebration of Literature on the Gold Coast – I’m flying out the day after the launch party for Every Move.  It’s gonna be a massive week, and I hope to see you there.

And finally, for those of you who don’t know, it is also the week of International Women’s Day.  IWD is actually on 8 March (which is the day my littlest son was born J  Happy Birthday Ned!).  IWD exists because we still live in a world where the pay gap between women and men is huge, and where here in Australia, the Minister for Women is a man (our illustrious Prime Minister, He Who Shall Not Be Named), who happens to have scheduled an IWD lunch at a men’s-only club (really.  I mean, really.  I hope Roxane says something about this tonight, I really do), and where women all over the world still live in fear and inequality.  With that in mind, I’d like to do a quick roll call of all the women writers who’ve influenced me in my lifetime.  And here they are, and many more besides, in no particular order:

Joanna Russ

Anna Livy

Sally M. Gearhart

Simone de Beauvoir

Sheri S Tepper

Margaret Atwood

bell hooks

Mary Fallon

Germaine Greer

Helen Garner

Kate Millet

Monique Wittig

Ngaio Marsh

Marie Lu

Helene Cixous

Alice Walker

Amy Tan

Lucy Sussex

Honey Brown

Kerry Greenwood

Kat Zhang

Diana Gabaldon

Katherine Mansfield

Angela Savage

Kendare Blake

Julie Kagawa

Patricia Cornwell

Judith Wright

Phillipa (PD) Martin

Maggie Stiefvater

Janet Frame

Margo Lanagan

Veronica Roth

Stephenie Meyer

Geraldine Brooks

Donna Tartt

Laurie R. King

Rebecca James

Leanne Hall

Laura Buzo

Cate Kennedy

Malinda Lo

Rebecca Stead

Madelaine L’Engle

Ursula Le Guin

Fiona Wood

Cath Crowley

Kim Kane

Kirsty Eager

Melina Marchetta

Emily Rodda

Lili Wilkinson

Carole Wilkinson

Catherine Jinks

Angela Carter

Jeanette Winterson

Finola Moorehead

Joanne (JK) Rowling

Sheila Rowbotham

Sheila Kitzinger

Val McDermid

Suzanne Collins

Melissa Keil

Gabrielle Williams

Simmone Howell

Ruby Langford

Jane Austen

Charlotte Bronte

Toni Morrison

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Emily Bronte

Nicole Hayes

Lee Kofman

Pamela Allen

Jackie French

Ruth Park

Miles Franklin

Nansi Kunze

Fleur Ferris

Claire Zorn

Zuzanna Budapest

Naomi Klein

Amie Kaufman

Sally Morgan

Amrita Pritam

Susie (SE) Hinton

Cassandra Clare

Suzanne Collins

Sandi Wallace

Sue Williams

Liz Filleul

Ella West

Kirsten Krauth

Lauren Beukes

Lisa McMann

Anne Buist

Alice Pung

Jenny Valentish

Valerie Parv

Felicity Castagna

Kathryn Ledson

Emily Dickinson

Maxine Beneba Clarke

Isobelle Carmody

Roxane Gay

Brigid Kemmerer

Maureen Johnson

Christina Rossetti

Holly Black

and all the women I’ve accidentally left out,

and most especially, poet and high school English teacher, Lorna Ferguson.

With all my love -

xx Ellie

EVERY MOVE BOOK LAUNCH OMG OMG FLAILY HANDS

Hi again!  Okay, are you ready?  Here we go…

Please join me, and special host  Adele Walsh, for the launch of Every Move, the finale in the Every series!  The launch will be at Readings Carlton (Lygon Street, Melbourne – see map) from 6-8pm on Monday 16 March 2015.

There will be feasting, speechifying, book signing, general silliness, and probably my kids running around like dervishes.  All ages gig, nibbles (nicer than last year! I promise!), drinks on the house, a door prize giveaway, and Adele and me have sworn a sacred oath not to make speeches that are too long or boring.  Maybe if I can get just a bit more organised, I will make a cake.  If you’re round and about in Melbourne, please feel welcome to come along.  We’d love to see you!

If you’re on Facebook, you can join up here; otherwise, please RSVP to Readings Carlton on:  (03) 9347 6633  so we how know much booze food and stuff to buy.  I hope you can make it!

There is no other news that is more exciting.  I mean, I got a new phone tree for my son’s class, and my parents are coming to visit, but the part-ay is the big news, baby.

But I should mention that I received my author copies of Every Move – new books always smell so nice! – and copies have gone out to bloggers and reviewers for the upcoming blog tour. Which means that right now, people are reading the book.  So I am remaining calm, yes, very calm *hyperventilates*

Anyway, I’m supposed to be writing this very second!  So please remember to come along to the launch, if you’re able, and have a most excellent week.  I will tell you about the blog tour as soon as I have more info.

Xx Ellie

Every Move, PTSD, and the deep breath in

First, I have to say I’m excited.  Like, hugely.  Every Move is about to be released into the wild – uh, I mean, the world – and it’s thrilling to know that in a few short weeks, people will be reading it.

It’s also NERVE-WRACKING, like whoah.  I don’t think I’ve been this nervous for a book release before – I don’t think I was even this nervous with Every Breath.  I’m worried that readers won’t like it, or won’t find it a satisfying conclusion to a series in which they’ve invested time and love.  I’m worried about typos (every book has ‘em.  Me and Sophie tried our utmost, but like head lice, they’re really really hard to thoroughly eradicate.).   I’m worried about the spicy bits – I’ve tried to judge it right, but I can’t cover all folks’ comfort levels.  I’m worried about what reviewers will say (I know! I shouldn’t read them!  But I can’t help it).

So, yeah – stress.  Nerves.  But exciting ones.

Speaking of stress, there was one thing I wanted to talk about before the book came out: it’s the subject of Rachel’s PTSD.  I think it’s pretty clear, from the blurb on the back of the book, that Rachel has had a reaction to all the trauma she went through in Every Word.  Which stands to reason, yeah?  She and Mycroft had a pretty horrifying time in London. 

I’ve always tried to be true to the characters in the series: that’s been really important to me, that it’s obvious to the reader that chasing after murderers and hunting down clues isn’t totally risk-free.  It’s a fictional world, but I’ve tried to keep it real.  I haven’t glossed over the danger, or the injuries that both Rachel and Mycroft have copped in the series.

They both carry some physical scars.  But in Every Move, Rachel is suffering some of the psychological effects of those experiences.  Safe to say – without spoilers – that she is still having a rough time many weeks after England, and is exhibiting a lot of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms.  Mycroft too, although he is coping with it in a demonstrably different way.  I wanted it to be clear that Rachel and Mycroft are just ordinary kids, who’ve experienced something terrible and have a reaction to that.  There’s no way I was going to just write it like ‘ok, we solved that one, la-li-la, now everything’s fine!’  In real life, it wouldn’t be fine.  In Every Move, it’s definitely not fine.

At this point, I need to credit someone here for some help, someone who (unfortunately, and my deep apologies) didn’t get a credit in the Acknowledgements.  Braiden Asciak – who is, I have to say, a superstar - provided me with some fantastically useful info on PTSD and how it’s diagnosed and treated.

PTSD sufferers display some classic symptoms, and I’m gonna detail them right here: recurrent distressing memories, recurrent distressing dreams, disassociative reactions (flashbacks), intense psychological distress in response to cues, marked physiological reactions to cues, persistent negative emotional state and exaggerated negative beliefs about oneself/others, diminished interest in significant activities, irritable/reckless/self-destructive behaviour and emotional outbursts, and hypervigilance.

These are only a few of the issues around the disorder.  It was my job in Every Move to write Rachel as coping with the problem, and hopefully finding her way out of it. 

There are readers out there who will find Rachel’s struggle difficult to read.  I wanted to say that I didn’t include ‘trigger warnings’ with this book, for a couple of reasons.  One is that they’re not in common use in print publishing – in Australia, or anywhere else that I know of.  Two is that I’m with Roxane Gay on this issue: I don’t think that trigger warnings are useful.  They provide the illusion of safety.  Just about anything is a trigger for somebody.  It’s clear from the Every Move blurb that the issue comes up.  I will trust the reader to make the decision about what they’re okay to read.  In the end, no one can make that assessment and decision except the reader themselves.

I also wanted to point out that there are no links at the end of the book to PTSD support organisations.  I did suggest it, but again, it’s something not frequently done in Australian fiction.  But I’m getting in touch with organisations like Beyond Blue, SANE Australia, ReachOut (for teenagers and children), and headspace (the National Youth Mental Health Foundation) to let them know the book is coming out, and that it deals with the issue.

Something else I wanted to say is that I’ve experienced PTSD myself.  My partner and I lived in Indonesia for a long time, and we lived and worked in Jakarta during the fall of President Soeharto in 1998-99.  It was a period of dreadful political and social upheaval.  We didn’t live in a gated expat enclave, but in an apartment building right in the middle of the one of the most riot-prone areas of the city.

I was working at an international school at the time: all my students and I had overnight bags in a locker in case we couldn’t leave, after a nearby school’s bus was overturned and set on fire one afternoon – all the kids made it out, thank god.  I rang my partner every day to find out if the roads were clear of riots, so I could make it home.  I rode a motorbike, and needed to know if I would have to dodge rocks, Molotov cocktails, military forces or angry crowds.  My partner and I were at home on the day a large contingent of tertiary students staged a protest march along our main road.  Military forces fired on that rally, and many students were killed – and we watched it all happen, hiding behind the concrete balcony of our apartment.

It was not a good time.  It was a horrible time, and when we finally left the country, we were heartsore and traumatised.  The country we loved to be in was tearing itself to pieces.

We left Indonesia and went to India, for a six-month hiatus.  Unfortunately we arrived in the middle of Diwali.  The constant explosion of firecrackers made both us edgy.  We jumped at loud noises, and had bad dreams.  We recovered to a large extent, but it’s still a time of my life I remember with a great deal of anxiety.  Typing this out now, my hands are shaking.  When I try to explain it to people, they look at me like I’m joking, like it’s exaggerated recall, or something I saw once in a movie.  But it was real, and I still get a reaction to the memory.

These experiences made me try really hard to do justice to Rachel’s story in Every Move.  I hope I’ve gotten it right.  How does Rachel find her way through?  Well, I guess you’ll have to read the book to find out :)  But I do hope that it strikes a chord with some readers who need to know that it’s possible to recover.

Phew!  Okay, it was great to have a chance to talk about things before the book comes out.  I hope you like the book, and I’d like to say again a huge thank you to all of you, especially all the readers out there who’ve come this far on the journey with me and Rachel and Mycroft.  I’m feeling the love!  Now I better get back to writing (I’m getting there on the new MS), and I’ll be in touch again very soon to let you know about the Every Move launch party (probably March 16 – that’s gonna be the next post) and the upcoming blog tour.

Have a good week, good luck to everyone who’s back at school, and hooray for March!

Xx Ellie

Meet My Character Blog Hop + Giveaway Prezzies

Hi again, and happy holidays!

Yes, I know – this is the time of year we tend to go a little crazy.  School events, work events, family events, friends events…  All the Events.  In amongst this, I’ve been working with my amazing editors to prepare Every Move for publication.  And we’ve done it!!  I mailed back the final passes today.  There will be final-final passes, and other fiddly bits, but Sophie is putting all the changes and little corrections through now (Sophie – respect), in time to send it off to the printer.  Which means we’ll have a Real Live Book in our hands very early in the new year!

But today I wanted to say hi to crime writer friends, with the Meet My Character blog hop.  This tour was kicked off by the lovely Sandi Wallace, who launched Tell Me Why just recently.  I was invited to participate by Angela Savage, whose most recent book in the addictive Jane Keeney series is The Dying Beach.  Angela is a good friend, a righteous woman, and a great writer – she launched Every Word for me in June, and I was delighted to accept her invite for the blog hop, answering a few questions about Rachel Watts and Every Move.

For the next stop on the blog hop, I’ve invited Nansi Kunze and Candice Fox to join us – they’ll be posting up their answers on their own blogs here and here by Thursday 18 December.

Nansi Kunze is a mate – I’ve interviewed her once already here on the blog.  Nansi grew up surrounded by books in Australia and the UK. After studying languages and ancient history at university, she spent several years teaching overseas-trained doctors how to pronounce rude words and teenagers how to mummify each other, while cultivating a taste for manga and video games in her spare time.  Kill the Music is her third novel, following on the success of her previous two, Mishaps and Dangerously Placed. Nansi lives on a small farm overlooking the Victorian Alps with her husband and son, and is currently hard at work on her next YA book (assuming that ‘hard at work' is synonymous with ‘researching glamorous locations on the internet').

Candice Fox is the middle child of a large, eccentric family from Sydney's western suburbs composed of half-, adopted and pseudo siblings. The daughter of a parole officer and an enthusiastic foster-carer, Candice was constantly in trouble for reading Anne Rice in church and scaring her friends with tales from Australia's wealth of true crime writers.  Bankstown born and bred, she failed to conform to military life in a brief stint as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy at age eighteen. At twenty, she turned her hand to academia, and taught high school through two undergraduate and two postgraduate degrees. Candice lectures in writing at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney, while undertaking a PhD in literary censorship and terrorism. Hades is her first novel – it won the Ned Kelly Award for best debut in 2014. Eden, its sequel, was published in December this year.

Now on with the blog questions!

1/ What is your character’s name?

Rachel Maree Watts

2/ Is your character fictional or historical?

Definitely fictional – although she and I share a deep appreciation for flannie shirts and hot, intelligent men.

3/ When and where is your story set?

Every Move is contemporary – ie. set in the present day – and the characters travel from deepest darkest North Coburg to the Mallee area near Ouyen.  It’s the final book in the Every series; the first book, Every Breath, kicked off Rachel’s adventures in Melbourne, and the second book, Every Word, saw her travel overseas for the first time, to London, where she and her BF, Mycroft, investigated a murder and got into a whole lot of trouble.

4/ What should we know about Rachel?

Rachel grew up on an isolated sheep farm in the Mallee, and being raised a country girl has made her pretty physically tough and enduring.  She has a lot of practical skills – running a pump, driving a ute, shooting a rifle, climbing onto the roof to clean the gutters of dead possums…that sort of thing.  Her personal style runs to jeans, boots and t-shirts/flannies, and she generally ties her brown hair in a knot to keep it out of the way when she’s working.

She’s a fighter.  She’s also incredibly stubborn (what? Another character trait I share?  Certainly not - I’m not like that at all…) and her other defining personality quirk is that she’s fiercely loyal, and has a strong sense of family.

Rachel turned seventeen near the start of the first book, Every Breath.  Another important fact about her: she’s in love, with a certain dark-curly-haired, Sherlock-wannabe called James Mycroft.  Being involved with Mycroft has drawn Rachel into some hair-raising situations - murder, mystery and mayhem, not to mention the disapproval of her parents - but Rachel’s pragmatism and cool head in a crisis have generally seen her through.

5/ What are Rachel’s personal goals?

To keep her family together, and safe from Mycroft’s personal nemesis ‘Mr Wild’.  To recover from the trauma she endured in London – although she’s not sure how to do that.  To work out what’s going on with herself and Mycroft.  To discover who she really is and where she fits in. To pass her Year Twelve exams!

6/ What’s the name of the book, and can we read more about it?

Every Move is the title, and you certainly can!  It’s coming very soon. 

7/ When is it published?

1 March 2015 through Allen and Unwin.

If you haven’t checked them out already, you can catch up with the previous books Every Breath and Every Word here.  Hope you enjoyed this stop on the blog hop, and please do go and check out the other wonderful authors at their stops!

Giveaway

Now – in the spirit of holiday cheer, I’ve decided to give some stuff away.  And here’s the stuff!

Prize 1 is the North American edition of Every Breath

Prize 2 is a two-book set of Every Breath and Every Word

Prize 3 is a hot-off-the-press ARC of Every Word from Tundra (this prize only available to North American/Philippines readers).

If you’d like to win one of these prizes, please comment here on the blog, or on Facebook, @elliemarney on Twitter, or @elliemarney on Instagram.  Tell me what is your personal goal for 2015 (do you want to pass your Year Twelve exams, like Rachel?) and which prize pack you’d like to win.  My son will pick a name out of a hat I’ll choose a winner next week, and let people know before Christmas.  All prizes will be mailed out in January 2015.

That’s all from me for a while, folks.  We’re heading off on our annual family camping trip the day after Christmas, so I won’t be back online until January.  Many thanks for reading, and for keeping me company this year – it’s been a blast!  Lots of love and hopes that you all have a lovely Christmas and holiday season (may you receive many books!), and all the best for the New Year

See you in 2015!

Xx Ellie

Holiday Summer of Reading List Love at the Palais Du Chook

Well, here we are – I only started this blog two years ago, with a post about writing something over the summer holiday break, and we’ve suddenly arrived at the same point again.  Yesterday was the first official day of summer here in Victoria, and it’s promising to be a hot, dry one.  We’ve finished our Palais du Chook (see left), just in time to start keeping up the water to the new crop of baby chicks, and the garden is already starting to brown off.  It seems bizarre that I was whinging about how we couldn’t get the washing dry only a few short months ago – stick around a bit, and you’ll hear me complaining about the heat.

My year of buying only books by female writers is also coming to an end.  I made that first commitment, to buy only books written by women, after writing this post on women and the NYT Bestseller List.  I have to say, it was an easy task I set myself – so easy that I almost forgot I was doing it.  Books by female writers make up the bulk of my reading and buying anyway, so it was no hardship (should I have set myself a more difficult task?). I did a bit of an audit, and figured out I only cheated twice: once when I bought a James Dashner book for my sons that they desperately had to have, and once when I bought Jay Kristoff’s Stormdancer – but that was at the launch of the final Lotus Wars book, Endsinger, so I didn’t feel bad (Jay also writes kick-arse Japanese steampunk female protags, which alleviated any remaining guilt).  Every other book I’ve bought this year has been by a female author.

Which doesn’t mean to say I’ve stopped reading books by men.  No way – I’ve just been getting them all from the library.  And there are definitely a few books by guys that I’m rather keen to get my hands on, so I’m looking forward to being able to buy them.  The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion is pretty much the top of my list (although I’m hoping someone will give it to me for Christmas – HINT), and other male-authored books I’m lining up for are Blood of My Blood by Barry Lyga (god yes), Winger by Andrew Smith, The Last Shot by Michael Adams (and the third one comes out early next year! Double happiness!), Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovich, and The First Third by Will Kostakis.  I’m hoping to have a very large pile of TBR books to take on our annual camping trip over the New Year.

Now I thought I’d get in early and write up my favourite reads of 2014, because last time I did this it was, like, February already.  Not all of these are new – some were published ages ago and this was the year they called to me.  But anyway, here you go, my favourite reads of the year!

Outlander: Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon

Recced to me by loads of people, but most specifically Danielle Binks, and a hearty thank you from me.  I LOVED it.  An historical romance that gender-flips all the tropes? – I am so there.  And the teev series – wow! – reminded me of all the reasons I love Ron Moore.  And we won’t even mention Sam Hueghan…

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Original, eerie, beautifully written and mysteriously plotted.  I loved the weird photos, which made me think of Carnivale and The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, and overall an amazing ride

Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith

Such a beautiful book.  At the end of it, I felt like my world had been tilted on its axis.

The Incredible Here and Now by Felicity Castagna

This book was up for the 2014 CBCA Book of the Year award, and I’m so glad I wasn’t judging, I would be the most horribly subjective judge, but THIS BOOK.  Just a tiny heartbreaking sliver of Western Sydney in an incredibly crafted package that doesn’t feel crafted, but rather just feels like the most beautiful real life.

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta

GAH.  Just…GAH.  I love Thomas Mackee.  And I love Melina Marchetta.  I have no idea why I haven’t read it before this year but I guess this was just the year I was meant to read it, and this book went off like a lightbulb exploding inside my head.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovich

I haven’t laughed so much or been so absorbed while reading a paranormal urban fantasy for a long long time. Incredibly diverse cast, and I just loved the protag’s voice.  Bizarrely plotted, but it’s all part of the fun.

Through the Cracks by Honey Brown

Have I said often enough yet how I’m in love with Honey Brown and want to have her book babies?  No?  This is another searing psychological ride, not so much a thriller, but you have no idea what will happen to the characters, and you don’t want to put the book down until you find out.  Gorgeous writing – just gorgeous.  And dialogue – omg.  I always have a Honey Brown book on my desk, it’s compulsory.  And she has a new one coming out soon!  Woot!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

I have picked up and put down various Maggie Stiefvater books for the last few years – I don’t know why I kept putting them down, maybe it wasn’t the right time to read them.  But this one – this one I could not put down.  The most awesome character descriptions ever.  I’m already desperate for the next book, The Dream Thieves, and if this is what all of Stiefvater’s work is like, sign me up.

There you go – ta da!  Finally, I’m gonna end the whole Reading List Love thing with a nod at The Book I Have Been Waiting For: I am so very very happy (I cannot even tell you: I am FULL OF SQUEE) that The Shadow Cabinet, the final book in the Shades of London series by Maureen Johnson, is about to be released.  How much am I longing for this book?  SO MUCH.  The only thing that would make me happier right now would be if Holly Black said she was releasing a fourth book in the Curseworkers series (please please say that could potentially happen!!  Holly, I love you and no pressure!!)

Okay, that’s it.  Just a few more parting words before I go about the Every series.

* Every Breath is going great guns in North America and the Philippines.  It was recently featured at The Midnight Garden here (wow!) and also on Jukebooks at theYALSA blog ( double wow!).  All you incredible readers and bloggers and book-buyers and librarians out there, YOU ARE ALL MADE OF AWESOME, and thank you so much!  I’m so very grateful for all your support, and especially huge thanks to Tundra Books for making it happen.  Also, so far as I’m aware, Every Breath will reach UK shores in Spring of 2015.

* Every Word is being prepped for a 2015 release in North America and the Philippines.  Woot!  Right now I’m going through typeset pages to check for last minute things before printing.

If you are keen for an Advance Review Copy of Every Word (and just gaze adoringly at those beautiful ARCs there for a second – aren’t they gorgeous?) then please drop into Instagram and gimme a follow – we’re giving them away to new-follower folks, so sign on up!

* Every Move – omg, we’re nearly at the finish line!  I’m doing final passes this week, and my eds and I are working our butts off to bring this book to print on deadline, which will make an early March 2015 release possible.  Honestly, after the writing and the re-writing and the editing and the copyediting and the proofing and the final passes, I must have read through this book at least a hundred times, so I’m getting tired and my butt is sore from sitting in front of the computer, and I am now also filled with the fizzy, scary nervousness of ‘will people like it?’.  There’s also lots of last minute anxiety about whether it’s going to live up to people’s expectations.  But in my saner moments, I’m pretty confident that you will like it (fingers crossed).  Either way, it’s coming very soon!

So that’s the end.  And I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, wherever you are in the world, and may you get lots of lovely books for Christmas! (and give them in return!)

xxEllie

Every Breath Blog Tour Grand Finale - Bookmark Giveaway

Ze Blog Tour, it iz Over.

*Sniff*

I had a wonderful time on the tour, and I hope you did too.  There are still copies of Every Breath being given away on a number of sites – on Goodreads, at Love At FirstPage, and at Bookish Broads – if you’d like to have a go at winning a copy.

And here’s the round up from the last few days of the tour:

Day 3

Lauren at Love is not a triangle has Ellie Marney take us on a virtual tour of Melbourne, where Every Breath is set. Still not convinced? Read Lauren’s review here. @laurayjames

https://www.facebook.com/LoveIsNotATriangle

 

Priyanka at Priyanka Reads interviews Ellie Marney and showcases the covers from the Allen & Unwin editions! @PriyankaReads

 

Rachel at The Reader’s Den raves “Mystery, romance, danger and even well placed humor made for an awesome start to this addictive series! I need book two, STAT!” @rachelanbig

 

Mandy C. at Forever Young Adult is “ready to drop everything and meet you where you live, Book. I want to meet Rachel and Mycroft, and I want to go on adventures with them. I don’t really need to see the dead bodies, but I’d love to work through the clues, make connections and come to conclusions with Watts and Mycroft.”@mandyannecurtis at @4everYA

https://www.facebook.com/ForeverYoungAdult

 

Link: http://tundrabooks.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/every-breath-blog-tour-day-3/

Day 4

Michelle at Michelle & Leslie’s Book Picks gives Every Breath five stars “because it’s friggin’ good and you need it in your life.” You should count the number of times Michelle uses the word “love” in her review! @chelleyreads

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleandLeslie

Christina at The Paperback Princesses invited Ellie Marney over to pick her brain. And find out what galahs are. @pbackprincesses

Shanika at Nick’s Book Blog also has a chat with Ellie Marney and asks her a cruel, cruel question, Watts and Mycroft – who is your favorite? @nicksbookblog93

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicks-Book-Blog/166817323435092

Yash at The Book Wars writes a thoughtful review saying, “Every Breath dives right into the action, Watts is an engaging narrator, Mycroft is a magnetic character, the mystery is gripping, and the romance is fun.” @SeeYashTweet at @TheBookWars

https://www.facebook.com/thebookwars

 

Link: http://tundrabooks.wordpress.com/2014/10/23/every-breath-blog-tour-day-4/ 

Day 5

Author to author, Ann invites Ellie Marney for an interview on her blog, Ann Towell. @AnnTowell

Dani at Refracted Light has a chat with MYCROFT. Read more about everyone’s favorite sleuthing bad boy!!! @RefractingLight

Danielle at Love at First Page has Ellie Marney stop by to talk about the research she did for her series on forensic pathology (read Danielle’s review too). @loveatfirstpage

Yash at The Book Wars also invites Ellie Marney over for a chat about Sherlock adaptations. @SeeYashTweet at @TheBookWars

Kat at Cuddlebuggery has a guest post and *drum roll* the cover reveal for EVERY WORD! @_KatKennedy at @Cuddlebuggery

 

Link: http://tundrabooks.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/every-breath-blog-tour-day-5/ 

Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, to all bloggers, reviewers, readers, booksellers, librarians, fans, retweeters and reposters, and anyone who joined in the fun.  And it was great fun!

Just to polish off what has been a wonderful week, I’m giving away 9 of these gorgeous bookmarks from Tundra (see the pic).  I will happily pop one in a Post-Pak for you, to anywhere in the world (Antarctica! The Amazon jungle! Anywhere, I promise) and I will send them off on a first-come-first-served basis.

To win a bookmark, please do ONE of these 4 things:

* Leave a comment here on the blog

 OR

* Tweet something like ‘#EveryBreath bookmarks from @elliemarney – yes please! You little ripper!’ (remember to include my twitter handle so I get it)

OR

* Comment at the link to this blog post on my Facebook page

OR

* Scrawl a similar message to the tweet above on something, then click and send the pic on Instagram (alert me with my IGname, elliemarney – did I mention I'm on Instagram now? Yep, I am)

I will take the first 9 messages I receive, and announce the winners – you can send me a mailing addy via gmail after that, and I will send you a lovely bookmark in return.

So that’s it!  Hope you’re having a good week.  I’m deep in the edits for Every Move right now – my deadline is second week of November, so I better get my bum into gear.  Take care, and see you round –

Xx Ellie