Between Books

 Taking a Break

After I sent off the third book in my planned trilogy about the magical world of The Tenth Gateway I took a break from writing. It was so hard to say goodbye to my characters and the enchanted world that I had immersed myself in.

Where to next?

Luckily I had enrolled in a November workshop organised by The Australian Writers’ Centre. The workshop ‘The Story Doctor’ was run by Kate Forsyth – one of my favourite Australian authors of both adult and children’s fiction. Kate generously shares lots of practical ideas on how to improve your writing and carry out a thorough edit of your manuscript. I learned heaps.

‘The Blue Rose’ – a very good read

Kate Forsyth’s latest book ‘The Blue Rose’ is a must read. The story is set during the time of The French Revolution, and its full of adventure, romance and tragedy. I loved it.

Writing Again

“The Story Doctor’ workshop motivated me to dig out a children’s book – a comic fantasy - I drafted many years ago but was never satisfied with. Armed with new tools on how to improve the story and the writing I am now working on a new draft.

Christmas Time

Austin Macauley Publishers are promoting the books of selected authors this Christmas. I may not be among this group but I had a lot of fun taking my Christmas promotional photo for ‘The Tenth Gateway’ and ‘The Spy’s Door’.

What do you think?

Finishing My Trilogy

Book Three

I spent most of August and September finishing my final draft of my third children’s book about the magic game ‘The Tenth Gateway.’ I have sent it to the publisher and I hope to see it published later in 2020.

It’s hard to believe I started writing the trilogy way back in 2015 and now suddenly I’m saying goodbye to my characters. I must say, it’s hard to let go as the main characters have become so real to me.  

I had heard that fictional characters take on a life of their own and now I have found that to be true for me. The children – for example, Sophie Jones and Jun Wu - seem to take control of their own adventures, as does the nasty spy Perscrutor in the second book ‘The Spy’s Door’. I can see the evil magician Malefic flying through the air and doing battle with the good magician Eda and I feel anxious when I think Malefic might win!

And the third book? The characters wrote it for me.

Is that your experience?

PS: My first short story disappeared without a trace. However I’m not giving up. Writing it gave me the idea for my next set of stories.

A Positive Distraction

 Short Stories

A favourite story is 'The Drover's Wife'

I have interrupted my next go at editing my third book about ‘The Tenth Gateway’ to become a short story writer

I see so many opportunities and workshops that focus on picture books and Young Adult fiction that I was excited to see a competition for a short story targeting 8-11 year olds. So I thought, ‘I can do this.’

It’s my first effort and I’ve written it in just over a week. It’s not a fantasy like The Tenth Gateway books and I had trouble keeping to the word count. Fingers crossed that someone may like it.

I’m now going to research other opportunities.

Some Favourite Authors

Of course there are lots of authors who write short stories. Years ago I remember being terrified by the Edgar Allen Poe stories which were written in the 19^th century. When I did French at school I loved the stories of Guy de Maupassant. 

Next I was inspired by the Australian stories of Henry Lawson and later by the spooky writings of Barbara Erskine and romantic mysteries of Agatha Christie. 

More recently I whizzed through the latest short stories by Jeffrey Archer.

There must be hundreds more that you could name.

Some Fresh Ideas

Seeing a Real Underground City

It’s hard to believe that it’s been two months since I completed the first draft of my third children’s book about the magic game ‘The Tenth Gateway.  I’ve been on holiday and it’s given me some fresh ideas.

For instance, we visited Turkey and saw lots of amazing sights and met many friendly people. When we visited the ancient underground city of Derinkuyu near Goreme it reminded me of my fictional underground home for the gnomes in my book ‘The Spy’s Door’. It was several stories high and filled with twisting tunnels and myriad small dwellings and proved to me that people (and magical beings) can survive for long periods underground.

My photo could only capture a tiny glimpse of this amazing place.

Developing Characters

I have realised that some of my characters need further development. They are a bit wooden and their personalities not sufficiently differentiated. After seeing Derinkuyu I can better imagine who might live in such a place. So I’ve decided to focus on Gwulfud (the gnome), review his dialogue and strengthen his characteristics.

We also visited places on The Baltic Sea and parts of Scandinavia. I loved the fairy tale castle at Schwerin in the north of Germany but the only castle I have included in my stories so far is the forbidding fortress castle of Malefic, the evil magician. I’ll keep the Schwerin image in mind for a future fantasy tale.

Do you have any special places that have inspired you?

A First Edit

Mapping the Magic Game

I have managed to complete the first edit of the first draft for my third book about The Tenth Gateway. I found a lot of inconsistencies and over use of some word and phrases. I still find it difficult to think of another way of saying ‘he said or she said’!

The edit was also very useful in helping me to think about the geography of the world of The Tenth Gateway. Maps like the one pictured and Robert Louis Stevenson’s map of ‘Treasure Island’ gave me the idea.

Whilst I have the picture of the world of the magic game in my head I decided to draw a map of what it could look like. This has been really helpful as I realised that some of my directions and descriptions of the topology didn’t make sense. So I’ve had to re-write those bits.

I’m about to go on holiday for a few weeks. This will give me the opportunity to review the story again with fresh eyes when I return.

Book Promotion

My books are available for purchase online. It’s very difficult to know how many people find it via the different sites plus my own web page and social media.

A positive approach taken this year by Austin Macauley Publishers is a combined book promotion opportunity with a number of book fairs across the world. I’ve signed up for a few of them for ‘The Spy’s Door’ – so cross my fingers someone will see and like my book.

Austin Macauley Marketing have also sent me some promotional materials – book marks, post cards and posters.

If anyone has read either The Tenth Gateway or The Spy’s Door please let me know what you think.

Feedback

The Tenth Gateway

I loved receiving this review of The Tenth Gateway from the 8 year old grand-daughter of a friend of mine. It reads:

“It’s a great and interesting story. I feel as if I could relate to Sophie. Loves to win but is told not to show off. I likey! (PS – in case you were wondering, I too have a lively mind. All of the characters seem to come to life in my head.”

I am now holding my breath waiting to hear what she says about ‘The Spy’s Door’.

Pinnacle Book Achievement Award

I'm pleased that I have received acknowledgement of my writing by the National Association of Book Entrepreneurs (NABE) - based in the USA. I have just received notification of the award for best book in the Category Children's Fantasy for 'The Spy's Door'.

Sophie and Jun - the two lead characters in my books - have become very real to me. I'm glad that others are enjoying reading about their adventures.

It's always nice to receive positive feedback don't you think? Especially if it's from the children for whom the book was written. 

Some Of My Story Favourites

Characters

In my second book – ‘The Spy’s Door’- I created a nasty character called Perscrutor. He is Malefic’s master spy whom the book is named after. I enjoyed writing his ‘scenes’ and while I knew he couldn’t be a focus in the third book (writing in progress) I wasn’t ready to let him go. So, I’ve woven him into the story in book number three – albeit briefly.

Another character that I like in ‘The Spy’s Door’ is Gwulfud – the gnome who leads Sophie and Jun to gateway seven. He doesn’t say much but he’s got quite an important role in the third book.

The guardian of The Seventh Gateway is ‘The Gatekeeper’. He has a strange head and the illustration I’ve included in this blog provided the inspiration of what it might look like. 

This head is actually made of bronze and is Celtic from the 1^st century BC. The source is ‘The Celts’, by John Davies, Cassell & Co, UK, 2001

Settings

Many of the settings in my stories spring from my imagination, some from various illustrations, and I’m sure lots draw on the books that I’ve read and the films that I’ve seen over the years.

In both ‘The Tenth Gateway’ and ‘The Spy’s Door’ I have the children finding their way through dense forests. They meet all sorts of magical beings and dangerous creatures.  I like to think of these forests as being very mysterious – just like this illustration I also found in the John Davies book.

Many of the settings in my stories spring from my imagination, some from various illustrations, and I’m sure lots draw on the books that I’ve read and the films that I’ve seen over the years.

In both ‘The Tenth Gateway’ and ‘The Spy’s Door’ I have the children finding their way through dense forests. They meet all sorts of magical beings and dangerous creatures.  I like to think of these forests as being very mysterious – just like this illustration I also found in the John Davies book. What inspires you?