Mid Year's Resolutions

Last week during the one hour ‘Monday Writing Sprint’ on Facebook, I wrote a blog post entitled ‘What Warms My Heart’ for award winning children’s author, Sally Murphy’s blog. You can check out what warms my heart here.

This week during ‘The Sprint’ I thought I’d catch up with a few blog posts of my own. Life has been very busy lately as I try to attain my goals. Now with the year well and truly half gone, I thought I’d go over what resolutions I’d made at the start of the year and see how I was doing so far. Here they are:

1. Work/write every day from 9am.
2. Exercise 3x a week.
3. Lose 3-4 kilo. (ha ha)
4. Practise my art.
5. Complete and submit my short novel wip.
6. Complete my novel wip.
7. Complete illustrations for pb.
8. Blog 2-3 times per month.
9. Promote my book Pond Magic.
10. Initiate work as a workshop presenter/speaker.

I know, this is a ridiculously long list of expectations. But, I’ll be happy if I can check even three off the list. So how have I been going?

1. Yes, I have worked every day. The support of the one hour Monday Writing Sprint has really helped here. It’s a Monday morning kick start that sets me up for the week and my family know ‘I’m working’ and leave me alone.

2. Hmm…I think this one has averaged out to once per week as I was really sick in March (excuses).

3. Ditto. Lost 2 kilos being sick, then visitors arrived and well…

4. I’ve been working on my picture book and doing other illustrations for fun.

5. My short novel first draft is complete and I’m editing it.

6. My novel is sitting patiently waiting for me.

7. My picture book illustrations are up to the final draft stage before colouring.

8. I’m enjoying my blog and may even have found my ‘blog identity’.

9. I’ve been able to promote Pond Magic through my author talks and workshops and I was interviewed on radio when Pond Magic was book of the month on ABC 91.7.

10. My ‘authorpreneurial’ work has started to increase rapidly. In the next few months I will be speaking and conducting workshops at writers’ groups, libraries and schools. So far ‘word of mouth’ has been getting my name out there.

Having evaluated how far I’ve come this year, I feel a little more confident now that my writing and illustrating is heading in the right direction. Here’s a little sample:

And the year is only half way through, right?

Did you make any goals at the start of the year? And how’s it going so far?

Writing Sprint

I have had a very good reason to get up early on a Monday morning the last few months. Over on Facebook I convene the Monday Writing Sprint group. It's an open group, so anyone can join in and bring their writing friends.

The idea is to write for a solid hour with no interruptions, no self-editing and the nasty critic within us locked away in the downstairs cupboard. That means you switch your phone off, tell the family you're too busy to talk and shut the door to the rest of the world.

See the focussed determination set in that bottom lip.

At 9am every Monday morning Australian Eastern Standard Time we kick off the sprint and write like crazy until ten. Sometimes there are only three of us scribbling away, on other days we've had up to ten people with some well known names popping up amongst them.

It doesn't matter whether you're new to writing or a seasoned author trying to meet a deadline. The Monday Writing Sprint is for everyone. By writing together simultaneously there is the knowledge that you are not alone and the camaraderie of sharing your word count or success at the end of the hour is uplifting.

And you can write anything. It might be that blogpost you've been putting off, or an edit of that first draft in your bottom drawer, it might be a poem that's been wafting around in your head or the next scene of your novel.

Don't worry about stumbling along.



Kicking off your Monday morning with a solid hour of free writing not only sets you up for the working day/week ahead, it also nurtures your muse and puts you in 'the zone'.

Believe me it's the best way to start your week!

Try it. You'll like it. Monday Writing Sprint Then we can all be winners.



The Calamitous Queen with Special Guest Ian Irvine

I am so pleased to have Ian Irvine, writer of fantasy series for adults and children, visiting the blog today.

We're celebrating with Ian the release of 'The Calamitous Queen', the final instalment in his four part humorous fantasy series for 10- 14 yo children, 'Grim and Grimmer'.

Welcome, Ian. Thanks for stopping by as the last port of call on your 'The Calamitous Queen' blog tour. I've been enjoying reading all the blogs leading up to this one and it got me wondering where the ideas for the series 'Grim and Grimmer' came from.



Good question. It’s hard to remember, because I’m not the kind of writer who suddenly has a flash of inspiration in the shower, or while walking in the garden, and thinks, ‘Wow, that’d make a great idea for a story.’ Nor do I often go through the newspaper clippings, random scribbles on coffee napkins and hieroglyphs on pieces of paperbark that pass for my system of notes around here, in search of a brilliant idea I had last week, month or year. When I do delve into such uncertain troves, I end up scratching my head, wondering, ‘What the Dickens does that mean?’

But I did have a framework in mind. I wanted to write a fantasy adventure series for readers roughly 9 - 14 years. I hadn’t written for this precise age group before. My Runcible Jones books, http://www.ian-irvine.com/runciblejones.html, are much larger and more complex books for older readers, while the Sorcerer’s Tower, http://www.ian-irvine.com/sorcererstower.html, comprises small books with simple storylines, aimed at reluctant readers in the 7-10 range. I had a lot of great feedback from librarians about the latter books and wanted to write more, but this time I wanted to do larger books (45,000 words versus 10,000) for slightly older readers.

And I also wanted to write funny stories, because I felt this would make them more accessible to readers, particularly reluctant readers. Reading is incredibly important and I want to encourage it any way I can. Writing humour was a new adventure for me, and one I wasn’t sure I could pull off, since I’d never attempted it before. However there aren’t a lot of funny fantasy novels around for this age, at least not ones with strong, compelling plots, and since strong plots are my forte I thought I’d have a go.

So to characters. My huge fantasy epics, which are by far my most widely read books, http://www.ian-irvine.com/threeworlds.html, have often used strong female characters as the main protagonists, however in the Grim and Grimmers I wanted the hero to be a boy, and a hopeless boy at that, a tall, gawky kid who’s no good at sport and bottom of the class (in fact he’s just been expelled for a dreadful misunderstanding). Useless Ike. I’d not written about such a character before. I thought it would be a nice writing challenge to take this kid who’s totally cowed by life and his many failures, and no good at anything except drawing, and over the course of 4 books and 180,000 words, turn him into a hero.

A duffer of a hero needs a strong sidekick, hence I paired Ike with Melliflua di Sorrowgrove (Mellie), an apprentice thief who’s everything he’s not. She’s small, pixie-pretty, clever, hot-tempered and reckless, and has such a high regard for her own brilliance that she’s constantly getting them both into dire trouble – as when her failed spell blows Ike’s backside up to the size of an airship and he spends the next day bobbing around the ceilings of the dwarf city of Delf, being mocked by angry dwarves while Mellie laughs hysterically.

And of course, the book needs a cast of zany and bizarre characters, such as the malicious demon Spleen whose speciality is looking inside her victim’s heads (literally) to find out their deepest fears so she can take advantage of them. And the sweet but bloodthirsty old granny, Fluffia Tralalee, who lives in a cave carpeted in pink shag pile, with fluffy bunny wallpaper, yet is hiding an arsenal of weaponry large enough to start the next war. And the smirking conman dwarf, Con Glomryt, who could pass for the sleazy host on an afternoon TV game show.

There are four books in the Grim and Grimmer series. How did you know the story arc would unfold to four books?

Well, being a long-winded kind of guy who writes gigantic fantasy epics (The Three Worlds saga is 2.3 million words to date) I’d actually planned the Grim and Grimmers to be six books. But because of the GFC, my publisher was reluctant to commit to more than four, so four it became.

As it turned out, the story needed four books, because poor Ike suffers so many trials and failures that his first real success only occurs at the end of book 1, The Headless Highwayman, when he makes the firewyrm-dung fuelled balloon that carries him and Mellie to rescue the princess. And after all, if you start out with a hopeless protagonist, it takes lot of story to turn him into a believable hero.

Thanks so much for stopping by on your blog tour to answer a few questions, Ian. 

As a writer I've gained some valuable insight into the choices you make when determining character traits for your novels (27 to date). Ike is the sort of hero whose vulnerability kids will truly identify with.

You can find covers, blurbs, reviews and first chapters for the Grim and Grimmer series at http://www.ian-irvine.com/grimgrimmer.html.

And if you'd like to read other guest posts by Ian Irvine on The Calamitous Queen Blog Tour, here are the links:
 




THE CALAMITOUS QUEEN, BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

DATE HOST BLOG URL TOPIC

May 27, 2011 Gabrielle Wang’s Blog http://www.gabriellewang.com/archives/how-writers-work-ian-irvine-guest-post/#more-4295

May 30, 2011 Onyabus, Omnibus Books http://onyabus.blogspot.com// Interview

June 6, 2011 Ian Irvine http://bloggingwithianirvine.blogspot.com//

Introducing the Calamitous Queen blog tour

June 7, 2011 Nords Wharf Public School http://www.blogger.com/goog_943567517


Questions from students

June 8, 2011 Susan Stephenson, The Book Chook http://www.thebookchook.com/

Literacy and writing

June 9, 2011 Catriona Hoy http://catrionahoy.blogspot.com//

Humour and writing

June 10, 2011 Kid’s Book Capers – Dee White http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog/

Review of book and interview

June 11, 2011 Sally Murphy http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

The exciting (or otherwise) life of a writer

June 12, 2001 Claire Saxby http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com/

FFF(fun, fantasy, fiction): mix and stire (or how it all comes together)

June 13, 2011 Alison Reynolds http://www.alisonreynolds.com.au//

Why Ian wrote this book

June 14, 2011 Dee White (deescribewriting blog)Tuesday Writing Tips http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/

Tips on how to finish a series

15 June 2011 St Joseph’s Primary School http://stjyear52011.blogspot.com/

Questions from students

16 June 2011 Sheryl Gwyther http://sherylgwyther4kids.wordpress.com/


The 10 Best Things about writing 'Grim and Grimmer' + Things that Almost Drove You Nuts!

17 June 2011 Braemar College,

Christine Wilson http://cawilsontl.edublogs.org/virtural-blog-tour/

Questions from students

18 June, 2011 Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com/

The How-to's of Writing a Series

19 June 2011 Angela Sunde http://angelasunde.blogspot.com//

Where Ian's ideas for the series came from and how he knew there would be four books in it

I am grateful

Hello bloggees,

I'm guessing that's the name for those who read and follow blogs. Firstly thank you to all those who tune in occasionally or more often. I truly appreciate your support and company on my journey as a writer, illustrator and blogger.

Today I am a guest on the blog of the wonderful Dr Anita Heiss here, where I share what I am most grateful for in life. I met Anita early last year when I attended the launch of her book, Manhattan Dreaming, in Brisbane. Her effervescent personality won me over immediately and we have stayed in contact ever since. I so admire and enjoy Anita's wit, intelligence and humour mixed together with a genuine ability to connect with others.

Me, Sheryl Gwyther and Anita Heiss (photo Anita Heiss)

'Dr Anita Heiss is the author of non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women's fiction, poetry, social commentary and travel articles. She also lectures on Indigenous Studies, is an Indigenous Literacy Day Ambassador and a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales.'

In Manhatten Dreaming, a commercial women's fiction novel, Anita Heiss has brought modern indigenous culture and an internatonal setting together in a fun light-hearted plot.  Her aboriginal heroine, Lauren, is offered an art curator fellowship in New York. But how does she choose between her dream job and her commitment-phobic boyfriend back home?

This year Anita has followed up the success of Manhatten Dreaming with the equally fun novel, Paris Dreaming.



I attended the launch for Paris Dreaming at the State Library in Brisbane and had a magical evening in the Red Box Room as actors performed excerpts from the novel. The Red Box has three walls of glass overlooking the Brisbane River and if you blinked you'd have thought you were on the Seine.



This was followed by French Martinis, hors d'oeuvres and an elegant young woman crooning Ediath Piaf songs on the balcony below.



And did I mention the Eiffel Tower?



Living the author life is not all Martinis and French raspberry macarons (yes, there were those too.) But when it is I am very grateful, and I am sincerely grateful for all the friendships I have made in the writing community.

Pop over to Anita's blog to read my post on what I'm most grateful for and then come back and tell me your top five.

I'd love to hear it!

Write and Illustrate a Picture Book

The Calendar of Events booklet has just been released by the Gold Coast Libraries. It's full of interesting and fun-filled activities for Gold Coast residents in the months of June to August.

It caught me by surprise to find my workshop advertised on page 9 as a full page promotion. So I thought I'd share it with you.

Now if you live on the Gold Coast it's free and I promise you a full day of creative enlightenment. You will read, view and understand picture books from a completely new perspective.

It is not necessary to be able to draw to participate in this workshop. Here are the details:

Ever wondered how to go about illustrating a children’s picture book? This workshop will take you through the process step by step as you learn to develop a visual narrative to a supplied text (or your own). From sketching preliminary roughs, developing characters, storyboarding, page layouts, creating a dummy book to preparing artwork for submission, all areas will be covered, including how to approach a publisher.

Join me on the 23rd August 2011  from 10am to 4pm at the Elanora Library.

Phone the library to book yourself in  on (07) 55 811 671.

Elanora Library

The Pines Shopping Centre

Guineas Creek Road

Elanora 4221

Gold Coast

My Radio Debut

As promised, here at last is the link to my debut on radio.

A few weeks ago Pond Magic was chosen to be the first Book of the Month for 2011 in ABC 91.7 Gold Coast 's Book Club with the lovely presenter Nicole Dyer.

And so one sunny Friday morning I turned up at the ABC 91.7 studios beautifully dressed and coiffed for my 'live' radio interview. Joining me was Stephanie Laverie who had won a copy of Pond Magic and the opportunity to meet the author and review the book live on air through ABC 91.7's Facebook page . - No pressure for me!

Nicole Dyer, Angela Sunde and Stephanie Laverie

Some of you will know that my sister, Nadia Sunde is also a radio presenter. So naturally, I went to her for advice...

"Put on your happy voice," she said. "Speak with a smile on your face the whole time and the listeners will 'hear' that smile."

I took that on board. Just like when teaching, you cannot show your fear. Luckily Nicole Dyer has the knack of making her guests feel relaxed and at home, so I was soon chatting away in my 'happy voice' with remnants of a Kiwi accent.

The segment went for 12 minutes of which an edited 5 minutes (plus a written review) has been published on the ABC 91.7 website. If you'd like to have a listen to the stories behind Pond Magic, my inspiration and how I came to be published, pop over to the link below and scroll down to the audio file.  You'll also get to hear my ... voice. (Scary, I know).

"March Book Club Review: Pond Magic. How do you turn creative ideas of yours into a book that will not only grab a child's attention but keep them hooked? " 

Building your Author Brand

Recently I gave a presentation 'Building your Author Brand' to the Prana Writers group on the Gold Coast. The Prana Writers came together as a group three years ago when we were all successful applicants for a Gold Coast City Council initiative called 'Write That Book'. Under the mentorship of international award winning author, Louise Cusack, the members of our group spent one year completing a novel and the following year editing it. The second year was possible through a Regional Arts Development Fund grant.

This year we have continued to work together towards achieving our goals. At our last meeting I wished to share with the group the experience and knowledge gained from the publication, marketing and promotion of my first book, Pond Magic.

‘Author branding’ is a term I first heard a couple of years ago at a writers’ conference. The concept made complete sense to me; the author is the brand. And while many writers may find self-promotion daunting, I took it on with gusto.
 
But just what is a brand and how do you create an author brand? Someone once told me it is:

‘a promise, an experience and a memory.’

  

Recently a writing friend complimented me on my website. As I encouraged him to create his own, he said: “Oh no, I don’t have a product.” The truth is you don’t need a product (or a published book) to promote your author brand. In fact the earlier you start the better. As a writer you are already producing ideas readers may find interesting. You are self-employed – a one man band. And, unless this is a hobby for you, you should begin to look upon your writing as a business and yourself as a professional. Once you do, walking into a pitch session with a potential publisher or agent will be so much less intimidating.

So just how would I describe my author brand?

Fun, creative, flamboyant, international

and above all…

professional.

Now, think of five words to describe yours…

I am available for Author Talks and Creative Writing workshops for adults and children.

Contact: angelasunde@live.com.au