Lisa Walker's Blog, page 8

It’s a cracker – Steeplechase by Krissy Kneen

 

Steeplechase is Brisbane author, Krissy Kneen’s first novel, and her first non-erotic work. Her previous books are a memoir, Affection and Triptych, a collection of erotic stories.

Bec Reich is a forty-year-old lecturer in art, whose own art career has stalled. Bec is getting over surgery when her sister Emily, a famous artist who she hasn’t spoken to for twenty-three years, calls and invites her to the launch of her new show in Beijing. Emily is also famous for being schizophrenic and Bec, too, hints at mental illness in her past. Emily’s call awakens Bec’s memories of their strange childhood and the games, fantasies and delusions which they shared.

 

Cut off from social contact, the sisters are brought up by their grandmother, a woman who locks all the doors and windows every night and forbids them to venture off the family property. The family live in small-town Queensland where the townsfolk assume they are part of a strange religious group.

 

As the story alternates between the past and the present, the reader slowly learns more about the sisters. Bec adores her older sister and would do anything to be included in her games. Emily is horse-mad and initiates a game of steeplechase where she forces Bec to play the part of the horse. ‘I am a bad horse, a lazy horse, a slow horse, and I take the whipping silently because it is true. I am a bad horse. I am not any kind of horse at all,’ says Bec. I enjoyed the contrast between the voices of the teenage Bec and the older Bec. A sub-plot relating to Bec’s relationship with a much-younger student is also well-drawn.

 

This story was so skilfully told so that I never knew quite which parts were reality and which parts delusion. Reading it was like putting together a puzzle. Kneen’s writing is both simple and evocative, creating a sense of lurking threat behind everyday actions. A scene where Bec listens to a phone’s ring tone, imagining she can hear someone breathing is particularly chilling. And what about Raphael, the lover the sisters shared, did he really exist?  As Bec joins Emily in Beijing, the story races towards a startling and satisfying conclusion.

Steeplechase is both beautifully written and a page-turner that provides insight into madness and art. I couldn’t put it down.

This is my third review for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013. 

For those in the Byron Bay area, Krissy Kneen will be in conversation at the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre on the 10th of May and running a workshop on erotic writing on the 11th of May. Details here. 

It’s a bit of a heart breaker – The Fault in our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars continues the phenomenon of successful young adult novels which have been embraced by a broader audience. The novel has shot to the top of the New York Times bestsellers list and was received with glowing reviews. John Green is also the author of three other bestselling young adult novels.

The Fault in Our Stars is a love story about two teenagers with cancer. With a setup like that, you will probably guess that your chances of a happy ending are not good. Sixteen-year-old Hazel and her boyfriend Augustus bond over a book called An Imperial Affliction, which is about a teenage girl with cancer. Unhappy about the way the book ends in mid-story, they set off to Amsterdam to confront its author and ask him to disclose the ending. While the author is less than obliging, the pair find that Amsterdam is a wonderful city in which to fall in love.

The novel is beautifully written and, on the whole, unsentimental. Hazel and Augustus joke about their ‘cancer perks’, such as being served champagne on the plane even though they are underage. It subtly mocks the stereotypical view of the brave and stoic cancer sufferer. When their friend Isaac’s girlfriend dumps him just before he has an operation that will leave him blind, they head over to her place and throw eggs at her car. The teenagers have a fine line in witty dialogue, which may not be realistic, but does make for good reading, ‘”Ma’am,” Augustus said, nodding towards her, “your daughter’s car has just been deservedly egged by a blind man.”’

Hazel is a sensitive soul whose main wish is to minimise the suffering she causes to others. She is a vegetarian and initially resists involvement with Augustus because she is terminally ill. She doesn’t want to be a ‘grenade’, wrecking his life.

Be warned, John Green is not afraid to break your heart. I cried bucket-loads by the end of this book and did end up feeling a little emotionally manipulated as a result, but that is a petty quibble.  The Fault in our Stars is a thoughtful, original and engaging love story. My teenage son also enjoyed it and you can’t ask for more than that. A movie is on the way so keep the tissues handy for that one.

 

I’ll be at Literati on the Gold Coast on the 17 – 18 May which promises to be an action-packed couple of days, and at Carindale Library in Brisbane on the 19 May.  Never a dull moment, hope to see you there!

 

The Books for Snowy River – what happens when your book goes out of stock just before a writers festival

 

This week I had the simultaneously delightful and alarming news that ‘Sex, Lies and Bonsai’ is temporarily out of stock. Delightful, because yay, I’ve sold out! Alarming because I am booked to do a session called ‘Sex, Lies and Bonsai’ at the Snowy Mountains Writers Festival next weekend. And a session like that with no books is a little like a pub with no beer.

 

I have been moved to capture the ensuing events in verse…

 

  The Books for Snowy River

(with apologies to Banjo Patterson)

 

There was dismay

 at HarperCollins for the word had passed around

That Sex, Lies and Bonsai had run out.

And an urgent order had come in – 50 books must soon be found

So all the sales team gathered at the shout.

 

All the tried and trusted sales reps from the stations near and far

Had mustered at the office, after a bite

For the team there love a challenge

And as all in publishing know, a re-print cannot happen overnight.

 

There was Anna who had bought the book and brought it to the land

No finer editor ever held a pen

For ne’er a text could throw her or a manuscript at hand

As a publisher she knows the art of zen.

 

Lisa’s off to Snowy River, up by Kosciusko’s side

And th e readers there are twice as keen and twice as tough

And an author’s books don’t linger in the bookshops overnight

No, a tale that holds its own is good enough.

The Snowy Mountains Festival is on one week today

And Sex, Lies and Bonsai’s on the bill

We mu st find some unsold copies or else perish in the chase

Because our writer’s heading for the hills.

 

So they went – they got one copy from the old Big W clump

Then they raced away across the city crush

And Anna gave her orders, ‘team, go at em from the jump’

No use to try for fancy buying – rush!

 

And they found them, some in clusters and some they were alone

They chased them down like bloodhounds on their tracks

But there were only 49 when they turned their heads for home

And in boxes and in handbags brought them back.

 

But one was there, a stripling, with sore and blistered feet

She wouldn’t rest until she found the final prize

She was hard and tough and wiry, just the sort who won’t say die

There was co urage in her quick impatient eye

And her bright gaze saw one loitering in a darkened bookshop aisle

And she snatched it up and held it to the sky

And she shouted to the heavens with the book above her head

We have not failed the festival, this book will now be read

 

So down by Kosciusko where the pine-clad ridges raise

Their torn and rugged battlements on high

Where the air is clear as crystal and the white stars fairly blaze

At midnight in the cold and frosty sky

In  the Thredbo Alpine Schuss Bar where the readers come to stay

Those yellow stripes are shining with the best

And the HarperCollins sales team are a household word today

And the author tells the story of their quest

 

You can catch me and the captured books at the Snowy Mountains Writers Festival over the Easter weekend.  Top of nine degrees in Thredbo today so bring the woolies!

Romantic comedy with a twist – my review of ‘The Rosie Project’ by Graeme Simsion

‘The Rosie Project’ is Graeme Simsion’s first novel and it has taken off with a bang, already selling into thirty countries. Simsion has previously written two non-fiction books as well as short stories, plays and screenplays. ‘The Rosie Project’, which won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award in 2012, was originally a screenplay, written as part of Simsion’s studies at RMIT.

Don Tillman is a professor of genetics. He has some unusual habits – his life is timed to the last minute, he eats exactly the same meals at the same time every week, he is a master of Aikido but has trouble with social situations. While the author never says as much, the reader deduces that Don may have Asperger’s syndrome. Don himself doesn’t recognise this, however. When he gives a lecture on Asperger’s, a friend asks him if the symptoms remind him of anyone he knows and they do – one of the other professors.

When Don decides that he needs a wife, he approaches this task as he does the rest of his life, with efficiency. A questionnaire is what he needs, he decides, ‘to filter out the time wasters, the disorganised, the ice-cream discriminators, the visual-harassment complainers…’ Don’s questionnaire for ‘The Wife Project’ is both extensive and discriminating. But then along comes Rosie – a smoker, a barmaid, a vegetarian. She is totally unsuitable, but yet Don can’t seem to stop himself from spending time with her.

Don is a wonderful character, who maintains his consistently original persona throughout. There are many delightful one-liners and a couple of laugh out loud moments due to the gap between Don’s view of the world and that of others. When a woman who is clearly interested in him asks him out for a chat he quizzes her on how he should prepare, ‘What specific topics are you interested in?’ When Rosie says, ‘You want to share a taxi?’ Don reflects that it seemed a sensible use of fossil fuel. And when asked if he has ever had sex, Don confirms that he has, on his doctor’s orders, but then ponders that it might become more complicated when there are two people involved.

Simsion acknowledges the inspiration he has gained from classic romantic comedy movies. ‘Cary Grant would have made a perfect Don,’ he says. This book is funny, witty and intelligent – I finished it with a smile on my face.

 

Boomerang Books are currently giving away copies of ‘The Rosie Project’ and ‘Sex, Lies and Bonsai’, enter here. 

If you happen to be in the vicinity of the Snowy Mountains over Easter, and it is a lovely time in the mountains, do come along and see me talking about romantic comedy and landscapes at the Snowy Mountains Writers Festival. 

And, don’t forget that if your book group would like to do ‘Liar Bird’, I have a special offer for book groups. 

 

 

 

Would your book group like to do ‘Liar Bird’?

Well, it seems like only yesterday, but it’s been over a year since ‘Liar Bird’ was published. My new book’s come along and pushed it right out of my mind. It took a lovely recent review by Peta –Jo to remind me that, hey, not everyone’s read it yet.

And, as it happens, I do have a couple of boxes of ‘Liar Bird’ sitting in my lounge room. So, I thought, to celebrate its first birthday I would offer book groups a special deal. Here it is:

Your group can buy ten copies of ‘Liar Bird’ for only $100!

(additional copies $10 each, free shipping within Australia, add $2 per book for shipping overseas).

So, if you think your group would enjoy following the adventures of disgraced PR girl Cassandra as she flees to the country and encounters a man who has a very sexy way with maps, drop me a line.

 

And for those in the Byron Bay area, it’s not too late to join Jessie Cole, Susanna Freymark, Jesse Blackadder, Sarah Armstrong and myself in conversation at the Byron Bay Library at 5.30pm Monday night (that’s tomorrow).  Please book though, on 6685 8540.

Book review – ‘Losing February – a story of love, sex and longing’ by Susanna Freymark

Losing February is the debut novel by Susanna Freymark. As advertised on the back cover blurb, this is a story of love without sex and sex without love.  Bernie, a journalist, lives in the small fictional town of Repentance Creek, not too far from Byron Bay. Recently separated from a husband who didn’t love her in the way she needed, Bernie tries to find her way again in the world. When she makes contact with an old university friend a lingering passion reignites. A flurry of emails, texts and frustratingly sexless encounters draw Bernie into an obsessive love; ‘…there is a moment… starting in the month of February when I felt so deeply loved, I thought the world was mine and anything was possible.’

But this is no fairytale romance – Jack is married and guilty as hell about their involvement. Although Bernie and Jack search for a way to stay together, the end is inevitable. When Jack calls it quits Bernie’s love implodes in a binge of risky sexual behaviour. In an effort to pull herself out of depression, Bernie makes mistake after mistake with a series of unsuitable, predatory and uncaring men she meets over the internet. Most of these men seem almost as sad as Bernie herself. The plentiful, varied and explicit sex in this book is only sometimes erotic. More often it lends itself to the depressing conclusion that there is a whole lot of bad sex going on out there. The close first person voice of the story makes this an almost voyeuristic experience for the reader.

I was gripped from the first sentence of this book as Freymark skilfully captures the emotional rollercoaster of an adulterous affair. The highs, the lows, the guilt and shame – it’s all there. While the story is grim in parts, this is tempered by some beautiful writing on the transformative nature of love; ‘It spins you around and changes every cell in your body. … you’re never the same once you’ve been in love.’

Losing February could be read as a morality tale – no good can come from adultery – but it is more about the inevitability of love when it strikes. I found it a raw and honest portrayal of the grief that comes from loving the wrong person.

This is my second review for the Australian Women Writers’ Challenge 2013.

Winner of the Australia Day blog hop giveaway

Thank you to everyone who stopped by my blog on Australia Day and a big thanks to Shellyrae at Book’d Out for organising it.

The winner of a copy of ‘Sex, Lies and Bonsai’ is Michelle van S.

Drop me a line Michelle and I’ll get it off to you!

 

Australia Day Blog Hop Giveaway – My review of ‘Nine Days’ by Toni Jordan

What better way to celebrate Australia Day than by recognising a wonderful Australian writer… This post forms part of the Australia Day Bloghop hosted by Book’d Out and Confessions from Romaholics. All bloggers participating in this event are giving away books – so don’t forget to visit all the other participating bloggers. Details follow at the end of this post…

‘Nine Days’ is a departure from romantic comedy for Toni Jordan, whose two previous novels ‘Addition’ and ‘Fall Girl’, I both read and loved. ‘Nine Days’ was inspired by the photograph on the cover, which was taken during World War Two, and shows a young woman farewelling a soldier on a train station. Around this image, Jordan has built a story from the point of view of nine different but interrelated people, recounting a significant day in their lives.

This is not historical fiction, the stories range across time, coming up into the present, but they all interlink around the central story, providing different angles and insights. As in her other novels, Jordan’s writing is zesty, witty and easy to read, however the really impressive thing with this one was that it had nine different, and totally believable voices. The stories are all set in the same Melbourne suburb and the photograph, along with a coin and a pendant, provide a motif to link them together. Really, it reads as a series of linked short stories more than a novel, but whatever you call it, it worked.

Writing a novel from nine points of view is an ambitious undertaking. The risk is that the reader won’t be able to become emotionally involved enough with any one character. At the end of each character’s story, I was sorry to be leaving them to move onto the next. However, by the end of the book, I felt satisfied with having met such a diverse array of characters and this deepened the impact of the final story when it came. The last story is Connie’s, the young woman in the photo and it’s probably not giving too much away to say that it had me in tears.

I picked up this book expecting to feel disappointed by Jordan’s departure from romantic comedy, at which she excelled, but found exactly the opposite. Mixing both light and dark, ‘Nine Days’ is storytelling at its best. While not comedic in tone, the writing is fresh and easy to read. Jordan says in the acknowledgements that she is not a writer who has a profusion of ideas; rather her creative brain is, ‘like a desert across which the odd ball of tumbleweed occasionally rolls.’  I’ll certainly be watching out for the results of the next ball of tumbleweed that rolls on through.

This review is my first for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013. 

 

And now – the giveaway. To go into the draw to win a copy of my new novel ‘Sex, Lies and Bonsai’, read an extract here and write a sentence (or sentences) of your choice from the extract in the comments section.

For example: ‘Don’t ring Daniel!’

The giveaway closes 28th of January and a winner will be announced by the 4th of February.

Happy Australia Day.

The Next Big Thing – I answer ten questions

The Next Big Thing is a blog chain where writers answer ten questions about their writing, then tag other writers to do the same. I was tagged by Lisa Heidke, the author of four wonderfully witty novels including her latest, ‘Stella Makes Good’. You can read her post here. My answers follow.

(And an apology in advance – if you leave a comment on this post I may not get it for a couple of days as I am offline.)

1. What is the title of your current book?

‘Sex, Lies and Bonsai’

2. Where did the idea come from?

I had the idea that I wanted to write a story about a girl who was incredibly inept at social situations and felt like an outsider in her own town. It grew from there.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

It’s been called Chick Lit, zany romance, romantic comedy, romance with social commentary and a comedy of beach-town manners. I’m fine with any or all of the above.

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

The protagonist, Edie, says that she’d like to be played by Scarlett Johansen in the movie of her life, so I’ll have to go with that or risk offending her (but imagine Scarlett Johansen looking slightly daggy with red hair, rather than blonde and va va voom.)

The male protagonist needs to be played by someone who does good ‘angsty dark-haired musician’. Is there a younger version of Eric Bana or Alex Demetriades around? I’m sure there is.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Dumped by text-message, Edie flees Sydney for the refuge of her childhood home taking only a wilting bonsai to remind her of her failure.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It is published by HarperCollins and I am fortunate to be represented by Sophie Hamley at Camerons Literary Management.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft?

About six months (but then another year to polish).

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

That’s a hard question, but my editor compared it to ‘The Other Side of the Story’ by Marian Keyes and that’s pretty hot stuff, so I’ll take it. I must also admit to being influenced by ‘Zigzag Street’ by Nick Earls, which probably falls into the ‘zany romance with social commentary’ genre.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The inspiration for Edie’s story came from a few different places. One of these was seeing the way that surfing was so much a part of life in the town where I live, I wondered what it would be like to be an outsider – a girl who is scared of the water. While I am a surfer myself, my kids are fairly apathetic about it. In a town with such a strong surfing culture, whether you do or don’t surf becomes an important part of who you are.

Another source of inspiration came from a job I held a long time ago. In the book, Edie gets a part-time job drawing crab larvae at the local university and, in an effort to supplement her income, also takes up erotic writing. Way back when I was studying zoology, I actually had a job drawing crab larvae for one of the professors at the university. It is very intricate and quite boring work and unfortunately I didn’t have a sexy boss like Edie does to take my mind off things.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Darling Head, where the story is set, is a fictionalised version of my hometown, Lennox Head. Edie’s anxiety about being outed as an erotic writer in her town stems in part from my own feelings about having my first novel ‘Liar Bird’ accepted for publication. I immediately imagined everyone I knew poring through its pages, trying to recognise the characters. Eventually I realised, as Edie does, that it’s actually not all that bad.

 

I would now like to introduce you to three very exciting writers – Susanna Freymark (formerly from Byron Bay, now Sydney), Jennifer St George (from Byron Bay) and Inga Simpson (from the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane).

Susanna’s debut novel, ‘Losing February – a story of love, lust and longing,’ is released, most appropriately, on the first of February. It has been described in The Hoopla as ‘un-put-downable’. Could be a few late nights coming up with that one…

Jennifer St George’s second sexy romance, ‘Seducing the Secret Heiress’ has just been released – congratulations Jennifer! Her first novel, ‘The Convenient Bride’ got rave reviews for its characters and blazing hot passion. Whew…

Inga’s novel ‘Mr Wigg’ will be released in July. Having read a little bit about it, all I can say is that I’ll be making sure my diary’s clear for that one… It sounds wonderful.

Susanna , Jennifer and Inga will be posting their answers to The Next Big Thing next week so head on over to their blogs to check them out.

 

You know what they say about sex – what’s in a name?

I have terrible trouble with book titles. My first novel, ‘Liar Bird’, started off being called (ahem) ‘Toading – a tale of lies, lust and feral pests.’ Yes, it’s quite embarrassing, but I feel better for having shared. Clearly it was never going to make it to a bookshop near you with a title like that. My good friend Jane Camens came up with the title ‘Liar Bird’ and I never looked back.

So, you are now asking no doubt – what title did I used to have for ‘Sex, Lies and Bonsai’ before alighting on this one? Well, it used to be called, ‘The Greatest Child Failure in History.’ The protagonist, Edie, believes she is a terrible failure because she doesn’t surf, unlike her surf-champ dad. The trouble was that as the story grew; this particular theme didn’t feel quite as central as it was in the start. Some folks also gently suggested that it was not a very good title. In fact it was a bit of a downer.

So, I had a powwow with my publisher and she suggested ‘Sex, Lies and Bonsai’.  Just off the top of her head in a coffee shop. Just like that. It totally fits with the story. It looks great on the cover of the book. It’s easy to say. And of course it has that magic word – sex.

But is sex a double-edged sword? It has been suggested that the key to a good cover is that people should not feel embarrassed reading it on the train in the morning.  Hence those dreary grey covers that have proliferated in bookshops this year. Anyway, there’s no mistaking my cover for one of those. It’s bright, it’s beautiful and I couldn’t love it more.

I now suspect that the duller the cover, the more suspicious your fellow commuters will be as to what lies within. What do you think?