Category Archives: General
My poem made from book titles!
As an avid reader, writer, and creative person in general, (with a slight, okay… a fierce competitive streak), when I saw a contest for making a poem out of book titles I just had to enter!
Thanks to my writer buddy (and collage poet) Diane for sharing the link to the contest, and to Janet Reid for organising it and reading through all the entries.
I had a lot of fun pulling books from my neatly organised shelves and playing around with the titles until I came up with the final result; a romantic comedy complete with a black moment and happy ending 🙂
I didn’t expect to make the top four finalists, so that was a nice surprise!! You can see the results and the winning poem here.
Here is my poem:
So why not give this a go yourself? C’mon, have some fun and show me what you end up with!
The Battle Between Books And Their Movie Adaptations
I’m always curious to see movie adaptations of books I’ve read, and often seeing a movie based on a book will prompt me to check out the author’s books. It’s interesting to hear feedback on whether the book or movie was better, and more often than not it appears to be the book that’s more popular. This can be good news for the writer, although a bad movie adaptation could possibly deter some people from wanting to check out the author’s books.
I think the reason books are often more popular, is because their interpretation relies on the reader’s imagination, as everyone will perceive a story differently based on how the words evoke images in someone’s mind. On the other hand, a movie is very much a case of ‘what you see is what you get’, and either appeals to someone or not.
When looking at the two, I think it’s important to remember that each is a completely different art form created by different people, and an author’s work should not be ridiculed because of a poorly done movie adaptation. In the other case, when a movie adaptation seems far better than the book, it should be remembered that without the book there may have been no movie. What it comes down to is the telling of a good story, and there are many ways in which a story can be told.
I’m more likely to see a movie after reading the book than read the book after seeing the movie, however I will check out other books by the author. Some authors I’ve discovered after seeing movies based on their books are, Jodi Picoult (My Sister’s Keeper), and Cecilia Ahern (P.S. I Love You).
Some examples of popular movie adaptations include:
The Devil Wears Prada
Eat. Pray. Love.
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Something Borrowed
The Notebook
The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Lovely Bones
Bridget Jones’ Diary
And need I even mention Harry Potter, and Lord of The Rings!
Which movie adaptations have you enjoyed? Do you ever read a book after seeing its movie adaptation, or do you prefer to read the book before seeing the movie?
From Here To Eternity – RWA 20th Anniversary Conference
I was one of the lucky 350 attendees of the Romance Writers of Australia’s conference, held in Melbourne on 12th-14th August. The organisers did a fantastic job, and everything ran smoothly and professionally, allowing us writers to sit back and enjoy the event.
This was my first writer’s conference, yet I felt like part of a family, and was never without an interesting person to talk to. It was great to meet many of my online writing friends face to face, and I’m sure they were surprised to see that I am in fact a real person and not the cartoon avatar they’ve seen online!
I’m incredibly grateful to have met many wonderful authors, and the support and encouragement they gave me was amazing. There was no ‘us and them’, or ‘published and unpublished’, we were all united as writers, no matter what stage of the journey we’re at.
The venue (Hilton on the park, Melbourne) was lovely, and simply being child-free for four days without having to think about housework or real life in general was absolute bliss! I always love the feeling of arriving home, but I also love being able to think solely about writing and publishing for a few days without the distractions of daily life. Is it too early to book for next year’s conference?? 😉
I took as many notes as possible. Some information was new to me, some reinforced things I’d already learned but needed to be reminded of. Most importantly, I left feeling inspired, empowered, and dedicated to this path I’ve chosen.
The speakers were all fantastic, and I enjoyed listening and learning from Bob Mayer, Susan Wiggs, Lisa Heidke, Nikki Logan, Jane Porter, Christine Stinson, and all the authors, agents, and editors who enlightened, informed, and entertained.
Here are some of the key learnings I got from various speakers at the conference:
- Writing is an entertainment business – emotion & numbers
- Always stay one book ahead of your contract
- Have SOP’s – standard operating procedures, for organising your writing time, social media, emails…etc
- Write about what scares you most – the emotion will show through
- Write what you WANT to know
- Get ideas by thinking, ‘What if?’, ‘What if something is not what it appears to be?’
- Dissect plots in movies by looking at ‘scene selection’ and scene titles on DVD’s
- Show a character’s true nature through crisis
- Find time for writing by tracking how you spend your time over one week – where can you cut back on time wasters and devote that time to writing?
- Use twitter hashtags to attract target market, eg: ‘If you like #nameofsimilarbookormovie, you’ll like #nameofyourbook
- Characterisation: Consciously communicate subconscious behaviour that the reader will subconsciously get
- A book series can be unified by concept, theme, characters, setting
- Sell a few .99c ebooks as ‘hooks’ to introduce readers to your other books
- Women’s fiction for the 40+ age group is a hot market
- Self help books can be useful for researching character issues and how they overcome them
- Children in books – must bring something out in the characters
- Technique for endings – try mirroring the opening of the book, unites beginning to end
- Don’t wait until publication to think about a ‘brand’, do it now
- A brand is a promise, a symbol, and triggers an emotional response and recognition
- Can brand yourself as an author, or your books, or a character
- When stuck with the writing process, do something else within the story – research setting, visual prompts, write a letter from your character to an old friend in first person
- Content is king, promotion is queen
- And much more!
Apart from the conference sessions, the social part was memorable too. The 1920’s themed cocktail party was a lot of fun, as was the awards dinner (congratulations to all the award winners!), and I was happy to do my bit for the fundraising for the Otis Foundation, a charity I hadn’t heard of until now, who plays an extremely valuable role in providing retreats for women and men going through breast cancer.
Thanks to the RWA team, my fellow writers, the speakers, agents, editors, sponsors, and hotel staff for making it a conference to remember.
I’m looking forward to a successful lifelong writing career – from here… to eternity.
~ Juliet
Reading In Bed – an extreme sport?
Yesterday, July 24th, saw the birth of the first ever ‘Global Read In Bed Day’, an initiative of mine to raise funds for literacy charities (and give participants an excuse to spend a relaxing day curled up with a good book!).
The GRIBD Facebook group has around fifty members so far, and I hope this will grow as word gets out, so the next time we have another ‘Read In Bed Day’, even more people can participate!
But what’s this about reading in bed being an extreme sport? Well, throughout the day, injuries, exhaustion, and obstacles were reported.
Injuries: I fell down the stairs on one of my ‘reading breaks’, resulting in a swollen wrist and aching leg muscles (I have been hobbling around today as though I’m ninety-five!).
Exhaustion: Some participants reported almost falling asleep, and one (yours truly) actually did.
Obstacles: Some participants had to navigate around work committments, taxi duties, parenting responsibilities, and the dreaded ‘that-which-must-not-be-named’ (aka: housework), in order to have a few minutes here and there of reading time. One participant even had the distraction of being in the beautiful South of France. Talk about difficult!
Who said Reading In Bed was easy? If you’re planning on participating in the next event, do so at your own risk!
Some of the books read by participants included:
Just Breathe, and Lakeshore Christmas, by Susan Wiggs.
Sushi For Beginners, by Marian Keyes.
Books by Agatha Christie and PD James.
The Bet, by Jennifer Crusie.
Nadia Knows Best, by Jill Mansell.
Alice Bliss, by Laura Harrington.
The Good Girl’s Guide To Getting Lost, by Rachel Friedman.
Something Borrowed, by Emily Giffin.
Even the Sunday newspapers and a writer’s work-in-progress got some love!
To join the Global Read In Bed Day Facebook group, click here and log into your Facebook account.
Setting The Scene – bringing the story to life through a sense of place
Setting is usually an important part of a novel, and can often become a character in itself. Although much of what I write is character-driven, the setting I choose helps ground the story in time and place, which adds to the overall ‘realism’ of what’s taking place. I love reading a book where you feel like you are part of the setting; watching or experiencing what’s going on – feeling the sun on your skin, or the cool ocean breeze, or taking in the ambience of a popular cafe. Good writing will draw you into the setting and the story, making it easy to form a mental picture of everything. But although it’s important to set the scene, I try not t
o overdo the description of a place, preferring to get stuck into the dialogue or action of the plot.
In my novel, The Life Makeover Club, the characters and plot drive the story forward, but certain places and settings are important in the book. It is set in Sydney, Australia, and most of the story takes place right in the city itself. The reason I chose this setting is twofold: 1, I only live a couple of hours from Sydney and have been there many times, so it was easier for me to write about a place I knew, and 2, I thought an exclusive ‘club’ involving people wanting to makeover their life would be more likely to take place in a well-populated area, so I chose the city of Sydney.
The club meetings take place in The Ruby Room of City Health and Fitness (a fictional health centre). The gym in the same centre is also an important setting, where fitness fanatic Gina attends regularly, and fitness-phobic Miranda attends once or twice, after some well-meaning coercion!
Miranda works the reception desk at the 5-star Harbourside Towers, a luxurious (fictional) hotel with gold-plated everything! Toward the end of the novel, a charity ball takes place in the hotel’s ballroom, which was a great excuse to showcase the grandness of this particular setting, not to mention a few plot twists as well! The ball scene is one of my favourite scenes in the book! Because this scene is set on New Year’s Eve, I also couldn’t help but bring the fabulous Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks into the story.
One thing I love about Sydney is the department store window displays at Christmas time. As a child, my family would often spend a night in the city to wander around and look at the displays. I always found them so enchanting, and so I had to make mention of them as well! Click here to see some beautiful window displays!
At one point in the story, one of the characters is lucky enough to spend a week at a beautiful health retreat in a small beachside town, Tarrin’s Bay (again, fictional, but based on a real town). After almost a week of eating a vegan diet however, lover of fine food and wine, Miranda, escapes down to the local markets and indulges in a banana ice cream. This simple change of setting results in a major turning point occurring in her life, but I won’t give away what happens to her! This is also a favourite scene, as it is based on where I live, and I am writing more stories set in this beautiful beachside location and really bringing out the uniqueness of the setting.
Oh, and another setting used in the book is a hospital emergency room, where I put my poor character through a rather unfortunate incident involving a designer dress, morphine, and a pair of scissors! I’ll say no more!
…So how much do you think setting affects a story? Are there any books you’ve read that have really brought about a strong visual picture in your mind of the location the characters are in?
Why I Write Contemporary Women’s Fiction
I think in some ways, the genre you write in chooses you. I always knew I would write a novel or two (or three, or four), but originally wanted to write mystery and suspense. I started a couple of stories, and jotted down the odd scene that popped into my head, but these stories never eventuated.
After a few years of a ‘too-busy-for-anything-else’ induced writing fast, I sat down to write again, and what came out was completely different.
Somehow, a character just took shape, and her dreams, fears, mishaps, and emotions poured out onto the page (this character was Miranda, one of the three main characters in my manuscript The Life Makeover Club).
What can we learn from Roger Hargreaves, creator of Mr Men & Little Miss books?
Happy Birthday to Roger Hargreaves; creator of the Mr Men and Little Miss series of children’s books!
As a child I loved these books, and as a mother I loved reading them to my child. The Mr Men and Little Miss series of books are a great example of books that stand the test of time. They are also a great example of ‘book branding’ – knowing exactly what type of books you write, how they are unique, and what recurring themes are present in your books. In this case, each book illustrates a dominant personality trait or feature that helps create the story within the book (eg: Mr Brave, Mr Chatterbox, Little Miss Bossy, Little Miss Late…etc). Each book stands alone but is linked to all the others through the title and theme.
Why is this brand
ing or recurring theme important?
It helps readers identify the books, and if they have enjoyed one of your books, it provides a sense of expectation and anticipation about future books. For authors, it helps in the placing and promoting of your book in the market. Also, if you have something linking each of your books, it helps in coming up with new ideas, because there is already a starting point of some kind. These links might be in having similar titles, characters, themes, or locations. For example, an author’s book titles might all be from song lyrics, or a twist on a classic fairytale. I have also seen authors use letters of the alphabet, colours, seasons, and names as a way to define their books.
Other ways books can be linked include:
Characters might reappear in future books, or future books might focus on secondary characters from the previous books. Each book might involve different characters from the same town or location, or each book might address similar themes and life issues, such as family relationships, stories of revenge, or stories of women standing on their own two feet after a major life challenge.
The books I write in the genre of women’s fiction are all about new beginnings; a character, or characters, undergoing a major change that results in them starting a new life path. In addition, I am playing with the idea of using ‘different months of the year’ to link each of my books.
Can you think of any books out there that are a good example of branding and recurring themes? If you’re a writer, do you make an effort to include a link of some kind from one book to the other? (oh, and… which Mr Men or Little Miss character are you?) 🙂
~ Juliet, aka: Little Miss Busy, Late, Stubborn, Quick, and Fun all rolled into one!
Have You Caught ‘The Writing Bug’?
Warning:
The Writing Bug is a relentless condition, often unresponsive to treatment, in which victims are compelled to make up stories involving people that don’t really exist, putting them in situations that don’t really happen, in order to (hopefully) entertain people and amuse themselves. The cause is unknown, although some cases can be attributed to its sister condition known as The Reading Bug (*see note at end).
Symptoms:
- A strong desire to write
- Sometimes, an inability to write, despite a strong desire to do so (go figure!)
- Meals are often skipped when they are in the midst of writing
- For some, meals are eaten at the desk instead of the dining table
- The victim may be addicted to coffee, tea, chocolate, or other stimulants
- Irritability when writing is interrupted
- Tendency to eavesdrop, stare at, and stalk interesting strangers
- May occasionally pull out a notepad to jot down God knows what
- Often runs to the computer yelling ‘I’ve got it!’ or ‘Now I know what to do in chapter seven!’ while in the middle of something else, such as a shower, dinner, a phone conversation, or in severe cases even childbirth
- The victim may hear voices in their head, but will deny this, saying it is their ‘characters’
- Tendency to have conversations with themselves. Again, they’ll say they are ‘just getting the dialogue right’, but this is just part of the denial
- The habit of cutting out pictures from magazines of gorgeous men (or women) to add to the so called ‘hero’ file
- An associated symptom called ‘procrastination’ may develop; resulting in the victim feeling compelled to perform menial tasks in order to prevent themselves from writing. Some have been known to catalogue their kitchen cupboards, alphabetise their book collection, or pull the fridge out to clean underneath it. In severe cases, one may even call their mother-in-law for a chat.
Complications:
- Often, the victim may appear to develop a growth on the end of their fingers strangely resembling a keyboard or laptop. Once there, it is hard to remove
- Victims may find their fictional world more interesting than the real world
- An addiction to Google can result, but they will say this is ‘all in the name of research’
- Victims will repeatedly check their emails in hope of hearing from a prospective editor or agent
- Published victims will use their ‘deadline’ as an excuse to avoid social events they don’t wish to attend, or as a way of getting out of exercise and dentists appointments
- A bad back or neck problems can result. It is thought that this is a psychosomatic complication elicited by their subconscious to ensure they can spend most of their time sitting down
- They often start hanging around with other victims, but this only fuels the condition
There is no cure for The Writing Bug.
*Note: The Writing Bug must not be confused with The Reading Bug, in which victims are unable to stop buying books and reading them, taking every opportunity to open those pages and delve into the story. It must be said however, that some cases of The Reading Bug will progress to a secondary affliction of The Writing Bug. For those that do, the prognosis is poor, as The Reading Bug fuels The Writing Bug.
Please spread the awareness of this life-changing condition with loved ones, before it’s too late.
~ Thanks to Toni & Deb for advising me of some extra symptoms 😉
How To Choose A Pen Name / Pseudonym
Many authors choose to write under a pen name, or pseudonym, for a number of reasons.
They may be well known in another industry and want to keep their professional or business identity separate, they may want to protect their personal name (in case of their fiction career not working out, or the opposite: achieving worldwide success and having no privacy, or… just because!). An author might also prefer a pen name because it ‘sounds better’ than their real name or helps to ‘brand’ their book by creating a more appropriate and memorable name to represent the genre or topic of the book.
Some authors also have multiple pen names for different books, if they write under two or more different genres.
Whatever your reason, choose wisely. Here are some things I’ve learned about the process of choosing your own pen name, and some ideas to help you come up with a name you love:
1. A variation on your real name:
- You could keep your first name and just change the surname.
- Use your first two initials with a surname.
- You could keep your surname and change your first name.
- Consider a name that has the same initials as your real name.
2. A completely different name:
- Make a list of all the first names you really like (A baby name book or website can be useful).
- Make a list of all the surnames you really like (If you get stuck, look in the phone directory).
- Try combining a couple of different first names or surnames together to come up with something new.
- Make sure the name is easy to spell, so people can find you on the internet.
- If your name is Lily Sparkle and you’re writing a book for teenage boys about undercover agents, you might want to choose a ‘less feminine’ sounding name, or even switch to initials.
- You can use a random name generator website, such as: http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/ . These are also useful for coming up with character names for your story.
Tips:
- Make sure the name you choose is one you’re happy to be known by. Okay, so you might not become a household name like J.K Rowling or Stephanie Meyer, but… you might be!
- Practise signing the name and see how it feels. Does it flow well off the pen?, would you be happy to sign hundreds of books with this name?
- Before deciding on your name, come up with a shortlist of about five or so, and research them on the internet. Check first if the dot com domain name is available, that is; www.(insertpenname).com, because if you’re serious about being an author you need a website, and dot com’s are the most popular and easy to remember. Then search the web in both text and images (with filters turned off) to make sure; a) there are no other popular authors with the name, b) there are no other well known people from other professions with the name, and c) that your chosen name doesn’t also belong to an unfavourable person, or a ‘playboy’ centrefold model of the year, or something similar!
- You can also search Amazon.com to see if other authors have the same name.
- Ask on forums or writing groups for feedback about your name.
- Once you’ve come up with a winner, register the dot com web domain (even if you don’t plan on having a website just yet), and set up a Facebook and Twitter account with the name.
- You don’t have to register it as a business name, but when you get published, your publisher or a solicitor may be able to advise you of any legal concerns.
Writers – Do you have a pen name? If so, how did you come up with it?
Readers – how do you feel about authors using a different name, does it change the way you feel about the author if you know they’re not using their real name?
Happy naming!
Juliet (or am I?)
😉
I Think I’ve Written A ‘Snovel’
What is a snovel you may ask? Keep reading…
When I was going through some pretty big changes in my life in 2009, I said to myself “It’s as though I’m having some sort of life makeover.”
Then, Ta Da! Light bulb moment.
What if I could write a story about a group of women going through their own life makeover, following their ups and downs as they participate in an exclusive club, in a humourous yet heartfelt way? And what if I could impart some snippets of wisdom along the way? Yes! I thought. What a great idea!
And then was born my novel, or my, er… snovel: A Self Improvement Novel.
Now don’t get me wrong, The Life Makeover Club is first and foremost, a novel; a fictional story about women’s lives. But, through the club meetings these characters attend, they learn some important lessons, and tips on creating their ideal life. It is my hope that when (yes, when, not if!) this book gets published, readers will not only find it an enjoyable read, but will also be inspired to make some positive changes in their own lives, and have their own life makeover just like I did.
So what do you think of the idea of a ‘snovel’?
Do you know any other books out there that could be called snovels?
And if you could makeover something about your life, what would it be?
JULIET MADISON 