K.S. Nikakis's Blog, page 11

Speculative Fiction Festival

On the 16th of March I went up to Sydney to a day of Spec Fic presenters. What a great day it turned out to be. It was wonderful to sit and sponge up other peoples views. It is also very comforting to spend time with people who walk around looking normal but have another world happening in their heads. Garth Nix, was again, a great speaker. I agree with his premise that you have to write the book you have passion for, but his proviso, that it can be a hard road to find that book a home (ie a commercial publisher) was spot on too. He also made the interesting point that YA is a subsection of Adult, not childrens books. This is important to remember because of the debate about how much swearing, violence, sex etc should or shouldn't be in YA novels. I suppose the answer is as much as needs to be to keep faith with the story. I liked the new category of New Adult, which my works might fit into: 17 or 18 year old protagonists, but adult themes.

Work V. writing

I've been really busy with my paid employment so not much time to blog. Lucky me is involved in writing a new version of a Writing and Publishing degree. It raises a lot of questions about what it is 'worth' studying if you are a writer and or publisher. I was also sent a book recently to review that was so badly written I got my pen out and started correcting it. Study v. publishing your own stuff v. quality v. making money.

Does it matter if something is badly written if the story is 'good'? Do readers notice something is well written anyway? Is this concern about 'good writing' just a teacher hang up and redundant now anyone can publish online.

Interesting and important questions, especially as I am a writer who runs a degree.

self-censorship

I've realised that my female hero is being done over by a lot of men in recent chapters. She keeps getting jumped and I wonder if this is sending a good message about female strength. Then again, she is very determined and tends to win out for all sorts of reasons other than physical strength. Given the horrors of some women's lives in the world, I do ponder what I should be writing and why. In the end, I try to let the story unfold without censoring it. Still, it does concern me.

Hunter of the Heart

I am still tossing up whether Hunter, or Hunter of the Heart (as I also title it) is adult or YA. Maybe I should call it Cross-over and be done with it, except that publishers tend to keep the areas distinct in their submission policies. Have recently sent it off to a publisher as YA and before I did so, I revisited and edited the sex scenes. These are far less explicit now. But this then raised the question as to how much, if any, sex is allowable in YA. Given that a YA reader might be 12 or 18 year olds, the range of what is acceptable is large. I also looked at the topic online and discovered a variety of views there. The taboo of sex before marriage seemed to be key in some of these. It remains an interesting question as a writer.

More on The Hobbit

Friends have just seen it and disagreed with all my criticisms. We did though debate the difference between books and films. My view is that there is a story which is expressed as a book, then it is expressed as a film. The book is not expressed as a film but the story is. It makes sense because you can describe what a character is thinking in a book, but in a film, this is far more difficult. On the other hand, visuals are immediate and powerful; working with words is very different. It is always lovely when a film accords with the vision the book generates but it's best not to expect it to.

The Hobbit take 2

I've just seen The Hobbit again but this time in 3D. I enjoyed it more this time but I don't think it had much to do with being in 3D. A second viewing allows you to pick up things missed the first time around. I love the broodingly handsome Thorin Oakenshield (the name is after an actual legendary character but Jackson has him using a lump of oak as a shield). Usually a trilogy has the blackest bits (fighting) in book or film 2 so it will be interesting to see what happens in film 2 given all the battles in film 1. The eagle graphics were great and I hadn't noticed that as much the first time.

The Hobbit

Lucky me saw The Hobbit in Singapore a few days ago. Beats me in this day and age why Australia has to wait. The Hobbit hasn't the depth of LotRs but of course it is a children's book. I guess given that so much is similar to LotRs, you expect the pathos to be similar. It is a very enjoyable film but it is a shame it wasn't made before LotRs. It has the same problem as StarWars in that we know Anarkin Skywalker goes bad. In The Hobbit, we know Saruman goes bad later. Still, all fantasy writers like me are thrilled when fantasy is made into terrific films. We all dream of seeing our own characters on the big screen.

Ngoro Ngoro Conservation Zone

this is in the Rift Valley in Africa (Tanzania)and is thought to be where humankind originated. We arrived at the hotel in the evening. The Ngoro Ngoro reserve is in a massive volcanic crater and has a lake in the centre. The hotel looks over it. The lake was like a pale blue shard of ice as the light ebbed, and perfectly reflected the clouds and crater rim. The sight was sublimely beautiful but then I shifted my gaze down and saw a delicate antelope, stepping like a ballerina, below my balcony. We got up to see the sun rise the next morning but the crater was filled with cloud. Then we heard a lion roar. I'm not sure how such wondrous things will affect my writing, but I'm sure they will.

Finding amazing places

I am lucky enough to be in the Ngorongoro conservation area in Tanzania. Last night we were in a hotel which overlooked the crater which is a major part of the area. We got there at dusk and the view was of a milky white shining absolutely still lake. This whole area is in the Rift Valley in Africa which is thought to be the cradle of humankind. The sight was so wonderful, that I didn't look down at first. When I did look, there was a gazelle; delicate, graceful and with luminous bambi eyes. The next day we spent in the conservation area seeing animals, including a cheetah,lions, elephants, hippos, baboons and bat eared foxes. Absolutely magic and sure to be in my writing

in Lisbon

Lucky me, I am in Lisbon. It has rained every day so far but isn't cold. The streets are narrow and paved in pinkish terrazzo, which reminds me a bit of Fed Square in Melbourne. The buildings are pink and pale yellow. It struck me that they might draw their inspiration from fruit blossoms as they produce oranges and lemons, just as the bright blue and brilliant white of Greece seems to draw on the Aegean. I've made a pact to write a poem a day. By day 4 I have about 2 lines I can use! Still, it is fun to exercise the poetry muscles while away from my novels. As a writer I am sponging up as many new things as possible. My conference starts tomorrow which is in the area of fantasy and science fiction. My paper is on the importance of certain geographical features in the hero's journey. More interesting than it sounds!