Sara Foster's Blog, page 10

Hopping on the blog: writing plans and processes

Natasha Lester

Last week Natasha Lester kindly invited me to take part in a blog hop on writing processes. Natasha is the author of two brilliant works of fiction – What is Left Over, After and If I Should Lose You – and teaches writing at UWA Extension and the new Writers Centre which has recently opened in Perth. You can read her blog here to find out why she plans to diversify this year and more on the novel she’s working on. Now she has passed the baton to me, and although I’m still feeling a little fuzzy headed having only just declared maternity leave over, I will do my best to explain what I’m up to this year and how I write…

What am I working on?

A new novel called The Spirit Road. Set in the Lake District, it’s about teenage secrets and family betrayals and has numerous twists and turns. There are some serious issues in there, but I’m having a lot of fun trying to fit it all together. Fortunately, I wrote half of the book before my youngest was born, so it’s nice not to have to start from scratch. I’m sure all my books benefit from resting time, but that isn’t always possible when writing to deadlines, so I’m pleased this one has had chance to sit for a while. Some distance has given me the chance to assess how it’s going a little more objectively, and I am delighted that I’ve only felt the need to cut 4,000 words so far!

How does your work differ from others in its genre?

My books straddle a few different genres, which I think is a good thing until we try to market them! I like to write fast-paced family/relationship suspense dramas, almost thrillers, and I’d say that readers of Kate Morton, Jodi Picoult and Heather Gudenkauf would, hopefully, find much to like in my stories. Although you’ll discover some common narrative threads in my novels, I like to experiment with narrative strategy too. So, for example, Shallow Breath is told from seven people’s point of view, whereas Beneath the Shadows is from only one perspective.

Like Natasha, I also have plans to diversify – I love a challenge and it’s exciting to explore new ways of creating stories. My most recent work is a short story with an apocalyptic twist for an anthology of independent writers, including Hugh Howey, Jason Gurley and Michael Bunker, called The Indie Side.

Why do I write what I do?

Natasha had a great response to this question last week, and mine is similar. I write the stories that nag away at me and don’t leave me alone until I’ve finished them. I have heaps of ideas, but most of them naturally fall away. It’s the ones that stay with me that I begin paying attention to, because I realise I have found a topic or character that I want to explore, and hopefully if I feel that way then readers will too.

How does my writing process work?

First of all, I try not to let things get in the way of writing time. It’s a never-ending challenge, with children’s needs and all the duties of daily living, not to mention trying to keep up with websites and social media and promoting a backlist of books.

When I sit down to write I work to a loose plan, but if the writing is flowing then I go with that, and I only go back to reconsider my plan if I get stuck. I edit as I go – one of the bonuses of having a tandem career as a book editor is that I’m used to critiquing work so I try to look objectively at what I’m doing and make those painful cuts if necessary.

 

And now, I am very excited to tag in three of my fellow Indie Side writers, who will join the blog hop next week to tell you all about their writing. Jason Gurley is a star of the indie scene with a whole host of well-received novels, and not only that but he’s a talented cover art designer too, and designed the beautiful cover for our anthology. Kate Danley is a USA Today bestselling author of fantasy titles, whose debut novel, The Woodcutter, was honoured with the Garcia Award for Best Fiction book of the year. Finally, Mel Hearse is a journalist and fiction writer who is releasing a series of short stories this year as well as working on her first novel. I’ll link up to their posts next week.

URGENT: Have your say on the WA shark cull

Photo credit: Sea Shepherd Australia

Wherever you live, over the next few days you have the opportunity to make your voice heard about the shark baiting that’s happening in my little corner of the world. Colin Barnett, the WA Premier, has been quoted in the last 48 hours as saying he believes the silent majority are for the cull. If you disagree, PLEASE don’t let his statement stand as your voice. Find out why your voice is needed right now at the bottom of this blog.

The background is this: If you’re a Western Australian, chances are you know from extensive media coverage that there is a shark cull going on off our beaches at the moment. Drum lines have been set off metropolitan beaches from Cottesloe to Leighton Beach in Mullalloo (and two beaches in southern WA), where hooked baits catch sharks who are then assessed by the Department of Fisheries. Those deemed large enough to be a danger to swimmers (over 3 metres) are killed, smaller ones are released, although they are often wounded and so it’s questionable how many of them survive.

Shark cull protest, Cottesloe Beach, 4 January 2014

I’ve been to both Cottesloe rallies against the cull, and everyone I have heard speak is passionate about the value of human life. It is FOR this reason that they are against the shark cull. Protecting human life means valuing the biodiversity which sustains our planet, and there is not enough known about the sharks off the WA coast for this quite arbitrary killing or maiming of sharks – usually tiger sharks so far – who are attracted to the baits.

Photo credit: Sea Shepherd Australia

In a former life before children I was a scuba diver – and hopefully one day I will get back in the water with a tank on my back. I have swum with a number of different species of sharks, including hammerheads. I considered and accepted the risk I took on entering their world. I also knew from my interest in marine life that there are many occurrences of sharks and people swimming near one another without an attack happening – attacks are the exception. Any injury or death from a shark bite is an absolute tragedy, but I wish that the millions being spent on this seemingly ill-thought-out cull could be spent on making our beaches safer and continuing to research these apex predators (particularly in light of the chances humankind is forcing upon the oceans). If only we could understand them better, perhaps then we would not have to fear them so much. Our co-existence is vital to the well-being of our planet.

I have taken the following from an email written by Sea Shepherd’s Australian director Jeff Hansen, which tells you how to make your voice heard:

The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has referred the Shark Cull ‘policy’, with a consultation period from 12th February 2014 to 20th February 2014, this means we have just 6 days for our voices to be heard for the sharks and precious marine life.

We are calling on all our supporters not only in Australia but all over the world, to let the EPA know that this policy is completely environmentally unacceptable. The more submissions the EPA receives, the greater the chance of stopping the shark cull in its tracks. This public comment period enables the EPA a rough gauge as to what the community is feeling so they can determine an appropriate level of assessment.

Getting support for this will have more of direct impact on stopping the cull than almost any other thing we could be putting our efforts into over the next 6 days.

So please ask your friends and their friends to make a submission here https://consultation.epa.wa.gov.au/seven-day-comment-on-referrals/shark-drum-line-deployment-management/consult_view – Click “Online Survey” and for question 5 – recommend selecting “API Category B (environmentally unacceptable)”

For any background reading or some key points to make in your entry please see this post by Jessica Meeuwig, Professor & Director, Centre for Marine Futures at University of Western Australia https://theconversation.com/explainer-sharks-why-size-and-species-matter-22535, or recent posts made on the seashepherd.org.au website.

Shark cull protest, Cottesloe Beach, 1 February 2014

 

Short story release – From the Indie Side

Last year, a succession of stars aligned. I met a warm and enthusiastic author and reviewer, Susan May, who had kindly attended one of my speaking events. As we began chatting it became clear we were both very interested in the changing nature of the industry, and a friendship blossomed. When I mentioned my admiration for Hugh Howey and the way he had taken control of his writing career, Susan decided to investigate. A few months later, after interviewing Hugh, she told me she’d had an idea. An indie anthology of short stories in the thriller/speculative/sci-fi genres. Hugh was on board. Would I like to be involved?

You bet I would! What a wonderful opportunity for me to stretch my writing direction and try to write a short form thriller. This one little project snuck into the maternity leave I’d vowed I would take, and so I wrote my story, Cipher, with my newborn sleeping (and sometimes not sleeping!) in the background.

Cipher is the story of Beatrice, who leaves her family behind to visit her father. She never imagines she might not see them again, but then a bomb goes off close to home. Beatrice has to rely on a stranger’s help to find out what’s happened – and whether or not her husband and children have survived. When I’d finished writing I had the pleasure of reading the other stories in the anthology, and they are wonderful without exception.  Here’s a rundown of what you’ll find in From the Indie Side:

The Winter Lands   (Jason Gurley)

Jonathan Froestt lives alone in a retirement home. His family is gone. His friends are all dead. For over sixty years, he has been writing a novel, the pages collecting in his apartment in stacks. Nobody has ever read it. Until today.

Going Gray   (Brian Spangler)

When their community is engulfed by a deadly, caustic fog, sixteen-year-old Emily and her family decide to escape to the one building they can think of that might be able to withstand the fog’s corrosive force: the shopping mall. But a trip to the mall has never been so desperate, or so terrifying.

Queen Joanna   (Kate Danley)

Thrust into a loveless marriage of state, Queen Joanna soon discovers her new palace is home to many dark secrets. And when a face in the mirror confronts her with a dire warning, she realizes her life is at risk. Has she awakened a curse—or been struck by madness? “Queen Joanna” presents a haunting twist on the legend of Bloody Mary.

Mouth Breathers   (Hugh Howey)

Moving to a new town, starting off at a new school, meeting new kids… it’s never easy. And it only gets harder when the new town and the new school and the new kids are on a different planet. But sometimes, something happens that makes it worth all the trouble.

The Man With Two Legs   (Ernie Lindsey)

Many winters ago, the man with two legs managed to escape the oppressive maiming rituals of Tritan’s government. Now he stands on a hillside overlooking the city, a bomb in his rucksack, determined to bring about two impossible results: his mother’s rescue and freedom for his people.

Made of Stars   (Anne Frasier)

A genius vampire named Sinclair creates an alternate world where vampires can experience a traditional human life of love, marriage, and children. Sixteen-year-old Gabriel is Sinclair’s beta tester and volunteers to fall in love with a coffee-shop girl. But when the pain of love becomes overwhelming, Gabriel questions his decision. “It’s too real,” he tells Sinclair. “You made it too real.”

Gyre-Witchery   (Kev Heritage)

All Tam wanted was to be loved. Was that so hard? Made outcast because of her green eyes—the sign of witchery—Tamina, a well-meaning simpleton, is shunned by a superstitious people who blame her for the ills that have overtaken their small island. It was not her fault that she put on weight while the others starved, or that wild animals slunk at her side, or that men and women both desired and despised her. But change was coming, brought upon the back of a terrifying squall…

The War Veteran   (Susan May)

For seventy years, World War II veteran Jack Baker has endured vivid flashbacks to that horrific June day on Omaha Beach. But tonight, the flashback will be terrifyingly different. Tonight it becomes real. Tonight, Jack’s seventy-year-old secret will come back to claim him.

The Greater Good   (Mel Hearse)

When Lanie wakes up in a hospital bed with no idea how she got there, she tries desperately to work out why she was on the old loop road that’s been all but abandoned by the locals. Thinking there must be an obvious answer, Lanie leaves no stone unturned in her quest for an explanation. But when all is revealed, she is left with only one question—and no good answers.

REDOUBT   (Michael Bunker)

Phillip is a militia commander who has planned for a decade to defend the pacifist Vallenses of Central Texas with his army if ever the world tips over and goes to hell. He never thought he’d be on a skiing trip to New Mexico when the end comes.

The Man Who Remembered Today  (Peter Cawdron)

Kareem wakes with a headache. A bloody bandage wrapped around his head tells him this isn’t just another day in the Big Apple. The problem is, he can’t remember what happened to him. He can’t recall anything from yesterday. The only memories he has are from events that are about to unfold today, and today is no ordinary day.

You can’t go wrong with this collection, and what’s more for a short time it’s on sale at 99 cents on Kindle! In day one it has hit the No. 1 spot in the Science Fiction anthologies section and is heading up the charts! You can also find it on Kobo and NOOK. And if you would rather win one of those old-fashioned copies you can hold in your hands, then all you need to do is sign up to my newsletter, and leave a comment below, telling me whether you prefer paper or e-books… easy!

WIN a copy of Shallow Breath on the Australia Day book hop!

It’s the Australia Day blog hop!

Last year I wrote a piece for Random House on what Australia Day had come to mean to me. However, this year, I feel increasingly unsettled about where Australia is heading. I’m referring to the plans for coal mining/dredging/dumping around the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef, and small communities trying to fight off the fracking giants. I’m thinking about the WA government’s plans to start killing a protected species, the Great White Shark, because of the perceived threat to beachgoers; and all the battles to save pristine environments ranging from the Kimberley in the northwest reaches of WA to the Tarkine rainforest of Tasmania.

In other arenas, indigenous people are still fighting to be recognised in the Australian Constitution. Not only that, but Australia Day for some is considered Invasion Day for others. After reading Paul Daley’s excellent article in the Guardian on why it might be time to redefine Australia Day, it’s clear that some of its meanings are vastly outdated.

So this year, to win a copy of Shallow Breath (Australian residents only), please leave a comment telling me either what you love about Australia and want to protect, or what you think it’s time to change. And then please keep hopping! You’ll find the full list of participants here, and there are some great prizes to be won.

Thanks to Shelleyrae at Book’d Out for allowing me to be part of this fabulous blog hop. And thank you for dropping by!

To keep up to date with me and my books, please sign up to my newsletter while you’re here – there’s a link just to your right!

 

 

AWW Challenge 2013 wrap-up

At the beginning of last year I signed up for the 2013 Australian Women Writers Challenge. This fantastic challenge began in 2012, and was devised by Elizabeth Lhuede to focus attention on literary works by Australian women. You can read all about the background here. I entered at the middle level – Miles – which asks you to read 6 titles, and I was aware that, considering the year ahead, even this might prove a challenge. Nevertheless, I made a strong start, and I had read three titles by February – Kate Grenville’s The Secret River and Searching for the Secret River, and Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper.

In February I entered an intense researching and drafting period for my new book, which is set in the Lake District, and so my reading veered away from Australian literature for a few months as I focused on Northern England. However, during this time I also read and enjoyed The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty. I stopped writing in July, and I had a lovely period of reading, adding The Good Wife by Emma Chapman, and Elemental by Amanda Curtin to my tally. I was absolutely engrossed in both these books. Emma’s novel is a hugely impressive debut which absolutely deserves the praise it received in the New York Times recently! Elemental was the second Amanda Curtin novel I had read (The Sinkings was the first), and I was swept up in the story of Scottish Meggie. If you’re looking for beautiful, poised and poignant writing, and unique stories, go no further than Amanda.

So, by the end of July I had read all the titles I needed to complete the challenge. Surely I would read lots more by the end of the year.

Then, this happened:

 

END. OF. READING!

Yep, since August reading has been very restricted. My two girls have kept me extremely busy in the latter half of 2013. If I had the chance to sit down with a book the chances were that I’d be asleep within five minutes.

However… I also work occasionally as a freelance book editor, and I have been on Bronwyn Parry’s editorial team for a while now. During 2013 I worked with her on Darkening Skies, and editing Bronwyn’s books is always a pleasure. I also worked on Jenny Bond’s Perfect North (Hachette), a beautifully written epic tale about a doomed hot-air balloon expedition to the North Pole, and Jenny Valentish’s fabulous and hilarious debut My Life in Reviews, which will be published by Allen & Unwin in 2014.

So that takes my final tally to 9. Hurray!

My reading wish list for this year includes anything I haven’t read that’s on the AWW wrap-up list or the impressive inaugural 2013 Stella Prize long list. That’s before I even look at the new releases. So it’s a no-brainer to sign up again for the AWW challenge in 2014. Care to join me?

My latest production…

Our baby girl

I have been a bit quiet lately, and it’s not just that I have been busy writing my new book. We welcomed our second daughter into the world just over two weeks ago, and I am a very proud and busy mum at the moment. I plan to spend the next few months focusing primarily on our family, but Book 4 is well on the way, and I have a few other exciting projects in the pipeline, so keep checking back for writing news. Meanwhile, if you have read my previous books you can find plenty of extras at www.beneaththeshadows.com and www.shallowbreath.com. Happy reading!

Writers Ask Writers – if you could be another author for a day…

Fiction writing is all about inhabiting other lives for a period of time, so for this month’s Writers Ask Writers we’ve put a twist on this concept to ask ourselves the question: If you could jump into the life of another author, past or present, for one day, who would it be and why? Joining our Writers Ask Writers group this month as our guest blogger is Kirsten Krauth, author of Just a Girl and writer of the popular blog Wild Colonial Girl. Thanks for getting involved, Kirsten!

I’ve had great fun considering my answer to this question – although the day to be experienced is perhaps as crucial as the choice of author – I’m not sure I’d want to be anyone else on a low-key pyjama day or end up spending the afternoon with their accountant. So, presuming I can pick a day, who should I be? Should I be Margaret Atwood, who seems to have great fun developing interesting projects and whose imagination and literary genius I greatly admire? Or could I be Kate Morton, who is always off on interesting research projects, or Alice Walker and discover more about possessing the secret of joy. Perhaps I could go back in time instead, and become Virginia Woolf on a day when the Bloomsbury set were coming to tea? Or find out if Jane Austen was lonely, and how she managed to write and edit full length manuscripts by hand? I could be a Bronte sister, lost in my imagination while wandering the desolate moors, or perhaps Wordsworth, walking in the Lake District, which would certainly inspire me with my current book research. I could even be Lady Anne Clifford, diarist and celebrated patron of authors in the 1600s, on a day when one of her more exciting visitors – Ben Jonson or John Donne – came to call. However, I think for sheer intrigue I will go back to a day in 1990 on a crowded train and become JK Rowling  the moment she met Harry Potter in her imagination for the first time – apparently without a pen, so with hours to simply sit and think through what would become the defining book series of a generation. Rowling says she started writing The Philosopher’s Stone the same night, but that those first attempts bear no resemblance to the finished book. How I’d love to see what that very first draft looked like! If you could jump into an author’s life for a day, who would you be and why? Here’s what my fellow writers had to say: Our guest Kirsten Krauth beautifully channels a songwriting genius. Dawn Barker would travel back in time to the shores of Lake Geneva, while Amanda Curtin would have a taste of the life of a prolific WA writer. Both Natasha Lester and Annabel Duckworth-Smith would journey to the US in the mid twentieth century, while Emma Chapman would also love to peer into the mind of one of the giants of US literature.

My Friday fave

I am delighted to be appearing on Annabel Smith’s blog today talking about one of my favourite works of fiction, Beloved by Toni Morrison. To read the piece in full, click here.

Where do I write?

I write in the lounge room, in my bedroom, at the dining table, at the cafe, at the library, on the train, sitting outdoors, sitting indoors, swinging in the hammock, and very, very occasionally in my designated writing space, aka our study. The main reason for this being that the study is directly off our kitchen/lounge area, which is often busy and noisy.  However, I admit that I can’t access my preferred brain food – hot chocolate and/or cake – so readily from my study, hence the local cafes all know me well. Sometimes I prefer quiet surroundings, while at other times I like writing with a hubbub of people around me. I have fantasies about a studio – a room of my own, with wall-to-wall bookcases, and inspirational images and quotes all over the walls. However, while I’m working on that I have found that good things can come out of being nomadic – sometimes my location, the weather, or something I witness can really influence a scene.

Pictured are a few things in my study that are there to inspire me, in life and in writing.

Unbroken Spirit by Alison Dearborn Rieder

And now on to my fellow writers, Annabel Smith, Emma Chapman, Dawn Barker, Amanda Curtin and Natasha Lester. Can you guess which writer I’m referring to below? Visit their blogs to find out more!

Which writer has a beautiful new studio decorated with Florence Broadhurst wallpaper? Find out here.

Which writer wrote her first novel in the domed reading room at the State Library of Victoria? Find out here.

Which writer likes to bake with loud music on to get her into the zone? Find out here. [problem with link, will be sorted soon]

Which writer has crayons and a fairy doll on her desk? Find out here.

Which writer’s studio was once the storeroom of a shop? Find out here.

 

 

 

 

Mother’s Day special offers on Shallow Breath and Come Back to Me

There are a range of special offers going on this weekend, online and offline, to celebrate Mother’s Day:

Come Back to Me is FREE all weekend on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk for international readers. (Offer starts 12 am Pacific Standard Time on 11 May and ends 11.59 pm Pacific Standard Time on 12 May.)

Shallow Breath is down to $4.99 on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk for international readers.

FREE Postage Australia-wide from gorgeous independent bookshop Beaufort St Books in Mount Lawley, Perth, and they are offering Come Back to Me FREE when you buy Shallow Breath, and will even throw in wrapping. Call 08 6142 7996 or visit them at 567 Beaufort Street.

Buy Shallow Breath in WA at Dymocks Hay Street, Dymocks Morley, Dymocks Joondalup or Dymocks Karrinyup, and get Come Back to Me FREE.

Books are also on sale Australia-wide on my website store.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.