Gillian Polack's Blog, page 52
October 15, 2014
gillpolack @ 2014-10-15T23:01:00
Tonight's talk was interesting. I don't know if it was interesting to hear, but it was fascinating to watch everyone's faces. CSFG meets in a small room, so I was up close and personal, which I don't get as often as I used to.
I thought you might like my notes (without any explanations, of course, for that would mean doing a half hour of talk all over again and bed beckons and besides, I can't see any faces so how can I adapt the talk to meet your needs?) - the subject is on research for writers of novels:
1. Shape of text (specific to writer, specific to text)
2. Shape of subject (including scholarly interpretation)
3. Shape of available sources (primary, secondary, tertiary, note that languages used help shape perceived sources)
4. Obtaining understanding, shaping the text alongside the development of world-for-novel
5. Presenting it to readers: telling detail, world of novel, using genre conventions
I have absolutely no idea if the notes make sense without my many-minutes of explanation, but the talk made enough sense so that we had a half hour of solid (and even impassioned) discussion afterwards.
Tomorrow I have no meetings, no teaching and will use the hours saved to spend time-out with friends. I have editing to do in the interstices again, though. And a re-envisioning of footnotes. If I come across anything exciting, I'll let you know. Don't try to follow me, though, for I'll be in the Middle Ages and it could get dangerous.
I thought you might like my notes (without any explanations, of course, for that would mean doing a half hour of talk all over again and bed beckons and besides, I can't see any faces so how can I adapt the talk to meet your needs?) - the subject is on research for writers of novels:
1. Shape of text (specific to writer, specific to text)
2. Shape of subject (including scholarly interpretation)
3. Shape of available sources (primary, secondary, tertiary, note that languages used help shape perceived sources)
4. Obtaining understanding, shaping the text alongside the development of world-for-novel
5. Presenting it to readers: telling detail, world of novel, using genre conventions
I have absolutely no idea if the notes make sense without my many-minutes of explanation, but the talk made enough sense so that we had a half hour of solid (and even impassioned) discussion afterwards.
Tomorrow I have no meetings, no teaching and will use the hours saved to spend time-out with friends. I have editing to do in the interstices again, though. And a re-envisioning of footnotes. If I come across anything exciting, I'll let you know. Don't try to follow me, though, for I'll be in the Middle Ages and it could get dangerous.
October 14, 2014
Important note on Langue[dot]doc 1305
If you buy a copy of Langue[dot]doc 1305 from Amazon and get sent an uncorrected proof, this is Amazon's mistake. They have tangled their files and printed you out the wrong book. It's not my publisher's fault. I would appreciate it if you could grump at Amazon, so that they send you the book you ordered. The final not only has the prettier cover, but it also is corrected ie more fun to read.
The only bookshop that has new uncorrected proofs (unless people have sold theirs, in which case they are second-hand books) is Porcupine Books in London and the number of them is limited and there will be no more when they're gone and they're ALL SIGNED. So if you actually want an uncorrected proof, Porcupine Books has them, properly, and everyone else is either selling second hand or producing new books after the final has been supplied unto them (which is a file control issue).
PS Thanks,
shewhomust
, for letting me know about the problem!
The only bookshop that has new uncorrected proofs (unless people have sold theirs, in which case they are second-hand books) is Porcupine Books in London and the number of them is limited and there will be no more when they're gone and they're ALL SIGNED. So if you actually want an uncorrected proof, Porcupine Books has them, properly, and everyone else is either selling second hand or producing new books after the final has been supplied unto them (which is a file control issue).
PS Thanks,
shewhomust
, for letting me know about the problem!
gillpolack @ 2014-10-14T21:49:00
I just had a long talk with my mother about a cousin. I didn't realise he'd died, but a friend mentioned his death in a blog entry. It was not the way I expected to learn about it, but my mother discovered it through the paper which was significantly worse. My cousin was a well-known writer and so the family grapevine was beaten by the press.
I didn't know him that well (we met very rarely and I'm pretty sure he had no idea I was related when we did meet) but his sister was and remains one of my favourite people. I've always regretted somewhat that Morrie and I didn't know each other. I've lost the chance now. Vale Morrie Lurie. I regret not knowing you properly.
I didn't know him that well (we met very rarely and I'm pretty sure he had no idea I was related when we did meet) but his sister was and remains one of my favourite people. I've always regretted somewhat that Morrie and I didn't know each other. I've lost the chance now. Vale Morrie Lurie. I regret not knowing you properly.
October 13, 2014
gillpolack @ 2014-10-14T10:38:00
My entertaining fact of the day is that every time I get a new book out, my mother will order it from her local bookshop (to support me, because she's my mother - she'll also do a very tough book review also because she's my mother) - what I only just realised is that she rings me in the middle of the order, every single time.
"I'm just checking the details," she says. Except that she knows the details. She's very careful about details of books, always. So why does she ring?
"You just want to let the bookseller know that you know me," I said yesterday, in a wild claim.
"That's right," Mum was entirely unapologetic about it.
Just the memory of that conversation sends me towards coffee. I can read for fun as long as that coffee lasts, and then I must edit. Today I am editing-central.
"I'm just checking the details," she says. Except that she knows the details. She's very careful about details of books, always. So why does she ring?
"You just want to let the bookseller know that you know me," I said yesterday, in a wild claim.
"That's right," Mum was entirely unapologetic about it.
Just the memory of that conversation sends me towards coffee. I can read for fun as long as that coffee lasts, and then I must edit. Today I am editing-central.
gillpolack @ 2014-10-13T23:45:00
I'm home, but a bit tired. I've done a bunch of work today, and I napped on the bus from Sydney, but I was dogged by smoke from burning-off in Sydney and thunderstorms on the way home and my body is sulking a bit. I've no more travel for the rest of the year, though, so my body now has a chance to stop sulking.
I read four books while I was away. One of them was purely because I wanted to. As I tend to, I dropped into Galaxy Bookshop in Sydney and asked the staff there to recommend my bus reading. I could have read another Aurealis book (for I had four with me and had only read three), but I like the tradition of asking. Each time I get to talk to a different staff member and each time they introduce me to their personal favourites and my reading grows a little. Today's book was by Darynda Jones (First Grave on the Right) and was perfect for a bus trip that started in smoke and ended in storm.
In terms of my Aurealis reading, I calculate that I need to maintain an average of 30 books a month this month and next and it might go up in December if publishers suddenly remember that it's a bumper year for fantasy novels. It *is* a bumper year for fantasy novels, but most of them haven't been nominated for the award, so I'm being cautious. (In fact, we only have about 40 novels submitted so far, which isn't many.) I'm only a bit short with my October reading so far, I think, for I've read ten books this month. I've got a lot of other things to do, though, and lost a few days with those formatting issues, so I don't count this as falling behind yet. Watch this space, though, for exciting number counts.
If I don't judge the Aurealis next year, I'll be able to go back to reviewing books. We'll see. I may not have time. I may have more news for you soon. Or I may not. My feet are madly paddling under water - the question is how much headway I'm making. If only I could chat wildly about the cause of the paddling, then I could write more interesting posts again. Alas and woe is me.
Except there is some news. On November 2 my first post for The History Girls will appear. I'm totally chuffed about this (not about my post, which just a Gillianish post) but about The History Girls.
I'm also chuffed at the number of people who are telling me that they're ordering my novel. The need to tell me personally is, I think, a follow-on from the number of people who felt they had to tell me personally about their reaction to Cellophane. I don't think that Langue[dot]doc 1305 is going to elicit that same overwhelming personal response, but I do think that quite a few of the readers who cared about Liz want to see what else I'm up to with my writing. I suspect some of them will be more interested in The Art of Effective Dreaming (aka the cursed novel) which has just entered its cycle of editing for Satalyte. It is a bit surreal to be editing a novel the week after the previous novel is released, but my life is catching up, I think, on lost time, for tomorrow I am editing something else entirely. This means that my blog is not wildly fascinating, but my life is. I was going to go back on the Conflux committee, for I've had enough of a break, but I need to do this other stuff. And I'm enjoying this other stuff and it's what I said I would do if I could - follow my dreams instead of being there for everyone else's dreams. It's just very odd to have it happening so very quickly and so much behind the scenes. Except for jobs: there are still no jobs. And some of my academic publications have fallen in a heap, as is their wont. Others haven't, though, so I can't complain, since I always get the rain and now, at least, there is some life-sunshine and rainbows and a lot of running to chase them.
And on that note, I'd better do something useful before bed! My last trick was a table of contexts, which means the next rabbit I shall pull out of a hat is probably going to be another Aurealis book.
I read four books while I was away. One of them was purely because I wanted to. As I tend to, I dropped into Galaxy Bookshop in Sydney and asked the staff there to recommend my bus reading. I could have read another Aurealis book (for I had four with me and had only read three), but I like the tradition of asking. Each time I get to talk to a different staff member and each time they introduce me to their personal favourites and my reading grows a little. Today's book was by Darynda Jones (First Grave on the Right) and was perfect for a bus trip that started in smoke and ended in storm.
In terms of my Aurealis reading, I calculate that I need to maintain an average of 30 books a month this month and next and it might go up in December if publishers suddenly remember that it's a bumper year for fantasy novels. It *is* a bumper year for fantasy novels, but most of them haven't been nominated for the award, so I'm being cautious. (In fact, we only have about 40 novels submitted so far, which isn't many.) I'm only a bit short with my October reading so far, I think, for I've read ten books this month. I've got a lot of other things to do, though, and lost a few days with those formatting issues, so I don't count this as falling behind yet. Watch this space, though, for exciting number counts.
If I don't judge the Aurealis next year, I'll be able to go back to reviewing books. We'll see. I may not have time. I may have more news for you soon. Or I may not. My feet are madly paddling under water - the question is how much headway I'm making. If only I could chat wildly about the cause of the paddling, then I could write more interesting posts again. Alas and woe is me.
Except there is some news. On November 2 my first post for The History Girls will appear. I'm totally chuffed about this (not about my post, which just a Gillianish post) but about The History Girls.
I'm also chuffed at the number of people who are telling me that they're ordering my novel. The need to tell me personally is, I think, a follow-on from the number of people who felt they had to tell me personally about their reaction to Cellophane. I don't think that Langue[dot]doc 1305 is going to elicit that same overwhelming personal response, but I do think that quite a few of the readers who cared about Liz want to see what else I'm up to with my writing. I suspect some of them will be more interested in The Art of Effective Dreaming (aka the cursed novel) which has just entered its cycle of editing for Satalyte. It is a bit surreal to be editing a novel the week after the previous novel is released, but my life is catching up, I think, on lost time, for tomorrow I am editing something else entirely. This means that my blog is not wildly fascinating, but my life is. I was going to go back on the Conflux committee, for I've had enough of a break, but I need to do this other stuff. And I'm enjoying this other stuff and it's what I said I would do if I could - follow my dreams instead of being there for everyone else's dreams. It's just very odd to have it happening so very quickly and so much behind the scenes. Except for jobs: there are still no jobs. And some of my academic publications have fallen in a heap, as is their wont. Others haven't, though, so I can't complain, since I always get the rain and now, at least, there is some life-sunshine and rainbows and a lot of running to chase them.
And on that note, I'd better do something useful before bed! My last trick was a table of contexts, which means the next rabbit I shall pull out of a hat is probably going to be another Aurealis book.
October 11, 2014
gillpolack @ 2014-10-11T23:02:00
Today I revisited some of the fun of a few weeks ago, except in Sydney. I taught at the NSW Writers' Centre, a beautiful old house in a lovely part of Sydney. Lewis Morley picked me up and I joined him and Marilyn Pride at the launch of Nick Stathopoulos' new exhibition. Lewis and Marilyn and I tested a new gelati place (it passed its test), did a bit of shopping, then joined more friends for coffee. They went home and all the other friends and I had dinner. Now I'm sitting, replete and befriended in a friend's loungeroom.
I like this brand of normal.
I like this brand of normal.
October 9, 2014
gillpolack @ 2014-10-10T10:55:00
I tick one thing off a list and two more things appear. I tick faster and only one thing appears. I've taken to sequestering stuff to be dealt with next week, because.
In other news, Sydney public transport still bewilders me. Getting from here to there takes 2 ferries or a train and a bus, except where I use the route finder, then it takes a train, two buses and a 25 minute walk. Getting anywhere in Canberra after 6 pm is much easier, since mostly it's not possible. Our new timetable makes everything easier.
I may or may not be silent for the next few days. It depends on how much other stuff I'm getting done. Which reminds me of two more things to put on my list. Which brings me back full circle.
In other news, Sydney public transport still bewilders me. Getting from here to there takes 2 ferries or a train and a bus, except where I use the route finder, then it takes a train, two buses and a 25 minute walk. Getting anywhere in Canberra after 6 pm is much easier, since mostly it's not possible. Our new timetable makes everything easier.
I may or may not be silent for the next few days. It depends on how much other stuff I'm getting done. Which reminds me of two more things to put on my list. Which brings me back full circle.
gillpolack @ 2014-10-09T22:39:00
Today is a bit busy. Also a bit full-of-aches. I keep finding things that didn't happen because of last weekend, too. I finish the big things, but some of the small escape me. They would escape me less if life behaved a little more nicely, but it's never going to and I should just stop expecting this.
When things calm down a bit, I'm going to take a deep breath and get a handle on the changes around me. The last three months have been so very big that I'm not sure what direction is up, quite yet. This is another unexpected effect of the Schroedinger situation. I'd expected instant clarification leading to some resolution. As it is, some things are resolving and are clarified and I'm too busy handling them to know if they're happening for better or if I need a week off in a quiet place to contemplate my navel. This is unexpected. It's probably change of season and need for financial stability and just a bit less pain. For my life is pretty good, apart from those three things. Also, it's mostly under control, which, given the quantity of happenings, isn't half bad.
Anyhow, this is why you're getting mundane posts instead of "Wow, look what's happening!" I'm in "Look what's happening!" period, but haven't time to sit back and marvel. Also, the finances are OK, but not plentiful, so I spend a lot of time putting this here and this there and making ends meet, which is life-as-usual. Speaking of which, my exciting task for the next hour is emails.
When things calm down a bit, I'm going to take a deep breath and get a handle on the changes around me. The last three months have been so very big that I'm not sure what direction is up, quite yet. This is another unexpected effect of the Schroedinger situation. I'd expected instant clarification leading to some resolution. As it is, some things are resolving and are clarified and I'm too busy handling them to know if they're happening for better or if I need a week off in a quiet place to contemplate my navel. This is unexpected. It's probably change of season and need for financial stability and just a bit less pain. For my life is pretty good, apart from those three things. Also, it's mostly under control, which, given the quantity of happenings, isn't half bad.
Anyhow, this is why you're getting mundane posts instead of "Wow, look what's happening!" I'm in "Look what's happening!" period, but haven't time to sit back and marvel. Also, the finances are OK, but not plentiful, so I spend a lot of time putting this here and this there and making ends meet, which is life-as-usual. Speaking of which, my exciting task for the next hour is emails.
October 7, 2014
gillpolack @ 2014-10-07T20:25:00
It's just a week before I get back to what passes for normal around here. Such an exciting time!
Early sales of my book have been good but, more importantly, early reactions to my book have been good. Since I'm not likely to ever get best sellerdom, this is my indication that my books are being read and enjoyed.
The next novel to appear will be the cursed one, and it will be out quite soon. My new publisher rather likes the idea of publishing a cursed novel, too.
All my regular payments (royalties and such) appeared at once and they're about what I expected. The timing is excellent, though, for bills keep emerging the way bills do. What was nice was the number of them. I keep forgetting that the more books one has in print in different places the more one is likely to see a bit here and a bit there.
That's not everything. it's not even nearly everything. But I'm tired and have much work to do, so it must do.
Early sales of my book have been good but, more importantly, early reactions to my book have been good. Since I'm not likely to ever get best sellerdom, this is my indication that my books are being read and enjoyed.
The next novel to appear will be the cursed one, and it will be out quite soon. My new publisher rather likes the idea of publishing a cursed novel, too.
All my regular payments (royalties and such) appeared at once and they're about what I expected. The timing is excellent, though, for bills keep emerging the way bills do. What was nice was the number of them. I keep forgetting that the more books one has in print in different places the more one is likely to see a bit here and a bit there.
That's not everything. it's not even nearly everything. But I'm tired and have much work to do, so it must do.
October 6, 2014
gillpolack @ 2014-10-06T21:24:00
I suspect that even my low-key Conflux was just a bit much in terms of energy, but I'm very glad I've done it. I didn't get to see the partying mob, but I've seen at least some of the friends I wanted to see and spend time with. I've fed those friends who could get to my place, but they've washed dishes and my kitchen and bathroom are cleaner than when they arrived.Some of my friends have taken note that I am not perhaps up to six conventions in three months and they've taken care of me. I've got just a few days before I go to Sydney to teach and I suspect I might have to ration my energies between now and then.
I haven't had time to organise the usual dinner party in Sydney for Saturday night. I've had several suggestions for places to go, but can't work out how far they are (walking) and what's open when and who wants to come. It's still happening, though. Anyone who wants to dine should meet me (us) at the QVB by 6.30 pm. If it's open, we'll meet in the coffeeshop in the basement and if it's not, then we'll meet at the ground floor coffee shop near the statue of Victoria. We'll work out what can be done from there, for there are so many food places close by that one of them hopefully will work.
In really, really good news, my book was well-received at Conflux. Thank you, Satalyte and the Conflux committee (especially the awesome Karen Herkes) and all the wonderful people who supported the launch and bought my novel!
In slightly bizarre news, two copies of Life through Cellophane have appeared from mystery-boxes. They're author-copies, and they went missing a while ago. I'd given up on them. Anyway, I now have them back and will hang onto them for a little and think about what to do with them.
I haven't had time to organise the usual dinner party in Sydney for Saturday night. I've had several suggestions for places to go, but can't work out how far they are (walking) and what's open when and who wants to come. It's still happening, though. Anyone who wants to dine should meet me (us) at the QVB by 6.30 pm. If it's open, we'll meet in the coffeeshop in the basement and if it's not, then we'll meet at the ground floor coffee shop near the statue of Victoria. We'll work out what can be done from there, for there are so many food places close by that one of them hopefully will work.
In really, really good news, my book was well-received at Conflux. Thank you, Satalyte and the Conflux committee (especially the awesome Karen Herkes) and all the wonderful people who supported the launch and bought my novel!
In slightly bizarre news, two copies of Life through Cellophane have appeared from mystery-boxes. They're author-copies, and they went missing a while ago. I'd given up on them. Anyway, I now have them back and will hang onto them for a little and think about what to do with them.
