Ellie Marney's Blog, page 16

#LoveOzYAbookclub April 2018 discussion post – VALENTINE (Jodi McAlister)

OMG, FINN BLACKLIN!!

*pants*

The End

Ha, I’m kidding. Okay, so Jodi McAlister has worked to make the love interest of VALENTINE really hot, and I’m fully appreciative – you know I’m on board with hot love interests. But above and beyond that, I think VALENTINE is actually a really well-crafted blend of romance and paranormal fantasy. You know exactly what you’re getting, because it’s written on the tin: if you weren’t interested in a romance story, the title of the book alone would be enough to put you off. But knowing that I was going to get a strong romance thread even before I started reading allowed me to just relax and be swept along by the rest of the story, which brings fairies to life in one of the more unusual settings (the Australian bush) that I’ve ever encountered.

At first, I was concerned it would be an awkward mix: tales of the Seelie and Unseelie Court just didn’t seem to gel with Australian eucalypts and contemporary Aussie teens. I’m much more accustomed to reading about the terrible beauty and cruel mind games of fairies from authors like Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, and I didn’t know if those old stories would translate so well in the antipodes. But Jodi told us in her FB chat that she was inspired by stories like Picnic at Hanging Rock, and after reading VALENTINE, I can see it. Plus I don’t think the location played as big a role in this book as in other books I’ve read (it was featured, but not prominently). The focus in VALENTINE was much more on Pearl’s inner monologue, her world and friends, the mystery of deadly fairy intrigue, and the interconnected relationships in the small town where she lives.

Pearl’s voice was very close first person, very internal – and I think that worked well. It allowed me to be really caught up in Pearl’s emotional swings throughout the book. But Pearl isn’t just emotional – she’s smart. And that was one of the things I really enjoyed about VALENTINE, that our central protagonist was aware of times when she was being emotionally manipulated, and made a conscious effort to use her brains to think things through. Also – communication! Hooray! Pearl talks out misunderstandings with her older sister and brother, with her friends, and with Finn, the boy who isn’t really a boy but a fey creature (which makes his attractiveness easier to comprehend and understand). I liked that Finn and Pearl had to go through a process of research and discovery to figure out what kind of fey creature Finn actually is (although I thought he was a bit dense for not even trying to figure it out himself before now) – that may have more to do with my personal enjoyment of the ‘research team’ trope, but I thought it was a fun scene.

Above all, Jodi McAlister knows her tropes and isn’t scared to use them. There’s not a lot of genuine genre fiction written in this country for YA audiences, and it pleased me greatly to see genre tropes used in clever ways in this book. Will I be reading IRONHEART, the newly released sequel, to find out more about Pearl’s family history and what will happen to her and Finn? You can count on it.

So what did you think? Leave a comment here, or on the FB thread, or leave a star rating for this book if you’re time poor. I’ve already got a new book lined up for May, and I will announce it in the next few days. Until then, thanks for joining in our group read of VALENTINE and have a good week!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub – April 2018 title selection

Happy Easter/ Passover/ Hanuman Jayanti/Chocolate day to all of your celebrating! And for those of you already on school holidays – teachers and students alike – I hope you’re having a blissful time of rest and peace. I’ve had four consecutive days of chilled-out time at home spent writing, flopping around on couches, doing jobs in the garden, napping and reading. It’s been bloody wonderful, so I hope your time has been equally nice.

Our title for this month is VALENTINE, the first in a new paranormal series by Jodi McAlister (the second book, IRONHEART has just been released). Here’s the blurb:

“Four teenagers – all born on the same Valentine’s Day – begin to disappear. As the bodies mount up, Pearl Linford has to work out what in the supernatural hell is going on, before it happens to her.

Finn Blacklin is the boy with whom Pearl shares a birthday, the boy she has known all her life and disliked every second of it, the boy her subconscious has a totally annoying crush on. Finn is also the Valentine: a Seelie fairy changeling swapped for a human boy at birth. The Unseelie have come to kill the Valentine – except they don’t know who it is. And now both the Seelie and the Unseelie think Pearl is the Valentine, and if they find out she isn’t, she’ll disappear too.

Pearl must use all her wits to protect herself. Finn must come to terms with his newfound heritage. And then there’s the explosive chemistry between them that neither of them know quite what to do about . . .”

A vibrant mix of action, romance and YA wit, with lashings of faery lore transplanted into an Australian setting, VALENTINE has received rave reviews and its author has been welcomed into the ranks of new LoveOzYA talent. Jodi McAlister is a native of New South Wales, a previous Assoc. Lecturer of English at University of Tasmania, and has recently moved to Melbourne – welcome! – to lecture on Writing and Literature at Deakin University. She holds the position of Co-Chair for Romance with the Popular Culture Association of Australia/New Zealand and her academic work focuses on love, sex, women and girls – she’s an expert on popular fiction, and according to her bio, ‘reading romance novels and watching The Bachelor is technically work for her’ (win).

We’ll be having a Facebook chat with Jodi on Wednesday 11 April at 7.30pm AEDST, so start getting your questions ready – and if you’d like to keep up with Jodi on Twitter, you can find her @JodiMcA

As always, you can order VALENTINE through Boomerang Books and receive free shipping by using the ‘loveoz’ code at the checkout.

I hope you enjoy this month’s read, and have a great month!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub Feb-March 2018 discussion post – GAP YEAR IN GHOST TOWN (Michael Pryor)

I love Michael Pryor’s writing – it’s clever and witty and gives generously to the reader (much like Michael Pryor himself!) – so I was a bit pissed off that my copy of GAP YEAR IN GHOST TOWN was somehow delayed, to the point where I still haven’t received it yet, argh (I didn’t order it through Boomerang Books, if you were wondering). I like to read the Book of the Month in the month we cover it! But unfortunately that was impossible for me this month.

So two bookclubbers have ridden to the rescue with their reviews of GAP YEAR – big thank yous to Pat Pledger and Miffy Farquharson for providing this month’s reviews. Both of them say glowing things about GAP YEAR (which makes me want to read it even more now). Pat writes in ReadPlus that GAP YEAR has ‘snappy humour’ and ‘action galore’, plus she found the platonic friendship between the two mains really refreshing, bypassing the typical romantic love triangles of a lot of YA. As much as I happily barrack for love triangles, I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into a platonic friendship – it really isn’t something you encounter often, it’s true.

What I really love about Michael Pryor’s work, though is the humour. Everything I’ve read of his – from his BEGIN END BEGIN story ‘First Casualty’ to his other series’ like THE EXTRAORDINAIRES and THE LAWS OF MAGIC and more – all contain that amiable sense of humour. While I think we see a lot of wit and snark in YA, genuine laughs are often not much on offer. It’s something I wish we could have more of, and I think it’s actually a big draw for readers – a lot of successful MG (I’m thinking PERCY JACKSON and LOCKWOOD & CO and SKULLDUGGERY PLEASANT here) has a strong thread of humour, which often fades away in YA as the stories begin tackling more serious issues. So can I suggest…more belly-laughs in YA? It would get my vote.

But back to GAP YEAR: both of our reviewers this month agreed that Melbourne was a great setting – Miffy points out that that ‘the Melbourne-ness doesn’t get in the way of a ripper story of secret societies, criminals, chases and danger’ and that there are ‘snippets of information and descriptions that bring the city to life’. Personally I’m a big fan of Melbourne as a location – and of all the cities in Australia that I know, Melbourne has enough old cobbled alleyways and gritty nooks and crannies to make it quite feasible as a spooky story location.

Anyway, that’s enough to be going on with for our discussion this month, I think, and thank you again to Miffy and Pat for coming to my aid with reviews. I’ll let you know when I finally get a copy of the book! And hang onto your hats for next month’s read – we’ve pushed the schedule out to April, so I’ll announce the new title for that month in about 2 weeks’ time – stay tuned, folks!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub – Feb 2018 Author Q&A – MICHAEL PRYOR (Gap Year in Ghost Town)

Heya! This month has been a bit hectic for me (for some strange reason…ha), so unfortunately I wasn’t able to arrange a Facebook chat with Michael Pryor, the author of our current title GAP YEAR IN GHOST TOWN. Although he did see me running around at my book launch like a chook with its head cut off, so I guess he’ll forgive me. And I hope you forgive me too, because I’ve got this juicy substitute: Michael has kindly agreed to answer some of our slightly-offbeat bookclub questions, and he even did extras, as he is that kind of guy (ie. a generous, wonderful guy).

So here below, Michael Pryor on writing, nude tennis, and other exciting things…

Why this book? Why this story?

After writing so many stories set in far off imaginary or historical settings, I had an urge to write something set a bit closer to home, but not an everyday contemporary novel. I wanted some sort of fantastic element, something magical and otherworldly because putting that against a familiar backdrop can generate extra story goodness. Plus, I wanted funny. Almost all my books have some element of humour – I can’t help myself –but I wanted this one to really go hard in this area. That meant I needed smart characters who could trade smart stuff back and forward. Not only for laughs, but because this sort of to-and-fro is excellent for helping readers get an insight into character.

 

One curious or unusual thing about you that most people don’t know

I still have the teddy bear that my dad gave me the day I was born. He’s a bit battered and worse for wear, though …

 

Okay –three hot books you would run in to save if your house was burning?

My hardback, three volume edition of Lord of the Rings that I got for Christmas when I was 13.

 

While researching your book, I found out some crazy stuff, and it was…

Enid Blyton enjoyed playing nude tennis. This had nothing to do with what I was researching, but I got onto EB via a side-track after a side-track and I found that little gem.

 

Your book has a title, and it’s an awesome title. But what might it have been called, if it wasn’t called what it is now?

‘Do You See What I See?’ because it’s about special people who can see ghosts, and because.

 

Writing superstitions – do you have them? What are they?

I don’t know if it’s a writing superstition, but I get obsessive about saving my work. Yes, I have had a couple of catastrophic losses in the past – power failures are a writer’s nightmare – and so I am continually hitting Control-S as I type.

 

Rec us a book on writing craft, would ya?

I think Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ is an excellent, practical guide to writing – even if he doesn’t always practice what he preaches. A lesser-known book, but one that full of all sorts of insights into the craft of writing is Natalie Goldberg’s ‘Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within’. It might be hard to get hold of, but it’s worth it.

 

Horror Challenge – which fave horror movie would you cheerily inflict on your friends?

I’m pretty squeamish, so I tend not to favour the Gore Fest style of horror. I do love creepy horror, the unsettling sort with a slow build towards a freak out climax. If I can find one like that that also has top-quality filmmaking technique, then I’m in heaven, which is why I love Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’. It’s a masterpiece. Honourable mentions: Psycho (the original, naturally), the Wicker Man (bizarre, spooky), The Cabin in the Woods (pop culture reference joy), Shaun of the Dead (funny scary – just like Gap Year in Ghost Town).

The zombie apocalypse strikes, but it’s okay, cos you have your choice of weapons, and you choose…

As much as I love a good flamethrower or shot gun, I reckon you can’t go past an axe in your zombie apocalypse for a simple reason – an axe never runs out of ammunition. If you know how to sharpen it, a skill that is not too hard to learn, an axe will stand you in good stead.

The best opening line from a book, in your opinion, is:

‘It was a pleasure to burn.’ Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

It’s not a long, lyrical sentence like some other favourites of mine (Try Charles Dickens magnificent ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.’ From A Tale of Two Cities) but its punchy crispness nearly slips past until you do a double take. What?! It’s a pleasure to burn? What the heck is going on here? Great opening.

 

Michael, thank you for joining in on #LoveOzYAbookclub and thanks for your answers!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub – February 2018 title selection: GAP YEAR IN GHOST TOWN (Michael Pryor)

GAP YEAR IN GHOST TOWN is Michael Pryor’s forty-fifth novel (? Forty-sixth? Fiftieth? WHO KNOWS. Michael has published literally dozens of books) for young people. You might have heard of his work previously, with books like The Laws Of Magic series, or the Quentaris Chronicles, or The Extraordinaires, or one of his many other stories – Michael is well known as one of this country’s premier spec fic authors. Michael’s work has been shortlisted for the Aurealis Award six times and been nominated for a Ditmar: he’s also had six of his books listed as CBCA Notable Books. He writes (seemingly effortlessly) across category from junior to YA fiction. You might have encountered his short stories in Aurealis, or in anthologies like Begin End Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology – his story ‘The First Casualty’ was a highlight of the collection for me.

Michael is committed to representing not just fiction for teens and younger readers, but also speculative fiction as a genre. SF and Fantasy are mind-expanding, creativity-enhancing reads for all ages, but they cop as much flak in the media as romance books do – and if you meet Michael in person one day and want to get him talking, ask him why…

GAP YEAR IN GHOST TOWN is the story of Anton, who’s not so much ‘called’ to a life of ghost-hunting as dragged. His dad has encouraged Anton to give the family ghost-hunting tradition a proper run during Anton’s gap year between high school and university. And where better to hunt ghosts than on the streets of contemporary Melbourne? But things start to get complicated when another ghost hunter, Rani, comes to town – and then, when a supernatural murder occurs, things get really complicated.

I’m really excited to read this book, and I’ve heard so many good things! If you’re as excited as me, get yourself over to Boomerang Books and use the ‘loveoz’ promo code to get free shipping on your order of GAP YEAR – and happy ghost hunting!

xxEllie

Hello, and White Night Launches, and All The Things

Hello again

#LoveOzYAbookclub Dec 2017-Jan 2018 discussion post – BEGIN END BEGIN

Welcome back! I’ve returned from my holiday hiatus, and it’s time for another year of book-filled excitement!

Everyone seemed really happy to read BEGIN END BEGIN: A #LOVEOZYA ANTHOLOGY over the summer holidays, and I must admit it gave me the chance to revisit some of my favourite stories in the collection. Now it’s time to get into the discussion of the book, when you have the chance to give your two cents (or twenty cents?) worth about the stories and the book as a whole.

When I was putting this post together, I asked the contributors to BEGIN END BEGIN if they would mind saying a few words about the collection and their involvement in it. So here’s a bit of insight about the book and its process, from those who brought the stories and characters to life:

Danielle Binks:

“I was so nervous having my debut publication be a YA short-story, sitting alongside ALLLLL the #LoveOzYA authors I so admire and regularly devour. But it was also the most honoured and humbled I’ve felt too, and I could not be happier with the outcome.

Much as the entire Anthology was a smorgasbord of genre (particularly to show that not all #LoveOzYA is contemporary and set in small country towns) I really love contemp YA, and particularly those about strong friendships and complex family dynamics. So I leaned into that and explored it in my story.

As for fun-facts about Last Night at the Mount Solemn Observatory … the town and Mount Solemn may be made-up, but John Goodricke whom I mention was 1000% a real person. A deaf astronomer, and the youngest-ever recipient of the Copley Medal – received at the age of 19, and I am so fascinated by him and really relished the idea of name-checking a very impressive teenager from history

Seasonal Nice Stuff 2017

Happy holidays!

If you’re anything like me, you’re caught in the mad scramble of seasonal preparations. But I wanted to take a moment to reflect on Nice Stuff.

Personal Nice Stuff in 2017:

*I self-published a book – No Limits is out in the world, hooray!! (and it’s on sale right now on all ebook platforms, if you’re interested) This has also led me to a community of fantastic, supportive self-publishing women (you know who you are – you’re all incredible, but especially you, Alison Croggon)

*the Reading Matters conference was fantastic and amazing, as always

*I continue to get so much support and conversation and advice and All The Things from the amazing YA community – especially writer friends, but the whole extended community rocks

* I met AS King, who is a wonderful human being

*I also met Kylie Scott, who is awesome, and now she is reccing me romance reads – sweet

*Begin End Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology was published this year – I contributed to it, and it has knocked everyone’s socks off. It made Number3 on the ABC Book Club’s penultimate list for 2017 and now it’s on the curriculum in various high schools, which is all kinds of incredible

*I got glasses, which I’ve needed for a while, and now I can see properly, which is always excellent. Plus, I dyed my hair (which…the dye won’t come out now. Oh well)

*we have a new budgerigar – welcome to the family, Ella!

*I started writing a New Thing, which has turned into a 3-book series called Circus Hearts, which I’m planning to share with you in 2018

*my family has continued to be wonderful – and my son’s health condition has become more manageable this year, for which I’m truly grateful

*I successfully quit cigarettes two years ago this coming January, booyah

*I spent time teaching at Latrobe with amazing human Kelly Gardiner, which was a great experience, and I also got a job teaching Indonesian at Langley Primary (so now I can say I work at Langley, and everyone thinks I’m talking about a job with the CIA)

*we found a turtle on the road, and have adopted it – welcome to the family, TinTin!

*I sent my next book, White Night, off to the printer – hooray! It will come out in March next year

*we got a new cooker, and it is a thing of beauty

*I started a newsletter, which you can join if you want updates on new books and upcoming events (see links at the Home page and elsewhere)

It’s pretty normal to have regrets at this time of year too. There are things I’m pretty sure I can do better at – we all get that – but here’s a few things I want to improve in 2018.

Things I Would Like To Suck At Less in 2018:

*I’m learning heaps about self-publishing, but the landscape is always changing: I still have more to learn and I need to write more books!

*The whole work-life balance thing continues to elude me. I really want to get better at this next year

*Finances are my weak point – I’m shit at keeping records. I started using a transaction tracking app, but I would like to get significantly better at managing money next year

*I have three potential book projects to write for next year, but I can’t write them all – I have to narrow my focus. Not sure how yet, but I’ll figure it out

*My self-care needs work – I’m bad at getting to bed at a reasonable time and exercising regularly (see work-life balance, above)

Looking at the news, you would be forgiven for thinking that in 2017 we’ve all descended into madness. But good things have happened this year, and they are worth celebrating and remembering.

World Nice Stuff:

*Australia now has equal marriage – at last!

*Denmark became debt free for the first time in 183 years

*A plane full of puppies was rescued during Hurricane Harvey

*Portugal decriminalised drugs, and the benefits have been enormous

*Tim Tams became available in the US

*An Australian high school student, Macinley Butson, has invented a way to make breast cancer treatment safer

*Both polio and the Guinea Worm parasite have been almost completely eradicated worldwide

*A caterpillar that eats plastic has been discovered

*A German researcher invented SkinGun – spray-on stem cells that heal burns without scarring

*80 bystanders formed a human chain to save a drowning family

*Scientists have found a cure for haemophilia

*New studies have shown that eating six bars of chocolate per week can reduce your risk of developing a heart flutter ( I myself made this discovery many years ago…)

*Researchers are developing the concept of floating wind farms in the North Atlantic, which may meet much of humanity’s energy needs

*And if that doesn’t work out, nuclear fusion generation is closer than it’s ever been before

*A new drug has been discovered that not only treats breast cancer and diabetes, but atherosclerosis

*Gene therapy is now making life-saving skin grafts possible, as well as a host of new therapies for hereditary diseases

*A new form of matter, called excitonium, has been discovered

*If research of neural bypass systems continues to progress at the current rate, paralysis from spinal cord injuries could become a thing of the past

For me, 2017 has been the start of something good. I hope it’s been a good year for you too – even if there were pitfalls and obstacles, I hope something worthwhile emerged for you this year. I’m going camping with the fam over these holidays (as is our wont), so I won’t be updating further until late in January. Until then: may you and your family have a joyful and peaceful holiday season, may all Nice Stuff happen for you in 2018, travel safe if you’re travelling, and have a lovely New Year!

Leaving you now with my list of books I’m taking on holidays with me, some of which I wanted to read earlier in the year and never got around to, some of which I’m reading for circus research  – now, the perfect moment has arrived!

Holiday TBR:

*The Power – Naomi Alderman

*Lincoln in the Bardo – George Saunders

*Small Spaces – Sarah Epstein (ARC copy)

*Spellslinger and Shadowblack – Sebastien de Castell

*The Royal Road to Card Magic – Jean Hugard

*The Tree of Yoga – BKS Iyengar (re-read)

*Unearthed – Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (finally managed to wrest it off Son3)

*The Black Echo – Michael Connelly

*Real – Katy Evans

*The Roanoke Girls – Amy Engel

…and I will probably add on a bunch of books at the last minute, cos that’s how I roll. Hope you find some reading material for yourself (or maybe receive some from Santa).

So that’s it! Happy holiday and happy reading, see you in 2018!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub – title selection Dec 2017-Jan 2018

We’ve finally reached the pointy end of the year.

All the shops are going stupid with Christmas music, the sense of rush is upon us, people in our town have set up their Christmas light displays out in their front gardens. The CFA are announcing bushfire warnings and high alert days on the radio. Australia Post is working overtime. Schoolkids are rejoicing that school is done for the year…

And lists of The Best of 2017 are appearing on social media and in the news. One of these lists was announced by the ABC Book Club – in its last appearance – only a few days ago, and that is what gave me the idea for this title announcement.

Okay, I’m lying a little! – I always planned to have BEGIN END BEGIN: A #LOVEOZYA ANTHOLOGY as our final book of the year. The selection of stories is a delicious taster of some of the best that Australian YA has to offer, and I reckon it’s a great way to finish off our bookclub year.

OzYA is just that little bit different from YA written anywhere else. In the same way that Nordic noir seems to have its own unique stamp, Australian YA has its own flavour (and it’s not just about the way we spell ‘flavour’ with a ‘u’). I wrote a piece about it recently for The Regal Fox, in which I said that OzYA has a sense of intellectual adventure: we’re still open to trying new things, exploring new ideas and new worlds. I also said that I think Australian YA has a gritty honesty, a straightforward no-bullshit voice that works very well in YA. So it doesn’t matter where the story is set: in an Australian landscape, in outer space, in a sewer, in another country, in a suburban backyard… You can hear that no-bullshit voice shining through.

BEGIN END BEGIN originated in the #LoveOzYA movement, and was spearheaded by Danielle Binks, who has been a powerhouse in the community and edited this anthology of ten stories. Contributors to the collection are all local YA authors with solid reputations: Michael Pryor, Melissa Keil, Will Kostakis, Lili Wilkinson, Amie Kaufman, Jaclyn Moriarty, Alice Pung, Gabrielle Tozer, Danielle Binks herself, and yes, me. The book has taken off in ways that no one expected – it has started conversations about Australian writing, YA fiction, young peoples’ approaches to literature and more. I know of at least one school where it is now listed on the curriculum, and there has been encouragement given to HarperCollins, the publisher, to create a second anthology with another crop of OzYA writers, something I’d be very excited to see happen.

I’m very proud to announce BEGIN END BEGIN: A #LOVEOZYA ANTHOLOGY as our book to round off the year – it seems pretty appropriate for #LoveOzYAbookclub to read this one! You can buy it here at Boomerang Books, and get free shipping by using the ‘loveoz’ code.

I’d also like to give away one copy of BEGIN END BEGIN to a bookclub member – this offer will only be open for 24 hours. Please add your name to comments on the Facebook thread, with ‘Your name loves #LoveOzYA’ to enter. I’ll pick a name out of the hat tomorrow and post the book out to the winner before Christmas (fingers crossed that AusPost gets it to you in a timely manner).

Finally, some housekeeping. This is our final book of 2017. It will take us into the New Year – commentary and a discussion of the book will take place late in January 2018. So don’t stress out if you’ve got other things on: this is our lazy summer read, and there’s no hurry. Our next book will be announced in the first week of February 2018.

I don’t usually advertise myself here in bookclub – I like to just be a benign guiding presence, lol – but if you’d like to keep up with me personally, you’re welcome to go over to my website and join my newsletter (there’s links on the Home page, and other places) for updates. I’m going camping with my family over the holidays, so I’ll be out of range for the next few weeks. But I’ll be back on board by the second week of January, so I’ll see you all then.

#LoveOzYAbookclub has been going strong all year, and I’d like to say a huge thank you to all of you – everyone who has participated, enjoyed the books, commented in discussions, joined in for live author chats, and otherwise contributed to making this bookclub one of the highlights of my year. Thank you all so much, you’re the very best! All good wishes from me and my family to you and yours – may you all enjoy the holiday season, travel safely, and have a very joyful Christmas and New Year.

#LoveOzYA and read hard!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub – November 2017 discussion post: WRECK

I am feeling very victorious, as I have finished writing a book – booyah – so I’m definitely in the mood to hear your reviews of a story that starts out being about a girl who wants to report only ‘good news’  and then becomes a thrill ride action adventure, where you hope for Tamara’s victory all the way through…

A number of people have commented to me that WRECK is their favourite Ferris book, and by far the most suspenseful. We’ve mentioned this month, that Fleur Ferris has had previous careers as both a police officer and a paramedic, and I was wondering if anybody else in bookclub had an opinion on whether an author’s day job (or former day job) has an impact on the stories they create. What do you reckon?

I’m also keen to hear some more thoughts on screen adaptations of Australian books, and why they don’t seem to be happening.

I would have thought that there are a number of truly excellent Australian books – and I’m definitely putting Fleur Ferris’s books in that category – that could be potentially adapted for screens big or small. So why aren’t we making them? WRECK, for instance, has action aplenty, a great hook, casting potential for young up-and-coming Aussie actors, and – always a key factor – would seem to be fairly production-budget-friendly. Yet here we are, with our media networks in the doldrums, and much sadness about how local audiences are turning off their local screens and switching to Netflix…

Anyway, don’t get me started! What do you think?

I enjoyed WRECK, and I hope you did too. The feature I loved the most is the way the themes resonated – the idea of ‘reported truth’ being malleable, that truth is something vital, and more powerful than deceit… This all feels very relevant at the moment, and it’s amazing how some authors can take an idea and then somehow tap into the cultural zeitgeist to find a thread that everyone can relate to.

Another thing I noticed: there was a more heavy-duty mystery in WRECK, as Tamara and Zel are a bit older than your standard high school protagonists. The blending of the dual POVs, as we race for the finish line, worked fairly seamlessly. Dual POV is a feature of a lot of NA writing, allowing the reader a peek into the heads of both love interests, so I was interested to see this employed in WRECK as a way to slowly uncover aspects of the mystery from two different perspectives (and timezones).

Please give us your opinion of this month’s read! You can comment here on the blog, add a comment on the discussion thread at #LoveOzYAbookclub on Facebook, or even give a 1-5 Star rating if you’re time poor.

After this week, I’ll be announcing the book that will take us into the New Year of 2018, so stay tuned to #LoveOzYAbookclub and hang onto your butts