Steven O'Connor's Blog, page 5
May 9, 2013
Part 2 – Talk about it. Shout about it. Live it!
This is the second of my guest posts written for Silk Screen Views. I was invited by Silk Screen Views to write about my journey as a writer. Central to this post is a reflection on my family’s migration to the outer suburbs of an industrial town in Australia and the impact that had on my ambitions to write.
You can check it out here.
And, as I said yesterday, while you’re there, don’t forget to have a look around the rest of Silk Screen Views’ beautiful website.
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Like to find out more about my books? You can check out my Amazon pages here …
Amazon
Amazon UK
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The post Part 2 – Talk about it. Shout about it. Live it! appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
Part 2 – Live It! (About migration and writing)
This is the second of my guest posts written for Silk Screen Views. I was invited by Silk Screen Views to write about my journey as a writer. Central to this post is a reflection on my family’s migration to the outer suburbs of an industrial town in Australia and the impact that had on my ambitions to write.
You can check it out here.
And, as I said yesterday, while you’re there, don’t forget to have a look around the rest of Silk Screen Views’ beautiful website.
———————
Like to find out more about my books? You can check out my Amazon pages here …
Amazon
Amazon UK
———————
The post Part 2 – Live It! (About migration and writing) appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
May 8, 2013
Part 1 – How I decided I wanted to be a writer
I am guesting on the up and coming website Silk Screen Views. In my first post I talk about my decision to be a writer in my childhood (momentous world decision that it was!).
You can check it out here.
And while you’re there, have a look around the rest of Silk Screen Views’ beautiful website!
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Like to find out more about my books? You can check out my Amazon pages here …
Amazon
Amazon UK
———————
The post Part 1 – How I decided I wanted to be a writer appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
Part 1 – To Be a Writer (A Secret)
I am guesting on the up and coming website Silk Screen Views. In my first post I talk about my decision to be a writer in my childhood (momentous world decision that is was!).
You can check it out here.
And while you’re there, have a look around the rest of Silk Screen Views’ beautiful website!
———————
Like to find out more about my books? You can check out my Amazon pages here …
Amazon
Amazon UK
———————
The post Part 1 – To Be a Writer (A Secret) appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
May 3, 2013
Little Readings
I’m proud to present to you what I’ve come to call in my mind, ‘little readings’. This is the very first – my bash at an audio recording of a reading. I’ve dug up an old poem from the murky recesses of my computer’s hard drive and I’m pushing it forward as the guinea pig.
To create the recording, I’m currently grappling with some audio software called Ableton Live. It’s pretty cool stuff. DJs such as Deadmau$ use it. But it’s complex too. Well, for me it is. I tried a few different ideas, but the one that I like the best is this one. It has some rhythm behind it to support the words. I particularly enjoyed that aspect of the creative process. I used some random notes from some favorite songs, but the overall rhythm is mine.
So without further ado, I’d like to share with you my first-and-only attempt so far. A short, post apocalyptic sci-fi poem called ‘Earth’s Last Inhabitant Walks Out’. (Don’t forget to like it. Hopefully you will!)
(If you can’t see the SoundCloud music bar just above, then that’s a lesson for me that they don’t show up in emailed posts. In which case, there should be a red bar at the top of your page with the message View it in your browser. Click on that! Hopefully that will fix things.)
I have set up a specific page on my website for my little readings, and I’ve included the poem’s lines (or lyrics?) there, in case you want to follow what I’m reading. The Little Readings webpage is here.
And I have also set up a twitter page (@LittleReadings) which you can visit here.
If you have any little readings of your own, or you decide to make one, be sure to let me know. I’d love to tweet about it too. You can use my words, from one of my books, or your own words. It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s a short reading and you keep it G rated!
I hope you like my reading. I’m looking forward to creating another one.
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Like to find out more about my books? You can check out my Amazon pages here …
Amazon
Amazon UK
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The post Little Readings appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
March 28, 2013
Creating a MonuMental dragonbot
Yesterday I discovered, when you email a blog post with a video, the video doesn’t go with it! So if you do not see a video below this paragraph, click on the words at the top of the email: View it in your browser. Everybody else, welcome! I am proud to present a video of the artist Aaron Pocock creating the dragonbot from my book MonuMental. Aaron Pocock did this video off his own bat, and even performed the music. It’s wonderful to see something from one’s imagination come alive on the page at the gifted hands of another. Here it is:
In case you’re curious, here are three excerpts from MonuMental that I gave Aaron to help guide him in the creation of the creature …
1:
And from on high, steel talons spread, a dragon descended. It was the color of emerald and metal. It was a technodroid – Willis could see its fuel lines running under its wings and the rows of bolts up and down its body, giving its torso the appearance of an aircraft fuselage plastered in scales.
2:
The dragonbot pushed on through the air until it reached the far end of the rambling street. Then it dropped, releasing Trinity as it neared a rusty water tower. From this distance, she was the size of Willis’s hand. She fell to the top of the tower with a faint shriek. The dragonbot spun about and settled behind her, gripping the tower’s edge. It curled its wings and hunched vulture-like, but kept its head up, glaring back at them, as if defying them to mount a rescue.
3:
The dragonbot spread its great wings and arched backward. The fuel lines fixed to the underside of each wing and running up its scaly chest and neck tautened as petroleum flowed through them. Long jets of flame erupted from its snout and a wave of heat washed over them. It was as if the creature had understood Trinity’s words. It lunged forward, almost crushing her, and dropped from the tower, swooping at the three of them.
If you go to my MonuMental website page, you can see more pictures Aaron Pocock created before arriving at the final cover. And you can also check out more of his wonderful artwork here: That Space Between.
Finally, if interested, MonuMental (my new book, in case you didn’t guess!) is available here:
The post Creating a MonuMental dragonbot appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
March 27, 2013
Creating a MonuMental dragonbot
MonuMental’s dragonbot
Today, I have something pretty special. The artist’s creation of the dragonbot from MonuMental. I should start by telling you just what a dragonbot is. The artist I had engaged for the MonuMental cover (Aaron Pocock) needed to know as well. So, here are some excerpts from MonuMental that I gave him that feature the creature …
This one:
And from on high, steel talons spread, a dragon descended. It was the color of emerald and metal. It was a technodroid – Willis could see its fuel lines running under its wings and the rows of bolts up and down its body, giving its torso the appearance of an aircraft fuselage plastered in scales.
This one:
The dragonbot pushed on through the air until it reached the far end of the rambling street. Then it dropped, releasing Trinity as it neared a rusty water tower. From this distance, she was the size of Willis’s hand. She fell to the top of the tower with a faint shriek. The dragonbot spun about and settled behind her, gripping the tower’s edge. It curled its wings and hunched vulture-like, but kept its head up, glaring back at them, as if defying them to mount a rescue.
And this one:
The dragonbot spread its great wings and arched backward. The fuel lines fixed to the underside of each wing and running up its scaly chest and neck tautened as petroleum flowed through them. Long jets of flame erupted from its snout and a wave of heat washed over them. It was as if the creature had understood Trinity’s words. It lunged forward, almost crushing her, and dropped from the tower, swooping at the three of them.
And now, here is Aaron Pocock, creating one …
If you go to my MonuMental website page, you can see more pictures the artist created, before arriving at the final cover. And you can also check out more of Aaron Pocock’s wonderful artwork here: That Space Between.
And finally, if interested, MonuMental (my new book!) is available here:
The post Creating a MonuMental dragonbot appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
March 12, 2013
MonuMentally worn out but EleMentally free!
Tired as Larry the Lemur
I have been quiet haven’t I? In actual fact I’ve been tweeting like mad. And jumping around all over facebook. Telling everybody about how you can currently download EleMental, my first book, for free. This is all in support of my lovely new book, MonuMental.
The internet is a terribly big place and it’s easy to go a little unnoticed no matter all the hooha you’re trying to make.
And why have I been trying to make a hooha?
Because I just discovered that I was about to lose my current allotment of free days for EleMental if I didn’t hurry up and use them. And use them I of course do want to … for promotion.
Yes, EleMental: A First-person Shooter is currently free for download. It ends midnight Thursday, 14 March (US time).
It’s great bringing your book project to completion but it can also wear you out like a … lemur. Well, that lemur above, anyway. Having just come across its picture (and spontaneously named Larry). And that’s why this initial promotion has been rather quick!
Also note – this is absolutely the first time EleMental has been offered for free.
Here are the links for you to head over there right now and grab your copy …
Amazon
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada.
If you’re reading this late and have missed out, don’t worry – this was a rushed affair. I will offer EleMental for free again in a much bigger campaign coming mid-year. (And MonuMental can always be read separately too.)
Yours monuMentally, eleMentally, everyTHINGally …
The post MonuMentally worn out but EleMentally free! appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
February 12, 2013
MonuMental – The final countdown
When you see something behind your reflection in the floor, your instinct is to look up. See what is above.
They looked up. They saw nothing above.
— MonuMental
That is the start of Chapter 22 and where I am up to in the final ebook-edit of MonuMental, the follow up to EleMental. Willis, Zeb and Arizona are unable to shutdown a v’game and have been drawn into an immense, silent hall with an endless, polished floor. They can see reflections behind their images in the floor, but there is nothing above them. The start of this scene marks the start of the climactic sequences. Including this chapter, I have sixty pages of final ebook-editing to go – nine chapters.
I should be getting on with it, shouldn’t I? Instead, I am writing you this message. I’m keen to tell you I’m close!
Writing MonuMental
I wrote this follow up book at the request of my previous publisher, Pier 9 (an imprint of Murdoch Books) and that’s the sole reason the book exists. I love it, I’m proud of it, but without them, I wouldn’t have written it.
When the publishing house (not a small one!) folded in the second half of last year (bought out by Allen and Unwin), I was successful in regaining the publishing rights to EleMental, and so I put aside MonuMental for the time being and re-edited and re-published EleMental as my own ebook.
Months later, and I am at last almost ready to publish the follow up. I have emulated the traditional publishing process wherever I could, engaging a professional editor, an artist and a graphic designer. To do this properly, and make sure I am creating the best ebook I possibly can, is an exhausting process, and so it is good to see that I am now almost there.
I am running a chapter by chapter countdown on my website home page, and tweeting every time I move on to my final edit of the next chapter. I’m into the final countdown! And it feels great.
Stay tuned, and I will let you know when MonuMental is at last available.
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My Amazon pages:
The post MonuMental – The final countdown appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
January 27, 2013
The Next Big Thing
I’ve been invited to be a part of a complex blog posting chain that’s going round and round the world like an ever-thickening global spiderweb. Stay with me! It’s actually harmless fun. Basically, writers tag other writers, responding to ten questions on their websites/blogs, and use The Next Big Thing as the title. I hasten to add, I’d dearly love my current project to be the next big thing, which I guess is what the title is implying. I’m sure every writer before me has had similar thoughts. But it’s not up to me. It’s the big thing in my life right now – I can honestly say that. But that’s all I’m reasonably allowed to say.
Anyway, it’s called a meme apparently. A meme is a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition – I had to look it up. I am to begin by acknowledging my ‘pre-poster’, then answer the blessed questions (nice and quick), and finally link to four fab writers at the end. These fab four (sorry, no, not The Beatles, just fellow writers I know and I’ve successfully cajoled into being a part of this! Thanks guys) will turn in their own posts about a week later. And wonderful people everywhere will tweet and share (or not!). The idea being that you can scroll back and forth through the posts, in one enormous, complex circle of writerly togetherness. So how beautiful is that!
Right then, let me tell you about the marvelous writer who tagged me to begin with. Nicole Hayes. She has her debut young adult novel coming out in June this year through Random Penguin (don’t you just love calling them that? Random House/Penguin really should name themselves that, we’re all saying it – so half the marketing would already be done). It’s called The Whole of My World. Nicole and I first met through Varuna, Australia’s only national writer’s center. We were both lucky enough to have been awarded national mentorships. Me, for a very early version of EleMental, and likewise Nicole, for a very early version of The Whole of My World. We both barrack for the same footy team, by the way. The Mighty Hawks. Just thought I’d add that.
Nicole Hayes doesn’t have an author website yet, but she does have a popular blog site: Melbourne Musings. Here’s her The Next Big Thing post on her blog, tagging me at the end.
The Ten Questions
OK, done that bit. Now, onto the ten questions – which I will endeavor to answer in record briefness.
1) What is the working title of your current/next book? 
Well, hey, this seems like a good opportunity to present to the world the brand new cover for my next book (left). Complete with final title. Ta da! What do you think? Isn’t it beautiful? It’s a dragonbot. It’s the the cover’s first public outing. Exclusive, guys!
To answer the question properly, the book’s called, in full: MonuMental: The Hack’s Back. (Cover artwork by Aaron Pocock.)
2) Where did the idea come from? So easy. From out of my head.
3) What genre does your book fall under? Do you know, I have always struggled with this. What the hell is young adult fiction? It can be anything – which is why it’s so great. I write for teenagers and up, up, and up – until you get to me (not sure about beyond me, is there anybody there?). And I don’t think in terms of sci-fi, fantasy, speculative blah. I just write what I love to read. Young adult fiction, if you like = all or any genres, written for all ages. Freedom.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
(I struggled with this. I’m no good with actors. But I know a few comedians.)
Willis: Richard Ayoade (Moss – IT Crowd)
Zeb: Noel Fielding in high boots (Vince – Mighty Boosh)
Arizona: Emma Watson (Hermione – HP)
Trinity: Katherine Parkinson (Jen – IT Crowd)
Grimble Dower: That’s easy, Jim Carrey (The Grinch etc., etc.)
The Hack: Bill Bailey (Manny – Black Books)
OK, I know Emma Watson’s not really a comedian.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? In 2050, video gaming goes wrong, horribly wrong.
6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Indie published, thank you very much.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft? The first draft is always quick. A year. The long, hard slog starts after that.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? My stuff has been described as Blade Runner for teenagers (Bookseller+Publisher). Nice. But I’ve more thought along the lines of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? Nine Inch Nails, Opeth, Van Der Graaf Generator, Lord of the Rings, Halo, Bioshock, Call of Duty, all of the Lego video games, Douglas Adams, Dr Who, Blake’s 7, Red Dwarf, Star Trek (especially the one where millions of small, fluffy things take over The Starship Enterprise) … I could go on. But I won’t.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest? I loved writing it. Look and you will see.
The next The Next Big Thing authors
Now, onto the next authors. Here they are, in alphabetical order …
1. Tracy R Atkins
Tracy R Atkins’ first novel, Aeternum Ray, was published a few months ago. If you’ve ever wondered what hard sci-fi is like – this is it! I posted a review of Aeternum Ray on Amazon not long ago: ‘If Plato had written sci-fi, this is what it would have looked like.’
Author website: http://tracyratkins.com
2. Tom Evans
Tom Evans describes himself as ‘a wizard of light bulb moments’. His latest books, Planes of Being and This We Know, are philosophical explorations into what it means to be human and where we might be going as a species.
You can check out his website here: www.tomevans.co
3. Althea Hayton
Althea Hayton is a writer, counselor and teacher. She writes books focusing on such areas as ‘womb twin survivors’ (someone who lost a twin before or around birth) and food addiction.
Author website: www.wrenpublications.co.uk
4. Mary Lee
Mary Lee is a writer, illustrator, graphic designer and a mom. She lives in the Bay Area of San Francisco, where she writes children’s picture books, many featuring the adventurous Mia. I posted an Amazon review of Mary Lee’s Surprise in the Kitchen not long ago: ‘Lots of color, lots of fun’.
Author website: www.maryleekids.blogspot.com
Remember to check out their The Next Big Thing blog posts in about a week or so. Over to them …
The post The Next Big Thing appeared first on Steven O'Connor: StevenWriting.
