Book Thief Interview

I love this book, and this movie, and for others that love it too, here is an interview with the author of The Book Thief.

Reading Gizmo

I saw this on Facebook, and thought it very appropriate to show on my blog, it would either be the greatest thing in the world, or really annoying to get used to.

Book Review

I recently read a beautiful American book called Three Cups of Tea, it is a brilliant non-fiction that fascinated me. If you are interested in Islam, the Middle East, and how education can help a society help itself, this is an excellent book that looks at the issues and misconceptions surrounding the Middle East.

It follows the work of Greg Morrison as he sets up schools in Pakistan, making it highly relevant in to political issues still occurring today. The writing style is detailed and political -sometimes reading like political journalism, and can be hard to follow, but for he most part is a pleasure to read being interesting and often suspenseful in its story. Often it is also emotive as it allows you to sympathise with people we in the western world often have little insight about.

If you do become interested in the politics and work described in the book, donations can also be made to the case.

Creative writing group

Hey,

I'm thinking of starting a creative writing group in Gawler for teenagers and young adults. So I'm putting it out there, what sort of things would you like to see in a writers group? What days are best over the summer holidays? And any other ideas you think might work.

Thanks!
Meg

North and South

Hey, sorry I've been away, year twelve lives up to its name, free moments are hard to come by. However, I recently did manage to both read the book and watch the series North and South.
As a book first off, I loved it, the story is brilliant in how each character, whether major or minor, plays an intricate and crucial role in the story's plot,  however, I will admit, I think I liked the ending in the TV minnie series better.

The entire series was well acted and entertaining, and remained faithful to the book in most key areas. Though the ending was changed for the seres, I found immensely powerful and well done, perhaps one of the best romantic scenes I've ever seen. It's not often that a film production rivals it's book, but this series definitely did it well.

Often I find seres done on old classics either too modern in that they are unfaithful to the book, or quite accurate but not visually interesting, but I think this series balanced it quite well. Therefore, if you like old fashioned romances, like Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice, I highly recommend both the book and the seres.

Graphology - update

In my very, very limited research Google books has pointed out a few interesting facts about Graphology -

• It has been studied for a long time, possibly back to 1000 BC in ancient China, Aristotle and Shakespeare also made reference to graphology
• basic analysis can seem like common sense - example: a timid person as a timid handshake and timid handwriting to suit.
• Interestingly, more distinguished characters apparently frequently write with very 'bad hands' - I take this to mean that messy handwriting can be a sign of distinguished character?
• Gender cannot be told from handwriting (though can be told by the language - Thank you Criminal Minds)
• Your handwriting will usually reflect your mood
• Each aspect holds different indications - 
• The shape of the letters indicate intellect
• slope shows affections
• the more punctuation the more care they have
• flourishes indicate showiness
• connections indicate logic
• The loops in a letter G can indicate social abilities, example, small g loop indicates being socially selective, while a large g loop indicates they greatly enjoy and indulge in social company.
  

These are the first of my rudimentary notes on graphology, please not this was done for fun and taken from online books, Graphology - the Art of Handwriting Analysis by Julian Moore, 

What Handwriting Indicates: An Analytical Graphology by John Rexford and The Five Minute Therapist.

I am so pleased! This weak I finally finished Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, an eight part classic novel that's taken me four-five months to read.

This book is a heavy read, I needed frequent breaks as I went through, I even stopped to read White Horse, The Grimstones and The Female of the Species in between. But looking back on it, it is an incredibly detailed documentary of human interaction and emotion, with some massive drama and suspense. However despite  being called Anna Karenina for a while it seemed that Levin, a farmer character, was centre of the book rather than her. Much of the book was centred on his farming or courting or questions, though most of the characters were explained, he was especially privileged. But all the characters were so detailed in their thoughts and feelings, you could see the faults virtues in them too completely to idolise any of them, or hate most of them (there were a few exceptions on this point for me). All in all I'm very glad I'm done - now I can watch the movies.

Reading Warnings

Picture Source

Whenever I'm uncertain about what to post next on this blog I always remember something fantastic I found elsewhere, and presto! 

All writers know that to write you have to read, and the more you pay attention to what you read and the more you absorb and use to cultivate your mind, the better your writing will become. Personally, I love the train, my 55 minute commute is great for reading!

I recently, at the advice of my wonderful teacher, read White Horse, fantastic book, and I most certainly recommend it, for ideas on women, humanity, post apocalyptic ideas and for anyone looking at wring examples that use the flash back, flash forward techniques, analepsis and prolepsis.

Also, no writer could ever be their best without looking at classical writing. By that I primarily mean the Odyssey and its kind. I'm re-reading it now for Classics, and it truly is one of the greatest pieces of story work ever, and imperative to understanding modern work. Remember, JK Rowling studied classics!

Anyway, that aside, reading is fun! Especially when you're lost to reality. 

Happy reading!

Dean Mayes

A while back I had the pleasure of meeting Dean Mayes at a writers' fair in Adelaide, and was blown away when he offered me a feature for myself and my book, The Order's Experiments on his blog. Since then I have had the pleasure of reading and finishing Dean's latest book Gifts of the Peramangk and couldn't resist doing a return feature of Dean and his work.

Australian author Dean Mayes has established himself as a writer of great literary style and dedication since the release of his first novel "The Hambledown Dream" in 2010. He continues that tradition with his landmark new release "Gifts of the Peramangk" for Central Avenue Publishing. Dean lives in Adelaide, Australia with his wife Emily and their two children Xavier, 6 and Lucy, 3.

Aside from writing and fatherhood, Dean is also a practicing nurse, but his love of writing has been cultivated from a young age.

I first discovered my love of creative writing when I was in primary school - around Grade 3. I often credit my then teacher, Mrs. Furnell, for being the motivator behind it. She used to challenge me in creative writing exercises which I sucked at for the longest time. But one day, I produced this really cool short piece about a soldier at war in the jungle and I remember articulating his fear which impressed Mrs. Furnell enough that she awarded me the coveted Purple Dragon sticker. Those stickers were really hard to get so it was no small achievement. From then on, I have weaved in and out of my writing life - trying to achieve the Holy Grail of writing a novel.

Which he did achieve a few years ago when he published his first novel The Hambledown Dream. 

The Hambledown Dream was born out of a fascination I had (and still have) with the idea of reincarnation and the possibilities that throws up in terms of story telling. In the beginning I had this vision of a story that was predicated on the idea of what if a good and kind person, with the world at their feet and everything to live for was suddenly cut down. What if they had the chance to come back, but they came back in the body of a person who is duplicitous and mean? From there I played around with ideas of how to tie these two people together and very soon, the story evolved with the guitar and a romantic sub plot that became an important part of the whole.

Australian Denny Banister had it all; a successful career, a passion for the guitar, and Sonya - the love of his life. Tragically, Denny is struck down with inoperable cancer. Andy DeVries has almost nothing; alienated from his family, moving through a dangerous Chicago underworld dealing in drugs, battling addiction while keeping a wavering hold on the only thing that matters to him: a place at a prestigious conservatory for classical guitar in Chicago.

As Andy recovers from a near fatal overdose, he is plagued by dreams - memories of a love he has never felt, and a life he's never lived. Driven by the need for redemption any by the love for a woman he's never met, he begins a quest to find her, knowing her only by the memories of a stranger and the dreams of a place called Hambledown.

However when I met Dean he was still fresh from publishing his latest work, Gifts of the Peramangk. A wonderful novel I recently read and can say was an engageing and well written work. 

I wanted to tell an under dog story about an Aboriginal family living in modern day Australia. I wanted to explore the idea of a child prodigy, who lives in abject poverty, overcoming the odds and succeeding. I also wanted to understand Aboriginal history and the policies of the past which have deeply affected Aboriginal Australians today. It was a huge learning curve for me but I am so glad that I took the challenge.

As you've probably guessed, that prodigy is gifted at the violin, so I asked Dean if he too played an instrument.

I play piano - badly (laughs here) - and I am actually pretty handy with a piano accordian. I have a deep love of music, which has been influenced by my parents, so I wanted to explore music in the literary sense and make it a character in my novels.

In 1950s Australia, during the height of the divisive White Australia Policy, Virginia, a young Aboriginal girl is taken from her home and family and put to work on an isolated, outback station, in the cruelest of conditions. Her only solace: the violin, taught to her in secret by a kind-hearted white woman - the wife of the abusive station owner. However, Virginia's prodigious musical gift cannot save her from years of hardship, abuse, and racism.

Decades later, her eight year old granddaughter, Ruby, plays the violin with a passion Virginia once possessed. Amidst abject poverty, domestic violence and social dysfunction, Ruby escapes her circumstance through her practice, with her grandmother's frail, guiding hand. Ruby’s zeal attracts the attention of an enigmatic music professor, and with his help, Ruby embarks on an incredible journey of musical discovery that will culminate in a once in a life time chance for a brighter future. But with two cultural worlds colliding, her gift and her ambition will be threatened by deeply ingrained distrust, family jealousies and tragic secrets that will define her very identity.

Gifts of the Peramangk not only fictionally explores these themes engagingly, but with acuracy. Dean states he spent a lot of time on political research to shape his story with historial acuracy. 

Gifts of the Peramangk was a two and a half year project all told, though there were periods of time when I wasn't working on it at all. Half of that time was wholly devoted to research - studying the history of the White Australia Policy and case studies of the Stolen Generations. I also made a number of field trips to the Adelaide Hills, the University precinct on Adelaide's North Terrace and the Northern suburbs which feature heavily in the novel. And of course there was the musical elements - particularly the violin - which I was only casually acquainted with prior to the novel. I myself am not an Aboriginal Australian so I needed to really understand them as a people before I could commit them to the written page. I constantly worried about whether I was doing the right thing in terms of treating them with respect but I had a small group of very good people whom I discussed the project with as I was writing it - including Aboriginal Australians - and they were invaluable in their advice and their support.

The Hambledown Dream took a lot less time, due in part to the fantasy driven aspects of the novel which required more of my imagination rather than hard research. I think that project took around 18 months in total.

I asked Dean more about his first novel, The Hambledown Dream, and what personal influences he wrote in, he said,

Of my two published works, there is no doubt that Hambledown is the more personal and one can find a lot of me in it. In crafting the dual protagonists of Denny Banister and Andy DeVries, I drew upon myself, exploring the dark and light sides of myself and I attributed many characteristics to both characters. Even now, I kinda cringe when I read the novel because I really did pour a lot of my dark side into Andy - especially in the earlier chapters.

Currently Gifts of the Peramangk is on the rise. It's up for voting on the Good Reads list of best Modern Australian Literature and gaining more publicity by the day. I asked Dean where he was going to go from here.

Though I am taking some time off over the Christmas and New Year period, already I am working on some ideas for a new story which I hope to start in early 2013. So I guess a third novel is definitely an aspiration I have firmly bedded down.

Gifts of the Peramangk is a great read, I personally look forward to reading The Hambletown Dreamer, but if you're interested in Dean or any of his works, please look to the links below.

AUTHOR LINKS:
http://www.deanfromaustralia.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dean-Mayes-The-Hambledown-Dreamer/263088081779
http://www.twitter.com/Hambledown_Road
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3337737.Dean_Mayes
http://www.amazon.com/Dean-Mayes/e/B004795XX4

Roses in Tatters

Roses in the ice and girls on the roof tops.

Fall for me and descend,

fire and water and love upon strife

find me in a bloody, wet, red frame

and wear me on your sleeve.

It spreads.

Books in tatters and stars at the ball

scattered in glowing, dancing pairs.

Their wards in shatters,

glinting, sharp glass on the floor.

Masks made of gold, and tears of silver

dip in the sea of bronze.

I am perfect,

I am shattered.

- M. Eichmann

Writing Resources

On Tumblr a while back I found a great link for writing pages online. See the link below and see what works for you!
102 Resources for Writing Fiction

Take a Look -

Recently a great author, Dean Mayers, writer of Gifts of the Peramangk and the Hambledown Dream did a feature of my work on his blog. Please check it out and while your there check out some of Dean's great stuff. He's a wonderful author and has been of great help to me recently in a lot of social media. His latest work, Gifts of the Peramangk, is available at Barns and Noble , Kobo books, Angus and Robertson , and at Amazon.
He's well worth a look so check out his blog here!