IWSG - October

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group! 

The awesome co-hosts for the October 1 posting of the IWSG are Beth Camp, Crystal Collier, and Cathrina Constantine!

This month's question is a good one!

 

What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

My favorite thing I've written is the book I'm currently querying,  A Stranger to Kindness.  It's the hardest book I've ever written and took me over five years to complete because I had a complete crisis of confidence after writing about 15K and I ended up abandoning it for quite some time, wrote another book, then came back to it and found my way into the story and the characters in a way I hadn't been able to before.

I'm not usually someone who worries too much about plot in my books.  They tend to be more character driven and the plot kind of develops as I explore the characters and how they act and react to the people and situations around them.  In A Stranger to Kindness, the main character is very damaged and stuff most people can do without much thought is incredibly challenging for him.  And these challenges really drove the plot for me in this book, to the point where things happen to him that I wasn't expecting, but were, in retrospect, exactly what would happen to this kid.

I kind of love him.

But I don't just love Harley, the main character.  I also love his brother, Wolfe and the friend he makes at his new school, Meg.  Meg's not an entirely new character - she's the younger sister of the main character in Stumped - but she's a few years older now, and the sass she demonstrated as an eleven-year-old in that book, has developed into some real bad-assery in this one.

I love this book because I love the characters, but I also feel like it's a hugely satisfying story on many levels.  It's about trauma and family and love and finding a place to call home.  I think I managed to write a really satisfying arc for my characters and, like in the best stories, they're different at the end than they were at the start. 

I also think I did a pretty good job with the voice in this one.  Voice is something that comes pretty naturally to me, but finding a voice for a POV character who doesn't speak was a huge challenge for me.  My writing background is in theatre and film, so dialogue plays a massive part in my storytelling.  I think the crisis of confidence I faced in writing this book was based largely on the fact I couldn't lean on dialogue to do any heavy lifting here because Harley's mute for most of the book.

Unfortunately, you can't read this book yet because it's not published.  And if the number of rejections it's racking up is anything to go by, it may not be any time soon.  But if you're interested in my favorite of my published books, it's Stumped - the one in which Meg plays a small part.  

What's your favorite thing you've written?  Is it published?  I'd love to add it to my TBR pile if it is!

Weekly Goals 29-9-25

 I got some writing done over the weekend.  Not a huge amount, but some.  Unfortunately, I don't know what's going to happen now I've got my characters where they need to be.  I'm sure it will come clear once I start writing it (I hope), but I have to actually write it.  I keep thinking I can have a day off to write, but there's always too much going on at work to actually claw back those extra hours.

So, this week's goal is to try and get through this section.  Once I've written it, how the book ends will be clear.  And I'm pretty sure it's not going to be the happy ending Arlo might be thinking he's getting, the one where he gets everything he wants.  I feel like it'll be more bittersweet, but then, that's kind of my brand.

I think this week (or maybe next week) is my last week of teaching three mornings a week, which will be a nice change of pace.  Amazing what a difference just having one more free morning a week makes.

What are your goals for this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 26-9-25

  

It's the end of the week, so it's time to celebrate the small things.

So, what am I celebrating this week?

It's the weekend!

And daylight saving starts on Sunday, so summer can't be too far away, even if it still feels like winter.

It's been a very busy week at work so I haven't had any time to write.  I hope to get some done over the weekend, but I also have quite a lot to do over the weekend.  Grrrrr....  Why does life have to get in the way of the things I actually want to do?

I got three new rejections for A Stranger to Kindness this week.  Starting to feel like continuing to query is pointless, but I'll persist a few more weeks.  I keep reminding myself it only takes one person to fall in love with it and maybe I haven't found that person yet.

I can't think of anything else I want to celebrate this week, so I'll leave it there.  What are your end-of-week celebrations?

Books I've Read: People of the Book

 

I've read other books by Geraldine Brooks and enjoyed them, so when a colleague recommended this to me, I jumped at the chance to read it.

It's part historical, part fact and part mystery, everything tied together by a present-day framing story in which an expert in ancient texts tries to unravel the secrets held by a famed book.  The book in question is a Jewish haggadah that was found in Sarajevo after the conflict.  Unusual in that it was illustrated, something Jews rarely did, the book was rescued and hidden many times over the years since its creation in 15th century Spain.

As the modern-day researcher, an Australian, tries to discover more about the book and its origins from such things as a fragment of butterfly wing, a hair and a stain that could be either blood or wine, the stories behind each of these things unfolds before us, revealing details of people and cultures from the ghettos of Venice, to an emir's palace and many places in between.

In the modern day, the book plays out more like a thriller as the researcher's work is interrupted by fascists and those who believe the book is theirs, not something that belongs to the diversity of cultures represented in Sarajevo across centuries.  She soon finds herself dragged into the shady underworld of forgery and art theft where only her unique knowledge and skill might get her out.

It took me a long time to read this book - almost three weeks, which is unheard of for me.  I think I was perhaps too tired to fully absorb it at times and found I had to go back and re-read sections to catch myself up.  But I did enjoy it when I had the chance to read more than a couple of pages at a time.  I feel like it might be one I need to come back to again when I'm less busy and better able to focus.

In many ways, through telling the story of the haggadah, the book offers a history of European Judaism, showing the way the Jews were constantly moved on from the places they settled, the endless persecution and their determination to hold fast to their beliefs even when faced with dreadful punishment for practicing them.

I'd recommend this one for people who enjoy historical fiction.  The thriller aspect is there, but it's pretty understated and if you go into this expecting a thrilling ride, you might just be disappointed.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

The "complex and moving" (The New Yorker) novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks follows a rare manuscript through centuries of exile and war.

Inspired by a true story, "People of the Book" is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author.

Called "a tour de force" by the San Francisco Chronicle, this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain.

When it falls to Australian rare book expert Hanna Heath to conserve this priceless work, the tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding—a butterfly wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—only begin to unlock the book’s deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.

Weekly goals 22-9-25

 I did a bit of writing over the weekend although I ended up throwing away a chunk of what I did after I realized I was going in the wrong direction.  I finally figured out a way to end the book that will let me explore the dangling plot thread I was worried about.  At least, I hope this will be the way to finish the book.  I'm not quite sure yet what might happen when I let Devon and Arlo go there, but I guess I'll find out.

I might try to take Thursday off to write, depending on how busy it is.  I have eight hours of lieu time I need to use ASAP, so Thursday might be the day to do it.  I'd pick Friday, but we have an all staff meeting for two hours and I probably shouldn't miss that.

So my goal this week is to try and write this section and hit the end.  I think there are probably odd bits and pieces I'll need to add in revision later to make it work, but that's what revision is for, right?

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things

 

It's the end of the week, so it's time to celebrate the small things.

So, what am I celebrating this week?

It's the weekend!

It has been a long week and I am definitely in need of a break.  Especially since next week is going to be a crazy one.  I have nothing planned this weekend, which is a good thing because I just want to stay home and read and write and not think about work for a couple of days.

I haven't done any writing this week.  Not even my daily flash fiction which I've been so good about doing all year. I've taught some extra classes at the gym and between that and the amount of brain power learning my job is taking,  I just haven't had anything left for writing anything.

I've had two rejections for A Stranger to Kindness this week too.  At this point, I'm not quite sure why I keep sending out queries, but I'm not ready to give up on Harley and Wolfe and their story.  Even though no one seems to want it.

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've read: The Stars are Million Glittering Worlds

 

I first came across this book before it was published when the publisher approached me about interviewing the author for the arts magazine I was editing.  Timing wasn't kind to us and the interview didn't happen, but I did receive a copy of the book for a giveaway.  It sat on my desk, looking enticing and beautiful for several weeks, but I was afraid that if I took it home to read, I spill coffee on it or drop it in the bath.  So, it remained unread until my book club decided it was a good option for this month's read since there were multiple copies available through the Libby app. (If you don't have the Libby app, get it now - it's been life-changing).

I really enjoyed this book despite deciding by the end that I really didn't like any of the characters very much.

There are three main characters - Thea, Sarah and Chris - who meet at a backpacker's in Guatemala.  Sarah and Chris are loosely a couple, having met elsewhere in Central America and met up again in San Pedro, a little town on a lake.  Thea arrives later, determined to climb some of the nearby mountains - her father who was a keen mountaineer died recently, and climbing is a way for Thea to feel close to him again.

All three of these people are traveling to get away from their real lives, to escape reality, their families and past trauma.  While they keep moving, they can be someone else; perhaps better than the people they were at home.

When tragedy strikes, Thea spirals, her past racing to meet her once more.  Even staying away doesn't seem to keep the darkness from overwhelming her, so she decides to go home, travelling through Australia to get there.

She never makes it home - she falls into a relationship and quickly finds herself building a life in Tasmania.  A mostly comfortable life, with friends and activities to keep the grief that binds her and her partner at bay.

Until another tragedy strikes and Thea finds herself questioning everything, the unanswered questions surrounding the tragedy in Guatemala suddenly overwhelming once more.  But if she wants the truth about what really happened, she needs to confront her own truth and finally confront her own tragedy, the one that sent her running to the far side of the globe.

This book went in some very unexpected directions. I won't ruin it by telling you too much about those directions because a big part of what made it enjoyable were these changes of direction.  Yet despite them being unexpected, none of them were out of character for the people making those decisions.

Unfortunately, I didn't much like any of the characters, and by the end, I liked them all even less.  Which, I suspect, may have been the point.  But despite not liking them, the book was very readable and had some lovely descriptions and language sprinkled through it.  There were enough buried secrets to keep you reading on, desperate to find out exactly what made these people tick - just why they behaved in some of the ways they did.

So, I'd recommend this one.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

A hypnotic novel about love, guilt and forgiveness. If you loved Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts by Josie Shapiro, you will adore The Stars Are a Million Glittering Worlds.

Thea, a young woman crushed by guilt, flees to Central America to escape her life in New Zealand.

In Guatemala, she meets the charismatic Chris and his partner, Sarah, and the three of them form a tight bond. While the rest of the world is caught in the grip of the global financial crisis, the three friends find a false reality in the backpacker party town of San Pedro. Surrounded by the dark volcanic beauty of the Guatemalan highlands, Thea starts to come to terms with her past. But everything changes when a tragedy occurs.

Knowing she has to leave Central America, but not ready to return home, Thea settles in Tasmania and into a new relationship. Bonded by grief, she and her partner make a life for themselves in Hobart. But years later, when tragedy strikes again, all Thea's old grief and guilt - together with unanswered questions - come to the surface. Against the backdrop of the pandemic and lockdowns, Thea begins to question the trust she has in her partner. She realises that if she wants to know the truth, she will need to come clean about her past.