Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "art"

My guest this week is the multi-talented Sandra Yuen MacKay. She is an artist and writer. I first connected with Sandra via Goodreads over a year ago.
When I read her memoir,My Schizophrenic Life: The Road to Recovery From Mental Illness, I was in awe at how someone who had battled through a mental illness was able to achieve so much. She is a special person and a kind and generous friend. I'm happy we became friends, and would recommend that everyone read her memoir if only because it blows away some myths surrounding mental illness and tells the story through the eyes of someone who lives with the struggle and is able to stand as an inspiration and role-model for others.

As well as agreeing to answer my questions, Sandra is giving away an ebook copy of her memoir, or her new book, Hell's Fire, to one lucky reader of my blog. All you have to do to win is leave a comment below, or simply 'Like' this post, and we'll enter you into the draw. A winner will be picked at random on the 1st October 2011.

Here's the interview:

Do you have any tips for someone who is considering self-publishing their own book?

Self-publishing isn't for all writers. Ask yourself, how much money, time and effort are you willing to put into it? Self-publishing gives you control over the content and design of your book and also a larger profit per book sold. If you do self-publish, make sure you edit and proofread your work closely or find someone to do it beforehand. Having said that, you may have a quality book but you still need to promote it.

Weigh your options. If you are concerned about upfront costs consider print on demand or e-books. Do you need an ISBN and do you need to register it? BestsellerBound, an indie website, may connect you with other self-publishers who can answer questions you may have. Word of mouth and building a professional website are a good starting point. Free book giveaways or blog tours may be useful. Even if you have a traditional publisher, you still should promote yourself.

Your book ‘My Schizophrenic Life’ deals with your personal journey and road to recovery from mental illness.  I think it’s a book that should be read by mental health professionals as it gives insight into what someone with schizoaffective disorder is thinking and feeling. Have you had any feedback from any psychiatrists or psychologists who may have read the book and if so, what sort of comments do they have?



Yes I have. David Laing Dawson, a psychiatrist, writer, and filmmaker wrote: "Puts the reader nicely in her shoes experiencing the paranoia, misinterpretations, hallucinations."

Julie Holland, a psychiatrist and author in New York wrote: "There are precious few people who have experienced psychosis and can convey it accurately, clearly, and concisely. Sandra MacKay's story is an important one for all of us in the mental health field - doctors, patients, and their families. It is imperative that we take in the lessons she is imparting to us all, on how to manage, and in many ways, triumph over chronic mental illness."

I've received many favourable comments from people in the health field including occupational therapists and psychotherapist Laura Schultz (see link below for reviews).

You have suffered from your mental illness since you were a teenager.  Do you think the mental health system (doctors/hospitals) has improved in the time since you were first diagnosed?  Also, what do you think they could be doing better?

Previously, medication and electric shock treatment were the most common ways to treat the mentally ill. Since then, they introduced the recovery model, which puts the client first and is built around his or her needs and goals. Health professionals are moving toward a more holistic approach to treating clients. In Vancouver, BC, there seems to be more community supports and organizations to help people with mental illness. There's more community awareness and education in schools to reduce stigma. However, I'd like to see better medications without major side effects and more access for family members and caregivers to get support.

I understand that your creativity helped you to some extent when you were going through difficult times.  I also know that you are or were involved in a project that offered creative classes to people with mental illness.  In what way would you say creativity helps someone with mental illness?



There is a longstanding belief that mental illness and heightened creativity are linked. Personally, I see an association between my imagination and motivation to write and paint, and my illness. Creativity is a constructive outlet for my positive and negative energies.

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What is the one message you would like readers to take from your memoir?

People with mental illness aren't so different from everyone else despite our portrayal in the media. With the right treatment, there are people with mental illness who function well and contribute to society. I could have fallen by the wayside, but I received support and developed insight into my symptoms.

I know that you’re an artist as well as a writer.  I have enjoyed looking at your art work on your website and of course, the cover of ‘My Schizophrenic Life’ is one of your paintings.  You have a distinctive style, very colourful and eye-catching.  If you had to choose between writing and art, which would you choose?

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That's a difficult question to answer! I seek variety in what I do. My creativity comes in cycles. Sometimes I paint for days, sometimes I'm really involving in a writing project for months at a time. I don't prefer one over the other, but rather do both at different times.

Do you have any favourite artists?  If so, what is it about their art that you like?

As I have a background in art history, there are a lot of major artists and movements I appreciate. However, I particularly enjoy the Fauvists, Expressionists, and many Canadian painters like Tom Thomson, Jack Shadbolt and Gordon Smith. Each of these artists has given me something in the development of my own style especially in the use of colour.

Your latest book is a fiction story. ‘Hell’s Fire’ is a science fiction novella.  Is science fiction your favourite genre to write, or have you tried writing other genres?



I've written other unpublished stories in different genres. Some explore mental illness, culture, romance, murder, suicide and the paranormal. So I haven't limited myself to one genre however, all of these stories have pieces of my own experience or what I've observed in others.

Who are your favourite authors and what is it about their writing that you like?

I enjoy Margaret Atwood, Jeffrey Archer, Arthur C. Clarke, and Lorna T. Suzukiwho wrote the Imago series. I might add Maria Savva to that list as well! Each of these writers has the ability to wind a tale that totally engrosses me as a reader without a lot of fluff. Reading diverse genres suits my tastes.

Is there a book you own that you’ve read more than once?

I don't own it, but I've read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood more than once. I've also read Stephen King's On Writing over again.

What was the last book you read?

Recently, I read Kathryn Stockett's The Help. I liked the way the point of view changed between chapters. Each narrator has a unique voice and personality. Also reading about the racial tension and struggle struck me deeply.

Are you reading a book at the moment?

Currently I'm reading The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson. I find it interesting to see how the characters develop and change over time.

What do you think of e-books?

I don't own an e-book reader but more people are moving that way. Some people still say they prefer to hold a book in their hands, but technology is moving to more paperless communication. I envision e-books in the future that are more interactive where readers can click on words or phrases and link to other trivia sources, or choose the character's next move, complete quizzes, and communicate with authors.

How important are reviews for you as a writer?

Reviews inform potential readers about the quality of a book, which may increase sales. In turn, reviews give me objective feedback, which hopefully can aid me in fine-tuning my future writing.

How do you go about choosing a cover for your books?

For My Schizophrenic Life and Hell's Fire, I designed the covers using my art and photography. The cover may be the customer's first impression of one's book so they have to stand out on the store shelf. I choose images that are a unique, refer to the content in a way, and as you said are "eye-catching."

Are you working on any other books?

I recently submitted a manuscript to some publishers. It's a novel about a Chinese girl who sacrifices for her sister when her parents divorce. Other than that I'm mostly working on my editor's column for "Majestic," an online newsletter for Lit.org, a writers forum.

Do you have any upcoming events that you’d like to tell people about?

On November 1st after 7 pm Pacific Time, I'll be on a Sound Therapy radio broadcast at CJSF 90.1 FM in Burnaby, British Columbia. I will be selling my book and art at some local art fairs if you live near Vancouver and would like to contact me.

Where can people buy your books?

My Schizophrenic Life is available in print & ebook at:
Amazon USA
Amazon Canada
Chapters Indigo - Canada (print only)
Amazon UK
Smashwords (ebook only)


Hell's Fire is available as an e-book at:
Amazon USA
Smashwords
Amazon UK

Some versions of my book are also available on Amazon in Germany, Italy and France.

Where can readers and fans find you on the internet?

Psychopia video at: http://vimeo.com/27794085
My blog, reviews, and radio/video interviews are at: Letters From Sandra

My art can be viewed at: http://symackay.webs.com
or http://www3.telus.net/sandra_yuen_mackay

I'm the editor for Majestic

Facebook

Linkedin

Thank you, Sandra!

Remember, if you want to enter the draw to try to win a copy of one of Sandra's book, leave a comment below, or click the 'Like' button. Good luck!

So far this year I have chosen the following books as my favourites:

January: The Day the Flowers Died by Ami Blackwelder -- a tear-jerker/historical Romance

February: Caviar Dreams by Judy Nichols -- murder/mystery with characters you can believe in.

March: Horse Latitudes by Quentin R. Bufogle -- a laugh-out-loud insightful book that everyone can relate to.

April: Into The Light by Darcia Helle -- a humourous suspense/mystery/paranormal novel

May: Rock Fiction selection: Metallic Dreams by Mark Rice, 33 Days: Touring In A Van. Sleeping On Floors. Chasing A Dream. by Bill See, Pixels of Young Mueller by Jerry Schwartz, B-Sides and Broken Hearts by Caryn Rose, and Ladies and Gentlemen...The Redeemers, by Michael Scott Miller

June: Beyond My Control: One Man's Struggle with Epilepsy, Seizure Surgery and Beyond by Stuart Ross McCallum

My selection for July is a masterpiece by an author who, in my opinion, is one of the finest authors writing today.





Breathing into Stone by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick, is a book that takes the reader away to another place and time. It's a historical romance novel. Here's the review I wrote when I read it:

This is a spellbinding work of fiction. The characters come alive on the page and become real; the reader is a spectator watching their lives unfold. I feel like I know the little town of Resceto and would be able to find my way from Anoria's house to Pia and Tito's house. I could see the sculptures in the garden and in front of the church. In fact I would love to visit. When I reached the last page, I felt it was time to say goodbye to friends... I didn't want it to end. Anoria was so real and so enigmatic that I wanted to be able to follow her life for ever.
Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick has documented the lives of fictional characters, but in doing so he seems to have created another world somewhere back in time, a captivating and enchanting world that welcomes the reader and takes them far away.
Antonio Lisi is a master sculptor. He is said to breathe life into stone when he creates angels and religious sculptures and other work that is commissioned. Many of his sculptures look like his daughter, Anoria. Particularly the sculpture of The Lady which stands outside the church in Resceto. The author allows us to glimpse into the world of this master sculptor, shrouded in mystery and superstition. For years, Antonio has not allowed his daughter to watch him work. He has his reasons, but in keeping her away from the marble she loves, he has kept her in an arrested state, almost as if she were a piece of his marble not yet transformed to life. Anoria is blessed with the same talent as her father of being able to see the figures in the stone work before they are created, but more so; she seems to have an understanding of marble that no one else possesses. Her beauty captures the heart of a priest, Novia, who has become bitter and angry and is now feared by all. Novia tries to plot against Antonio Lisi with the aim of fleeing the church which he feels has kept him captive, when his unhealthy obsession with Anoria takes over his mind.
You will find drama, humour and wisdom within the pages of 'Breathing into Stone.' Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick has created a masterpiece. His characters may breathe life into stone when they chip away at marble, but Kirkpatrick breathes life onto paper when he writes.

I hope you'll add Breathing into Stone to your to-read list! You won't regret it!

I attended The Literary Consultancy's conference at the weekend and really enjoyed it.

In the coming weeks I am going to be sharing some of the highlights of the conference with you, and also my thoughts on the event.

I'm hoping the series of blogs will be useful to writers and readers.

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The first speaker at the event was Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife.

I found her speech interesting and inspirational.

Audrey is a visual artist as well as a writer. She said most people's reactions in the publishing industry to the way the digital age is developing is "jumpy and alarmed".

The backdrop for her speech were various slides based on the history of typography and how the letters of the alphabet developed over the years and in different languages. I think she said the pictures were from Meggs' History of Graphic Design.

Audrey Niffenegger was trained as a visual artist and she said that the way she thinks of a book is in terms of putting images and words together. She was 40 when she wrote her first novel.

When she trained as an artist, she said it was all about expressing ideas, not going with the flow, not following trends, breaking new ground. She was inspired by Aubrey Beardley.

In Niffenegger's last two years at art school she wrote a book that was mostly pictures with a bit of text, The Adventuress. When she graduated she tried to get it published but it was rejected because it was too original and different. She went on to show it at an art gallery and sold a few copies.



14 years later she wrote another illustrated book, The Three Incestuous Sisters and sold only a few copies. In the process of doing that, she got involved with other people doing conceptual books. She and a group of other book artists, papermakers, and designers founded a new book arts centre, the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. The idea was to tie in art with computer, sound, film, video, interdisciplinary arts.

Tn 1994 they started offering classes and a couple of years later graduate dregrees (MFAs Master of Fine Arts). Many of the students were graphic designers. The idea behind the book art centre was to allow students to do what they want.

While working there as an assistant director, she was in charge of writing the catalogues describing the classes and she wanted to find ways of making the descriptions of the classes more interesting, so she started writing them more creatively and this made her mind think differently. It was around that time she started writing The Time Traveler's Wife.



The idea behind that novel, for her, developed by asking questions. She began to find that her own reality worked its way into the fiction, for example one of the characters in the book is a paper-making artist.

When she sent the manuscript out, it was rejected more than thirty times. Then an independent press picked it up and published it. At the time, that independent press MacAdam/Cage only had 14 employees. The novel has since sold 7 million copies and has been translated into many different languages, and of course there is now a film.

She found that the success of that book allowed her the freedom to experiment with other publishing. Her first book picture book, that had been initially rejected, was then picked up by Abrams and has sold well.

Audrey stated that the reach she now has, due to the success of that one book, has created opportunity. Her current project is a fairy tale that has been made into a ballet, Raven Girl.



The whole nature of publishing has changed since she first published The Time Traveller's Wife. She explained how when she signed the contract, the concept of e-book rights wasn't even considered, so she found she still owned all the rights. She didn't publish it in e-book for quite a while, wanting to wait for the right moment.

A great influence on Audrey has been her agent, Joe Regal. In 2011, he started a company called Zola Books, named for the writer Émile Zola. Audrey helped Joe set up the company. The idea behind it is that e-books could and should be better. The idea is also to bring the community together through social networking and partnering with independent bookshops and authors.

For The Time Traveller's Wife e-book, she is writing a sequel to go with it.

Audrey says that things that succeed are: "Useful, beautiful, friendly, and make themselves available to you." These are the ideas behind book production on Zola Books. She mentioned that there is an idea to make e-books available on 5 devices so that you can register on the site and move your e-book to any of your reading devices.

She believes that distribution is the most important thing when it comes to e-books.

She recommended a book, "The Gift" which is a study of creativity.

She says that she believes creativity has to be somewhere people can interact with it. She pointed at fan fiction as one of the most active ways this is happening lately, with readers becoming writers and back again.

In her book that is now a ballet, she has an idea to include sound and animation that would be an extension of the text. Although, she did say that she finds it distracting to listen to music with lyrics when she's writing. I do too. I know that there are some writers that can write and listen to songs at the same time, though.

Audrey's experience in the publishing industry is a good example of how much has changed, and at quite a rapid rate, over the past twenty years or so. What Audrey's students were once doing in the paper arts centre is now being done on computers and in digital form for e-books. Despite all the changes, she says that in the publishing world everyone depends on everyone else, and she doesn't see e-books as a challenge to paperbacks.

Audrey's speech affirmed to me some things that I already knew about the publishing world and writers in general, but it was good to hear it from a multi-million bestselling author. She has her feet firmly on the ground even after all her success, and I believe that is because she had to work hard to become successful and didn't quit.

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There's a Walrus in My Bed! by Ciara Flood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've bought both of Ciara Flood's previous books for my nephew and nieces, and they absolutely love them, so I decided to buy this latest book for them as well. It's beautifully illustrated, as are all this author's books. The story is a lot of fun. It's a cleverly written story, and it was a hit with the children. If you're looking for a gift for a child, this book is perfect. I'd also recommend Ciara Flood's other books: Those Pesky Rabbits and The Perfect Picnic.







View all my reviews