IWSG - October

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group! 

The awesome co-hosts for the October 1 posting of the IWSG are Beth Camp, Crystal Collier, and Cathrina Constantine!

This month's question is a good one!

 

What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

My favorite thing I've written is the book I'm currently querying,  A Stranger to Kindness.  It's the hardest book I've ever written and took me over five years to complete because I had a complete crisis of confidence after writing about 15K and I ended up abandoning it for quite some time, wrote another book, then came back to it and found my way into the story and the characters in a way I hadn't been able to before.

I'm not usually someone who worries too much about plot in my books.  They tend to be more character driven and the plot kind of develops as I explore the characters and how they act and react to the people and situations around them.  In A Stranger to Kindness, the main character is very damaged and stuff most people can do without much thought is incredibly challenging for him.  And these challenges really drove the plot for me in this book, to the point where things happen to him that I wasn't expecting, but were, in retrospect, exactly what would happen to this kid.

I kind of love him.

But I don't just love Harley, the main character.  I also love his brother, Wolfe and the friend he makes at his new school, Meg.  Meg's not an entirely new character - she's the younger sister of the main character in Stumped - but she's a few years older now, and the sass she demonstrated as an eleven-year-old in that book, has developed into some real bad-assery in this one.

I love this book because I love the characters, but I also feel like it's a hugely satisfying story on many levels.  It's about trauma and family and love and finding a place to call home.  I think I managed to write a really satisfying arc for my characters and, like in the best stories, they're different at the end than they were at the start. 

I also think I did a pretty good job with the voice in this one.  Voice is something that comes pretty naturally to me, but finding a voice for a POV character who doesn't speak was a huge challenge for me.  My writing background is in theatre and film, so dialogue plays a massive part in my storytelling.  I think the crisis of confidence I faced in writing this book was based largely on the fact I couldn't lean on dialogue to do any heavy lifting here because Harley's mute for most of the book.

Unfortunately, you can't read this book yet because it's not published.  And if the number of rejections it's racking up is anything to go by, it may not be any time soon.  But if you're interested in my favorite of my published books, it's Stumped - the one in which Meg plays a small part.  

What's your favorite thing you've written?  Is it published?  I'd love to add it to my TBR pile if it is!

Weekly Goals 29-9-25

 I got some writing done over the weekend.  Not a huge amount, but some.  Unfortunately, I don't know what's going to happen now I've got my characters where they need to be.  I'm sure it will come clear once I start writing it (I hope), but I have to actually write it.  I keep thinking I can have a day off to write, but there's always too much going on at work to actually claw back those extra hours.

So, this week's goal is to try and get through this section.  Once I've written it, how the book ends will be clear.  And I'm pretty sure it's not going to be the happy ending Arlo might be thinking he's getting, the one where he gets everything he wants.  I feel like it'll be more bittersweet, but then, that's kind of my brand.

I think this week (or maybe next week) is my last week of teaching three mornings a week, which will be a nice change of pace.  Amazing what a difference just having one more free morning a week makes.

What are your goals for this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 26-9-25

  

It's the end of the week, so it's time to celebrate the small things.

So, what am I celebrating this week?

It's the weekend!

And daylight saving starts on Sunday, so summer can't be too far away, even if it still feels like winter.

It's been a very busy week at work so I haven't had any time to write.  I hope to get some done over the weekend, but I also have quite a lot to do over the weekend.  Grrrrr....  Why does life have to get in the way of the things I actually want to do?

I got three new rejections for A Stranger to Kindness this week.  Starting to feel like continuing to query is pointless, but I'll persist a few more weeks.  I keep reminding myself it only takes one person to fall in love with it and maybe I haven't found that person yet.

I can't think of anything else I want to celebrate this week, so I'll leave it there.  What are your end-of-week celebrations?

Books I've Read: People of the Book

 

I've read other books by Geraldine Brooks and enjoyed them, so when a colleague recommended this to me, I jumped at the chance to read it.

It's part historical, part fact and part mystery, everything tied together by a present-day framing story in which an expert in ancient texts tries to unravel the secrets held by a famed book.  The book in question is a Jewish haggadah that was found in Sarajevo after the conflict.  Unusual in that it was illustrated, something Jews rarely did, the book was rescued and hidden many times over the years since its creation in 15th century Spain.

As the modern-day researcher, an Australian, tries to discover more about the book and its origins from such things as a fragment of butterfly wing, a hair and a stain that could be either blood or wine, the stories behind each of these things unfolds before us, revealing details of people and cultures from the ghettos of Venice, to an emir's palace and many places in between.

In the modern day, the book plays out more like a thriller as the researcher's work is interrupted by fascists and those who believe the book is theirs, not something that belongs to the diversity of cultures represented in Sarajevo across centuries.  She soon finds herself dragged into the shady underworld of forgery and art theft where only her unique knowledge and skill might get her out.

It took me a long time to read this book - almost three weeks, which is unheard of for me.  I think I was perhaps too tired to fully absorb it at times and found I had to go back and re-read sections to catch myself up.  But I did enjoy it when I had the chance to read more than a couple of pages at a time.  I feel like it might be one I need to come back to again when I'm less busy and better able to focus.

In many ways, through telling the story of the haggadah, the book offers a history of European Judaism, showing the way the Jews were constantly moved on from the places they settled, the endless persecution and their determination to hold fast to their beliefs even when faced with dreadful punishment for practicing them.

I'd recommend this one for people who enjoy historical fiction.  The thriller aspect is there, but it's pretty understated and if you go into this expecting a thrilling ride, you might just be disappointed.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

The "complex and moving" (The New Yorker) novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks follows a rare manuscript through centuries of exile and war.

Inspired by a true story, "People of the Book" is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author.

Called "a tour de force" by the San Francisco Chronicle, this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain.

When it falls to Australian rare book expert Hanna Heath to conserve this priceless work, the tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding—a butterfly wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—only begin to unlock the book’s deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.

Weekly goals 22-9-25

 I did a bit of writing over the weekend although I ended up throwing away a chunk of what I did after I realized I was going in the wrong direction.  I finally figured out a way to end the book that will let me explore the dangling plot thread I was worried about.  At least, I hope this will be the way to finish the book.  I'm not quite sure yet what might happen when I let Devon and Arlo go there, but I guess I'll find out.

I might try to take Thursday off to write, depending on how busy it is.  I have eight hours of lieu time I need to use ASAP, so Thursday might be the day to do it.  I'd pick Friday, but we have an all staff meeting for two hours and I probably shouldn't miss that.

So my goal this week is to try and write this section and hit the end.  I think there are probably odd bits and pieces I'll need to add in revision later to make it work, but that's what revision is for, right?

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things

 

It's the end of the week, so it's time to celebrate the small things.

So, what am I celebrating this week?

It's the weekend!

It has been a long week and I am definitely in need of a break.  Especially since next week is going to be a crazy one.  I have nothing planned this weekend, which is a good thing because I just want to stay home and read and write and not think about work for a couple of days.

I haven't done any writing this week.  Not even my daily flash fiction which I've been so good about doing all year. I've taught some extra classes at the gym and between that and the amount of brain power learning my job is taking,  I just haven't had anything left for writing anything.

I've had two rejections for A Stranger to Kindness this week too.  At this point, I'm not quite sure why I keep sending out queries, but I'm not ready to give up on Harley and Wolfe and their story.  Even though no one seems to want it.

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've read: The Stars are Million Glittering Worlds

 

I first came across this book before it was published when the publisher approached me about interviewing the author for the arts magazine I was editing.  Timing wasn't kind to us and the interview didn't happen, but I did receive a copy of the book for a giveaway.  It sat on my desk, looking enticing and beautiful for several weeks, but I was afraid that if I took it home to read, I spill coffee on it or drop it in the bath.  So, it remained unread until my book club decided it was a good option for this month's read since there were multiple copies available through the Libby app. (If you don't have the Libby app, get it now - it's been life-changing).

I really enjoyed this book despite deciding by the end that I really didn't like any of the characters very much.

There are three main characters - Thea, Sarah and Chris - who meet at a backpacker's in Guatemala.  Sarah and Chris are loosely a couple, having met elsewhere in Central America and met up again in San Pedro, a little town on a lake.  Thea arrives later, determined to climb some of the nearby mountains - her father who was a keen mountaineer died recently, and climbing is a way for Thea to feel close to him again.

All three of these people are traveling to get away from their real lives, to escape reality, their families and past trauma.  While they keep moving, they can be someone else; perhaps better than the people they were at home.

When tragedy strikes, Thea spirals, her past racing to meet her once more.  Even staying away doesn't seem to keep the darkness from overwhelming her, so she decides to go home, travelling through Australia to get there.

She never makes it home - she falls into a relationship and quickly finds herself building a life in Tasmania.  A mostly comfortable life, with friends and activities to keep the grief that binds her and her partner at bay.

Until another tragedy strikes and Thea finds herself questioning everything, the unanswered questions surrounding the tragedy in Guatemala suddenly overwhelming once more.  But if she wants the truth about what really happened, she needs to confront her own truth and finally confront her own tragedy, the one that sent her running to the far side of the globe.

This book went in some very unexpected directions. I won't ruin it by telling you too much about those directions because a big part of what made it enjoyable were these changes of direction.  Yet despite them being unexpected, none of them were out of character for the people making those decisions.

Unfortunately, I didn't much like any of the characters, and by the end, I liked them all even less.  Which, I suspect, may have been the point.  But despite not liking them, the book was very readable and had some lovely descriptions and language sprinkled through it.  There were enough buried secrets to keep you reading on, desperate to find out exactly what made these people tick - just why they behaved in some of the ways they did.

So, I'd recommend this one.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

A hypnotic novel about love, guilt and forgiveness. If you loved Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts by Josie Shapiro, you will adore The Stars Are a Million Glittering Worlds.

Thea, a young woman crushed by guilt, flees to Central America to escape her life in New Zealand.

In Guatemala, she meets the charismatic Chris and his partner, Sarah, and the three of them form a tight bond. While the rest of the world is caught in the grip of the global financial crisis, the three friends find a false reality in the backpacker party town of San Pedro. Surrounded by the dark volcanic beauty of the Guatemalan highlands, Thea starts to come to terms with her past. But everything changes when a tragedy occurs.

Knowing she has to leave Central America, but not ready to return home, Thea settles in Tasmania and into a new relationship. Bonded by grief, she and her partner make a life for themselves in Hobart. But years later, when tragedy strikes again, all Thea's old grief and guilt - together with unanswered questions - come to the surface. Against the backdrop of the pandemic and lockdowns, Thea begins to question the trust she has in her partner. She realises that if she wants to know the truth, she will need to come clean about her past.

Weekly Goals 15-9-25

I didn't manage to get any actual writing done over the weekend.  I did some writing-adjacent stuff - critiquing, querying, reading - but no actual writing.  Which is annoying.  But then, since I'm also a little stuck as to how I'm going to get to the end of the book I'm writing, maybe it isn't such a bad thing to have some time to think about it.

This week, my goal is to actually write.  At this stage I have nothing on this weekend, and I'm going to try and keep it that way.  And after the concert this week, I should have enough time owing to me I can take a day off to write next week.  Which will be good.

Other than that, I don't have any real goals this week.  I only have about 10 days more before the woman whose job I've taken over finishes up, so I need to learn as much as I possibly can from her before she leaves.  Unfortunately, she's working remotely from Ireland so the time difference means the only time we can meet is early in the morning which isn't ideal.  But I'll make it work...

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 12-9-25

It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things.

What am I celebrating this week?

It's the weekend!

Unfortunately, I have a lot of stuff booked in for this weekend, so I don't think I'm going to get a lot of writing time (again).  Prioritising time to write is really important to me, but somehow life keeps getting in my way.  Hopefully I'll get a little time tomorrow afternoon, but I have to learn a new class to teach at the gym next week too, so that's going to cut into the little piece of time I have.

I guess, I'm not in such a bad position - I'm almost finished the new book and I only really started it after Easter, so that's been pretty quick!  Especially considering A Stranger to Kindness took me five years to finish...  I mean, okay, I did write Guide Us somewhere in that five-year period, so it's not like I was 100% focused on Stranger all that time.

Talking of Stranger, I got another couple of rejections this week which is disappointing.  I think I need to start writing romantasy or horror or something - I feel like that's what agents are looking for.  Unfortunately, that's not the kind of story I want to write - or the kind of story I want to read.

My oldest son turns 21 on Monday which is somewhat confronting.  I swear I'm not old enough to have a 21-year-old son....  Or if I am, I don't feel old enough to have a 21-year-old son.  In my head I don't feel that different to the way I felt at sixteen!

Yet, tonight I'm going to a friend's retirement party...  Go figure!

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've Read: Every Time You Go Away

I've been a massive fan of Abigail Johnson for a long time and I've been excited to read this one ever since I read about it being the first time she's written a character who, like she does in real life, uses a wheelchair.

What's always drawn me to Abigails books is her ability to write beautiful, broken boy characters.  And this one doesn't disappoint!  Ethan is definitely broken.  His mother has been consumed by addiction for most of his life and she has often dumped him with his grandparents for periods of time while she either tried to get clean or went on benders.  She's always come back for him though, even when what she was taking him to wasn't the best place for a kid.

Rebecca has grown up in the house next door to Ethan's grandparents and, as someone around the same age, inevitably became friends with him.  It hasn't been easy though - Ethan is often spirited away so quickly he barely has time to leave a note to say goodbye.  And as they've grown up, their friendship has grown deeper and more complicated and his leaving hurts more each time.

Now, Ethan's back.  A lot has happened since they were last together and they've never talked much in between visits. So, this is the first time Ethan has seen Rebecca since the accident that killed her father and left her reliant on a wheelchair to get around.  Yet. despite everything, they still find themselves falling back into their familiar rhythms.

Yet things aren't quite the same.  Ethan is fixated on finding where his mother went when she skipped out of rehab the day after signing herself in.  Initially Rebecca helps him with the search, phoning people she might once have known and helping Ethan track down increasingly tentative leads.  The more she helps, the more she feels like Ethan is leaving her all over again.

Rebecca's mother has barely spoken to her since the accident and is singularly focused on getting her off to college.  She's about to marry her new lover and Rebecca feels increasingly like she's counting down the hours until she never has to look at her again.  Rebecca doesn't even know if she wants to go to college - she's happy in her part-time job making jewelery and loves the woman she works with and her chaotic, growing family.

Over the course of the summer, these two best friends have to face the things that have damaged them in the past and decide how they're going to face the future - and if maybe that future is brighter if they stay together.

I enjoyed this book very much.  Both characters felt very real in both their guilt and anger over the situations they found themselves in.  Neither of them are perfect and their abilities to acknowledge and even embrace their flaws was refreshing to see.  I found myself really rooting for them to figure it out and find a way they could be together.  I felt like they were both better people together than they were apart.

So I'd recommend this one.  It's kind of heavy in places, but in the best possible way.

But don't just listen to me; here's the blurb:

Eight years ago, Ethan and Rebecca met, two trouble-making kids sharing secrets and first kisses in a treehouse, until Ethan’s mom returned to take him away. Each and every visit, his only goodbye was a flower on Rebecca’s windowsill.

Three years ago, Ethan left for the last time to take care of his mother, who’s struggled with addiction his whole life.

Two years ago, Rebecca was in a car accident that killed her father. She’s been learning to navigate life as a wheelchair user ever since.

Now, they discover if their hardships have torn them apart…or will bring them closer than ever.

Weekly Goals 8-9-25

I didn't get much writing done over the weekend, but I did do a read-through of the whole book so far and have made a few notes on things that need to be worked on and things that are missing.  So my goal for this week is to get those things fixed up so I can actually write the ending.  I also sent a new batch of queries out for A Stranger to Kindness.  It feels kind of futile at this point - I feel like publishing isn't looking for that story right now, but I guess I'm just a masochist

Pre-sales start this morning for the 2026 season, so I suspect I'm going to be stupidly busy at work this week.  Especially since I'm only just figuring out my way through the system.  But I figure it's the best way to learn.

So, I guess my goal for this week is to get through it with my sanity intact.  What are your goals?

Celebrate the Small Things 5-9-25

 

It's the end of the week, so it's time to Celebrate the Small Things.

What am I celebrating this week?

It's the weekend!

It's a been a busy week that ended with some big events as part of my new job: my first concert and the program launch for our 2026 season.  Both seemed to go very smoothly and I'm hoping the bookings start flying in when the first presale opens on Monday.  Just not so quickly we can't cope with it.

Standing Too Close has been getting some great reviews which makes me happy.  Don't know if that will translate into sales, but it's nice to know people are enjoying and being emotionally affected by my book.

I've been so busy trying to learn everything I need to know at work, I've had very little time for anything else, especially writing.  I hope to change that this weekend.  I don't have much on, so I'm planning to write.  I'm so close to finishing the new book I can almost smell it.

And that's about it for me.  What are you celebrating this week?

IWSG - September

 

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group!

The awesome co-hosts for the September 3 posting of the IWSG are Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Diedre Knight!

This month's question is topical to say the least:

What are your thoughts on using AI, such as GPChat, Raptor, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, story bible, or creating outlines\beats?

To be honest, I'm not a fan of any of these AI "tools" in terms of my creative work. I have used them professionally to do things like creating a generic Health and Safety plan or NDA agreement or to shorten text to fit into a funding application's required word limit, but not for anything creative.

I feel like AI is the opposite of creative. You punch in prompts, and it spits stuff out that's a mash up of words and ideas it scrapes from all the media it's been fed in training. Media that most of us haven't given permission for the companies to use as AI training. Which I object to.

The few times I have experimented with Chat GPT, I didn't think what it did was actually much good either. Even those very templated, generic things I asked it to do weren't amazing and required a fair amount of massaging and re-writing before they were of any use to me. And if something that generic needed that amount of work, why would I outsource any of my creative work to it?

Apart from anything else. I write because I love to write. I love discovering the story and uncovering characters' various layers as they move through it. I don't want a computer to write for me. I don't need a computer to give me ideas - I have more ideas for books than I have years left to live!

In the future, I may consider using AI for marketing purposes, but I'm not even sure about that. I'm not great at book marketing - and if you saw my royalty statements, you'd agree with me - but at least anything I do is genuinely from me and my own voice.

Maybe I'm just old-school, but I'm not going to be jumping on that AI bandwagon anytime soon.

But I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks. Do you use AI in your writing work? And if so, how?