Back in Australia. Weather brisk and sunny, not as cold as I feared. Either that or I am still retaining inner warmth from my trip. Bones not coping well with the long flight home. I began seizing up around Hour no. 5 and still feel like someone attacked my hips with a hammer. I know they say to get up and walk around in the plane, but that is easier said than done when the aisles are narrow and there is nowhere much to go except around and up and down, annoying people. I had an exit seat (which means the flight attendants ask you if you are willing to help people get out of the plane if it crashes - oh yes, of course, you say, while wondering how likely it is that you will still be alive yourself) so plenty of leg room for exercises. However, 13 hours of sitting in one place tends to make the body groan.
No movies worth watching again so I read and read and read, ending up with scratchy eyes but it passed the time. Also managed a bit of sleep. I seem to remember flying to the US a few years ago and being fed about 4 times until I thought I would explode (when bored, it is always a diversion to eat, even when not hungry). Now you get 2 meals, and a snack halfway through the night if you are desperate. I have never been served meatloaf on a plane before and never wish to again. But the breakfast pancakes were quite edible.
Kristi and I packed in more writing and talking about writing and critiquing and discussion and reading in 5 days than I've ever had. I think we both found it inspiring and I hope we can also use what we gained to help us into better writing "mindsets". We both experience the dilemma of teaching (as a regular income) and then finding that it drains us for writing. And also the dilemma of needing at times to sell work and trying to balance that with writing the "heart" books.
Publishing has changed in the past ten years. She has been publishing longer than me, and agrees that things are more difficult, especially the aspect of knowing where you are with a publisher. Often your editor leaves, or there are cutbacks, or a change of direction - no one tells you what is going on, or if they try, it may be inaccurate. So you are left hanging in the wind, waiting for a contract that may never come, even after having verbal offers made and dates set. It all can disappear in a week. At least I have not had the experience of having a book of mine published without my permission (or a contract).
These kinds of experiences for authors (effects of changes at publishers) seem to be such a common occurrence now. Witness the changes and upheaval at Simon & Schuster children's publishing over the past few months.
Enough of this philosophising! I have done a lot of clothes washing, half of my class preparation for this week, opened a foot-high pile of mail, caught up on most emails and restocked the cupboards with fresh food. Now if I could train my brain to stop waking up at 3am, thinking it's time to get up, I will be OK.

Sitting at LA airport, pounding away on a fold-down terminal. I have tried this before and I can tell you that: a) the keyboards always require concentrated pounding with much correcting, and b) the Control C function that usually allows you to copy in case your email goes to the great black hole does not work, so that any email carefully constructed will immediately disappear, leaving you to say a variety of words that would make hair curl. So. Whatever appears on this blog will be serendipity, and all spelling and spacing errors are to be ignored.
Kristi and I have spent 5 lovely days talking writing. We have managed some tourist excursions, a lot of eating, some visits to the gym (to counteract eating) and much talking. And some critiquing. All very good.
Now I am on the way home, inflatable pillow in hand (new because I can't find my other one) and books handy in case I can't sleep. Luggage includes box of books and a range of souvenirs. Snake photo will appear on website soon!

Monday - a quiet day, reading writing books and talking. I am reading '78 reasons why your book may never get published and 14 reasons why it just might' by Pat Walsh. Some great observations on the publishing industry. A few to depress you, a few to make you feel optimistic (if you are an optimist!). Went to the gym and worked off some sludgy couch-potato feelings and limbered up some muscles and sciatic nerves. We also did some stuff on close reading and talked about language and style a lot. Good things for writers to do!
Today Kristi and I went into the city on the bus and walked along the River Walk. It was created in 1941 but only made really beautiful and safe for the tourists in the last 15 years or so, I think. Before then it was a great place to get mugged, apparently. Now you walk down steps from the street to the river level and then walk along under bridges and through gardens etc. There is one place which is a theatre, with the stage on one side of the river and the amphitheatre on the other (the river is only about 20 feet wide, by the way). Looked in some shops in the little Mexican village behind the amphitheatre - there was a shop there called the Starving Artists' Gallery so of course we looked in that one too.
Did a little shopping in the River Centre - big shopping centre - and had lunch outside by the water, listening to a Mexican band, which was very relaxing. Then went to the Alamo. The buildings are made out of limestone, or at least the actual mission is, and you weren't allowed near the walls or to touch them. The guide showed us a doorway where the stone was dark and scuffed from people touching it. Saw a 15 minute movie about the battle, then went into the mission. No photos allowed inside, which was a pity as the postcard I got doesn't do it justice. Nothing like the one at San Xavier, which was all painted. This one is just the original walls - stark and full of a different kind of history.
Saw four squirrels in the gardens and spent some time in the gift shop getting little bits of stuff.
The museum part wasn't open unfortunately - being renovated.
Came home tired out from the walking and the heat and humidity - had to soak my feet in a tub for a while! Then we ordered in pizza and watched a video.

I obviously am time-zone addled, for several reasons as will become apparent. But I have just realised that my blog is using Australian time for posting, therefore my day out with tour guide Al was really Thursday, Arizona time.
Friday morning I spoke to a class of trainee teachers at the Pima College Desert Vista campus. They were a lovely group, and I focused more on children's books and publishing and school visit experiences. It was a shorter session that I expected, but good value. I gave the course teacher some of my books and she is going to pass them on to some of the schools she visits in the poorer areas of Tucson where they have few resources. I did think I would donate some to Hurricane Katrina library causes but they are all saying no more books, only money.
Lunchtime I went to the gym to iron out some aches and pains, then I gave my car back to the rental people. Meg and I went downtown, looking at Mexican furniture shops and then craft shops. We finally went to 4th Avenue, had dinner at a Guatemalan restaurant, then went to a poetry reading at Antigones book shop. A poet - Barrie Ryan - and a novelist. Very interesting readings. I like to hear people's different reading styles. Antigones is a feminist book shop, with some great Tshirts and gifts too. I particularly liked the huge coffee cup that read 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'. Managed to restrain myself from buying 3 books, including the new edition of Best American Short Stories. It will be 3 months before I can get it in Melbourne. Oh well.
We finished the night with a margarita, as you should do on your last night in Tucson! Early rising on Saturday to get to the airport. I had loaded most of my books into my carry-on bags, and then wished I had someone large and muscley to carry them for me. Meg waved me off and I was very sad to leave.
Had to travel via Denver, and that's where the problems occurred. After wasting $5 on an internet terminal that had a terrible keyboard which then deleted my 15 minutes worth of mad pounding on the keys, I thought - go and have a coffee and relax, so I did. I had a large coffee, I read my book, I wrote two poems, I relaxed.
Then I went to the toilet, then I wandered down to my departure lounge. On the way I double-checked the gate number and ... funny, I thought. My flight has disappeared off the screen. Then I checked the clock, to discover that there was one hour time difference in Denver from Tucson and my flight had gone without me.
Panic. Went straight to the service desk (which sounds like a simple walk except I am carrying about 20kilos of books in my two carry-on bags so it was more like a stagger) and luckily they got me on the next flight but I had another 2-1/2 hours to wait. As you can imagine, I stayed right by the gate for the whole time! After calling Kristi to tell her I was going to be arriving 3 hours late.
San Antonio is way greener than Tucson - trees, lawns and not a cactus in sight. But it is very muggy, like the difference between Melbourne and Sydney in the middle of summer. I don't do well in humidity but it is still 10 degrees F cooler than Tucson so I guess I will survive. There's always good old air conditioning for wimps like me.
Today Brian (who Kristi and I met at Chatauqua) came down from Austin to visit and we spent the whole day talking about writing and publishing. It was very entertaining but also instructive and inspiring - we shared publishing horror stories and talked about what we're writing and why. When we came back from having dinner down the road, there were two deer on the side road.
Brian told me his two daughters have pet snakes, but yes, their cat is quite interested in the snakes. They live in aquarium-type containers so it would be like having fish or frogs. But I still don't think I could feed a snake live mice. That seems too mean.
At some point this week we are going on the River Walk and to the Alamo. Am looking forward to it, and to finding out from the airline if I can pack my books into a box to go with my suitcase.

Touring day today. My special tour guide, Al, took me first up A Mountain, a small mountain (hill?) by Tucson that has a huge letter A on top of it. Symbol of the University of Arizona. Many stories about the painting of the A, and how each year newbies to UA have to climb up and repaint it. Great views of Tucson. And we also saw another road runner that stopped and posed so I could get a photo of it.
Then over Gates Pass. We diverted into the viewing area near the top, to interrupt half a dozen motor cycle police all neatly lined up with their shiny bikes having a photo taken. From the viewing point, we could see across to the mountains (including the observatory) and the water recharging area where they are taking water from the Colorado River and putting it back into the underground water table.
The mission of San Xavier was very old and beautiful. Many relics and icons and statues, as well as paintings on the walls. As it was a weekday, there weren't many tourists and it was very quiet and peaceful. Celebrations for St Francis of Assisi are coming up so the statue that they carry around was out of its resting place, ready for the ceremonies. They have candles that people light for blessings and prayers but you can only use the ones there which are specially developed so they don't make more soot and pollute the paintings. I only had my digital camera with flash inside so I hope the photos are light enough to see the details.
From there we drove to Tubac, which is a small town on the way to Nogales (Mexican border). Many craftspeople live and exhibit there - there are more than 20 shops selling everything from pots and garden ornaments to jewellery, Tshirts, paintings. sculptures, every kind of craft you can think of. Plus galleries showing artwork of all kinds. I saw many things that I would have loved to buy, especially some of the large pots and ceramics. There were also a lot of Indian crafts, including arrows, wall hangings and beadwork.
On the way back we were stopped by the Border Patrol for a check. A large sign by the road said they had apprehended over 9000 illegal immigrants - I presume they meant this year. And 2.2 kilos of cocaine.
Home again and a big thank you to Al. He was incredibly knowledgeable and I have a potted history of Arizona now, as well as a number of interesting facts and stories. I collected my photos (thankfully OK) and investigated posting some of my books and papers home - $46 minimum, from what I was told, so that isn't going to happen.
Have relaxed tonight, done some laundry (all currently hanging around the room as yet again I didn't have enough quarters for the dryer) and catching up now on emails.
Tomorrow I am off to speak to a class of trainee teachers, then have to return my car to the rental place and meet up with Meg for dinner and poetry reading.

Another busy day, although no classes today. I'm starting to lose track of the days but I think that's because I did the weekend workshop and those two days felt like a Monday and Tuesday. Hard to believe that I only have two full days left.
This morning I went to the Poetry Centre at the University of Arizona. The Centre has a huge library of poetry books and journals and magazines - I got to have a quick look at a few, including a few I have never heard of. They have poetry from all over the world - I saw books there by Les Murray and Alan Goudge, among others - and a lot of videos/DVDs and audio CDs of poets reading. They have a big program of visiting poets and many of their photos were on the walls.
I talked to Maurynne, who works with lots of kids, doing poetry classes with them, mainly out in the schools. She has just finished working on a book which is about "teaching" poetry to 4-6 year olds. It sounds really good so I have put in an order. Arizona has an artists' register so schools can contact artists to work with their students. It sounds a little like our Artists-in-Schools program.
I would love to see a poetry centre at Vic Uni, but don't know how much support I would get! Maurynne said there is a very active, enthusiastic poetry "network" in Tucson so lots of things happen.
Then I walked around the university - up the main boulevard under the palm trees, enjoying the sun for a little while before it got too hot. I had a salad in the caf and visited the bookshop (of course). Tonight is the memorial service for the young female basketballer who died the other day - she had a clot in her lung, apparently. Only twenty-two. Very sad. She was a popular, well-liked girl.
Then I drove to the biggest Borders in Tucson where I finally found a copy of the one writing book I had been after - "From Where You Dream" by Robert Olen Butler. Then I wasn't sure if I wanted it or not (hard cover - $24 - it was the weight more than the price!!) so sat and read bits for half an hour until I decided yes. I liked the bit in the introduction that talks about two different writers inside us - the one who wants to write and the one who doesn't. In order to write, you have to fool the one who doesn't.
Wandered around the shopping centre for about an hour, looking at clothes - didn't buy anything but saw some lovely things (in the really expensive shop of course). The shops here are a shopaholic's paradise. I could have gone to the third Bookman's but I was very stern with myself and went home instead.
Got home and there was a message from Meg - inviting me out to dinner with her husband and Robert, the journalism teacher. So we went to Li'l Abner's and the steaks were very very good. That's my iron for the week!
Tomorrow I am off touring with my tour guide again - the mission and a place called Tubac where there are a lot of crafts and some very old buildings. I put my first 35mm film in for developing tonight, with some trepidation. I've had two films damaged in processing recently, and I just hate to lose photos, but I decided if something happens, I would have time to take one or two replacement photos, whereas if the film gets damaged by security Xray on the way home, that would be it.
Am also taking digital photos but the SLR produces such quality landscape photos that I prefer it.

What a long day, but extremely interesting. Three classes, and each one slightly different. The first I posted about earlier. The second was similar to our Industry Overview class at Vic Uni - I talked about writing fiction as a career, so covered the things that make it different from non-fiction freelancing, some stuff on how royalties work, record keeping etc. The third session was with the journalism students who work on the Pima student newspaper - Aztec News. They were on a deadline to write a front page story about a student who had been shot and died on the weekend, so they talked a little about how they had been gathering material for their article.
At lunchtime a writer friend of Meg's, Nancy, took me out to her house in the desert, over Gates Pass - the road has been closed for a few weeks for widening and resealing. It is still a fairly winding narrow road but the views are great. Lots of saguaro cactus and also teddy bear cactus (it's fuzzy).
On the way to the campus this morning I saw a funny bird run across the road and when I asked Nancy and described it, she said it was a road runner. So now I have seen the real thing!
When I got home tonight, I was so talked out from the classes that I had to get out and do something where I could just listen (and TV wasn't it!) so I went to the movies up the road. Saw "The Constant Gardener" with Ralph Fiennes. It was OK, not madly exciting, but the ending wasn't totally predictable.
I'm starting to get a bit worried about my luggage, and considering posting some stuff home to avoid weight problems. I might have to investigate postal rates tomorrow, but I seem to remember last year that it would cost a fair bit, more perhaps than excess luggage penalties. I shall see...
It's time they invented books that only weigh a few grams or ounces each. I think one of the ones I have bought feels like a brick.

Back in the journalism class - a different one this time. But in the same room. I wonder how this would work with a fiction class - set a writing exercise and everyone has to type it up and print it out for me. Too confronting? There is something about putting fiction out there straight away that sounds scary. No time to rethink and rewrite.
The class I am in right now asked me lots of questions and now they are (like yesterday) writing up their short articles. I am intrigued with the idea of "the angle" and how they will approach what I said. So while they are madly trying to come up with their angle and write something that is accurate and interesting, I decided to add to my blog - a kind of reciprocal thing!
Today we have three copy editors checking on accuracy. Every now and then someone comes up and asks me an extra question or for a clarification. Several students used tape recorders too, so now I can hear several versions of myself echoing around the room.
I wonder if our nonfiction teachers at Vic Uni will be interested in this process? We struggle to get access to the computers, but I'd like to try it too. It might bring out some very different kinds of writing, especially in poetry and fiction classes.
Time for coffee!

Off to the gym this morning, to work up some sweat and create some energy. Otherwise I was going to lie around and be a blob all morning. Did some grocery shopping on the way back - there are some really weird cereals around. No wonder sugar growers are not in danger of going out of business (unless of course you are in Australia and the government decides you can sink or swim against cheap overseas sugar). I settled for good old Raisin Bran. Now I need to drink more water!
Today's class at Pima was with 1st year journalism students. This class was very news-oriented so I gave a talk and answered questions, then their task was to write a short piece on me, with a lead and at least one quote. It was very interesting to see who focused on what! Everyone was different. I must ask the teacher tomorrow what he thought the outcome "should" have been. The class was in a computer lab so they all wrote straight onto the computers and printed out their stories on the spot. What I found really intriguing was that one student was designated as the copy editor for the day, and everyone had to run their pieces past him first.
At 5.30pm Meg took me to a local community radio station KXCI (91.3) to read two poems as part of the poetry moment program. My reading will be broadcast 4 times this week. I worked it out that for those in Australia, if you go the the website www.kxci.org and click on the streaming link on the left, you can listen to the 2am reading - which will be 7pm Friday night Australian time. The wonders of the internet!
I am still working on another Tucson poem. With another idea percolating.
Tomorrow is more journalism, and a short trip out to the desert in the afternoon. I still want that 4.30pm photo of the Santa Catalinas. Maybe tomorrow?

The workshop is over and I wonder how the students are feeling - exhausted? overwhelmed? Hopefully not despondent or depressed, which sometimes happens. Although shorter things (like a weekend) tend to be more energising than attending a class for a whole year.
In a year-long thing, your feelings about your writing can change from week to week, depending on how you think it's going, how much you have written, whether someone in the class that day annoyed you! It's like any kind of long-term "project" - you have to keep at it but at times it's hard. That's why I keep saying that perserverance is the key (although sometimes I have a momentary sneaking wish to be instantly brilliant! until I think about how that would take the challenge out of it, and therefore half of the enjoyment - the other half is completion, the self-pride in having actually written).
It was interesting to see all the different things they were writing, and how they used the writing exercises I set. We ended the day with a session on publishing. I wish I had some really good examples of query letters - I think I will have to find some to use in class as it can be difficult to explain without samples to discuss.
Today I raced down to Bookman's in the lunch hour, and it took way longer to get there than I thought. I still look at the map and think, That's pretty close, it won't take long, and then it does. But I am learning. Found a book on writing personal essays (by Sheila Bender) which I bought. We have been doing some of these in Short Story 2, and it will be good to have a useful, user-friendly guide.
Called my husband last night and now he says I can have a pet snake if I really want one! Hmmm. I think he might change his mind when he sees one. And as for the cats... this could cause a mutiny.
Tomorrow is the Journalism class in the afternoon. My morning is free, a good thing as I need to wind down a little. I started a new poem today and am putting into it all the things I have seen and heard so far that have appealed to me or made me laugh. A personal poem that probably no one else will be the slightest bit interested in.

Tonight I have the table right by the front door. Reception is marginally better. Connection only drops out every five minutes instead of every two.
If I could work out how to place a photo into this blog, I would show you some photos of me with snakes. Yes, me. And a photo of a woman not too far from me who has a tarantula on her hand. No that is definitely not me!
Today at lunchtime Meg and I went to the reptile show (she is so nice - hates snakes but still came along with me and took photos). I got to handle three snakes -a black snake (I have to find out what it was exactly), a very small boa and a huge boa. The big one was a posed photo thing - they drape it around you and take a photo for $6. But Meg also took photos of me. I did like the little ones a lot. But I don't think my cats will be very impressed, and neither would Customs at Melbourne, even though I could have had a king snake (a very pretty patterned black and cream one) for about $45. Oh well.
After the introductory session last night, today was a full day of writing and lectures, 9-5. I think a lot of the students came in with a picture book and as we have done a lot of character work, their ideas have developed into something longer. Not necessarily a bad thing, considering how difficult the picture book market is right now.
I have sent them off to do homework tonight. This is a credit class, therefore they have to do extra work beyond the class to ensure the hours are met. It is hard to come up with a project and then work on developing it within a weekend, but I stress the experimenting part of it. If you don't give it a go and see where it leads, how will you know what is possible?
Too tired tonight to even contemplate the movies. If the man next door gets up at 5.30am tomorrow and starts reconstructing his room(or whatever it is he does in there that makes so much ^%#@* noise), I might have to have words with him. So instead I am doing washing (laundry) and relaxing and getting ready for tomorrow.

Having carried my laptop all over my room in order to find a place where the wireless internet connection would stay connected instead of fading on me, I am now crouched on the edge of my bed, madly typing before it dies again.
Hurricane Rita is still all in the news, more now for the terrible things happening to the people trying to get out and the fire in Galveston than the hurricane itself (which is down to Category 3). The levees in New Orleans are gone again - just awful.
A very cheery man on the weather report has just now informed me that it was 101 today, and I hardly noticed. Well, that's a bit of a lie as I was inside most of the day. Attended the poetry workshop this morning that some of the teachers at Pima have every Friday. A great idea - would love to do it at Vic Uni if it wasn't for the fact that we all work different days most of the time (it's OK, Sue and Moss, I wasn't going to make you write poems!).
Sat in on an interview Meg did with a Tucson journalist about self-publishing. I was very interested to hear that going with iUniverse and PublishAmerica is called self publishing here. The lines are blurring more now that the court cases have got rid of the worst scams (there are still plenty around - beware anyone who calls themselves a publisher but requires you to pay for everything!). It will be very interesting to read the final article in the paper.
I also spent a little bit of time at the Tucson Mall, shopping of course, but also window shopping. Always fascinating to me to see what shops sell, what's trendy and the latest fashion. Saw some beautiful earrings handmade by Indians but at $199 they were out of my price range, I'm afraid.
Tonight my writing for children workshop started. 16 students, mostly all just getting started. I think they will be a good group, and most seem to be writing picture books or have ideas for them. How to fit in all the things I want to do with them?

What do they say about mad dogs and Englishmen? Today it was mad me, covered in sunscreen but still out in the Tucson sun. Amazingly I am a little sunburnt but not too bad. If I am going out in the sun again, a hat is definitely the thing.
A student at Pima College has a father who is a retired tour guide and he offered to take me around Tucson. So this morning we went out to the Sonora Desert Museum. On the way we travelled through the Saguero National Park and saw lots and lots of cactus. Al, my guide, is very knowledgeable so not only did I get geographical and geological info, he also identified all the cacti and vegetation for me.
At the museum, quite a few of the animals were out (as the morning went on, more of them were asleep or hiding from the sun). I saw a Mexican boa, but wasn't allowed to touch it as they can get grumpy and bite. Also saw more snakes behind glass, and then a lot of geological stuff, including a bit of a meteorite.
Other animals included a wolf, beavers, otter, gophers, lizards, squirrels and a multitude of birds (hummingbirds too). All quite amazing and I think I got some good photos.
Then we went to Sabino Canyon which is north of Tucson in the Catalina foothills. We caught the trolley up the canyon but saw virtually no wildlife (probably being sensible and staying out of the sun, unlike moi). On the way back I thought we could walk the last two stages but it was further than I thought. Talk about 'are we there yet'!! Took me ages to cool down. Did see a couple of tiny lizards and an antelope squirrel. There were lots of warnings about mountain lions but not a one in sight. I liked the instructions that said if you come across one, throw rocks at it. Next instruction said 'don't bend down or take your eye off it'.
Got home in time to visit Bookman's which is a huge second hand book and CD/DVD shop. Found a couple of interesting writing books, plus some magazines that will come in very handy.
Tomorrow I will be doing washing (laundry) and then going to a poetry workshop in the morning. This means I might type up my snake poem and workshop it. Tomorrow night the first part of the children's book writing workshop starts.
My two pairs of shorts from Goodwill are very handy (the new clothes shops here all have their winter clothes in stock). More sunscreen, less sun, I say.

Have just finished reading all my emails from "home" - after giving a public lecture tonight on writing and place. At first we had technology problems (don't we always?) but eventually the laptop talked to the projector and we had action.
I didn't want to just give a lecture-type thing where I did analysis and theory stuff. It was at 7pm so I figured everyone wanted at least to stay awake! So I had lots of photos in a Powerpoint thing, and I interspersed the lecture with poems. The audience totalled about 30, I think. Quite a few people came up to talk afterwards, including a young man from Sydney who has been living in the US for 5 years. You just never know who will turn up. I wasn't sure if I had insulted him somehow? He commented on how his perspective of Australia was different. I would have like to talk to him further. I guess I was in some ways saying that New Zealand is greener and has better beaches than Australia, plus other stuff. That is something for me to ponder on now - how would that lecture be received in Australia? Maybe I should present it when I go back and then ask people to say what they thought!
Today I visited a children's writers' group in Tucson - all published writers. Their topic was self promotion - very interesting and I picked up a couple of extra good ideas. They were all really nice and welcoming. The problem for writers is always that once the initial hoo-ha over a new book is over, the marketing dept moves on to the next book. So then it really is up to the author to continue the promotion and marketing. A lot of people find this difficult, but it is the reality.
I also went shopping. Tried out Barnes & Noble, mainly for writing books but only found one new interesting one. They didn't have the one I wanted by Robert Olen Butler. I also found a new Billy Collins poetry book, and some literary magazines like Glimmer Train, which was very useful.
All the shops here have winter clothes now! For a suffering heat blob like me, this is not a good thing. So I went to the local Goodwill and picked up two more pairs of shorts. 39 degrees is not jeans weather!
Now to tackle Bookman's which is all second-hand books and CDs.
Tomorrow I am off on a tour of Tucson. Maybe this is the opportunity I have been hanging out for - to pick up and hold a snake!

Couldn't sleep last night and began thinking about how to write a poem about the snake I got to pat at the county fair. And after a little while, the words started coming and I had to get out of bed and write.
So I now have a snake poem, and what is even better, today while Meg and I were having our lunch at an outside table (in the shade) this guy came along with his boa constrictor! It had been in his car and he was exercising it - which meant putting it on the grass and giving it some fresh air, I guess - and I was able to pat it as much as I wanted. So cool. It felt really warm because it had been in the hot car. I was tempted to run inside and get my camera but that seemed a bit OTT so I just kept stroking and patting it.
This morning I found a gym where I could go as a casual member - at last I don't feel quite so couch potato-ish. Then I made it to Pima College in time for the Advanced Short Story class. I talked to them for nearly an hour and answered questions, and we talked about my short story they had read. It's really interesting to see what people ask, and then you have to try to give helpful or responsive answers. As this was a story that came out in bits and has many small elements that kind of wove themselves together, sometimes it's hard to answer properly and usefully.
Tonight is Advanced Novel, and then I will also visit the other poetry class. Already I have sat in on workshopping and learned new ways of approaching it in the class - very interesting - and bought Meg's short story text which will be a great resource. It's called "3 x 33: short fiction by 33 writers". I found a second hand copy in the bookshop, and a pocket rhyming dictionary which I can also use in class.
Tomorrow night is my talk about Writing and Place. I still haven't found the USB drive with my back-up copy of my photo presentation, but it's on my laptop. And I have made another back-up copy! Nothing like being anal.
I need to flesh out my notes now, as I have talked a bit about place in the classes so far and I don't want to repeat myself. Also I need to make sure I have the photos in the right order.
This may well be the most nerve-wracking part of my exchange project!

94 today, so they tell me on TV. I thought it was cooler and then thought I was imagining it.
News Item 1: I have a car, a rental. Dodge. Maybe if you see me driving along, get out of my way. This right side of the road thing is a challenge. I am the person driving like a little old lady. Beware.
News Item 2: I am finding that margaritas are very cooling and a great way to end the day. Now to discover the perfect recipe.
Today was my first class day. First of all, Poetry 1. A lovely group, very quiet, and it seemed that I talked and talked, but those who know me won't be surprised, I guess. Does the phrase "Talk the wire off a fence post" mean anything? Yes, I did make that up today. I was only asked to translate once (serviette to napkin).
Then Fiction Writing 1. No poems to read to them, but we (Ok, I) talked a lot about fiction writing, plotting, novels vs. short stories, and where ideas come from. Quite a few more questions this time. Another very nice group.
I have to remember that this is only about 3 weeks into first semester, whereas back home we are up to Week 9 in Semester 2.
I'm really looking forward to having Meg visit us next year. I think it is going to be just great.
I ate Mexican again tonight. It's like the national food in Tucson, and the more avocado the better, I say.
All the new seasons of TV shows seem to be starting here, so last night I watched the new season of "West Wing" (can be bribed for a summary). Tonight it was a new series called "Surface" which seemed like a TV series of the movie "Sphere".
I have cable in my room but none of the channels match the TV guide so it's pretty much hit and miss what I find. Missed CSI last night because it wasn't on the channels I tried. Oh well, it's only TV, and I am supposed to be writing.
Hmmm, yes. Soon. Head is nearly back in the right space for new words.

Another 99 degree day. And I got sunburnt. Forgot the sunscreen, but didn't forget the water. I went for a walk about 9am, thinking it would be cooler then. Well... it was. It was only about 85 (28-30). I visited the 99cent shop to buy more water.
At 10.30 I was off to Sonoita to visit children's writer Juanita Havill who I met last year at Chatauqua. A friend of hers (also a children's writer) and his family picked me up and we drove for about 80 miles south of Tucson to where Juanita lives.
While there, I went to the County Fair and saw many entries of quilts, onions, peppers and tomatoes as well as kid's projects. With lots of prize ribbons. And I also saw a reptile exhibit - lots of rattlesnakes and other non-venomous snakes. I even got to pat a big orange and brown snake. Amazing. I thought it would be kind of hard, but it was soft and a bit squishy. The handler said it was because the snake is basically all muscle and spine.
Beautiful lunch at Juanita's house, and then a walk which is where the sunburn comes from. The trip back to Tucson seemed almost soporific.
Tomorrow is first day of classes at Pima College, which should be fun and interesting. I have met a couple of the students already. I am planning to get a rental car soon - it is just too far to get anywhere, and there are lots of things I want to see - squeezing them in between other commitments.
Writing seems limited to emails and blog so far. Maybe being in a class will stir some inspiration!

Tucson, Arizona. 39 degrees (99F). Very hot. Thank goodness for air conditioners.
Flights from Australia were amazingly on time leaving, and 35 minutes early getting into Los Angeles (a fact that the captain reminded us of four times!).
Managed to go the wrong way in the airport and had to go through security again. I had also had my bags searched at Melbourne Airport which at least got me to the front of the check-in queue.
How is it that during the flight they can show 5 movies and I have seen 4 of them? And the one I hadn't seen (Sahara) was on while I was asleep? Also I think they should make it a rule that seat-kickers and snorers be banned on all flights. I always think of a long flight as a lovely opportunity to read, eat and watch movies. I forget about how you are in very close quarters with a lot of people, some of whom are smelly and some of whom cough incessantly.
Arrived safely in Tucson, found the wonderful Meg Files and am now at what I thought were the Untown Suites. Strange way of writing their Is. It's actually Intown, and I am, as you guessed, in town.
Tucson is very spread out and it is miles to anywhere but the roads are wide and it feels very relaxed. I love the cactus (saguaro)- was told they don't start growing arms until they are 80 years old so the big multi-armed ones must be several hundred years old. Before I got here I thought 'cactus - and?' but these are amazing. The vegetation is all amazing. Lots of different cacti and some bright orange flowering bushes. Tucson is flat but surrounded by hills and mountain ranges that change colour during the day.
Today I met a friend whom I originally got to know at Fresno. She was visiting Tucson for the weekend which was a coincidence (she lives near Phoenix) so we had breakfast and spent some time catching up. She dropped me at the bookshop - Reader's Oasis - where I did my reading and book signing this afternoon. Only half a dozen people there but then the Dalai Lama is in town apparently so how could I compete?!!
The reading was good but I realised as I read out different things how many of the words would be a mystery to the listeners so I did periodic translations (gorge is a canyon, had to explain what a flying fox is, and also that chooks are actually hens or chickens!). Sold ten books which was pretty good really.
The problem was that I bought ten!! The bookshop (one of only two independents in Tucson) is going out of business - result mainly of online book buying and B&N/Borders, so they had a sale. How could I resist?
Tucson has lots of Mexican restaurants so I've had one Mexican dinner so far, including a Margarita, with the promise of more to come. The Mexican border is close but I don't know if I will go shopping there - there is too much to see and do here, and I don't have large blocks of time.
No writing done, apart from a poem on the plane, but I have wireless internet in my room which is great.
A busy time ahead. Should be great fun.

There were many moments when I thought - must do my blog now - and then something else came up and I never got to it. I've just been away for a writers' retreat weekend with my writing group, to Mansfield in Victoria. The house we stayed in was on the edge of Lake Eildon, or should I say, what used to be the edge. We've had a fair bit of rain over the past year, probably exceeding the average, but when you see the lake, with its "normal" water line etched across the hills and the water itself way way below that, it reminds you how low our water reserves are. Lake Eildon is artificial, dammed to provide water back in the 50s (I think) and when I look at the old waterline, I wonder if it will ever get back to where it was.
Anyway, I did manage some writing while I was away, as well as vast amounts of eating. I did a final edit and polish on a short novel, and finished the first draft of a short story. The story has been sitting there for about 4-5 months. I wrote one bit, was happy with it but then couldn't see where else to go with it. It has turned out shorter than I expected, but that's not a bad thing probably. This week maybe I'll get time to look it over again and think about it.
I've also had my brother staying for 6 days, which was lovely - more eating, but also lots of walking.
And being the end of term (mid-semester) I've had lots of student assignments to mark. Mostly a pleasure as many of them were very good.
Right now, I also need to print out the poems from my new verse novel for children. I have written 32, which amazes me. They seem to come out in bunches, and I type them up and put them away again for a while, then more come. But now it's time to lay them all out and see what I have, and where I can go. The story is the thing, and how to write poems to fill the gaps yet make them meaningful in themselves. It's always the way - you do it once and it works, but it doesn't really make the next time all that easier.
On Friday I am off to Tucson, Arizona, for a 2 week teacher exchange. I will be teaching classes and a weekend workshop at Pima College, working with Meg Files. Then I go on to San Antonio to stay with a friend. She is a writer so I am looking forward to a special writing/talking time.
This blog will become what it started as - a travel diary for friends and family to read if they're interested. It may well have more readers than it's ever had! I'll have to mind my Ps and Qs.
Notes from the Writers' Festival? Well, I had good intentions... Now I just remember Carrie Tiffany and Kate Grenville, and the session where publishers and editors and agents and marketing people talked about the realities of publishing - will this sell? And how many? then no, sorry, we won't publish it.
I have since read Tiffany's book and was a little let down by it. She read some great stuff from it and it has some wonderful moments, but overall it felt a bit like it didn't really go anywhere. I attended a session with Alexander McCall Smith, who has the greatest giggle ever, and he was very entertaining but didn't talk about writing much at all.
I did feel sorry for the brand new writers (first novels) who were struggling with being on stage at the festival and expected to "perform". A hard task, to sound intelligent, entertaining, worthy and likeable, all at once!

The Melbourne Writers' Festival has just finished and I will post some notes from the sessions I attended in a day or two.
Today I wrote - just a little. Took my new laptop out into the wilds (the Australian bush) and wrote 4 more poems for my new verse novel, plus a half page of a short story that has been bugging me for a couple of months.
I think I have also worked out how to fix another short story that has been almost there but not working properly. One of those that niggles at you. You send it out, you get rejections, you know something's not working but what?....
We'll see if I can fix it.
Finished a crime novel from the festival (or should I say, one of its guests, John Harvey). It was OK, but not as good as Peter Robinson, IMO.
Have started an Australian novel 'Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living' - good so far. A main character who promises to cause trouble.

Writing accomplished! Very pleased that I wrote more of the short novel on the weekend and I think I have got over the plot problem (the problem was I had no plot). Now I can see the end in sight, but as usual, I have to take care that I don't rush it.
I also think I have finally discovered the secret of talking to school children. Relax and be silly and talk about the stuff I'm interested in rather than try to give them a 'nice author talk'. I had a lot of fun yesterday with two different school groups, teaching them how to talk like a pirate. (There is actually a website for this - as 19 September is international "Talk Like a Pirate Day".)
I sold 25 books altogether, which was astonishing as both schools were in less than affluent areas of Melbourne. A great morning.
This week here in Australia is Children's Book Week. I think quite a few schools have visiting authors, although I have spoken to one who said they wanted me to come later as they don't do authors during Book Week. But mostly there are lots of activities and things to do with books and reading.
The discussions are often about who won the CBC awards, with much dissention. That, of course, is what is great about books. Everyone likes something different.
The time for me to fly off to Arizona is getting closer, just a bit over three weeks. I am quite excited and looking forward to it, and I will talk to lots of students at Pima College as well as do a bookshop reading and give a talk on writing about place. For the latter I will need to put together some of my photos.
I am feeling quite productive for a change. It's a pity my desk is covered in stuff as usual, and the place is a mess. But I am making headway.

After several delays, my website additions are finally up and running. I need to keep adding more stuff, including links to other sites and some articles I've written, but most of the main material is there. School visit information and some photos. Haven't yet worked out how to put up my small video. Apparently I need a plug-in from Macromedia which I'm putting off getting (ah, procrastination). I've added a link to this blog too.
No new writing this week. I had good intentions and then suddenly had to write a synopsis for a YA novel I've finished reworking. I thought I had an old version on my very old computer in the back room but couldn't find it so had to start from scratch. It took several hours and who knows if it's any good. Synopses seem to be the thing everyone hates writing (so hard to make them sound interesting!) but are becoming standard in a world where most editors only want to see the first three chapters.
We are all time-starved and I often wonder why.
An old friend who writes family histories has asked me to help her on the one she is writing at present. Previously I had said I couldn't manage it. However I am now going to be doing quick edits (slash and burn, I call it) and handing it back for her to decide whether I've done it the way she wants.
I finished the 'Rise and Fall...' book - interesting but ultimately depressing. I wonder what teens think of it. The main character seemed so conflicted and unable to work out who she was, and the depressing part for me was that I didn't feel she'd made any progress by the end. In fact, I thought the ending was fudged - not really resolved in terms of character growth and a bit too neatly resolved in terms of plot. Left me feeling uneasy, as if the author had tried to make life simple and failed.
Then I started 'Sea of Trolls' by Nancy Farmer, which I had been looking forward to after 'House of the Scorpion' and haven't got past half-way. Found it very disappointing - the main character feels shallow and slight somehow, and I just haven't been able to involve myself in the story. Is this HP hangover, I ask myself? So I've put it away for a while.
And moved on to crime - Kathy Reichs - 'Cross Bones'. It reads like a clone of the Da Vinci Code - same religious stuff, as in did Jesus really die/live/whatever, except this is about bones and tombs and ossuaries. Yawn. It's just interesting enough to keep me reading, but she falls into the 'As you know, Bob' thing of using tons of dialogue to provide a mountain of information.
Maybe I need to pull out my Annie Proulx (That Old Ace in the Hole) and try that for a complete change of pace.
For an addicted reader, there's nothing more frustrating than not being able to find a book that I can totally sink into.

I'm slowly but surely working my way through the various rewrites, edits and polishes. Looks like the fantasy novel has got the go-ahead from the series editors (fingers crossed) and then it will go the publisher's editor. Can't wait to see what kind of cover the book will have - fantasy covers make great T-shirts!
Finished Harry Potter VI last night and, despite a slow beginning, I totally enjoyed it and was very sad when it ended (sad because of the ending but also sad because there was no more to read). I understand why kids finish it and turn around and read it again straight away. I saw a documentary about JK Rowling and she talked about how she created the world and she has piles of notebooks where she has worked out every little detail - names for everything, how the Houses work, who is related to who, books and plants and animals and spells - no wonder the world feels so real.
I did the adverb scan a few times and yes, she does use lots (writers are always being told to kill their adverbs) but I kind of think she gets away with it, and she does use strong nouns and verbs so that in a way the adverbs add rather than detract. No doubt others will disagree! I did think No. 6 was better than No. 5, and she has certainly set it up well for No. 7. It would seem that in No. 7 Harry will be out in the world, dependent only on himself (and possibly Ron and Hermione).
Gossip says JK is concentrating on family for the next while and No. 7 will be written when she's ready and not before.
Now I'm reading (for a complete change of pace!) "The Rise and Fall of a 10th Grade Social Climber". Opinion reserved for now.
My big campaign to clean up and clear out junk around my house continues at a slow rate of knots - have been sorting books and throwing some out or giving them away. Amazing what you keep just because it's a book and you can't bear to part with it. But I really feel that now I can toss some of the older novels (Barbara Taylor Bradford, for goodness sake!).
Can't wait to get back to "real" writing. First draft, running away with words, excitement on the page stuff. Instead of corralling, cutting, refining and controlling. But you can't have one without the other. That's writing!
I am halfway through a short novel and now that I have solved (I think) a big sticking point that had stopped it short, I can go ahead and write the rest.
Oh, if only I didn't have to go to work... but for some strange reason, bills keep arriving in my letter box, demanding to be paid.

My new goal for this week is to work out how to post photos on my blog. I have just been to Linda Sue Park's LiveJournal and she puts lots of photos on hers. Makes it lively and colourful. She also has a reading record of what she has read with comments, and she talks about being in a book group where they read and discuss middle grade and YA books. Now that's a book group I'd be interested in!
I'm still struggling with the DVCode. It's OK... I have to keep fighting the urge to run up to KMart and buy something else to read (can't go back to the library until I have paid my late fines!). Yes, I know I should buy from an independent bookshop, and I do, when I'm travelling around. There are none near me.
Still editing. Can't call it rewriting if it's only fiddling with words and sentences. Started on the YA novel - at least two years since I looked at it and am quite surprised at what is there. More than I remember. Not that my memory is so hot these days.
Still the problem with the ending. Always it's the endings with me. In adult short stories I love an ending that leaves a lot up to the reader (but not one that confuses or leaves you hanging, unresolved). I think there is a fine art in saying just enough and no more.
However it seems in middle grade and YA that more is needed, not that your readers are dumber, rather that they made a journey through your book and want something substantial to take away with them (unless you're writing Captain Underpants or just stuff that's designed for fun). So here I am battling with the need to add more guts or strength or "tangibility" to the ending without overdoing it.
And at the same time I have a picture book that my agent says is great ... except for the ending. Now I have to re-think that one as well.
Noah Lukeman wrote that writing book "The First Five Pages" - I think I need to ask him to write "The Last Five Pages" !
Still, I should be really happy that I have finished manuscripts to work on, considering I have about 15 unfinished or in first drafts.

Various people in newspapers and magazines are writing their version of "how I read Harry Potter 6 and survived". Like we care. We are either reading the book and making up our own minds or ignoring it.
I have a voucher to buy it at Borders this week for $15. Booksellers discount or not, they'd have to be taking a big loss on that. Saw a piece somewhere recently about how little profit most booksellers are making on HP. Makes you wonder...
Rewriting. Arrggghhhh. At least this rewrite was nearly the last (on the fantasy novel) as I am up to polishing according to editors' notes (two editors whose job is also to pick up where I might have put stuff in that conflicts with other books in the series, so have had to change two character names. Boy, that's hard, especially when you took so long to decide on the right name first time around.)
Today is tax day. Quarterly return due in in two days and I haven't finished even half of it. There goes writing time. Can I charge the Tax Dept for it?
I am trying to read "The Da Vinci Code" and I mean really trying. A friend lent me the illustrated version. The pictures are nice! The story still hasn't grabbed me. One or two mild flickers of interest. As the Sunday Books columnist said on the weekend - who on earth is still buying copies of this book? Why is it in the Top 10 best sellers every week? Beats me.
Have just finished reading "The Lovely Bones" again as one of my classes is studying it (along with questions from me - questions about writing and technique and voice and stuff - not high school boring questions, I hope). Maybe that's why DVC is so boring. Coming after Bones ... a book that still makes me cry second time around. Now that is writing, character, voice and engagement!

What is a better excuse for not blogging than marking student work? Writing, of course! The break was all too short, as usual, but after a week of meandering (and the video course) my creative brain kicked into gear and I began madly writing. 10,000 words in one week on three different projects.
One was the short chapter book that literally popped into my head one night when I was having trouble sleeping. I was so pleased to have that happen, which is not a regular thing. I have since workshopped and reworked it, and sent it off. Fingers crossed.
I also started a longer novel for kids that has been kicking around in my head for a while and in the end I decided I had to at least put some of it on paper so I could see what I had and whether it worked. Needless to say, it stalled around 6000 words. Not a gift at all! It still sits there, waiting for me to decide what to do, where to take it, how to make what I have fire up into something worthwhile.
I have also written a number of poems, and this week, a short personal essay (my class is studying and writing them at the moment so I had a go at one). And a variety of other things have had words added.
Went to my first spec fiction (SF, fantasy, etc) convention last weekend, principally to listen to the guests from OS - Neil Gaiman, Robin Hobb and Poppy Z. Brite. During the week before I had read Hobb's new book "Shaman's Crossing" and was a little disappointed with it. A million tons of description, and much of it felt like an extended flashback, a bit distant from the reader. That old thing of "let me tell you how I got to this point" and then the character goes back in time and does exactly that - tell. It took me until about Page 300 to start engaging with the character, which is unusual for me with her books.
At the convention, I think she was a bit shy. People kept complaining that they'd tried to talk to her and got brushed off. Hmmm. Her GOH talk was "The Writer in the Parent and the Parent in the Writer" - all about writing with kids and how often other writers look down on you (if you have kids and they get equal or more time than your writing, simply because that's the way it is, then you are not a serious writer). She also said "You will never have more time to write than you do right now." Meaning that life will always fill your time with stuff (family, job, other commitments) and you have to make time for writing or it will never happen. A good talk, inspiring in a solid, clear way.
Neil Gaiman was very witty, very dynamic and everyone loved him. I bought a copy of "The Wolves in the Walls", which is just as good as I hoped it would be (having seen a small extract) and he signed it for me.
I went to a number of sessions - probably the best were the ones on medieval arms and armour. Great swordfighting demos, plenty of weapons to look at and hold, lots of good information and further references.
Reading? Apart from the Hobb book, I've also read a French crime novel "Blood Red Rivers" (not a great translation, by the way), "Millions" by Frank Cottrell Boyce (funny but I think it's been a little over-rated by those who have been raving about it), and tried to read "The Da Vinci Code" because a friend has lent me the illustrated version. Didn't get very far but the pictures are interesting. Might go back to it later, if only to see what the fuss is about.
Have I read the new HP? No. No time at the moment. Writing is more important, especially now I have started teaching again. But I will. I do like HP, and I know I was reading them before the hype started. A student lent me a copy she got in the UK, probably before the first one hit Australia. Yes, the adverbs do annoy me at first, and then I stop noticing them.
And I wish people would stop going on and on about how rich JK Rowling is. So what? Lucky her. Or not so lucky. She never goes out any more, never does public appearance stuff. Probably can't even go to the supermarket. Is that a great life? I think not.

The video is finished, and my head was bursting with information by the time we had gone through all the steps and made lots of notes, not to mention the editing and rendering into other formats for viewing. I may put mine on my website when it is updated, although only people with broadband or cable will be able to download it, I think. It will be up as a Media .wmv file but is around 3MB.
It depends whether I think it is too silly or not. However, it was a lot of fun to make and I've learned a huge amount. Now I need to keep practicing so it doesn't all get forgotten, as often happens with computer training. Use it or lose it!
I have been working more on rewrites, and decided to make a list (yes, another one) of all my unfinished writing projects. 21 of them. Everything from short stories to novels to poetry things. In various stages too, from barely started to needing a final good rewrite. It was quite scary to see it all laid out in black and white, but liberating in a way too. At least it allows me to prioritise, and not to forget some of the things I have been putting on the backburner for a long time.
I thought doing all of that would help me forge ahead with more rewriting. Instead, last night I got into bed and could not sleep. A story popped into my head, beginning with a silly title (silliness always gets me going with kid's stories) and it would not go away. I lay there, eyes wide open, as the story grew and grew, and finally I had to get up and write it down.
All of it. A whole story outline in 2 rough pages. This happens so rarely and it is such a gift. I got up this morning and have been working on it all day, finishing up with a complete first draft by 3pm (it's a short chapter book, not a long novel!!). Happy days. Such a great feeling.
I don't even mind the thought of going back to work next week now!!

Since teaching and marking finished, I have been working working working on writing things. So busy, I hardly know where to start each day. Thank goodness for lists. How people survive without lists to keep track of everything, I don't know. Or else that's a comment on how badly my brain functions these days!
Most of the work has been rewriting; what I call the "cut and polish" rewrites, where you go through the manuscript for what you pray will be the last time (even though you know it won't be) and tweak plot points and delete wordy bits and deepen character a little more and rework that ending one more time. First of all it was the fantasy novel, which took 4 days of re-reading and fiddling. Then I had a non-fiction assignment - police dogs. I had done an interview and photos in New Zealand of a police dog and his handler, submitted it to the NZ School Journal and finally it went through (with extra photos). School magazines here were interested but wanted first rights, which I couldn't give. So I ended up, after many phone calls to the Police media people here in Melbourne, going out to the training centre and doing another interview and taking a different set of photos. Got to pat a very cute Rottweiler puppy (just as well she had a home already or she might have been going home with me!) and meet a keen German Shepherd called Klute. His handler was great, very talkative and very good at setting up action photos for me.
So then it was a draft of that article, time out to go to my writing group, and more time given to collecting clothes for a good friend of ours who was completely burned out last weekend. They lost everything. Devastating and almost unimaginable, except being a writer, I can imagine it only too well, and shudder. Needless to say, I have been turning things off here and triple checking all power points before leaving the house lately.
On Thursday a writer friend and I made a pact. I went to a house where she is house-sitting (in order to get space and time to write) and we both wrote all day. Her in the bedroom, me in the dining room. We met for lunch, and then we met later in the afternoon to talk about our writing and show what we'd done. It was so productive. I spent nearly the whole day on my middle grade novel, which is now in about 6th draft, and worked on "cut and polish" again. Now another writer friend (who is an excellent editor) is going to read it and be very critical!
Today I have been a film maker. I'm doing a video training course through my workplace (the uni) and Friday was camera techniques day. Weekend homework was to film 5-15 minutes of footage, the topic being "How to do ...something" so I have filmed "How to write a pirate novel". Complete with me in pirate hat.
All I can say is, thank goodness I am not a film director!

Many hours spent marking student assignments but now it is over. I wanted to start writng again straight away but the brain wouldn't cooperate, so I have been reading and pottering around and now I am ready.
Spent 3 hours reworking bits of a fantasy series novel I was asked to write, and now I think it is working better. A fellow member of CCBC list kindly emailed me her notes from the Pikes Peak 2004 conference - the sessions with Donald Maas, who wrote "How to Write a Breakout Novel". They came at just the right time, where I could apply each of the points he makes to the fantasy novel in order to deepen character and motivation. It only meant adding a few sentences here and there, but I think those are going to be important sentences in terms of deepening the character and the story. I had read the Maas book a while ago (borrowed from a friend) and now I think I will look at it again.
Am reading a Linda Newbery book at the moment and finding it to be very engaging. The main character has a horrible younger sister who you just want to slap! This is the kind of book that I like to read first, then analyse for how she achieves the depth of character. I also read '(un)arranged marriage' by Bali Rai. It's published in the UK and is about an Indian arranged marriage, from the male's point of view. I found it to be a strange book, in that a large proportion of the story was just "told", as if the character was sitting in front of me telling me what happened, and then what happened next. Exactly what we are told, as writers, never to do! There were certainly many places where I wished the events were being shown in a scene, but overall the style didn't bother me too much. I do wish it hadn't been quite as much "telling" though.
The rest of my week will be more rewriting. A middle grade novel that needs work before giving to a valued writer friend for a critical read. Then maybe new words on another project. I hope.

As a bribe to get me through grading all those student novels and stories, I bought the new Jonathan Kellerman book, "Rage". I do like his characters - the child psychologist, Alex Delaware, and the policeman, Milo. They make a great team, and it's interesting, in this book especially, to look at how so much of the information the reader gets is through their conversations. There is a lot of speculation about who is doing what, providing possible red herrings and clues, and yet I didn't feel cheated. I felt as if I was going on the journey of investigation, one full of interest and people's motivation and psychology. It wasn't madly exciting, rather it was absorbing and fascinating. The villain turned out to be a multiple murderer, but in such a way that it bypassed the serial murder cliches.
I have started the critical read-through of the fantasy novel draft. And will be back to it again today. I know writers who say they love the rewriting process but for me it depends on the book, and maybe on my own frame of mind. I know that after all those student novels, I have come back to my own work with a very critical eye, so much so that I am feeling a bit despondent and thinking this novel is incredibly boring and I'm struggling with it.
The remedy at this point is to ask someone else to read a bit of it, someone who will tell me straight whether it is as awful as I think it is, or if I need to be kinder to myself! Writer friends are so good for this (as long as they are honest with you).
Back on the reading side of things - I also went to the library and got out a pile of books, including "Silent to the Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg. Got home and started reading and realised I had already read it a few months ago. Darn! I hate that. It is a good book but I'm not someone who can read the same book again with the same enjoyment. I'm a "surprise addict" - I read to find out what happens next, and if I already know, it takes half the fun out of it.
And yet I know people who skip ahead and read the ending before they're even past page 30. I couldn't think of anything worse!

I am starting to get writer's heeby-jeebies. That feeling that nags at you in the back of your mind and in your gut and makes you snappy and irritable and depressed. It comes from **not writing**. How long since I sat down and wrote something? Seems like years. And I have written a few poems and bits of a short story, and my journal while I was away - but it's not the same as working on a complete thing like a novel and getting that "high" from actually sitting there, pounding away at the keyboard, making it all happen on the page.
Sigh...
Instead I have been doing business-type stuff, trying to clear my desk and sort out my finances (here in Australia the end of the tax year is looming) and catch up on all kinds of stuff that's been put aside for way too long. And then there is the marking of the end of semester assignments. If I average 45 minutes for each one, and there are 42 to mark ... well, you do the maths. Suffice to say, this long holiday weekend will be nothing but marking and trying to allocate grades.
But the sooner it's done, the sooner I can write. Actually, rewrite. I have the draft of the Quentaris novel to rework and get in to the editor in 3 weeks time. So enough procrastinating (my favourite pastime!) - get moving!

After some thought, I decided not to post my Sydney diary to the blog as I did with the Chatauqua diary. This one was too personal, trying to deal with all the stuff that was coming at me, and I'm not one who believes that blogs are for totally spilling your guts!!
Some highlights of the past 10 days, however, include:
- Meeting Tim Winton and talking briefly to him, and also meeting and reading with Sam Wagan Watson. Sam's book of poetry, which won Book of the Year, is great and has sparked off several poems for me.
- Meeting the two publishers, Sharyn November and Marion Lloyd. This reinforced what we know so well but forget - that every editor and publisher is different, they all have particular ideas about what their list is, they all have different tastes, they all have different ideas about what might sell. And they still mostly have to answer to the bean counters and the marketing department.
- Hearing David Fickling (publisher) speak again about his passion for great books. His quote "If you write it, they will come" says to me that I have to write what I feel passionate about, what fascinates me, and keep at it. Never give up.
- Having time on my own to think, wander around Sydney (climb all over a sailing ship the Endeavour), write, think some more, and then think some more. Being at home, even when alone, doesn't somehow allow this.
When I came back to Melbourne and realised that the only publicity was going to be self-generated, I spent nearly a whole day on it, helped along by Victoria University where I teach part-time. Their media dept. was great. Don't ask me about whether the publicists at Penguin did anything...
So no writing, up until yesterday. Then I started a new short story that I am quite excited about. But can I pull it off? It's ambitious. Probably a good thing. And I tell a lie. I have been writing poems.
Now to go back, yet again, to the middle grade novel and work on Draft No. 6.
I plan to update my website this week and include photos. Coming soon...

What a week! My footy team, the Crusaders, has just won the Super 12 Final.
Bliss.

I have just spent a week up in Sydney, having a wonderful time. My book "Farm Kid" received the NSW Premier's Literary Award for children's books (called the Patricia Wrightson Prize) and I attended the dinner on Monday night. It was a great experience, very nervewracking and seeing Gough Whitlam in the audience didn't help. I sat at Table 9 (good omen - my birth date) with Julie and Laura from Penguin, and also Julie Gibbs, along with Donna Rawlins and Simon French. As the night went on, my shaking got worse. However at the crucial moment I did manage to get up on the dais and receive the award without falling over!
The following is my speech, and the note at the end explains why I'm putting it on my blog.
***Farm Kid began in 2002, at a summer school in Fresno, California, where I wrote two poems about my childhood on our farm. Over the next 12 months it grew into a story that I cared very deeply about, but I was never convinced that it would be published. After all, it was about a farm and it was poetry.
My thanks must go first of all to my writing group, Western Women Writers, to whom I now owe an enormous chocolate cake, and to fellow poet, Kristin Henry, who was a very experienced and understanding sounding board.
Special thanks to Julie Watts at Penguin who, much to my astonishment, said yes, we’ll publish it, and Christine Alesich, my editor, who worked so hard with me on shaping the final book. Thanks also to the illustrator, Christina Meissen, for her wonderful cows.
And thank you to my husband, Brian, who is now very used to waving his hand in front of my face to bring me back from wherever I’ve “gone” this time.
I hope that Farm Kid resonates with everyone who reads it, and I hope lots of people do, not only kids. The problems caused by drought are not going to go away and the losses that come with it reach far deeper than money. When someone tells me the book has made them cry, then I know it’s working.
Recently in an article in the magazine, The Monthly, Malcolm Knox talked about book sales, and prizes as consolations: I quote: “So and so won the Premier’s Award, which is nice for her but the book sank.”
All I can say to that is “Not if I have anything to do with it”.
***
Now, I actually met Malcolm Knox at the opening night party of the Writers' Festival, and thanked him for the quote, and the article, which was very interesting. He said, "You realise that that wasn't a quote from me, it was from a book publisher."
I said, Yes, I did realise that but it was hard to make that clear in the speech. He wouldn't reveal which publisher had actually said it; however, I did promise that I would explain my use of the quote to listeners or readers, so here it is. If you want to read the full article (it's about the effect of Bookscan on literary publishing in Australia) see the new magazine "The Monthly".
The festival itself looked interesting, similar to the Melbourne one but many more political sessions, and little on writing itself. I would have loved to go to one of Alice Sebold's sessions, but had to fly back home Thursday afternoon. I did a reading with other Premier's Awards winners on Thursday morning, and then was really disappointed to discover that the bookshop had no copies of my book in stock!! As there were several people who came up to me after the reading and said they wanted to buy "Farm Kid", I was even more disappointed. If you're reading this and would like a copy, please do order it (this is the desperate author speaking who wants to cry when people say they can't find my books in the shop).
I met many interesting and lovely authors and publishers during the week, including Sharyn November (Penguin US/Firebird) and Marion Lloyd (UK publisher who now has her own imprint with Scholastic). Also Ursula Dubosarsky, Margo Lanagan and Sam Wagan Watson. And at the dinner I got to shake hands and talk to Tim Winton!

At the moment I am struggling through a huge book - "Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis - that a friend lent me. It's a time travel novel, about a girl who gets sent back to 1320 by a machine/net thing run by academics at Oxford Uni. I say struggle because it's very dense and moves back and forward rather than just being about her in 1320. It's interesting though, so I will keep going. In the meantime I just had to buy and start reading Sue Monk Kidd's new book "The Mermaid Chair". I loved "The Secret Life of Bees" and I have to admit that so far (up to Chapter 5) this one is just not engaging me. It's a novel about a woman who is happily married but somehow discontented, has a crazy mother and has to go and look after her for a while and launches into a disastrous "affair" (so the blurb tells me - I'm not up to that yet). I don't know ... it just feels like many things I've read before. I'm hoping it sweeps me up soon and carries me away!
No writing this week, apart from a speech I have to make on Monday night which is totally scaring me to death. More on this next week, when the cone of secrecy is lifted.
I had written, finally, (during one of the less engaging conference sessions last week) a more or less draft of a picture book I have been playing with for a few weeks so should work on that this weekend. After I finish class prep and a variety of other jobs on my list. No wonder I am hanging out for the school holidays again. And I imagine those writers with kids are dreading them!

After much fiddling on my end and some (more and more desperate) emails to the Blogger people, I now have Comments!! And no doubt I will receive none. But a few people have emailed me - thank you - so hopefully now all will go smoothly.
A full day of classes yesterday, and we are into the workshopping part of the semester. Five lots in Writing for Children class and two stories in Short Story 2. Everyone is so different - diferent voices and styles, different ideas, and of course, different mistakes. And the challenge is always "how can this be made better? how can this problem be fixed?" There is never a magic answer, only suggestions and ideas, and then it's back to the drawing board for the writer.
I had a long phone conversation with a writer friend on Sunday night, describing the conference and what happened and what I heard. It helped to crystallise a few things I had been thinking about - just like workshopping really! And it reminded me, more than anything, of another weekend I went to several years ago, where two of us writers sat at dinner one night and worked out some very interesting theories on how male writers behave in public (i.e. at conferences where they are "on show") and how female writers behave. By behave I mean how they present themselves to the audience, and to those around them between sessions.
Male writers seem to have personas, and a certain confidence in their abilities and achievements. On the weekend, most of the male writers presented themselves as humorous, breezy and relaxed. And the females were serious, self-deprecating and calm. Except for one young woman who was genuinely hilarious.
So those theories were proved again - and trust me, I am not being sexist. I am merely observing how people present themselves and there are always exceptions. So I won't go on and describe the circles theory of "who you know" !!

I have just been to the Youth Literature conference in Melbourne - Reading Matters. Another excellent conference organised by Agnes Nieuwenhuizen and her trusty band of Mike and Lili. Over 300 people there this time, more than ever, but mostly teachers and librarians. It is not a writing conference, it is a books and reading conference and focuses on new books and writers, how stories are written (which is the bit of interest to me) and ideas and issues.
There was quite a bit of emphasis on issues this time - lots of talk about refugees, how to write fiction that explores issues without being didactic, do books make a difference? The overseas guests were Adeline Yen Mah, Tessa Duder (NZ), Karen Levine (Canada), Malorie Blackman (UK) and David Fickling (UK).
David F was of the most interest to me as he is a publisher and his authors include Phillip Pullman and Mark Haddon. He was very genuine, humorous and gave me, as a writer, hope about the state of publishing. I have problems with the bean counters, the ones who write the contracts, and there were a few editors and publishers in the audience. When he spoke about books with such passion and described how to "capture" an author (kind of like enticing fairies or elves - leaving delicious food out on the lawn and staying very, very quiet), I saw a lot of the editors nodding and smiling. A heartening sight.
There were some very good sessions - for example, one on girls's stories and one on boys' stories which raised some interesting points. Malorie Blackman was very energetic and talked about her writing with great enthusiasm and clarity. Karen Levine did a presentation on her book "Hana's Suitcase" which is about a suitcase which survived the Holocaust and how this Japanese woman tracked down who owned it (a 13 year old girl who died at Auschwitz) and then found the girl's only surviving relative. There were quite a few tears in the audience for that session!
My favourite quote for the weekend was "Outside a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read." Groucho Marx.

Tried to work on the novel on the weekend - tried to focus, but nothing was happening. I was in that space where I hated the whole darn thing and wished I'd never written it! Well, not quite, but I think that's why sometimes I find rewriting so hard. There are days of writing like that too. Some days you sing, some days you groan.
I put it away and decided to come back to it in a few days when I feel more positive. In the meantime I have been writing poems, experimenting with a new verse novel idea. As if I don't have enough just-started or unfinished pieces hanging around. This is where I marvel at Jane Yolen, who talks in her journal about working on all sorts of things all the time, going from one to the other.
That raises the eternal question for me - if I was able to write full-time, would I have the discipline to produce? At the moment, I squeeze writing in amongst teaching and other necessities, and I'm pretty determined to find those spaces of time. But if all I had was time, would I use it as well?
On the reading front, I read Louise Rennison's new book over the weekend - "And That's When it Fell Off in my Hand". (I think in the US they have titled it "Away Laughing on a Fast Camel" for some reason.) It is pure fun, had me laughing out loud quite a few times, and thoroughly cheered me up.

I have been looking at a few other blogs recently - it's fascinating to see all the different styles and approaches. One was writing and poetry news items only (quite boring but useful), another was aimed at teen readers.
I have been reading Jane Yolen's online journal for several months now. She is so down-to-earth and talks about what she is working on, as well as rejections and acceptances of manuscripts and news from home. She likes readers to email her with comments and I've been quite excited to see that recently she has used a couple of my emails. I did enjoy her story of the fat and gaunt cows. Go to www.janeyolen.com and click on the journal link.
The early part of the week is always about teaching for me. Workshopping in most classes is either underway or about to start. It can be a tedious exercise if students don't contribute or understand what they can get out of it. I know that at the moment it's feeding back into my own writing by showing me how to more easily cut out what is not necessary, and also to acknowledge my gut feelings about a section. The tendency is to ignore that feeling - to think, Oh it'll be OK as it is.
On the weekend I had a three page section that had a lot of necessary explanation in it. That's what I told myself at first. Then I had to acknowledge that those pages were long and wordy, and find a way to trim them back.
What is hardest to workshop is the great story that is well written, but something just isn't working in it. We had one of those the other day, and it took a while before I could hone in on what it was. Basically it was the movement back and forth in time - too slow and explanatory. Everything in the story could easily take place in the "now" of the story. I'm looking forward to seeing what the student does with it, as it is potentially a very good story.

Yesterday we had a forum for children's writers which went well. Lisa Riley from Penguin spoke (or should I say, she answered my prepared questions and then lots of audience questions) and of course everyone asked about the series (Nibbles, Bites and Chomps). She was very generous with her information and advice.
Meredith Costain was the guest writer. Her experience and range of books is amazing. Lots of non-fiction, which I wish I could write, or at least feel more committed about writing, and beginner readers that really interest me. They are a real challenge - making something substantial out of so few words.
The Q&A session was interesting - a bit unfocused, I thought, which was possibly my fault, but I'm not sure how we could have done it differently. It seemed to get sidetracked a lot. However, in the evaluations people gave good suggestions on what they'd like next time. Many requests for business pointers, how to make the business side run more smoothly and how to deal with tax etc.
I have been working on the middle grade novel, cutting mostly, and so far have got rid of about 9 pages. It's great to be able to finally stand back from the story a bit and see what isn't necessary, what is slowing it down. I had one whole scene and when I looked at it again, I thought - why is that there? So out it went.
Trimming and cutting - with big editor's scissors, not writer's clinging - will continue!
Despite trying twice and also emailing Blogger people for help, the Comments function still does not work here. But you can email me at kidsbooks@optusnet.com.au

At last, after what seems like months (but is only probably 10 days), I have some writing time. Never mind that I have assignments to mark - they can wait until the weekend. Today is free for writing! (And here I am blogging!)
I have tried to add the "Add comments" action to this blog to see if I get any responses, but as I had to cut and paste some HTML, who knows if it will work.
In my Novel 2 class on Wednesday, we finished our last discussion on "House of Sand and Fog". Have been reading large chunks of it week by week and discussing (with set questions from me) as we go along. It has been fascinating to hear the heated discussions over the characters, who they feel the most sympathy for and how the voices and characters work for them.
I chose the book because of the dual point of view and the depth of characterisation, and although most students felt it was a dark book with little hope, it sure got them talking! I don't know if Dubus has published another one since, but I must check.
I received a contract back this week - for a beginner reader - and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had accepted all of my amendments. Even the one where I limited them to 3 years on unused rights. Then I got an email to say the publisher has been bought out by someone else, so who knows what will happen. The editor says the series is still going ahead. Hmmm.
I think I am ready to tackle the rewrite of my middle grade novel. It needs a new beginning and probably 25% cut from the first 70 pages. That'll be a challenge!

Last week I tried out the Book Crossing website - it's where you "release" books into the wild - as in, you leave a book somewhere like a tram or train or park seat, along with a sticker or book plate to explain what Book Crossing is. Whoever picks up the book is asked to log in to the site, using the code number you have put in the book, and say what they are going to do with it - where they leave it after they have read it. It's like the "pass the parcel" game we used to play at parties as kids. Except everyone who finds the book gets a free reading experience, they get to participate in logging in and tracking the book, and they get to release it again.
It's a lot of fun. I released a copy of "Farm Kid" because it is a kid's book that has just been shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Awards and no one seems to know about it. Like many poetry books, it languishes behind fiction and I wanted to try new ways of getting it out to readers. We shall see where it goes!
I have done no writing for 5 days - have been at a beach resort helping 2 friends to celebrate 50th birthdays. Came home and started a poem, but also have been rethinking my middle grade novel and playing with possibilities on how to cut the first half of the book back by 25% and get the pace moving more.
I have also been reading Elizabeth George's new novel and loving it. Nearly 600 pages and I only have about 20 pages to go. It is so fabulous to be deep into a great book, and enjoying it so much that you don't want it to end. I want to take some of her descriptions of places and use them in my classes for exercises and examples.
Ten stars to EG!

After having it on my shelf for about 2 years, I finally got around to reading "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen, and thought it was terrific. As a writer, to have a whole book of mostly just one character doing stuff to survive sounds like such a hard sell - how not to be boring! But the boy is so well written, and I was almost disappointed when he was rescued. He learned so much, and made lots of mistakes, and each challenge got bigger and bigger - great example of raising the stakes.
I also read a new book from the library "The Boy Who Spoke Dog" by Clay Morgan. It was quite different, and had two points of view - the shipwrecked boy and the dog, Moxie. To read chapters from the dog's POV was so interesting. I thought he captured dog thoughts really well. Sad ending.
Writing has come to a halt, not for lack of time but lack of impetus right now. After finishing the first draft of the fantasy novel (which isn't due to the publisher for 3 months yet so plenty of time for rewriting and polishing), I feel at a loose end, not yet able to fully focus back on the historical novel. Am fiddling with other stuff in the meantime - a picture book and a historical story.
Spent nearly the whole class yesterday (Writing for Children class) going on and on about characterisation, character needs, what drives the story etc. I could see some of them start to glaze over. But now we have covered it in depth and I am happy that the class is finally taking shape after so many breaks.
Every week I want them all to have read the books I've read so we can talk about them and of course they rarely have! If I ever ran a book club, I'd have everyone reading a book a day!!

Writing can be so up and down. One day you're writing at a mile a minute, feeling like the best, most prolific, inspired writer in the world. The next day you can sit down and feel like your brain is made of mud.
I keep remembering the quote I read - Real writers write even when they don't want to. That usually keeps me at the desk!
Publishing is even more up and down. One day you can be over the moon because you've had a book accepted. A week later you can be tearing your hair out because the contract is terrible and you have to grit your teeth and negotiate somehow. And then your book comes out and gets a bad review.
It always comes back to the writing, I guess. If you don't love the process, the creation, the high from having written something that just might be OK - if you only are waiting for fame and recognition and maybe money - maybe you should try something else.
That's what I tell myself on the downer days, anyway.
And I also tell myself - being a writer is about perseverance and craft and always trying to do better.
BTW, am reading the 3rd Travelling Pants novel (Ann Brashares) and loving it - more than the first two. She really gets the emotional stuff with her characters working so well.

Have just finished reading "How I Live Now" by Meg Rosoff. A fascinating book - a good read that kept me turning the pages and wondering "how much worse can things get" and of course they get much worse! So also a great book for a writer to read. The voice is unusual (look at all those really long, run-on sentences that are still punctuated correctly so you can easily follow them), and the constant raising of stakes is also great to think about as a writer. So often we are too kind to our characters and so nothing much happens. In a discussion list I'm on, they talked about the US edition of the book which has a page with a large black "hole" on it - I didn't get that in my edition. Pity. I was curious to see where it was in the story.
Also interesting that the girl in the story has anorexia, and how it is talked about (well, it's not really!).
I have been slogging away, day after day (including Easter) on the first draft of the fantasy novel, and yesterday I finished it. Then of course last night I lay in bed and thought about all the things I should have tied up at the end and didn't, so the first job is to go back and rewrite the ending. One of my faults I have to work on - don't rush the ending. Sometimes it's such a relief to finally make it that I pull the finish line towards me instead of keeping up that great pace towards it.
Oh well, what is rewriting for?
I also started a new YA novel last night - a story I have been thinking about on and off for months. It may go nowhere, but I have a beginning, so we shall see.

This up and down life. Last week all was good - writing was happening, had had two acceptances and sorted out (hopefully) a tricky contract, teaching was up and running ... then what happens? My agent doesn't feel my new novel is working. I get a rejection from an editor who'd held something for 4 months that I was really hopeful about. My husband loses his job and is not coping with being at home.
It doesn't take much, does it? Suddenly you feel like being a writer is the most demoralising job in the world!
But then I received a weekly email writers' newsletter and there is an article about Dealing with Discouragement. It talks about feeling low and why you might want to give up if you can't cope with the *many* discouraging things that will inevitably come your way as a writer. And how we often encourage people to keep writing and keep trying to get published even though it makes them miserable...
And I suddenly think - Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Writing makes you feel ten times (make that a thousand times) better than anything else you do, published or not. And I also remind myself that I am doing OK, really OK, and it's silly to let a few bad moments get me down. And I pick myself up and get going again.
11,000+ words in 3 weeks is good. That's what I will focus on.

I have been working on the fantasy novel I was commissioned to write, using an outline that they approved first, and a plot diagram. About 10,000 words so far, and feeling OK about it.
I regularly read Jane Yolen's journal, and the latest post has some very interesting comments about revision, which she has been asked about several times on her most recent tour.
I thought this was interesting as we seem to have been talking a lot in my Novel 2 class lately about rewriting and fixing things, and whether outlines help. It also came up in short story 2 class last week. They wanted to know if it was worth outlining a short story, and what I did. I had to admit that mostly I don't outline short stories, but that I often don't write a story until I have thought it out in my head and know what will happen.
I think that I have changed my writing methods over the past 2 years, mainly because I have been forced to write outlines for a couple of things (and worked out what doesn't work in outlining for me), then I did that sample for the book packager from their outline, then I tried out the stuff in the Elizabeth George book.
It's all helped. I feel now that if I do an outline that satisfies me, create it as a plot diagram (as EG does, kind of) then the writing works so much better structurally (and hopefully in other ways) that the revision part of it works better too. Not so much of the huge mass of words with no idea how to fix it except start again.
And now I also feel that I don't have the time or the energy to spend months trying to work out how to fix something. If I do the preparation stuff right, I tend to get the rest of it working better.
Anyway, just a few thoughts on this quiet Monday!!

Yesterday I had a "plot meeting" with a writer friend. Took my draft so far (35000 words) but didn't really look at it, except to check a couple of things. I also had a diagram of major scenes, and a map with dates for where my pirates went and on what date - approximately. We talked about character and plot arcs and lots of other writing stuff. I came home and have been thinking about where the story is going. Not where I planned. I seem to have changed two major character relationships in a way that is affecting the whole story.
Should I go with where the current flow is leading me? Or do I rein it back and return to the original story line? I just don't know, but my gut is telling me to go with the new flow. I think I need to read through all I've written so far and have a good, long think about it all.
I have received the go-ahead for the fantasy novel I was asked to write. It's part of a series that is selling quite well in Australia. An exciting opportunity and I am happy with the outline I prepared for them. I intend to work further, outline in more detail, so that the writing will come easier. I have a bible to work with, but as most of my story is in a new invented world, I am not that restricted.
And yesterday I spent a large amount of my time working on bum poems - or should I say, lovely poems - odes - to the bum. For an ad agency. It sure is interesting to have a website and see who contacts you through it, and why. Who knows if any of my poetic efforts will meet with approval? If they do, I'll have to suffer hearing them over and over in the media for the next however long. Penance?
Today must be a writing day. Can I juggle two novels at once? It helps that I can use similar material (pirates) but each story must be its own. I think that's where the outline will pay off.

I shouldn't be surprised at how going back to work has wrecked my writing schedule, but I am! Now it's back to squeezing writing into a few precious hours every few days. And I am mostly succeeding. Turned down a big job (freelance) in favour of writing so I am feeling virtuous.
Up to 33,000 words and still aiming to keep this under 70,000 - it's still a middle grade novel, although I could have more scope for blood and guts with a YA. My agent commented that middle graders wouldn't be interested in pirates. And I said I can only write what I feel passionate about. I've tried writing with *sales* in mind and it does not work. Trust me on that. Others can do it. Not me.
I am starting to feel that I'm getting a handle on plotting and scene construction - at last! Thank you EG.
And I'm also getting a handle on outlining. Put in an outline for a book in a fantasy series (by request) and managed to write it without too much anguish. A first for me. Usually outlines make me feel sick for days, and my brain just hits a brick wall.
And I remembered that it was one of the goals I set last year - to improve my plotting.
Goals for 2005? Writing first, routine building, no procrastination.
I read a line in an article that really hit home. "A real writer writes even when they don't want to."
Absolutely.