Still nothing interesting to say
But you can hang around and gaze at the gorgeousness for a bit if you like.
Nothin’ to see here
Hey look! No blog entry all weekend! Go. . . . play outside or something.
“Fire in the Sea” by Myke Bartlett
A publisher once said to me, “We can’t tell if your book is literary or adventure. The writing is sometimes poetic and sometimes not, and it’s too slow to be popular fiction.” In Australia, “literary” is a dirty word – the conception is that the writing might be pretty, but it’ll be boring. So I sped up the pace of that book of mine, and all the others since. If I’d gone in the opposite direction – focusing more on stunning writing and less on a fast-paced plot – I might have won the Text Prize this year. Maybe. One of the editorial comments they gave me was, “You rush through things. You should slow down.” C’est la publishing biz. But I know what kind of writer I want to be.
“Fire in the Sea” won the Text Prize last year. I was lucky enough to acquire an advance copy – and even to get it signed. Myke and his wife were a lot of fun to meet and talk to, and Myke (a tall and easy-going man with a good sense of humour) was touchingly unsure of his signature, working it out over the course of the evening. I’m pretty sure that the awkward, half-formed autograph in my copy will be worth millions one day: catching the moment as a new and excellent writer is born.
I finished the book only moments ago, and wanted very much to sit and think about it before writing this review, but I knew that I wouldn’t have a better chance to blog in the next twenty-four hours, and I promised readers and Myke himself that I’d review it this week. I suspect if I re-read the book or engaged my brain a little more, it would have layers upon layers of smart symbology and intelligence. But, ya know, I got stuff to do.
The book was. . .
The rest of the review is at Comfy Chair.
Should I work for free?
Writing is something that looks super easy from the outside, so a LOT of people give it a try. Many of them get to a certain point and realise they need outside help. That is when they approach professionals in the biz and ask, “Would you mind just. . . . looking at my first chapter/writing me a foreword/telling me how to spell occasionally/giving me an awesome quote for my self-published book “Ocelots and why I love them”?”
Most people who’ve been around a while say a rapid no and back away quickly, overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers. If your mouth is the kind that reverts to a yes answer, this handy diagram may help you retrain yourself back into a sanity-inducing lifestyle. Also, it’s just funny to read. Also, if you think I’ll read your novel, maybe see where you fit into this flowchart first and then you can work out the answer for yourself.
Warning: There is some swearing. As in life, so in this flow chart.
http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com/
Pregnancy: The monster is not dead
A few weeks ago I had a pregnancy scare. It even sort of made it to the blog – I wrote on a Wednesday that I’d had lots of weird aches and pains, and was walking with a limp. At the same time I was very ill with a stomach bug (or was it something more?) I even managed to be four days late (very unusual for me) – but I’m not pregnant. Thank goodness. Although I look forward to meeting our future second child, this is *NOT* a good time!
And yet, the pain continues.
Pregnancy hormones can take a LONG time to leach out of one’s system – and given that my body is so fond of pregnancy hormones (the more the better) it’s little wonder that they’re still around in big enough quantities to be causing significant problems. Even when it’s been well over six months since I de-pregnantified.
I mentioned a limp. After vacillating for a while, it decided to dig in and get worse and worse. It became very difficult to walk, or pick up Louisette (which I do dozens of times a day) or walk up or down stairs (we have stairs between the bedroom/bathroom and the kitchen/living area – so again, dozens of times a day). The combination of baby plus walking plus stairs was very painful.
Last Friday I saw a physio and found out that the back pain was all referred pain from my left hip joint, which had separated due to – guess what! – pregnancy hormones (specifically my old friend relaxin, who causes muscles to flollop about in preparation for birth). She helped a bit (and I ruined it within hours due to looking after Louisette) and gave me exercises to do.
On Saturday and Sunday I didn’t lift Louisette once. On Monday and Tuesday I camped out downstairs as much as possible, keeping Louisette on my bed where I fed her, changed her, put her to sleep, and entertained her by any means necessary:
I *am* improving despite the impossibility of true rest, and I even managed to get a job (at a house with a ridiculous number of stairs). It’s horrifying but encouraging to know that hormones really are to blame for my startlingly still-pregnant-looking belly. . . at least there’s still hope for the distant future. All I can really do is lump this in with all the rest of the pregnancy horrors I thought I was done with, and say what I’ve always said about the horrors of pregnancy: It’s totally worth it.
My job is minding two young and adorable girls who live very close by. I started yesterday, and it is not merely survivable but highly enjoyable. Louisette is more than welcome – the girls chose me partly because they wanted to play with her – and she loves having new people to admire her.
Speaking of Louisette, she’s become very fond of blowing slobbery raspberries to express either disapproval or delight. That’s a lot of raspberries.
Vampire hunters, villains, and dolls
Lovely links to lovely pictures from Steampunk on facebook.
In other news, I got a job that starts today – part time babysitting, and I get to take Louisette with me. Win!
Diverting power to the main grid
I seem to be strangely busy these days*so I’ve decided to cut down on blogging a teensy bit. Those readers who’ve been around for a while (or who noticed that I still blogged while on my honeymoon/in labour/etc) will be stunned at this development, while the rest of you will be left wondering, “And the big deal is. . . ?”
The blog will be silent on weekends from this week onwards. The “articles by others” (usually on writing, usually with my comments) will be moved to Thursdays, and “Steampunk Sundays” will be moved to the somewhat less alliterative Tuesdays (from tomorrow – so you’ll score two steampunk days this week). Mondays will remain Miscellaneous (including any awesomenesses that deserve the name), Wednesdays all about Louisette, and Fridays will still be all about book reviews.
* I wonder why
This-abled: A Steampunk Story
I promised you something seriously excellent, and here it is.
It’s a story done in pictures with live models. Here’s just one sample picture from partway through:
Handy International Resource
This site has a LOT of publishers, and is searchable by genre. It’s somewhat skewed towards the USA and UK, but us antipodeans often publish overseas (for the moolah) anyway.
Felicity Banks 