Ellie Marney's Blog, page 30

Thank You! & YA Crime Report: GUEST POST - Rebecca James

Before we kick off today’s blog post – and I promised bells and whistles with this post, I know – I wanted to say a huge thank you.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me, and supported Every Breath, as we’ve made our way out into the world.  It’s been a truly extraordinary experience, having this book published, and so many people have stood up and helped out – I am incredibly appreciative of all of you.
So thank you to every person who has encouraged, read, reviewed, bought, blogged, commented, tweeted, shared, and otherwise created such an amazing groundswell of support for Every Breath, especially for the friends and family who have kept my spirits high and helped me stay sane!
I can’t express how much this means to me – I am thoroughly humbled, and really really grateful.
At the bottom of this post I’ll show off a few pics of the launches, both in Melbourne and in Castlemaine.  They were awesome fun, and I had a great time - and if you came along, I hope you did too!
But first, the Crime Report…
Next on our whistle-stop tour of YA crime, I’ve invited the lovely Rebecca James to come and put up with some weird questions! 

Rebecca has been an incredibly good sport about agreeing to be interviewed, and I should mention that it was lovely to talk to her because she said a lot of things about writing and juggling daily life that really spoke to me – she keeps it real, and I totally get that right now!

Rebecca is the author of Beautiful Malice, and her new novel Sweet Damage was released this year.  In Sweet Damage, rootless sun-bleached surfer Tim is sucked into the mystery of Anna London, the strange occupant of his new share-house in Sydney.  Initially sure that he can bring some light and normalcy to Anna’s life, instead Tim becomes part of an ominous web of family history and half-truths until he’s not sure what exactly is real and what is paranoia…

Rebecca, so nice to finally have more than a brief Twitter conversation or five-line Facebook message with you!  How the heck are you?
I am very well. The sun is out in Canberra today and I don’t even have the heater on. I think Spring may be coming which is a good thing...
We have a couple of things in common – we both write YA (although you do more psychological suspense stuff and I do straight murder mysteries), and we both live in large and busy families.  Now I know I have to fight hard to get my writing time, and I’m sure you have those struggles too.  How do you find the time to write?  What do you reckon is the key to maintaining a writing practice amidst all this bustle?
I don’t know that I’ve found the key or if one even exists. Basically I try to work while my kids are at school and try not to work out of school hours or on the weekends. That’s about it as far as time organisation goes. This doesn’t always work, though, because family life is constantly creeping into my writing time and vice versa.
I write from home and my husband has an office job and generally this arrangement works pretty well for us. I get the kids ready for school and drop them off in the morning and then pick them up at 3. It means my working day is quite short (6 hours) and I sometimes feel like I’m only just starting to get into things when 2 pm rolls around and I realise it’s nearly time to stop. That can be a bit frustrating at times and occasionally I envy my husband – he gets to leave the house early in the morning and can stay at work until he’s finished.
The bizarre thing is that it wasn’t until I’d had kids that I actually started writing. Something about becoming a mother made me crave a creative outlet. It also taught me to use what little time I had productively. I sometimes think that if I hadn’t had four kids (and thereby discovered what hard work really was) I would never have had the stamina to finish an entire book. I was far too scatterbrained and restless before.
I think, ultimately, that having a family and trying to work is a messy and chaotic business, (kind of like this answer!), full of compromise and negotiation. It’s hard to find a perfect balance. I always feel like I’m neglecting something –  my work, my kids, the house, the dog, the tax, you name it. I never feel caught up or ‘finished.’ I always feel slightly frantic. I  think once you have kids you simply have to embrace the chaos and accept the fact that you’re always going to feel a bit fractured.
Rebecca, you totally read my mind with that answer!  But now, please tell us a bit about Sweet Damage – there are lots of hints dropped along the way, about what has happened to Anna, and the whole book is layered with mystery and suspense, in a stew of slowly-building tension.  What were the challenges of writing a mystery?  Did it change the way you wrote?

I guess the challenge with writing a mystery (and you could no doubt argue that this is the case in writing any kind of fiction) is keeping the narrative tight and tense without making it feel too contrived or obvious. But I can’t necessarily tell you how to do this because I don’t actually understand my own writing process. I just sit down and write. If I think about it too much I start getting anxious and self-conscious, and that can be paralysing. I try to keep the whole process instinctive and organic which unfortunately doesn’t help me answer questions like these...
So why mystery and psychological suspense, instead of something else? (zombie apocalypses, or westerns, for instance?)
Oh, because I love psychological suspense.  I love reading it and I love writing it and I love watching it.  At heart I think it’s all about the damage people do to each other and it’s fascinating to consider how far people will go to get what they want, to manipulate their world and the people they come in contact with.
I’m fascinated by the cruelty people can inflict on each other in a kind of everyday way, and how very frequently, if you dig a little, you’ll find that the cruelty is actually coming from a place of pain and/or vulnerability. (Which doesn’t necessarily justify the bad behaviour, though it might sometimes go some way towards explaining it.) I think it’s also fascinating to think about the psychology of victims and how much abuse or bad treatment people will choose to put up with in the name of friendship or love.
And someone else has noted your affinity with Du Maurier, so I have to ask – do you have a favourite writer of suspense or crime? (and why are they the one that rocks your socks?)
I always feel weirdly uncomfortable when I try and list favourites and I think it’s because my preferences are so fluid and changeable. And I hardly think I’m unique in this but whether I enjoy a book or not depends so much on my mood and the place I’m in, how hard I’m working, how much energy I have, whether it’s late at night or early in the morning, whether I feel obligated to read or whether I’m reading for pleasure -- it’s so difficult to be subjective and so hard to be consistent.
I can definitely say though that I’d always be pretty happy to have a freshly written book by Nicci French, Sophie Hannah, PD James, Elizabeth George, Minette Walters, Gillian Flynn, Donna Tartt or Elizabeth Haynes in my hands. At the moment I’m really enjoying Tara French and Patricia Highsmith. And I absolutely love Anne Fine!
Now it’s honesty time – what d’you reckon is your worst writing habit?
Procrastination.
Well, I don’t think you’re alone in that one (ahem).  But what activities do you find most conducive for generating ideas?   Personally I’m a big fan of driving while listening to Triple J, or doing the dishes…
 Actually, I’m pretty boring that way. When I’m plotting or generating ideas I just sit at the table with a pen and a piece of paper and think really really hard and write stuff down until logical links are made and my random ideas start to form into something that might resemble a plot. 
 And finally – writing must-haves?  Beverages, snacks, music?  What do you take with you to your writing cave?
At the moment my desk is in my kitchen so I’m very close to the fridge and the tea canister and the kettle. This is handy for satisfying my tea habit. I drink too much tea. Far too much.
Rebecca thanks for coming along for the ride! (and for answering my questions so beautifully). Find out more about Sweet Damage here - it's available where all good books are sold.  You can check out Rebecca’s website here.

So I won’t keep you much longer – realistically, I don’t think I can fit everything that’s happened into this one blog post – but I better give a few updates.
Over the last few weeks the tempo has increased, with reviews and interviews and special stuff appearing on blogs and all over the place.  If you’d like to check out some of the lovely Every Breath reviews, go over here to The Rest Is Still Unwritten, or here to Speculating on SpecFic.  You can read Carmel Shute’sfantastic launch speech here, at Sisters in Crime, or you can trot over to Goodreads and check out the nice things people are saying (and there’s still time to enter the Goodreads giveaway – hop to it!)
The most exciting thing was seeing Every Breath reach Number 3 on the Readings Bestselling Kid’s Chart!  That was amazing, and you were the folks who made it happen (like I said at the Castlemaine launch, Iwasn’t the one who went out and bought all those books, that was totally you guys).  I did a feature on 'The Story of My Book' for the website - the Readings family was really supportive in hosting the Every Breath Melbourne launch, so thank you, Readings!
Another exciting thing – Every Breath was featured in Girlfriend magazine, which was awesome!  Grab a copy of the mag for their review, or if you head over to their website you can download a free excerpt of Every Breath to taste test!  (And if you’d like to get an early gander at the covers for Every Word and Every Move, as featured, have a look here.)
Now – the launch parties. 
I was hopelessly nervous before each one, knowing I’d have to give a speech and stuff like that, but then everyone started arriving and I figured out pretty quick that it was really just a gathering of all my mates and family, and my nerves settled. (Aww...I know, I'm totally the pits at social events! I'll get better, I promise!)

Rather than describe, I’ve chucked a few pics up here to give you a feel for the occasion/s - I'll put some more up next post. Thank you so much to all of you who came along, and happy birthday to  Every Breath  – you’re loose in the wild now, baby!


Xx Ellie            

Launch Fever Baby!!!

Ok, this is just a quickie – this fortnight has been so crazy I just haven’t had time to get a post together.  I promise that the next blog post will be chockas, with pics of the launch parties and crime interviews and  lots of news – seriously, it will be the post of the century.
But right now, I just wanted to remind y’all that THERE IS A PARTY GOING ON.  It is this Friday night.  It is gonna be mega.  And if you want to come along, then RSVP…oh, y’know, forget that, just COME!


The Every Breath Castlemaine Big Bash is on Friday 20 September (last day of school!  yay!) at 6pm at Castlemaine Library.
There will be music…there will be door prizes…there will be food and drinks (mm, drinks)…there will be copies of the book on sale from Stoneman’s Bookroom…there will be me , looking a bit frazzled but basically okay, and having a very good time, because ALL the people I love will be there!
So come on over and help me celebrate.  Have a chat with mates, have a dance if you like, and just hang out on a lovely Friday evening for a few hours, on the first day of holidays.
It will be lovely to see you!!

Xx Ellie
PS - Hey, I got on a chart!!  Every Breath is the number 3 bestseller on the Readings Kids chart (omg, I beat Patrick Ness!! - who I love...but omg!!)  That is just...I can't even.  I'm gobsmacked.
xx E

Playlist of the stars!!!

‘…We walk into her room, where her speakers are wafting out Triple J…’
Every good book deserves fruit.  Hang on: that should be ‘every good book deserves a playlist’.  It’s taken nearly two years to get Every Breath onto bookshop shelves, and in that time I’ve had to keep the flame alive.
I find the best way to do that, largely, is to have a theme song (or two, or three…) that gets you back in the mood for the characters and their lives.  Certain scenes have their own songs.  And yes, because it’s taken two years, we have a little problem with dated material…but y’know, I can live with that.
So here’s the playlist for Every Breath, and if you’re knocking around at the launch with me, you may get to hear some of these tracks wafting out of the speakers in the background.
* ‘Plans’ - Birds of Tokyo : For reasons unknown I always imagine this song playing during the opening credits of Every Breath: The Movie.  No doubt any producer putting aforementioned movie together would have the sense to use something that wasn’t so old-hat (also something by a band that didn’t immediately follow up a really decent song with a really lame one like ‘Lanterns’).  But I still love the lyrics, and find them just right: We made plans to kiss the sun at night/Hopeless dreamers, hopeless times…
* ‘Boyz’ – MIA : Did you know that Every Breath originally started with a fight scene?  This was the soundtrack to Mycroft crackin’ skulls.
* ‘My Sharona’ - The Knack : Do I need to explain why this is Mycroft’s theme

* ‘Gimme Shelter’ - Rolling Stones : Probably my fave Stones song ever.  Has the requisite tension, plus a mix of violence and self-awareness that creates good accompaniment for the pivotal scenes in Chapter 2 & 3 (the title should give this away).
* ‘7 Nation Army’ - White Stripes : God, I really dug into my back list for these tracks, huh?  If I tell you what scene is attached to this song I’ll be accused of spoilers.  But it involves a certain drunken confrontation…  The beat and tone of this song is so dark, so deep and resonating, I couldn’t go past it for Mycroft’s dark moments.
* ‘Jungle’ - Emma Louise : Always think of this one as Rachel’s ‘my head is too full!’ angry song.
* ‘Embrace’ - Oliver Tank : Post-dramatic finale.  You know how, when something really full-on happens, there’s that feeling of everything being in slow motion?  This song is perfect for that, and also the lyrics are poignant for Rachel in that scene.
* ‘The Nosebleed Section’ - Hilltop Hoods : Because ‘…someone puts Hilltop Hoods on the stereo, away down the block…’  I love Hilltop Hoods.  Love, like lerve.  My lerve is like a river of lerve, that meanders on down to a great ocean of lerve…  And hey, I mention them in the book, so they had to go in somewhere.
* ‘Allies’ – Mutemath : A nice upbeat number for the end credits.  Plus a totally appropriate title.

Okay, before I go I have to say this really loud: OMG, IT’S HAPPENING!!!  We are having a book launch TOMORROW NIGHT!!
My excitement is clashing together with my nerves right now, to the point where it’s all bouncing around together in my head like a…well, like a Skrillex song or something.  I’m sort of terrified that the cake won’t be ready (Note to self: phone about the cake).  I have to work out what to wear.  I’m taking lots of deep breaths.
If you want to come along and see me sweat, haha, then go for it.  The Every Breath official launch is on at Readings Carlton, 6.30pm, Thursday 12 Sept.  If you haven’t RSVP’d, and you’d like to come, do it now!
If you want to come but you can’t make it – bummer.  We’ll miss you!  But you can join in the action on Twitter on the night @elliemarney.  Or if you’d like to check out the fun interview I did on Bad Ass Bookie, go have a look.
I’m also still giving away copies of the book – see the sidebar and click to enter the Goodreads giveaway, or go over to the site(there’s some awesome reviews of Every Breath over there as well!)
And if I haven't said this to you, personally, yet - thank you.  Thank you for reading, thank you for reviewing, thank you for supporting, thank you for being as into Every Breath as I am.  I am full of the loves right now, for everyone who's been with me on this journey, and for all the friends and family who've given me a hand along the way.
YOU ARE ALL MADE OF AWESOME.  Just so that's clear :)
See you tomorrow night!!
xx Ellie

YA Crime Report: GUEST POST - Kim Kane

Here’s another exciting addition to our YA Crime guest posts, and I’m thrilled to be hosting today’s guest - ladies and gentlemen, it’s the fabulous Kim Kane!!! *wild applause, whistles, cheering*
All the hullabaloo is well-deserved, folks.  Kim Kane has been writing children’s fiction for some time, starting out with The Family Forest.  Recently she collaborated with writing buddy Marion Roberts on the novel Cry Blue Murder – it’s an eerie tale about a serial killer who stalks a Melbourne community, told in a unique way, through a series of police and court documents.
Woven together with the other strands of Cry Blue Murder are the emails of two girls, Celia and Alice, who are living in the middle of the nightmare.  As the killer becomes more brazen, the exchanges between Celia and Alice become more tense and heartfelt – and you won’t believe what’s coming…
I met Kim recently during the Emerging Writers Festival, and she’s lovely – not a serial killer at all! – and I was really happy to hear that Cry Blue Murder has just made the shortlist for this year’s Inky Awards!!  Congratulations, Kim, it’s so well-deserved!  So without further ado…
Kim – hi!  It’s lovely to have you visit with us!
Thanks Ellie. Thrilled to be invited. Congratulations on your book!

Gosh, thanks :)  Now first, a question I always want to ask other writers (so excuse me if I diverge): what chair do you use?  Or do you stand to write, like Hemingway?  (In other words, how do you combat lower back pain from all the sitting??)
Hmm, I don’t have a study or even a desk so I work in a café when I feel a bit lonely or have to be out of the house (when the kids are driving me nuts) or on my bed or at the kitchen table. My favourite spot is definitely bed – all propped up with pillows, especially in the evening when it’s cold – but if I have research to do, the sunny kitchen table is best.   All I really care about is sunshine and warmth (having written half ‘Pip: the Story of Olive’ in a charming but completely unrenovated and uninsulated former belt factory). When I’m getting to the end of a book and am mainly copy editing, I need to sit at a table and I also tend to listen to musicals – one per book – over and over again until I can recite the lyrics verbatim. I’m not sure why. I am sure Hemingway never did that.

Cry Blue Murder is a dark mystery with a criminal twist, and the story is developed within all these fragments – emails, police witness statements, investigative documents.  Did you and Marion find that it was a bit like putting a jigsaw puzzle together?  How did you know what to include and what to discard?
Cry Blue Murder started as a very different novel for younger readers, but once Marion and I knew what we were doing and had a story and a proposed form for that story, we plotted extremely carefully. We had to, really, as we each wrote a character and we needed to make sure we were dripping information to the reader punctiliously; we had to be in complete agreement about the role each document served.
It was actually a fantastic discipline as we were forced to do some of the harder thinking I tend to put off until later drafts when I’m writing alone (as it’s dull and difficult – although putting it off only makes it duller and more difficult). After we’d done the plotting, the rest of the novel was colouring in. I should note, however, that the few changes we did make to the documents were a nightmare as there were so many consequential changes – in the emails and in our police and legal reports. Sometimes the whole thing felt like a house of cards.  We changed the colour of a car, for example, and watched our structure teeter!

The book seems to be designed to encourage the reader to be the detective – I often found myself flicking back to previous pages, to check clues I’d found and see if they matched up with my theory about the killer.  Did you plan it this way?  And did you have the final twist already in mind before you started?
Yes and yes! We started the book with the final twist – that came to us very early on in the process and completely informed the characters we then developed. We found the most interesting murder mysteries were the ones in which the reader had to play a role – drawing conclusions from the facts presented, experience first-hand the frustration of dead ends – and we were keen to replicate that for the reader. In some ways, we wanted the reader to keep reading to affirm what s/he already knew.

Can you tell us a little bit about what kind of research you did for the book? (It sounds like it would have been uncomfortable to research…)
We looked at a number of cases about grooming here and abroad. We also had to research all of the documents in the book – the pathology reports, witness statements, citilink documents etc and speak to relevant professionals. We needed to understand how the documents for a crime are put together, the role of police, the psychology of both the victim and perpetrator.

The villain of Cry Blue Murderis incredibly creepy.  Did you kind of freak yourself out when you were writing those scenes?
Marion wrote the character Alice and she was a wonderful creep – it’s quite frightening to hear her discuss the various states of her character in the novel and the reasons for this (if you’re interested here’s a link to a Radio National interview we did in which she discusses Alice http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/p...). Sometimes Marion did freak me out and I haven’t quite ruled out my suspicion that she may in fact be a serial killer...

On a lighter note, who is your favourite fictional detective? (and why, of course)  And do you have any skills that would serve you well if you were called on to be a detective yourself?
I like PD James, Alexander McCall Smith’s gentle The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series, and I completely adore TV crime – Midsummer, Law and Order, The Killing, MorseSo what do you do when you’re not reading and writing?  How do you recharge?I like running, walking and swimming although I’m finding less time to do that these days. I adore my family and spending time with them – scooting, walking, hanging at the library or building castles at the beach. The twins are four so we go to lots of panto and theatre, playgrounds, or we just knock around with sticks at the park. I have some very amusing friends whose company I adore, but really any down time is usually spent reading as I’m too tired to do anything else and have to be home to look after the kids.
I can understand that!  Thanks so much for coming over, Kim – good luck with the Inkys!!
If you’d like a copy of Cry Blue Murder, go to where all good books are sold.  You can find out more about Kim over here :)
Well, it’s going to be a busy weekend for everybody.  The Splendid Wrens outside are dashing around, looking for mates, and the pobblebonks are going off in the creek – and I’mgoing to the annual Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards, the grand celebration of Australian women’s crime fiction, on Saturday night.  I’ve already got my red and black gear picked out (not a frock, sadly – I really need to get a proper Sisters in Crime frock, for special events) and I’m looking forward to seeing good friends and kicking up my heels.  I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.
Now here’s another bit of exciting Every Breath news – I’m starting a Goodreads giveaway today, so if you’d like a copy of Every Breath, go on over to the website and put your name down (or check the widget here at right!).  There are three copies to giveaway, and I’ve actually opened it up internationally as well, so bootscoot on down there quick!

And…a little birdy told me that the Readings newsletter in today’s edition of The Age features a wonderful review of Every Breath by the lovely Emily Gale from Readings Carlton :)  Have a gander and see if it’s true-all-true…
Remember, if you’re ready to party, we have two parties coming up.  The Official Every Breath Launch, which will be on at Readings Carlton on Thursday 12 September at 6.30pm, is almost upon us!  I’m ordering enormous cakes and buying bottles of wine, even as you read this.  If you can’t make it to Melbourne, you’re also welcome to come on down to the Castlemaine Every Breath Big Bash, which is on at the Castlemaine Library on Friday 20 September at 6pm.  Send me an RSVP to elliemarney[at]gmail[dot]com if you can, or just come on over and help me celebrate.
I’ll be giving big hugs to everyone who’s been involved in bringing Every Breath to life – friends, family, reviewers, editors, copyeditors, bloggers, supporters all!  I can’t wait to see you at the parties, and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone involved.  So many people have been amazingly supportive in the lead-up to the book’s release – respect, guys.  I couldn’t have done it without you.
Talk again soon.
xxEllie

Release Week

Hi again!  I know I said I would post up an article with a new YA Crime guest, but this week things have gotten a little hectic.  I wanted to update here with news on what’s been happening since Every Breath’s release.  I thought it wouldn’t really do justice to the lovely Kim Kane (Cry Blue Murder) to post her article up until my blathering and excitement has had a chance to die down.
So Every Breathwas released into the wild on Wednesday 21 August.  It was a day like every other day – I still did the school run, took my son to footy training, took my other son to soccer training, took my other sons to swimming lessons, made salami and cheese sandwiches for Thursday lunches, made the dinner.  A very normal day, except that I had a book published!  (Dan Brown – a friend pointed out on her own book birth-day – probably doesn’t sweep the kitchen floor on publication day.  Or hey, maybe he does.  What do I know?)
What’s been wonderful is that so many people have started reading and responding to Every Breath.  This is the amazing moment you dream about – the moment when other people begin reading your novel.  When it goes out into the world, and people see it on a shelf somewhere, and pick it up, and become intrigued…
People have started putting up reviews on Goodreads.  And on their blogs.  And  on their websites.  That is so unbelievably cool.  I want to hug ALL of you, especially the reviewers who’ve liked EveryBreath enough to give it such high ratings, and especially that one reviewer who posted a pic of Benedict Cumberbatch whipping his scarf off (I could sit and watch that all day).
Madison and Sydney, the two girls from Castlemaine Secondary College who so kindly agreed to read and review Every Breath, have sent me their review - I’m going to include it at the end of this post.  But if you DO read the book, and you like it, feel free to go say so on Goodreads, or Facebook, or wherever you fancy.  It would make me ridiculously happy.  And if you feel inclined, send me a link so I can Tweet it around @elliemarney.
So I promised more info about the blog tour and here it is:
Book Probe Review (already up! – author Q&A)YA Midnight Reads (review and giveaway posted!)A Sunny Spot (review posted!)Vegan YA Nerds (review and giveaway on 26 August)Novels On the Run (author Q&A on 26 August)Bad Ass Bookie (author Q&A on 9 September)Kids Book Review (author Q&A 14 September)Speculating on Spec Fic (author Q& A on 16 September)The Rest is Still Unwritten (author Q&A on 23 September)Claire Reads (review coming)

There’ve also been some AMAZING reviews that have emerged - ALPHAreaderhas posted a great one, and I’m still gasping from the one at Hypable…wow.
To celebrate all this incredibleness, and just to celebrate the whole ‘I got a book released, woot!’ thing, I went to see The Mortal Instruments:City of Bones movie with my son (yes, it’s awesome, go see it) up in Bendigo.  Then, in the continuing spirit of celebration, we got Nutella and banana pizza on the way home.  Now thatis an excellent way to mark the occasion.
So I promised Madison and Sydney I’d post their review - here it is (and a very lovely one too, even when I asked for warts-and-all!)  
“Every Breath – Ellie MarneySummary: What if Sherlock Holmes was the boy next door? Rachel Watts is an unwilling new arrival to Melbourne from the country. James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguingly troubled seventeen year-old genius with a passion for forensics. Despite her misgivings, Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her to help investigating a murder. And when Watts and Mycroft follow a trail to the cold blooded killer, they find themselves in the lion’s den – literally. A night at the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again... Review:This impressive book is burdened with suspense-filled moments. It is a fast-paced novel with wonderfully flawed characters, all with unique personalities and possibilities. The novel is refreshingly original with diverse ideas from different stories. I think it’s clever how the author has woven in the idea of Sherlock and Watson being these two rebellious teenagers. “I’m an academic genius and a social moron...Being a moron in one or two areas serves to highlight my extraordinary brilliance in everything else.” I love how Mycroft is equally clever and quick-witted, as he is damaged and cocky.  Equally brilliant as he is broken. Mycroft was only young, fourteen, when his parents were killed in a tragic accident while on their way back from a holiday. After that, he changed and he changed people. Mycroft prides himself on keeping his guard up and never letting anyone see what is really behind his blue eyes because he knows that they won’t like what they find.However, there is one girl in particular who can see (who he letssee) through the layers and layers of pretending.  Rachel Watts, a country girl at heart but living in the busy streets of Melbourne. Although Watts has only recently moved to the city, a strong connection between Mycroft and Rachel has already formed. Together, these two solve the mystery of a murder, lying, sneaking, and charming their way through the many obstacles that obstruct their path.I feel that this book is perfect for the young minds of today, filled with teenage hormones and bright minds, ludicrous characters and mind-blowing twists, the realization of deception. People are not always who they declare they are. I, personally, don’t typically read crime novels but I thought that this one was great! Review written by Madison and Sydney Oliff” Thank you, girls, for reading, and I’m so glad you enjoyed it :)
xx Ellie

Something is about to happen

So, friends, we’re reaching the business end of this adventure.  Every Breath is about to go out into the world.  I am about to go on a blog tour.  I am learning the truth of that happy aphorism ‘if you want something done, give it to a busy person’ – these last few weeks have been insane.
I have been editing book 2 (Every Word), plus organising launches, answering blog questions, arranging fun stuff like badges and t-shirts, and visiting schools.  I’ve also started a new job, been horribly ill, dealt with family being ill, started writing a grant application (which is due in the week before the launch – WHY does everything happen at once?  Bad timing, guys, bad timing!) and did all the usual parenting/household stuff.
I’ve been trying to write book 3, but needless to say not a lot of writing has been done.  My head is full to bursting – stuff I need to do, stuff I’d like to do, things I’d like to write if I only had more time.
But hey, look outside!  Spring is slowly unfolding: the buds are out on the fruit trees, the weather has been craptacular but generally not as cold as it was four weeks ago, the fairy wrens and the currawongs are all going silly.  The daffodil bulbs that have not been eaten by the echidnas are starting to flower.  Our chooks are beginning to give us eggs again.  At night we hear the occasional gun pop, as local farmers keep the foxes off the spring lambs.
The season is changing, and something new is about to happen.
The air is starting to smell different.  I haven’t needed my electric blanket in my writing cave recently.  Maybe by the time the launch parties roll around I’ll be able to wear a dress, something that doesn’t involve four or five thermal layers.  I am so sick of leggings, I really cannot tell you.  I’m ready for a big exhale.
In spite of the busy-ness, it’s very exciting, this whole book launch thing.  Just in time for spring:)  I received my author copies – aren’t they gorgeous?

In other news, my friend Ali Daws wrote a lovely blog postabout finding inspiration, and slogging on through the tough writing times.  He featured my little outhouse-study as an example of how you can keep going through adversity, and I have to admit that conditions have been pretty adverse of late – temperatures dropped to negative a few mornings, and trying to write with popsicle fingers kind of sucks.
But if you really love something, you kind of power on in spite of the obstacles.  Which makes you either a bit nutty, or really really determined, I guess.  And then before you know it, you turn around and…something has happened, something has emerged from it all.  Something that makes you feel really happy, something satisfying and new.
All right, enough philosophical rambling.  Here’s the update!
* School visitsI went to Castlemaine Secondary College and met a bunch of fantastic students from Rachael Webb’s classes.   I met Madison, who won the CSC Every Breath book review comp, and her sister Sydney – these are the girls who are going to read the book and write a review, which will soon feature on this blog and Castlemaine newspapers.
On Monday 19 August, I’m going to be at Kyneton Secondary College, meeting people from the book club, and awarding the winner of the Every Breath short story comp.  I used to teach at Kyneton, so it will be a lovely trip back to my old stomping grounds!


* Blog tourThis is SO COOL – I get to visit other people’s blogs!  And some of them have already put up lovely welcoming banners – check it out!
Book Probe Reviews
Speculating on Spec Fic
Vegan YA Nerds - look at the vid! omg!
I’m also going to be dropping in at a bunch of other places, so when I have names and dates confirmed I’ll let you know.  And I’ll be doing a Goodreads giveaway soon too.  Until then, keep an eye out.
* LaunchesThis week I send out a bunch of invites to the two launch celebrations – if I didn’t send you one personally, I’m sorry, I honestly am trying to make sure I remember everybody!  Feel free to come along to either of the launches – if you’ve stopped by FB and seen the Official Launch invite, just click ‘yes’ and bobble along, or send me a note via email.(elliemarney[at]gmail[dot]com)
Remember, there are two parties.
Every Breath Official Book LaunchA big send-off by Carmel Shute, from Sisters In Crime, at Readings Carlton on Thursday 12 September at 6.30pm.  Reading, signing, drinkies, balloons, and maybe a nice cake.
Every Breath Castlemaine Big BashA celebratory launch party, where I get to drink too much champagne.  Kicking off at 6pm in the Castlemaine Library foyer on Friday 20 September.  Music, food, giveaways, books by Stoneman’s Bookroom, signings, posters, lots of people talking loudly over each other…a right honourable Castlemaine bash!
I’m looking forward to both events, and especially looking forward to seeing mates from Melbourne who I rarely get to visit.  My husband is sad, because 20 September is the Friday night of the AFL Preliminary Final.  Never mind, honey!
Next post, I’ll have another special YA Crime guest.  Until then, have a lovely week, and hope your spring has sprung.
XxEllie

YA Crime Report: GUEST POST - Dr Shelley Robertson

Hi again, welcome back to the blog!
Now you know that Every Breath is a crime thriller, right?  It features a character called Rachel Watts, an ex-rural sheep cockie and her eccentric seventeen-year-old neighbour, James Mycroft.  When Mycroft asks her to help him solve a murder near the Melbourne zoo, Rachel becomes his reluctant ‘Girl Watson’.  Together they race to find the killer, and a trip to the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again…
Mycroft has a passion for forensics – it’s an integral part of his quirky Sherlockian character.  
But how exactly does one develop a ‘passion for forensics’?  And what does having such a passion entail?
Well today’s very special guest might be able to shed some light on this.
Dr Shelley Robertsonis a former senior forensic pathologist with the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, and she’s been kind enough to visit here today and answer a few questions about forensics, pathology, and other homicide-related things.  Please give Shelley a very warm welcome!

Thanks for dropping by to visit, Shelley!  How’s it going over your neck of the woods?
Fine thank you Ellie.

Could you tell us a little bit about the kind of work you do?
Well, when working for the VIFM, a large proportion of my work was performing medico-legal death investigations which included post-mortem examinations, autopsies, reviewing medical information and other evidence relating to sudden, unexpected deaths and compiling reports for the State Coroner , the police and justice departments.   Now I run a consulting business giving expert opinions in cases which may ultimately be used in court.

Helen Garner wrote a famous article about the Melbourne morgue, in which some of the pathologists she interviews are quite young – in their very early twenties.  In Every Breath, the character of Mycroft is only seventeen, but he’s already had an interest in forensics for some time.  Is forensic pathology something that trainees often come to early, do you think? What drew your interest to forensic pathology in the first place? 
Forensic pathologists are generally a bit older than that, but at the VIFM, there were often medical students and trainees around which may have given Ms Garner a false impression.  I just thought it would be an interesting thing to do rather than spending my time peering down a microscope in a hospital laboratory.

And I know that there are many different branches of forensics (including forensic chemistry, forensic engineering etc), but pathology focuses on determining the cause of death and the pathological process that leads to death.  What kind of training do you undertake to work as a forensic pathologist?  Do you have to be a medical doctor to work in the field?
Yes, in order to be a forensic pathologist, one needs a basic medical degree.  Then one has to obtain Specialist qualifications in Pathology. 

So I imagine that to work in this field you’d have to have quite a strong stomach…and a lot of empathy.
I don’t know that a ‘strong stomach’ as such is required.  Most doctors don’t have a fit of the vapours at the sight of blood.  One does learn to be fairly resilient to bad smells and terrible sights but I think that is all part of the practice of medicine.  Forensic pathologists may have limited contact with family members and others related to a deceased person, so empathy may not necessarily be a dominant characteristic.

What’s an average working day like for a forensic pathologist?  Could you give us a bit of an idea what a normal day might involve?
A typical day may involve performing several autopsies followed by paperwork, completing microscopic investigation of previous autopsies, writing reports.  Some days involve court appearances, that is, being questioned in the witness box by both Prosecution and Defence in murder trials, or teaching at university.

In Every Breath, Mycroft and Rachel stumble upon the scene of a homicide.  Do forensic pathologists sometimes work outside the lab, examining the scene of the crime?
Yes, forensic pathologists may attend crime scenes at the request of attending police or the coroner.

Now I know that in my research for Every Breath I discovered a few things about real-life forensic pathology that made me understand how fictional detectives sometimes get it all wrong – like the fact that autopsy results can take 6-10 weeks to come back (in CSI, they make it seem like it happens overnight!).  What are some of the most glaring differences between real-life forensics and fictional forensics?
I think that you have picked the most glaring difference, that is overnight versus 6-10 weeks and not just the autopsy result, also things like toxicology results, DNA testing.

So does it detract from your own enjoyment of literary and television depictions of forensic pathology, when they don’t get the details right?
Yes, I much prefer shows like ‘Midsommer Murders’ where there is limited nasty forensic stuff.

And for any of our readers out there who are interested in pursuing ‘a passion for forensics’ – any words of advice?
Go and talk to some real people actually doing the job, don’t just rely on the media.
Shelley, you’ve been very generous agreeing to come on the blog, so thank you!

And now is the part when I let you all know what’s been happening, and what’s coming up.  Well, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind week, not the least because I received my first author copy!

Yep, that’s me, looking extremely happy!  I think if I was smiling any harder, my face would bust :)  But seriously, it’s been a long journey to this point, and it’s incredible to finally have a finished copy of Every Breath in my hot little hands…  I’m very aware too, at the moment, of how many people have contributed to the making of the book, and getting it to this point.  I’m feeling full of gratitude right now, and I hope I remember to thank everyone on the launch night…
Speaking of launch nights – I’m getting in early to let people know that Every Breath will be launched in Melbourne at Readings Carlton on Thursday 12 September at 6.30pm.  The convenor of Sisters in Crime, Carmel Shute, will be launching the book into the world.  Drinks and nibbles will be on hand, and also some balloons may be involved…or something else suitably celebratory!  I’ll be sending out a big invite soon, so keep an eye out.
But wait, there’s more!

There will also be a Launch Party for Every Breath locally, in Castlemaine, on Friday 20 September at 6pm at the Castlemaine Library.  Hostess with the Mostest, Robyn Annear, will be MCing proceedings.  There will be food and drinks, music, books on sale courtesy of Stoneman’s Bookroom, as well as readings and giveaways.  I’m also toying with the idea of inviting people to come dressed as their favourite detective…  Anyway, basically it’ll be a night to remember, so please, if you’re around the traps, drop by and say hello!
xx Ellie
PS: and thanks to the wonderful artists who created the Sherlock image on the wall of 'She Sells Seafood' in Castlemaine - I don't know who you are, but all kudos to you!

Wild luck from nowhere

What a strange and incredible day!
I signed my first autograph today, for a friend.  That was quite weird.  The best advice about this I got from LeeFox, who said ‘don’t use the same signature for autographs that you use on your credit card’ which seems like pretty sound advice, I have to say.
I also got my cover proofs today, which made it a very special day from the get-go. 
Knowing that your words are turning into a real live actual book is strange in itself.  I mean, you think about it, you dream about it, and you plan for it to happen…  I know that Every Breath is about to go out into the world, and boxes of books will soon be unpacked in shops and things – I did go through a rather exhaustive editing and copy-editing process after all.  And yet I still can’t get my head around it.

When you start to see the evidence that it IS actually happening, like cover proofs, it still seems so odd, somehow divorced from reality.  People say, ‘aren’t you excited!’, and yes, I am excited, but also sort of confused, in a ‘how did this come about?’ way.
So this is where I’m at right now, at the blinking-in-surprise stage (which is curiously like the ‘first getting signed’ stage), as the arrival of advance copies becomes imminent and it starts to fall on your head that wow, yes, this is ALL REAL.
The other thing that happened was that I went to see GraemeSimsion, author of The Rosie Project, speak at the Castlemaine Library tonight, and holy crap, that guy has had an incredible ride.  Seriously – he didn’t even start writing until five years ago.  He wrote a book in seven weeks, people.  A whole book.  It won the Vic Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award, straight off the bat.  Then it went nuclear, and was sold to 39 countries, or some insane number like that, and now he’s on his way to the US to talk about writing the screenplay for the film production…
I mean, the whole thing just sounds awesome, and even he himself talks about it in this ‘omg, this is so cool!!’ way that made me just want to congratulate him over and over.
But Graeme Simsion did the hard yards – he worked away on that original screenplay-that-became-a-book for five years.  He binned whole plotlines, whole characters.  He read his writing manuals.  And above all, he clocked in his hours – that 10,000 hours or something that sorts the wheat from the chaff when it comes to writers.  So he’s worked bloody hard for this success.
And what I loved about hearing him talk, what really resonated, was that he still has this sense of wonder about it all, the whole process.  He still seems slightly flabbergasted by his success.  Proud, yknow?  But surprised all the same, with this lovely conspiratorial laugh, and this enormous look of wonderment.  He was like ‘can you believe it? THIRTY-NINE COUNTRIES!!!’, and I was sitting in the audience, just grinning my head off (‘omg, that happens!’) and just hearting him so bad!
And I really get that today: that feeling of almost child-like incredulity that yes, this is really real.  Although I think I have more of a stunned-mullet look on my face when people ask me about it (probably because Graeme Simsion has had a lot more practise at being asked about his book and talking about it and so forth).
So if you see me kind of wandering around in a bit of a spin, or if you talk to me about the book and I just nod my head vaguely like ‘oh yeah, that’, it’s not that I’m not excited – I totally am!  It’s just that it still seems rather like something that’s happening on Mars, or to somebody else way cooler than me.  And thank you, in advance, for your understanding J
Oh, there was one more thing that happened!
On my way to seeing Graeme Simsion at the Library, a fox dashed across the road in front of my car.  This happens sometimes.  But it always gives me a little thrill, because…a fox!  That sneaky bugger!  I know I should loathe foxes, because they do so much damage around this time, with the lambing season.  But…I can’t hate them.  Foxes are tricky and clever and wild, and that sudden flash of russet red always reminds me that sneaky surprising things happen – they happen when you least expect.  Wild luck sometimes strikes you from nowhere.
A fox!  Right in front of me!
I took it as a good omen.
Have a great week.

Xx Ellie

YA Crime Report: GUEST POST – Simmone Howell

Simmone is the author of Notes From the Underground and Everything Beautiful, and her most recent novel is Girl Defective.  It’s the story of Skylark Martin - whose ‘weird hormonal stew’ draws her into the mystery of a St Kilda girl’s death - and the whole Martin family, who are ‘like inverse superheroes, marked by our defects’.
So please give a very warm welcome to Simmone!

Hi Simmone, pull up a chair.  How’re things going over your side of Castlemaine?
Things are good. The sun is shining. The magpies are singing.I have a crick neck.

Crikey, Simmone, I wish I was closer to your end of town!  Now Girl Defective has only been released this year, and I totally feel the love for Sky and Gully and their dad, and particularly all the beautifully-drawn characters that frequent Wishing Well record shop.  I know you used to work in a record store – so is it all about observation?  Noting and remembering the little details that make a character come to life as a person?  (Or does working in retail help hone your writing skills…)
(Why Thankyou!)  I think retail really does help hone your writing skills because it allows you to become an expert day-dreamer. I think of all the hours I logged behind a counter somewhere (and I never worked anywhere busy, except in London) and most of them were spent imagining other existences ... and sometimes I could write at work or just look at the customers and imagine their existences... If you know a place, or a person, or a subject really well then you are able to bring it to life and bring a personal experience to the writing that will lift it out of the prosaic. It’s always the little weird things that stay with me, and work for me... I think I might be detail-oriented.

Sherlock Holmes explained how most of investigation and deduction is about observing, not merely seeing.  Do you think this means writers might have an edge as detectives?
Maybe. I think writers are myopic though! We only see what we want to see, or what we need to see to get the story written. Also Sherlock would be impartial. I’m never impartial - I get emotionally involved!

Sky is drawn into the strange circumstances surrounding a girl’s death.  Were you a bit of a Trixie Belden as a kid?  Personally I never got on with Nancy Drew, but I was always a big fan of George, from the Famous Five…
I was also a George fan (Anne was too prissy). I also loved the Meg mystery books. I also read lots of Agatha Christie early on. In my twenties I got really into reading pulp fiction and watching film noir - I read True Crime but it was always retro True Crime - I remember being really taken with the Charlie Starweather case (that was inspiration for Badlands) and I was obsessed with Twin Peaks. The mystery elements in Girl Defective owe more to these older influences than anything I read as a kid.

So if you were in Sky’s shoes, presented with a mystery like that, do you think you would have reacted the same way?
I can imagine myself getting obsessive, yes.

When you were developing Girl Defective, did the voices come first, or the ideas for the story?  How does it usually work for you?
The voice came first. It’s always voice first, and then moving into the relationships around the person who owns the voice. Them describing their world and situations will arrive from there. I had Nancy, Sky and Gully first and they were solid - Mia and Luke, the mystery came later.

And what do you think is the toughest discipline you impose on yourself as a writer?
Finishing. I could start new things every day and be happy but actually writing something through to the end is really hard but, uh, necessary. Unless maybe I teamed myself with another writer who was good at endings and hated beginnings - that could work...

You have a strong lyrical rhythm in your writing – is it something you labour over, one sentence at a time, or do you just go with the flow and then spend a lot of time crafting as you edit?
I spend a long time on all of it and I edit as I go. Usually I will write a chunk and then edit it to death and then move on but sometimes I start at the start every day for months ... I really love words and word-play and poetry and metaphor, all that. And references, but the references have to be right and true to character.

So can you give us 5 favourite words you’d take with you to a desert island? (or maybe Fantasy Island?)
weird, ancient, crazy, peripatetic, guff

Cool words!  And while we’re on ‘favourite’ and ‘desert’ – favourite dessert?
Chocolate cake

Everyone please give Simmone a hearty mitten-clad round of applause for being such a lovely guest J  If you’d like to chase Simmone’s work, she’s here at her website.  She also says: “My tumblr is girldefective.tumblr.com where I post influences and defective girls and other stuff ...”  And Girl Defective is available from all good book shops. Or should be.

Please stay tuned for more crimey stuff - our next guest will be forensic pathologist Dr Shelley Robertson, for those with a mind for gory detail...

UPDATE ON THE COVER REVEAL COMPETITION!!!  
In my last post I announced that we had a winner for the Every Breath Cover Reveal Competition…
Well, that was true to an extent.  Unfortunately the winner (whose name my kids pulled out of the hat) hasn’t been in touch with me as yet – so basically, if Megan Brain hasn’t gotten in touch with me by the end of today I’ll be drawing a NEW WINNER .  That’s right, the pri>e is still up for grabs (and no, that wasn’t a misspell, the ‘last letter of the alphabet’ on my keyboard is STILL broken)

Anyway, if you commented on the blog here (or FBed or tweeted), then you’re still in with a chance.  All will be revealed shortly…
Okay, that's it from me, because my fingers are too cold to type anymore.  Back into the warm house, to make more badges and stickers...
Have a good weekend and stay snuggly.
Xx Ellie

And the WINNER is...

Hooray, we have a winner!!!

I'm proud to announce that the winner of the Every Breath Cover Reveal Competition is MEGAN BRAIN.

Megan, congratulations, please get in touch with me via email (elliemarney[at]gmail.com) or DM me @elliemarney on Twitter, and I will package up your reward and send it off!

I'd like to thank everyone who entered the competition - all of you who FB'd, commented, Tweeted and linked.  Thanks for your support and kind words, and believe me, it's making me very excited to know that Every Breath is about to go out into a world of such generous and appreciative friends!

Cheers, and have a good back-to-school week,
xxEllie