I’ve noticed the number of hits on my site has gone up over Christmas. I can only think of two reasons.
People got copies of my books for Christmas. (Thank you for giving my books as presents, who ever you are!).
And/or people have time on their hands over Christmas holidays and are surfing the net.
Of course, if you are like me then you probably have less time over the Christmas holidays. Why did I think renovating and writing the new trilogy at the same time would be a good idea?
Filed under creativity, Fantasy books, Fun Stuff
Kudos to Clint Langley, the cover artist for the KRK trilogy. Clint’s cover for book one ‘The King’s Bastard’ has been nominated for the Ravenheart Award. That’s the cover section of the Gemmell Award. Fingers crossed Clint!
Filed under Awards, Covers, creativity, Fantasy books, Fun Stuff, Genre, Inspiring Art
I’m a very visual person. I used to work as a graphic artist. I love watching movies that are visually rich. I love wandering through the art gallery. I leave feeling like I’m floating on air.
One of my favourite styles is Art Nouveau.
Everyone would be familiar with the work of Alphonse Mucha. He shaped the look of the period. My DH bought me a book on Mucha and his work for Christmas one year and I devoured it in a day, then dreamed in Mucha stylisation for a week. Poor Mucha, they told him not to bother with art school because he would never amount to much!
What you might not be aware of the beautiful jewelry of the period.
And furniture …
And there is the architecture, both internal and external. Think Gaudi, among others.
Now wonder when the set designers were looking for inspiration for Rivendell, they looked to Art Nouveau.
I’ve spent way too long putting this post together. I got lost wandering through a feast of Art Nouveau images. The sad things is that I can’t use this for resonance in my writing because if I use the term art nouveau it will throw the reader out of the secondary world of the book and if I say the flowing/sensuous organic lines of the building/jewelery it doesn’t really convey the power of the art nouveau period.
Hope you’ve enjoyed this dip into Art Nouveau as much as I have.
Filed under creativity, Movies & TV Shows, Resonance, The World in all its Absurdity
Many cultures believe words have power. The bards sang stories. They made sure things were remembered and took these stories from one place to another. They could also lampoon someone and make them suffer.
Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me …
Not true if everyone is laughing at you because of an easy to remember catchy rhyme that is passing through the village like wild fire!
When I set out to write King Rolen’s Kin I wanted a traditional fantasy story, but some of the words we use have been used so many times they lose their power. So I avoided prince or princess and used kingson and kingsdaughter. Both of these are based on the way people were described (and what is a name but a description?) in the Norse sagas. Unlike our society, in the Norse sagas a man might also be described by his mother’s ancestors as well, and I use this in KRK.
The other word I wanted to avoid was magic. It has been used so much it has lost its original awe inspiring power. It used to be out there, all around us, tied to the earth and to specific places where someone with the right ability could tap into it. So I came up with affinity. In KRK power seeps up from the earth’s heart. It affects animals and people. Some people are born with the ability to manipulate this power, they have an ‘affinity’ for it. So the term becomes, they have affinity. This way magic becomes something ‘other’ and powerful again.
What I look for in fantasy and science fiction is that the thrill of wonder. It can be associated with the future and the possibilities of where we will go as human beings, or it can be associated with the past and the powerful things our ancestors held to be important. There was a time when your word was your bond. You could not break an oath, or you would be known as an oath-breaker and no one would trust you.
Filed under creativity, Fantasy books, Resonance, Writing craft
It’s interesting what inspires writers. For Christmas last year my husband bought me this book on Art Deco houses. 
Did you know that there is a whole town in NZ filled with Art Deco houses? The town was flattened by an earth and rebuilt in this style. I do love the Art Deco. You don’t seem much of it where I live in Brisbane, Australia. There are more buildings in Melbourne. Lots of blocks of flats.
And you can get modern homes built in the Art Deco style.
I’m torn between Art Deco and Art Nouveau. Anyone else love these two styles?
My friend Tansy’s new series, Creature Court, has a strong Art Deco flavour because much of the clothing is reminiscent of the twenties. We joked when we read the manuscript at a ROR that she should start a line of Creature Court clothes!
It’s funny what inspires us as writers. Tansy did her PHD on Rome and spent time there researching. Her book is an eclectic mix of Rome and the 1920s.
I have a novella set in the near future where the fashion is retro Art Deco. The settings and the clothes are beautiful as I visualise them, but I don’t think the average reader would get all the references unless they googled the things I mentioned. This is where a movie art director can create resonance for the film with sets and clothing. Think of the look of Blade Runner!
Much harder for us writers. We can mention music, but we can’t play it unless the reader has already heard it. We can mention a certain type of building or clothing, but again, the reader must know what we’re talking about. Yet, we still set out to create resonance in what we write by layering images, scents and music into the narrative. Because ultimately, its the story that’s important. Everything else is window dressing.
I’ve been marking assignments solidly all this week, when I would much rather have been working on The Outcast Chronicles (the trilogy I have to hand in early next year). Twelve hour days of marking leaves me feeling mentally drained. So what do I do to revive myself?
I feed my brain with beautiful images. I have books on art. Here’s some of my faves:
The pre raphaelites. I have several books on them and when the TV series came out I looked forward to every episode. It didn’t worry me that they played around with the timeline. I felt they’d captured the essence of the group. (Having lived as a passionate young artist with a group of artists the TV series made me laugh). Such romantics and the women are so beautiful …
John Willian Waterhouse, Lady of Shallot
John Everett Millais, Mariana.
Leyendecker’s art. You know how you see a piece of art by someone and it stays with you and it might be years later before you discover that artist again and work out who he is and where he fits into the world of art? Maybe you don’t if you’ve grown up with the internet. But before that, when I was a child, I’d glimpse an image somewhere and it might be years before I was able to put a name to the artwork. My husband bought me a book on Leyendecker. So stylish.
And one more because I can’t resist …
Of course I have more favourite artists. I’m a visual person. If I go to the art gallery, I come out feeling like I’m walking on air. Other writers I know play music. Many will have a selection of music that they play specifically when writing a certain book or a series. I collect images which float around in my mind as I write.
Are you a music person or an image person?
Filed under creativity, Inspiring Art, Nourish the Writer
I’d like to thank all the people who’ve contacted me about the fourth book in the Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin. A writer spends years developing the world of a series. They dedicate themselves to the characters. They devote themselves to the plot. And then they send their books out into the world, hoping someone will get as much of a buzz from the stories as they do.
It makes my day, when readers come looking for KRK 4.
The good news is that I have heaps of ideas for another three books. The bad news for KRK readers is that I have to hand in a new fantasy series – The Outcast Chronicles – before I can tackle the new KRK books.
But once I have handed the new series in to my publisher, I’ll be free to take a journey to Rolencia and find out what happens to Byren, Piro and Fyn.
Filed under Characterisation, creativity, Fantasy books, Nourish the Writer
Book one of King Rolen’s Kin has been given a one-star review on Amazon because it has a gay character in it. Orrie is loyal and smart and one of my favourite characters.
I feel honoured. Now if I can only get the book banned!
If anyone has been following me on Twitter they’ll know I’ve been ridiculously busy.
Sick family, work, filling in for people sick at work and renovating on top of that. We pulled up the vinyl in half of the bottom floor over the weekend and filled 3 cubic metre skip with rubbish. Plus I am trying to complete The Outcast Chronicles to hand in early next year!
But I did see a sign that really appealed to me.
Sigh, now if only everyone was as rational.
Filed under creativity, Fun Stuff, The World in all its Absurdity
My publishers have asked me to encapsulate my new trilogy, The Outcast Chronicles, in 100 to 150 words for each book. Gahhhh
They need this for the cover artist, for the book stores, or the back cover blurb etc. But these books are 100,ooo to 150,000 words. I know the characters intimately and all the twists and turns of the plots. Encapsulating the books in 150 words is so hard its painful.
This is an amusing irony, because I teach how to write a synopsis and how to pitch your books. When pitching your book you need to do the ‘elevator pitch’ that means you need to encapsulate the core of your book in 25 words or less.
Here goes:
This is a story about a tribe of mystics who are persecuted in their own land and banished. It’s about how they struggle to find a new home.
Terrible, I know. I have to talk about the people. Because we want to hear about someone we can care about. Another try:
Imoshen didn’t want to lead her people into exile. She didn’t want to battle the brotherhood leaders for this dubious honour but she needed to make sure her children were safe.
Not bad, could do better. Sigh.
Will keep trying.
Filed under creativity, Fantasy books, Fun Stuff, Genre, Writing craft
