We Have Ways of Making You Talk…

The very kind and talented Brian S. Creek (check out his blog, ladies and gentlefolk) nominated me for a Liebster Award just before Christmas. Now, things have been sort of all over the shop for me since then, and so this is the first chance I’m getting to address the questions asked of me. Also, it’s true that this nomination makes my third (count ’em!) Liebster nomination, and so, at this stage, there’s probably very little left about me that y’all don’t know.

But, nevertheless, let’s give these here questions a shot. Ready? Buckle up!

And make sure your trays are in the upright position, while you’re at it…
Photo Credit: frankieleon via Compfight cc

If you could have any super power for a day, what would it be?

I’ve often thought about this question, and I remember answering it before in terms of how I’d love to have the words to solve all arguments, without causing anyone any offence. I’d still love to have that power, but I think – given the world we live in, and the events of recent times, and my feelings of utter helplessness in the face of all of it – that I’d quite like to be a version of a human Care Bear, or something. I’d love to have the power to spread love and compassion throughout the world, and to make everyone think first of others, and then themselves. I’d love to be able to make people see the world from the point of view of another person. That would be an amazing superpower – except, to have any effect, I’d have to have it for a lot longer than one day.

One day would be a start, though.

Who is the most famous person you’ve met?

So, if you’ve been hanging out here for a while, you’ll know about this. I reckon Neil Gaiman is probably the most famous person I’ve ‘met’, if squeaking at an author at a book signing counts as ‘meeting.’ Besides that, I’ve met a President (of Ireland, so not as cool as some other presidents), and I almost met the Princess Royal once (that’s Princess Anne, Her Majesty the Queen’s daughter, for those not in the know). I was in the same room as her and breathed the same air, but didn’t quite get to shake the royal gloved hand. Oh, well.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

Argh, you see? One of these ‘impossible to answer’ questions. I’d love to live in Reykjavík, just because I’ve been in love with it, and with Iceland, all my life. I’d love to live on Svalbard. I want to live in Tromso. I would love to live in Paris, because I adore that city. I’d love to live in Dubrovnik, because it’s beautiful (and old). I’d love to live in the middle of nowhere in the wilderness of northern Canada. I’d love to live in Tasmania, because one of my favourite people in the world is there.

So I guess I should probably say I’m happy where I am. *sigh*

What was the first story you can remember writing?

I had a great teacher in primary school named Mrs Mythen. I loved her, and she – I’m pretty sure – was fond of me, too. She knew I loved English and writing, and that whenever the class had a spelling- or writing-related task to complete, that I’d be done before the others, and so she used to give me extra work to keep me quiet. We used to write little stories together, and we used also to write poems together, where I’d write one verse and the teacher would write another, and so on. One of these poems was about a witch and her overflowing cauldron, I remember, and it was lots of fun. It also got me used to taking criticism – Mrs Mythen was a hard taskmistress!

I’ve talked before about how my first ‘story’ was a sequel to The Little Prince, and this is true, but upon giving the question some serious consideration this morning, I think perhaps my witchy poem was earlier. I’d have been about six years old, maybe.

Which book do you wish you’d written and why?

I’d love to be facetious here and say ‘The Little Red Book’ or ‘The Bible’ (because sales, darnit), but no. I wish I’d written so many books (the Earthsea books, The Dark is Rising sequence, basically anything by Neil Gaiman and/or Jeanette Winterson), so I’ll say this: I wish I’d written my own next book. I hope to always have ideas, and the space in my mind to complete them, and the peace in my heart to do them justice, and so I’ll always wish to have written the book I’m currently working on to the best of my ability, just to have to opportunity to move on to the next.

If you could write a sequel to a movie that doesn’t already have one how would it go?

This is easy. I’d write a sequel to Labyrinth where I was Sarah, and I’d fight my way to the goblin city just so I could sweep Jareth the Goblin King off his booted feet. Mrs Goblin King has a ring to it, right?

Image: crafthubs.com

If you could be on a writing panel with three other authors, who would they be?

Good question. I guess it depends what sort of writing panel we’re talking about: if it was a kidlit writing panel, then I’d choose Frances Hardinge, Alan Garner (even though he doesn’t technically write for children, apparently) and Catherine Fisher. If it was an SF/fantasy writing panel, it’d be unlikely I’d be asked, but I’d choose Ursula leGuin, Neil Gaiman and the late, lamented Robert Holdstock.

You’re given a time travel device that allows only one time jump. What date do you go to?

I’d love to say Chaucerian London, but I know I’d last about three seconds in the mud and dirt and ordure, so I wouldn’t want to go there and have no way of getting back. In fact, I don’t like going anywhere without a clear escape plan, so this question is giving me the sweats.

Let’s say I choose ‘tomorrow’, and leave it at that. (Phew!)

What’s your biggest regret to date?

My regrets are mainly for stuff I didn’t do, rather than things I did. I have fallen out with friends, which I regret terribly, and I didn’t say something to someone when I could have which might have changed the course of their life entirely – but then, things have worked out extremely well for that person, regardless, so maybe things happened just as they were supposed to. I find it very hard to forgive myself for ‘failings’, so I try to live my life regret-free as far as possible. It’s just neater that way.

If you could live in any fictional world (filmed or written) where would it be?

Another question I’ve often thought about. I love Hobbiton (because who doesn’t?) and Lothlorien, either the filmed or written versions, but actually I think I’d love to live in the world of Star Trek. Post-money, post-race, post-gender discrimination, the entire galaxy working for peace and reconciliation, and on top of all that we get to fly spaceships and use ray guns? Sign me up, Scotty.

What are your goals for 2015?

To look after my health; to spend more time with my family; to stop beating myself up psychologically (hahaha!); to write as often as I can and as well as I can; to work very hard on a particular project and bring it in on time; to work on being as happy as I can be; to work on being the best person I can be, for everyone I love (and everyone else!)

So, those are the answers to the 11 fiendish questions posed by Brian. I’m not going to tag anyone, mainly because everyone I know who’d be interested in doing a Liebster post has already been Liebstered, repeatedly, but if you fancy taking a punt at these questions, have at it. Just make sure to link back here so I can check out your answers! Thank you, Brian, for including me in your nominations, and I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know me a little better.

Happy Monday, everybody – may your week be wordy and bright!

The Blog Tour Q&A

A hundred thousand welcomes!

This morning, I have the inestimable pleasure of taking part in a blog tour; the ever-wonderful and marvellously talented Susan Lanigan (whose novel, ‘White Feathers’, will be published later this year, book fans), has nominated me to carry on the Q&A torch. So, here I go.

Image: researchvoodoo.com

Since I have nothing like as cool as an upcoming book to talk about, I’ll have to answer the questions based on my two most active WiPs; technically, I’m working on both of them at the moment. So, it’s not really breaking the rules. Right?

What am I working on?

The first of my current Works-in-Progress, ‘Eldritch’, is a book which I had thought was finished and done with several months ago. However, it would appear not. A very kind and generous agent-person, who shall remain nameless, gave me some wonderfully useful and constructive feedback on the book a while back which – unfortunately, in a way – necessitated the total deconstruction of the story and the story world, and its rebuilding almost from scratch. The characters stayed the same, and the basic plot, but everything else – narrative voice, motivation, stakes (i.e. what’s at risk if the heroes don’t succeed), structure and scope had to be reimagined.

Invigorating work.

Image: superstock.com

‘Eldritch’ is about a boy named Jeff who, on the day he turns thirteen, receives a strange gift from an uncle he’s never heard of before. But the gift is no ordinary one: it is a deeply powerful object, designed (or so Jeff is told) to test whether or not he has inherited the magic that runs in his family – but does his uncle have a larger and more sinister motive? (Spoiler alert: yes.)

My other Work-in-Progress is one that should be familiar to anyone who’s been hanging around here for any length of time. It’s going under the name ‘Emmeline and the Ice-God’, but that’s only a holding title, so so speak. It grew out of my NaNoWriMo project in November 2013 and was completed in January 2014. I have edited, polished and buffed this one several times, and it’s lurking at the corners of my mind, giving me no peace whatsoever. It’s my intention to start submitting it in earnest in (probably) March, if my nerve holds until then.

‘Emmeline’ is the story of an odd little girl who, when her parents are kidnapped, is sent immediately to live with strangers. On the way to her new life she meets an odd little boy with no name, calling himself ‘Thing’, who doesn’t know his own age or anything about his past. They become sort-of friends, despite Emmeline’s misgivings, and he helps her to escape from a dangerous situation. Before they’ve even caught their breaths after this scary encounter, however, Emmeline is abducted by a gang of strange and frightening men. Thing, with the help of a group of people calling themselves ‘The White Flower’, who seem to know a lot about Emmeline and her family, sets off after her… But who has taken her, and why?

And what is the secret of Thing’s past?

*cue dramatic music*

So, yeah. That’s where I’m at. Besides trying to prepare stuff for competitions and magazine submissions, and stuff. Never a dull moment.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

Well – it’s mine. Isn’t that enough? I write children’s books (or, at least, it’s my ambition to write children’s books, ones which are publishable and enjoyable and which will be read and loved), and they all have elements in common – a child protagonist in a world (usually) devoid of parental-figures, for whatever reason; an unsettling challenge or a frightening adventure; things are learned about oneself and the world along the way; friendship is put to the test; monsters are encountered and dealt with – and my books are no different from this tried-and-tested model.

I’d like to think my characters make my work different from other books in their genre, perhaps. I like to write dialogue, and I like to write with humour, and I hope that makes my work memorable. I’m interested in writing about children who are a bit strange, even eccentric, because those are the sort of books I loved to read as a kid.

In fact, I might as well come clean. Those are the sort of books I love to read now, too.

How does my writing process work?

Through panic, mainly. Panic, and my all-consuming fear of failure.

Things that work in my favour: I am good at imposing deadlines on myself, and meeting them, and I am a goal-oriented type. What that means in practice is I can’t let myself shut off of an evening unless I’ve made a particular word-count or hit a particular point in the text, or whatever. Not always a good thing, from a peace of mind point of view, but it’s good for the old self-motivation.

Usually, I plot things out to the nth degree – I didn’t with ‘Emmeline’, and it worked wonderfully, so I will try that again for my next project – and I like to have a sense of the characters before I begin, so I sometimes jot down biographies and motivations and the places in the plot where a certain character’s actions will intersect with another’s, and what effects that’s likely to have, and so on. I like to have an idea of how the book will end before I begin, but I don’t always manage that.

I tend to write careful, self-edited first drafts which are massively overlong. I then make at least two on-screen edits, looking for inconsistencies and errors and repetition (the ‘Find’ function in Word is my best friend), and when I’ve done this I let the work sit for a while. Then, it’s time to print and take the whole book apart with scribbled corrections, which I really enjoy. Then, after another period of percolation, I go over the book on the computer screen again, looking to cut words wherever possible; anything which isn’t utterly necessary is junked. Then it gets left to sit, again, and checked over once more (possibly in print) before the submission process begins.

So, that’s me.

I figure passing on the baton is part of this whole process, so – if she’s willing – I’d like to tag the fabulous E. R. Murray to answer these questions, too.

And finally – thank you, Susan, for considering me worthy of the Blog Tour Torch!

Image: friday-ad.co.uk

 

 

 

New Year, New Liebster Award!

Well, what better start to a New Year could a gal ask for? My pal, and fellow blogger Kate over at Will Wally Wonder has nominated me for a Liebster Award, which basically involves me answering a load of questions about myself and – hopefully – trying to spread the love a little by nominating other people, all of whom are the custodians of blogs I enjoy reading, for the same award. Nobody is under any obligation to take part, of course. It’s all in good fun.

But let’s hope we kickstart the New Year in style, all the same.

Image: willwallywonder.wordpress.com

In bold (below) are the questions Kate put to her Liebster nominees, and which I’ve done my best to respond to.

Name a television program that makes you laugh. Who is your favourite comedian?

Funnily enough, I don’t actually follow a lot of TV comedy any more. The only TV programme I can think of which I hate to miss because I enjoy it so much is ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ It’s one of the shows my husband and I can watch together – understanding the jokes makes me feel clever, and it’s great for me to have him around to explain the more complicated bits. I can’t choose a favourite comedian, either – I really enjoy Bill Bailey and Eddie Izzard in equal measure, so they’ll have to fight it out for the title. Or, just merge into one, and create a new super-comedian…

Tell me about the worst film you have ever seen.

‘The Ninth Gate.’ Has to be. It’s been years since I saw it, and I’ve done my best to wipe my mind of it since, but from what I remember there’s Johnny Depp (usually watchable, yes? Well, not in this festering mess, believe me) who plays a rare book dealer. Like all rare book dealers in film, he’s on the hunt for a book written in the seventeenth century and apparently a copy of a work written by the Devil himself, which gives the reader powers of immortality and super-strength. This reasonable plotline turns into a convoluted and largely senseless chase around Europe with people trying to murder and/or seduce each other as they search for this tome, which culminates in a scene beside a burning castle which I almost felt I hallucinated, it was so bad.

I love mysteries. I love rare books. I love stuff that has to do with codes and the supernatural. Heck, I even love Johnny Depp. But this film is utterly ridiculous, and a total waste of time. In my humble opinion.

What animal do you feel most connected to?

Well. As a melancholy teenager I felt very drawn to dolphins and whales, perhaps due to the mournful calls that whales make ‘neath the waves, or perhaps just because I was passionate about conservation. My room was plastered with posters of them in their natural habitat, and I entertained notions of becoming a marine biologist when I grew up – this was before I realised how utterly useless I was at things like maths, science and standing upright on a boat. With the years I have developed a love for elephants, and I have a small collection of elephant figurines which I prize highly. I wish I lived in a world where they weren’t being held in captivity and/or being hunted for their ivory, though.

Image: animals.nationalgeographic.com

What would be your superpower of choice?

Knowing the right thing to say at every given moment – the right thing to say to help someone when they’re hurting, or when they’re struggling, or when they’re in a wild rage and likely to hurt themselves or someone else, or when a painful truth needs to be shared with a delicate person, or when a misunderstanding with potentially dreadful consequences is looming and needs to be put right before it can do harm. It doesn’t sound like a hugely important superpower, but I think it would be amazing to be able to use words like this, to stave off pain before it even begins.

Of course, like all superpowers it’s wide open to misuse, but I’m pretty sure I could trust myself to use it right and bring calmness and peace wherever I went. If only it were possible.

Name a little moment in time that brings you joy (for example, I love it when the best before date on perishables matches my birthday).

I love it when the numbers on car registration plates add up to one another (like ‘235’) or when two numbers can be multiplied to give another number (like ‘6318’) or divided to give a similar result (like ‘2464’). I used to get massive joy on long car journeys as a kid, doing this sort of simple maths to amuse myself. The more ways I could get the numbers to interact, the better.

My husband tells me this is actually ‘number theory’, and that it belongs to several branches of advanced mathematics, but I just think of it as my registration plate game. It still gives me a jolt of happiness when a car drives past with a satisfyingly balanced and interesting registration plate. Yes, I am a nerd.

What is the oddest object you own?

Gosh.

I don’t really own a lot of odd stuff. I collect books, and I have a mountain of CDs (which I’ve been collecting for over 20 years, in my defence) – in the modern world we live in, books and CDs are quite odd in themselves, but I don’t think that’s what the question means.

Besides that, I suppose you could say that a grown woman with a teddy bear collection is a bit odd. Is it? I have lots of them, and I love every one.

Name a celebrity you’d like to meet for a coffee (or beverage of your choice) because you believe you would get along well.

I think this would have to be the actress Claire Danes. We are almost the same age (give or take a few months) and I have been following her career since the mid-90s, when she played Angela Chase in my favourite TV show, ‘My So-Called Life.’ She’s currently playing Carrie Mathison in ‘Homeland,’ another show I love (mainly because she’s in it). I have always convinced myself we’d get along well, but she’s a multi award-winning artist with several homes across the globe and a background in modern dance, and I’m a person who can’t even stand up without falling over and who once dyed her hair the same colour as a character Claire Danes played on TV, so I’m probably kidding myself.

My bestie! In my dreams.
Image: huffingtonpost.com

Tell me about a moment in your life that has made you unexpectedly emotional.

The most significant recent bout of waterworks, for me, came on Christmas Day during Mass when the congregation started to sing ‘Away in a Manger.’ By the last verse I was a blubbering heap. I have no idea why I became emotional, what triggered it, or why that particular hymn set me off. I am a person who cries easily anyway, so I get attacked by unexpected bouts of emotion at least once a week, but this is the one that springs to mind.

Right! So, I hope those answers passed muster.

Here are the folks I’d like to nominate for the Liebster award – not that they are under any obligation to take part. Mainly, I’d just like to let them know I enjoy their blogs.

Zissa over at Sanity? Optional. Writing? Required, a blog which amazes me with its wit and intelligence and the wonderful things it has to say about writing.

Loonytuney over at The Loony Teen Writer, another blog which amazes me with its wit and intelligence, and the wonderful things it has to say about writing, and the energy and passion its author brings to her subject matter.

Claire over at Written in Haste, a blog which amazes me because it’s always interesting, always fun, always clever – and written by a lady with a tiny son, as well as a demanding job and lots of other calls on her time. Also, she happens to be awesome in real life.

And now I have to supply some questions…

What is your favourite smell, and why?

What object in the world would you most like to own?

If you were a number, which number would you be – and why?

What is your biggest regret (if it’s something you can share)?

What are you most afraid of?

What is your favourite piece of visual art (i.e. not music, literature, theatre), and why?

Tell me about the best dream you ever had.

If you could be anyone, from any historical period, who would you be – and why?