Adventures in book making:
Inspiration, procrastination & libation.
A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Warning: Sounds smug!
Making the next book
A chameleon author
John Banville’s dual career as full blown literary writer and successful crime writer (with page-to-television adaptations) - normally using a nom de plume will come in handy.
Spaghetti & spooks
Mum bought Jaclyn Crupi’s ‘Nonna Knows Best’ during Melbourne’s first long lockdown in 2020. Little did I realise that a) it would become a great little bible for #nextbookproject and b) I’d have the pleasure of meeting JC at the book launch of New Animal. (Excellent book by the way!) And Ghost Hunters - man oh man - is there anything better than a really good journo attacking a really fascinating subject?
Word count
It’s surprising how often people ask a newbie author like me about how you get a book written. I mean, I’ve only done it once. Ask someone successful and experienced would be my advice. Saying that, sitting down with a word count goal and the actual results achieved worked once for me so I’m trying it again. Fingers crossed.
Making the next book
Suffering for my art
The gorgeous cottage in Lorne on Victoria’s Surfcoast (the Great Ocean Road) where I recently did a homemade writing retreat to progress book 2. I also managed to do a live book club cross to the ACT with the 2 Busy Book Club.
Tormenting beachside booksellers
After Melbourne’s torturously long series of lockdowns it’s been great to finally get in and meet booksellers and see Happy Hour on the shelves. Great Escape Books in Aireys Inlet is a particularly special store, serving the reading whims of locals and tourists alike.
One of my tricks
Once I have a decent block of words committed to paper I love to get the whole thing printed and bound (hello Officeworks!) so I can sit down and hand edit it but also get a better idea of where the story stands from a big picture point of view. Something about this format, rather than on the computer screen, helps me see links and opportunities (and stuff ups).