UPCOMING INTERVIEW: Cassandra Clare, Award-Winning Author of Mortal Instruments: A YA fantasy trilogy

Cassandra Clare is actually the nom de plume of Cassandra Claire, born in Teheran, Iran. She wrote the hugely successful Award-Winning YA trilogy books that has been optioned for film.

Her parents are American and they have travelled all over the world with her when she was a toddler from Himalaya through Europe.

Ms. Clare, spent her high school years in Los Angeles. She moved to New York after college where she worked at different entertainment magazines and tabloids.

Her first novel, City of Bones, was a New York Times best seller. The latest series “Shadowhunter,” is Ms. Clare’s first of a trilogy of prequels to “Mortal Instruments” series, “The Infernal Devices.”

The first volume in her Mortal Instruments is “The Clockwork Angel,” which will be available in every bookstore and on line September 7th, 2010. Her fourth Mortal Instruments book, “City of Fallen Angels,” will be available next year March 11th , 2011

Photo of Cassandra Clare (B/W) by D. Williford

To learn more about Cassandra Clare, please visit her website
to purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Nobles

The Week That Was

I know this is supposed to be a writer's blog and all that, but art (and music) is a big part of my life and this has been a very visual week, so...

Was delighted to track down a copy of American Painting by Donald Goddard.  Came across this when I was in America last year, but wasn't able to get hold of a copy in Australia.  Finally tracked it down to a wonderful second-hand book-store - Icapsa Used Books in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA - who arranged to send it to me.  It's a great collection of paintings and I've been browsing through them again these last few days, but one of the most significant for me is Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World. When I was 17, I wrote a piece of poetic-prose that was inspired by this painting and was doubly impressed when the Northampton Chronicle & Echo not only decided to print it but placed it next to a black and white image of the painting.

(10,700,000 Google hits for this painting!)

Have been watching Simon Schama's Power of Art on TV.  Last Sunday, his focus was J.M.W. Turner. I especially like his later paintings, where the figurative drifts into the abstract.  We get some stunning skies here, but the more turbulent ones always remind me of Turner's work.

Also revisited my brother's online gallery recently: Phil Burman.  He's getting ready for an exhibition in the north of England - drawings and sculpture - and had included some new images on his website, so I wanted to see what he was up to.  Thought this the perfect occasion to give a plug here.

What else?  Well, it's turned out to be our olive-picking weekend. The birds (or possums) beat us to it last year, so I was determined they weren't going to have the lot this year.  It's rained both afternoons and, though we ended up saturated, we got both trees picked, and now have to prepare them for bottling.  A fiddly process that includes a fortnight of changing brine daily, but well worth it when we start eating them.

And this morning saw the enterprising Blarney Books host Sisters in Crime: a panel of three crime writers (Kirsty Brooks, Vikki Petraitis and Lindy cameron) talking about their work with Carmel Shute. Enjoyed listening to them very much.  It's interesting to hear  other writers talk about their work, especially when they have a great sense of humour and when this shapes the session - it was a good laugh indeed.

INTERVIEW: Mette Ivie Harrison - Award-Winning Author Of The Young Adult Fantasy Novels

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Mette Ivie Harrison. She was born in Summit, New Jersey. Her father, a retired computer professor at Brigham Young University. Her mother Betty Jo Ivie, have 11 children.

Ms. Harrison holds an M.A. in German Literature from Brigham Young University, and a B.A. in German. She also attended Princeton University and has a PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures

AWARDS & HONORS
The Monster In Me—One of Bank Street’s Best Children’s Books, 2002
The Princess and the Hound—Top 100 Librarians' Choices (Texas Women's University), 2007
The Princess and the Hound—Honorable Mention, Best YA Novel of the Year (Association of Mormon Letters), 2007
The Princess and the Hound—Nominated for ALA's Best Books for Young Adults, 2007

Mira, Mirror—Spirit 0f 76 Recommended Book List, 2004
Mira, Mirror—Honorable Mention for Juvenile Books (Association of Mormon Letters), 2004
Mira, Mirror—Utah Center for the Book Letters for Literature Level II Winner, 2004

E.I. Would you share some early self-reflection to give us a sense of who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Give your readers three “Good to Know” facts about your first job experience, the inspiration for your writing career, any fun details or anecdotes that would enliven your page. Also tell us about Mette Ivie Harrison today -- the woman behind the Middle-grade bestselling YA author.

Mette Ivie Harrison: I went to Germany for a year my sophomore year as high school. My mother used to tell people that was the year I "grew up." I was certainly allowed a level of independence that many other teens my age never experienced. I took a train to the ferry across the English Channel and then a bus to London for two weeks and wandered through the National Museum and wherever else I wanted to go. I also spent a week with my German school friends at a ski lodge taking lessons from an advanced ski instructor. I think I nearly killed myself, but I was a different person when I came home. I was more confident, and I had seen a lot of the world that others were still reading about in books about famous art and literature of the ancient Western world. But I was also very much a square peg in a round hole. I had a small group of very bright friends, and one of those was my current husband. I had always known I wanted to be a writer, since I was in Kindergarten, and I swerved away from that for a time, but not very far. Books have always been a part of my life. I read them while I walked to school, at school whenever I could, and I used to read myself hoarse reading to my children.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing young adult novels that enchants you, and gives you the enduring passion to continue in such a demanding profession?

Mette Ivie Harrison: I do like to have some kind of formal challenge when working on a novel. For MIRA, MIRROR, I wanted to write an entire novel from the viewpoint of an inanimate object. I have another book in which each chapter is written from the first person viewpoint of a different character, and yet all the stories work together to tell a whole novel.

I am working on a new project that takes the old German legend Tristan and Isolde and translates it into modern high school. I wrote a romance with a bear and a hound as the two main characters. And I like to play with conventions about romance and fantasy and turn them on their heads.

E.I. Please tell your young readers about your novel *“The Princess and the Bear.”* What was it that sparked your imagination? What were your favorite aspects about this book?

Mette Ivie Harrison: I love that the "princess" in the book is not at all princessly. I hope that I make readers feel like they know what it would be like to be a hound or a bear. I also hope that the magic feels real and integral to the world. I think that fantasy demands just as much realism with characters as realistic fiction does.

E.I. What were your biggest challenge and obstacle while writing and creating the character King Richon and Chala? You've created a cast of characters so remarkably captivating that your readers definitely clamor for more; how did you decide what level of details your readers will accept? How does your creative process work?

Mette Ivie Harrison: The tricky part was making the two characters feel human, and yet not at all human. The reader has to care about them, so I can't stretch too far away from the bounds of a traditional novel, but I press the boundaries. I think that dialog has always been the easiest part of writing to me. Rather than seeing a novel visually, I tend to hear it in my head, mostly in conversations between the characters. I am blessed with family and friends who love conversation. We sometimes have to raise our hands to get a word in edgewise when we are debating hotly.

My creative process is very messy. I keep trying to shape it up. We'll see if it works. But I try to get a first draft down in a rush. I wrote BEAR in a month, about 10,000 words a day (only a tenth of which probably stayed in the final draft). It was rough, but it was a beginning point. Then I work through layer by layer, adding details, shaving away the extraneous, and twisting the cliched.

E.I. How do you imagine audience as you are writing? Do you try to do character development, chapter outlines, various novel-related brainstorming? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

Mette Ivie Harrison: I have notebooks in which I scrawl a variety of comments. I doubt they would make much sense to anyone but me. Sometimes plot questions, character issues, things that are inconsistent that I have to get right, questions about rules of magic, and then story ideas for the next book, and the one after that. Very rarely, I outline before I write. More often, I outline afterward and try to see the structure that needs to be in the broken one that I already have. If I had advice for writers, it would be to let go of what you wrote before because what you write the second time will be much better. I once lost my entire master's thesis on my computer. I had to rewrite it out of my head. It was one of the best things that happened to me. So now I have to force myself to do that a lot, and cut out a hundred pages here and there without blinking an eye.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from *“The Princess and the
Bear.”* is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

Mette Ivie Harrison: I love the first page. I think I got the feelings of the bear there exactly right. If I had to choose another section, it would probably be the rising of the animal army out of the forest.

E.I. When you finish a novel, it's off to your agent and publisher, then you're on to the next. Do you find letting your manuscripts, especially your characters, as easy to part with when finished?

Mette Ivie Harrison: On the one hand, I am eager to start a new project. But whenever I have a chance to take another pass at a manuscript, in galleys or any other stage, I do. I have been known to add scenes even at the very last moment because I want to get the manuscript exactly right.

E.I. Ms. Harrison, you are well known in the writing community as
Award-winning author, recipient of the Best Children’s book of 2007, Nominated for ALA's Best Books for Young Adults. Having a PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures. Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative
process?

Mette Ivie Harrison: I feel pressure and insecurity constantly. I think I am my own worst critic. But I will say that I write easily. I don't let myself off the hook just because I am afraid, and once I get started, I just remind myself that I am just trying to tell the story as clearly as possible. I try not to get in the way of my creativity. That is the biggest problem I see. People are so afraid of writing badly that they never start. And if you don't start with something, you are never going to get better.

E.I. And, finally, could you give us a sneak peek about your upcoming book, *“The Princess and the Snowbird?* What was it that sparked your imagination about this book?

Mette Ivie Harrison: I conceived of SNOWBIRD and BEAR in the same moment, as I was going through the galleys for THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND and realized that the story of the hound and the bear was woefully incomplete and the only way to fix it was to write two more novels about them. I thought of these books first as THE BEAR AND THE HOUND and THE HOUND'S DAUGHTER and think of the series as THE HOUND SAGA. I have a couple of other books in the series I am working on, one about the hound's hound daughter. If you read the first book, you will know who I mean. And I was drawn to the story of the hound and the bear's daughter because I wanted to tell a story about a character who has so much magic that she cannot relate to any other humans. And not really to animals, either. She is very lonely, because of her power. But she can't escape it. I think that is a story that gets told over and over again, and this is just one of my versions of it.

E.I. Ms. Harrison, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has
been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers all over the world?

Mette Ivie Harrison: I think that writers have to find out what they do well, what they are uniquely suited to write about. That takes a lot of experimenting. I wrote 20 novels before I figured out that I should write YA fantasy. But how could I have found that out unless I had tried everything else? Or a lot of other things, at least. Don't worry about trying to get published at an early age. Just write what you want to write. Let yourself write without fear as much as possible. Don't show it to teachers who will correct it if you can help it. And read. I used to read a book a day. This year it's only a book a week, but you can learn so much from reading and rereading fine books that no teacher can tell you in words. You learn an instinct for character and plot. And also, that's all material for you to steal, twist, and make utterly your own.

To learn more about Mette Ivie Harrison, please visit her website.
To purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Nobles

Scheherazade In The Real World

It's inevitable, I guess, that anyone who's involved with stories and story-telling will run into Scheherazade from One Thousand and One Nights fairly regularly.  She gets around - is a wonderful character/icon/role model/mentor [select whichever you prefer].  Last week she seemed to be popping up everywhere and I even bumped into her a couple of times when I was down the street.

The first time was when I was browsing Eva Luna by Isabel Allende in the local bookshop, which got me thinking about how often her tale is used by story-tellers, but then, just a few hours later, she appeared at a book launch on the other side of the street.

Brian Edwards' latest collection of poetry, In the Real World (Papyrus), was launched at Wishart's Art Gallery, and not only is Scheherazade made the subject of the last poem in the book - given the last word in effect - but she's also featured on the cover (from an Arthur Streeton painting).

It was a fine evening because it's always good to meet new people and talk about literature and art, and to hear a few poems being read over a glass or two of something.  I've only just started dipping into this collection of what seem to be prosaic poems on the whole, but am looking forward to the journey that Brian Edwards' writing seems set to take me on.

On the subject of local writers, I read Jodie Honan's A Natural History of Port Fairy and District last week. It's a dry title, but the writing is far from dry and Jodie Honan tells a tremendous story - entertaining, informative and superbly written.

Was flat-chat across the weekend editing At the Rawlings' Place for Ten Journeys (Legend Press) and have decided I'm a big fan of the Review aspect in Microsoft Word.  Haven't used this program much in the past, but all the edits I've been working through lately for The Grease Monkey's Tale and At the Rawlings' Place have made heavy use of this feature and it's making the process a comfortable one.

UPCOMING INTERVIEW: Tatiana de Rosnay - French Journalist, Editor and Author of International Bestselling novel, "Sarah's Key"

Tatiana de Rosnay was born in 1961 in the suburbs of Paris, and is of distinguished English, French and Russian descent. Her father is noted French scientist Joel de Rosnay. She is also the granddaughter of critically acclaimed School of Paris painter, Gaetan de Rosnay. Her paternal great-grandmother was the Russian actress, Natalia Rachewski.

Her English mother, Stella Jebb, was the daughter of renowned diplomat, Sir Gladwyn Jebb, and the great-great granddaughter of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the British Engineer. Finally, historian Hugh Thomas is her uncle.

Tatiana was raised in Paris and Boston. Her father taught at MIT in the 70’s. In the early 80’s she moved to England, where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in English literature at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich. Returning to Paris in 1984, Tatiana became press attaché for Christie’s, and then served as Paris Editor for Vanity Fair magazine until 1993. Currently she writes for French ELLE, and is a literary critic for Psychologies magazine.

She is the author of nine novels published in French with Fayard, Plon and EHO. Sarah’s Key is her first novel published in English. he is working on other projects set for publication in English in the near future.

Her International bestselling novel Sarah’s Key, is being developed for film. Academy award-nominee and Golden Globe-nominee, British actress Kristin Scott Thomas noted for her role in The English Patient, will star in the film. It will be renamed Elles’ Appelait Sarah, and Frenchman Gilles Paquet-Brenner is slated to direct the project.

Tatiana de Rosnay, lives in Paris with her husband Nicolas and their two children Louis & Charlotte.

To learn more about Tatiana de Rosnay, please visit her website

To purchase her books, please visit Alibris and AMAZON

INTERVIEW: Award-Winning Mystery Writer - Brian M. Wiprud

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Brian Wiprud. He grew up in Washington, D.C. His mother was an editor for the Department of Education; his father, was a tax lawyer for the Justice Department. His parents divorced when he was 15. He graduated from St. Albans prep school in Washington and New York University film school.

He wrote his first novel in Watusi Report in 1983, his second in Watusi Report is What You Get in 1984.. He also wrote two horror screenplays Zombie Beavers, Floaters and a couple short stories, followed in the early nineties when novel called Swires Poker.

Mr. Wiprud also wrote Trampoline Nude, the sequel to SP, which he completely re-wrote for publication in 2006. By 1995 he had written Sleep with the Fishes, and wrote $50 Moosehead then Pipsqueak and then by 1999 Dirt Nap (sequel to SWTF, He also illustrated children's book and two non-fiction books. Also in the mix were about ten fly fishing and magazine articles.

Mr. Wiprud, started the road to self-publishing in 2000 with SWTF as He self-published Pipsqueak in 2002 around the same time he started the third SWTF book called Granite Hat (unfinished to date), but didn't receive his first publishing contract, with Bantam Dell, until 2003.

Brian Wiprud wrote eight and a half novels, two screenplays, three short stories, illustrated three books, and published ten articles over 20 years before he was officially, undeniably and irrevocably published. To make ends meet, he did lighting and grip work for small filmmakers and selling newspapers at the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.

He became a utilities specialist and a manhole detective. He got into his field of expertise when an engineering firm required footage of sewers. He did not do the filming himself. The cinematographer was a robot on treads, with a rotating camera and lights.

Mr. Wiprud sat in a mobile TV studio and made certain the robot was getting it right. That led to reading and mapping manhole covers and underground utilities. Often, in addition to studying maps, Mr. Wiprud must climb down a manhole or direct a dig. His talents were called upon after 9/11 as part of the rescue and reconstruction effort at ground zero.

He is not an engineer. His college degree was in film, and for pleasure he goes fly fishing and writes detective novels. He prefers to think of himself, as a literary bent.

He is dressed more like an East Village artist than an engineer; a funky long-sleeved white shirt worn over a faded blue-green paisley shirt. His blond hair is combed in a pompadour like Tintin, the children's book hero's.

He has written and published seven books: His newest novel, “Buy Back” will be available in bookstore June 8th 2010. “Buy Back” is about Tom Davis, a Brooklyn insurance investigator in a jam. He arranged an art theft to cover a debt—only somebody swiped the paintings from his crew.

Now the insurance company wants him to investigate his own art theft; the local bookie wants his money; his crew in the neighborhood is targeted by a sniper; both the mob and the cops think he’s the shooter; and his girlfriend split and stuck him with four cats that are redecorating his apartment.

Six-foot-six Tommy nimbly navigates his troubles and Brooklyn with the help of tantric yoga, his father’s aphorisms, and a comely masseuse. But the question remains: do good things happen to good people? The answer lurks in a fiery Brooklyn scrap yard.

E.I. Would you share some early self-reflection to give us a sense of who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Give your readers three “Good to Know” facts about your first job experience, the inspiration for your writing career, any fun details or anecdotes that would enliven your page. Also, tell us about Brian Wiprud today -- the man behind the award-winning mystery writer.

BMW: There's an entire book in the answer to this question, but I pride myself on brevity. I went to the Washington DC prep school St. Albans, where aside from attaining an expensive education both in academics and the social order, I played every sport except football, worked on hot rods and drank beer. I had an afternoon job as a Volkswagen mechanic and projectionist at the Wheaton Plaza Triplex. I would credit my time as a projectionist as being the seed from which the urge to write grew because I often came to dislike the opening scenes of movies and would edit them to make them more effective. That led me to NYU Film School and New York. Like highschool, the lessons I learned from college were valuable on two levels. I learned to refine the way I thought about visulaizing stories, and I learned that I disliked the film industry. So after living hand and mouth after school selling newspapers at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and doing various production work for extremely little pay (you compete with trust fund kids and producers nephews who don't need pay) I took a steady job at an engineering firm doing traffic counts, drafting and technician work. It was over the next five years that I wrote my first three novels and two screenplays. The former stank, the latter were OK, and none of it sold. Fortunately, I had an aptitude for visulaization that helped me develop a career in engineering as an expert in underground New York. A solid day job is crucial for a novelist. I was first published in New York Press in 1997 with an article about fishing, but it wasn't until 2001, after 18 yeas of writing novels, that I decided to self publish my novel Sleep with the Fishes. Unfortunately, my pub date was September 10th. The fateful events of the 11th doomed my promotional campaign, but also drew me into the effort to save people trapped at ground zero by providing mapping of the utilties surrounding the WTC site and trying to find a way in to collapes areas. So I spent time down at the site an several occassions verifying the loations of manholes and exploring ways into the site. The New York Times wrote me up on that adventure, and I've been a go-to for the Times ever since on matters about underground New York. I self published the book Pipsqueak in 2002 and this quirky novel about a taxidermy collector got noticed to the extent that it won Left Coast Crime's Lefty Award. That in turn got me noticed by Random House - I landed my first publishing contract twenty years after penning my first novel. This June novel #7 will be published with Minotaur.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing mystery novels that enchants you, and gives you the enduring passion to continue in such a demanding profession?

BMW: I've been doing this so long that at this point it's just what I do. I'm hard wired to create compelling characters with stories to tell. Not sure what I would do in the evenings if I didn't write. I guess the reward is that as a novelist I'm privileged to live more than one life. I live mine and I live each of my protagonists as well.

E.I. Please tell your young readers about your novel “Feelers.” What was it that sparked your imagination? What were your favorite aspects about this book?

BMW: I wanted to write a novel that was highly suspenseful in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock with long character vectors and lots of foreboding. I was thinking particularly about the mechanics of Strangers on a Train, a story so beautifully orchestrated that it literally brings tears to my eyes. Feelers of course is a completely different story, about a house cleaner who finds a large sum of stolen money and tries to keep it. As with all my books, I like my protagist, and our Canarsie Lothario Morty was and continues o be a great joy to write.

E.I. What were your biggest challenge and obstacle while writing and creating the character “Morty Martinez”? Did you work him out in advance, or did he evolve as you wrote the story?

BMW: I work out nothing but the premise first. Morty is a romantic like myself , just extremely so - he just popped out there once he got talking. There is a certain magic to how an author comes to create characters, I can't explain it except to say that they seem to jump out of you, like they were in there all the time. But each has something to say about the human condition that intetrests or concerns me.

E.I. Mr. Wiprud, What do you find to be the hardest part of weaving so much suspense and elements of information into your stories and yet you keep them so fast-paced?

BMW: I just finished Ringer - the sequel to Feelers - with Morty and there were a lot of details that needed vetting. But I don't usually find any part of writing truly hard anymore. The characters do all the lifting. The fast paced part for me is just an innate sense of the story arc and that 320 pages or so makes for a good book - sort of like movies. Three hour movies are almost always too long.

E.I. You've created a character so remarkably captivating that your readers will definitely clamor for more; how did you decide what level of details your readers will accept? How does your creative process work?

BMW: Morty made all the decisions - though my characters don't write details that make me personally squeamish. Explicit sex just seems pointless, I abhor torture scenes and bloody violence is best done quickly, so quickly it takes my breath away. Which of course is how violence usually plays out in real life. One minute everything's fine, the next you're running for your life. My "process" is really just coming up with a premise that I feel will be both exciting and provide insights into the human condition. I of course rely on my personal experiences but none of my characters or the vents that take place are real except in my head and as they exist in fiction. The rest is all being emotionally open to my chacaters, letting them speak and act. I nudge them a little here and there, but they tell the stories.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “Feelers.” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

BMW: I usually read from th beginning because it seems pointless to pick something from the middle and have to provide the audience with a fiften minute set up. Besides, the opening should be the better part of any novel, just like those movies back at the Wheaton Plaza Triplex. That said, Morty is highly opinionated, especially when it comes to women and sex, so I might be tempted to read one of those.

E.I. If you were allowed total control of the Hollywood version of “Feelers” who would be in it? And in your opinion, who do you think should direct?

BMW: Feelers is currently optioned by Apostle Films, Denis Leary's production company, and I couldn't be more pleased as I think Denis would be perfect as the frustrated hitman Danny Kessel. Morty would like Benjamin Bratt to play him, but that's just Morty talking. I really don't know who would be best as Morty, I'll leave that to the experts. I don't really know any contemporary directors well enough to have an opinion about that role.

E.I. And, finally, could you give us a sneak peek about your upcoming book, “Buy Back"? What was it that sparked your imagination about this new novel?

BMW: I wanted to write a novel set in the exact Brooklyn neghborhood I live in to capture it's essence. In my book Crooked - which was nominated for two seperate awards - I had a protagonsit who was an insurance investigator, but I wanted to explore that world some more. Tommy Davin is our protagonist, a gentle 6'6" giant whose into tantric yoga and finding stolen art. Yet he needs to arrange an art theft to cover a debt to a loan shark - only the paitings are stolen from his crew just after they steal it, and the insurance company contraacts him to recover the paintings he stole. novel. Before I mentioned that my characters all have something to say about the human condition. Tommy's seeking the answer to the age-old question: do good things happen to good people? This is a much darker book than any of my previous novels, and while there is humor in it is not a comic. Then again I didn't think Feelers was comic, either.

E.I. Mr. Wiprud, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers all over the world?

BMW: My advice for writers is very simple, and not original. If you want to write then write. If you want to be a novelist, well, my advice is a little more involved:

1. Don't expect your first novel to be any good, which is exactly what dismays and ultimately ruins many budding novelists. Would you expect to paint the Mona Lisa on your first try at painting? This is no different - there is craft involved and you need to practice your craft to get good at it.
2. Being published or winning awards is cake at the end of the meal - it is NOT the meal. If that's all your focused on, then take classes where someone will help you write a crappy formulaic novel devoid of any true inspiration. Then you can POD publish and immerse yourself in a fruitless promotional campaign that includes a website and conventions where you sit on panels with other manufactured authors and pretend to know what you're talking about. You might even get published traditionally and become successful. But you'll always know down deep that you're an imposter. If you're OK with that, great, have at it, there's nothing wrong with being an imposter.
3. IMHO, all the classes and manuals and other crap is procrastination. If you want to learn about story and the mechanics of story telling and dialogue all you need to do is watch classic films and pay attention to how the story unfolds. Ask yourself why the movie was so exciting, why you liked this character or that one.
4. The crucial part to writing well is to be so emotionally open to the process that you are able to fully invest yourself into a character and let him/her speak freely. You get to that point by practice, which inspires the confidence required to be utterly honest with yourself and to know who you are. If you don't truly know who you are, how can you know who your characters are? If you find yourself laughing out loud, shedding tears, or even getting turned on as you write - then you're there.

There's a whole other list of advice about being a published author - but much of that would be imprudent to impart publicly!

Happy to answer your questions and hopefully I've provided some insights and perhaps even inspiration. Cheers - BMW

To learn more about Brian M Wiprud, please visit his website.
To purchase his books please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW: Julia London - New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Of Romantic Novels

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Julia London. Dinah Dinwiddie, under the penname Julia London is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romantic comedies and historical romance novels. She’s a four-time finalist for prestigious RITA awards for excellence in romantic fiction and was named one of “Borders Best.”

She was born March 19th, 1959 in rural west Texas and grew up on a ranch. She graduated from University of Texas with a degree in government. She moved to Washington DC and lived in the capitol for nine years, worked for the White House as a civil employee traveling extensively in the United States and Europe and the Middle East. She moved back home to Texas and worked as public administrator before she finally decided to be writer.

Her first published book was “Devil’s Love” in 1998. It was her third book “The Dangerous Gentleman” that really launched her career. It was the was the first in the Rogues of Regent Street series. The story revolves around the lives of four English, aristocratic young rakes and how their lives and loves are affected by the tragic death of one of their group. The series has proven immensely popular.

Two of the series in “The Dangerous Gentleman” have been nominated for ‘Best Romance in 2000’, ‘Reviewer Choice Awards’, ‘Bookit Awards’ and ‘The Best Historical Regency Award’.

Ms. London is also the author of the contemporary romantic novel GUIDING LIGHT: JONATHAN'S STORY, the New York Times bestselling novel based on the Emmy Award-winning daytime drama Guiding Light.

Her latest novel, “One Season of Sunshine” coming July 2010 is about a romantic novel set in Cedar Springs, Texas, An Elementary school teacher Jane Aaron tries to find her birth mother hired by Asher Price, a wealthy widower, to look after his thirteen-year-old daughter Riley and five-year-old son Levi.

As Jane finds herself growing attached to the children, she discovers how a woman can come to love children she didn’t give birth to, exactly as her adoptive mother must have done. Jane suspects that Asher late wife might actually have been her mother. With this possible bizarre coincidence between them, neither feels comfortable pursuing a relationship and Jane goes back home to her teaching job in Houston broken-hearted. But after she discovers that her birth mother was the other woman killed in the accident, Jane returns to Cedar Springs.

Julia London lives in Austin, Texas with her family and their new puppy.

E.I. Would you share some early self-reflection to give us a sense of who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Give your readers three “Good to Know” facts about your first job experience, the inspiration for your writing career, any fun details or anecdotes that would enliven your page. Also tell us about Julia London today -- the woman behind the bestselling author of more than twenty romantic fiction novels.

Julia London: My teenage self is so far behind me now it is hard to remember. I was one of those kids who was friend to all, and honestly, I am still friends with many of the people I grew up with. I excelled at things like music and theatre and history, but not so much in math or science. I discovered as a teen that I was not cut out for hard labor. I come from a long line of farmers and ranchers, and I did not like the chores kids get out in the country: white-washing fences, plowing, moving big things around, like barrels and cow and horse thingies. As soon as I was old enough, I got what I considered a real job, which was working at a greenhouse. The work wasn’t too strenuous, but it was hot, and I didn’t like that. I was a lifeguard, a waitress at the Big Texan Steak Ranch on I-40 in Amarillo, Texas, and I played on the high school golf team.

Today, I live in the suburbs of Austin. I run several mornings a week to keep my body from growing into the chair. I have a brand new puppy, a three year-old, and a husband who has decided to go to law school, which reminds me that it is never too late. I myself had another very successful career in government but realized I wouldn’t be happy doing that kind of job for the rest of my life. I wrote my first book at thirty-seven and am happy to say I am well on my way to having a second great career.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing romantic novels that enchants you, and gives you the enduring passion to continue in such a demanding profession?

Julia London: The enchantment is in my love of writing and love stories. That’s the kind of movie I like, the kind of book I read, the kind of story I like to hear. The historical romances are as much an escape for me as they are for readers. The only difference is, I get to determine the fantasy, and that makes me want to come back to it every day—it’s cathartic and fun. The women’s fiction I write has become something of a passion because it challenges me as a writer. It’s difficult to capture universal emotions on a page in a way that everyone can feel and relate to, and challenge is in improving that craft and exploring different areas of growth each time. That is what brings me back to the desk over and over again. I want to see if I can do it.

E.I. Please tell your young readers about your novel “A Courtesan Scandal.” What was it that sparked your imagination? What were your favorite aspects about this book?

Julia London: The book was the third in a series I wrote around a true historical event. In 1806, the Prince of Wales wanted to divorce his wife. He accused her of adultery and urged his father, King George III to allow him to seek a parliamentary divorce. But the Princess had a few complaints of her own (the prince was a notorious philanderer) and threatened to publish a pamphlet about him, which was known simply as The Book, if she was not allowed back in the king’s favor. I built a series around that very public scandal and imagined all of the aristocracy and elite who would be touched by it.

In a Courtesan’s Scandal, the prince, who had numerous lovers in real life, has found a new mistress (and here is where the fiction begins). But he can’t let his affections be known publicly because it might look bad for him as he seeks divorce. So in my fantasy, he presses a stand-up duke to let it be known to the world that this particular courtesan is his mistress, and inevitably, the duke and the courtesan fall in love behind the prince’s back.

My favorite aspects of the book are that the duke and the courtesan come from very different places in life, but find they have a lot in common. It was interesting to put them in the milieu of regency London because neither of them were free, by society’s standards, to act on their desire without suffering very real consequences. I imagined it was very much like the Charles and Diana scandal in our lifetime—every move of that elite circle was watched. It was a juicy book to write.

E.I. What were your biggest challenge and obstacle while writing and creating the character Grayson Christopher and Kate Bergeron? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story?

Julia London: The biggest challenge was discovering how a woman brought up in the mean streets of the London ghettos to be a famous mistress could possibly find anything in common with a man born to unimaginable privilege. I had a general idea of how that might work when I began, but I worked most of it out through the writing.

E.I. You've created a cast of characters so remarkably captivating that your readers definitely clamor for more; how did you decide what level of details your readers will accept? How does your creative process work?

Julia London: Oh, thank you so much. I don’t decide how much detail—I sort of go with my gut. My creative process is truly a mess. I begin with a general outline of the story—very general—and go from there. After twenty something books, I know one thing with all certainty: The beginning will start with a bang, the middle will suck the life right out of me, and the end will not come soon enough. But when I have those three things down on paper, I can go back and refine it. Sometimes that takes many trips through the manuscript, and sometimes I get it close to right. It helps to have an editor who can see the big picture, as well and a husband who reminds me, every time I say the book is a disaster, that I have said it about all the previous books.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “A Courtesan Scandal.” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

Julia London: That is really hard to answer! But I think I might pick page 248-249. That is the point where Grayson gives in to Kate’s world and sends the servants home and attempts to make her breakfast—and he’s been in a kitchen maybe twice in his life. That’s the point the reader knows that they really do belong to each other.

E.I. If you were allowed total control of the Hollywood version of “The Courtesan Scandal” who would be in it? And in your opinion who do you think should direct?

Julia London: Another hard question! For years, I have wanted Colin Firth to play all my heroes, but time marches on, and he might not be the best choice any longer. Colin, I still adore you. Gerard Butler wouldn’t be bad. As for Kate? That would have to be me. And if I am not available, someone pretty and sunny, like Amy Adams. I don’t know enough about directors to even toss out a name. But I do know that my version would be lush and gorgeous.

E.I. Ms. London, you are well known in the writing community as New York Times and USA Today best selling author, recipient of the RT Bookclub Award for Best Historical Romance and four-time finalist for the prestigious RITA award for excellence in romantic fiction. Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

Julia London: Oh, you cannot begin to imagine the insecurities that crop up with the publishing of every book! I fear that each book that is released to the world is the one in which I have totally missed the mark and will bring down my career. I feel pressure to improve and grow as a writer, but under a tight deadline. I feel the pressure to self-promote, which is a whole other job in an of itself, that squeezes time from my writing. Writing and being published are lonely jobs, and I find that if I sit in an office by myself all day, I can very neatly turn little tiny things into full-blown dragons in my head. I guess it’s the nature of the beast because I know other writers who do the same. Fortunately for me, I have a great agent I can talk to at any time and who always brings me back down to earth. I’ve probably made myself sound like a complete nutjob, haven’t I? I don’t think the pressure and insecurities really interfere with my creativity in the long run, but can mash it up into a corner of my brain for a couple of days.

E.I. And, finally, could you give us a sneak peek about your upcoming book, “One Season of Sunshine? What was it that sparked your imagination about this book?

Julia London: I was talking about universal emotions before, and this book is a prime example of that. It came about because I have always been intrigued by the past and how it influences who we are today. My family settled in West Texas more than one hundred and fifty years ago. They lived in dugouts at first, owned huge swaths of land and raised wheat and cattle. Some of my earliest memories are hearing my grandmother talk about never bargaining with land. I wondered if I didn’t know about my family’s roots and my family tree, and if those memories and knowledge of the history before me hadn’t filled my consciousness as a child, would I be the person I am today?

I wrote this book about Jane, an adopted woman who goes in search of her past to inform her present life. She wants to know the woman who gave birth to her, where her unruly hair comes from, and what her ethnicity is. To Jane, her past is the key that will unlock her future. But in the course of her search, she meets Asher, a man who knows his past too well. His past has isolated him, and as Jane gets closer to discovering who she is, devastating secrets about her past threaten to destroy a future she is only beginning to glimpse.

E.I. Ms. London, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers all over the world?

Julia London: My advice is that if you want to write, you must do it every day. It’s like anything you want to do well—you have to practice and keep at it, plugging away, even if its only a couple of sentences a day. If you don’t write each day, you lose touch with your story and your vibe. The other thing I would say is not only should you think outside the box, you should live outside the box. It will influence the way you write.

Thank you so much for having me. I am very happy to share a little bit with your readers.

Photo of Julia London by Lisa Shepherd, Aimage Photography
To learn more about Julia London, please visit her website
To purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

Music holiday

We're at the tail-end of a beautifully long weekend.  This Monday in March marks not only the first Monday of autumn - season of mists, mellow fruitfulness and, in Melbourne, hailstones the size of lemons - but also happens to be Labour Day. Every year, the small town in which I live hosts a music festival - world roots and folk - with something like 130 acts involving 440 performers from around the world, across 22 venues.

While I'm not particularly into Folk music, the festival has something for everyone and so every once in a while we save for tickets, trudge along on the Friday evening and soak up one performance after another until it all winds down on Monday afternoon.

Managed to tuck in a few of those 130 concerts this year: Lulo Reinhardt (German gypsy jazz), Colin Hay (ex Men At Work), Narasirato Pan Pipers (Solomon Islands), Kelly Auty (Wild Women blues), Kim Churchill (acoustic guitar), The Badloves (rock), Dereb Desalegn & The Lion of Judah (Ethio-jazz and blues), Ganga Giri (world-beat dance), Mihirangi (loop music), Jaime Faulkner, Josh White Jr. (USA blues).

Courtesy of YouTube, I've included a small selection of some of the performers I enjoyed.

FAVORITE OF THE WEEK: Kathryn Ann Bigelow - Writer, Director & First Woman To Win Oscar For Best Director 2010 Academy Awards.

Welcome to Up Close and Personal. Once a week, on a Sunday, a favorite author, journalist will be featured as ‘Favorite of the Week”. The article will give them more exposure and publicity about their work.

This week we choose Kathryn Ann Bigelow. She is a director, writer and producer whose directorial talents stem from a background as an artist. She has proved herself versatile with science fiction, action and horror, among other genres, on her pocket since making an impact with her solo directorial debut, in the 1987 cult vampire-Western hit film “Near Dark.” Ms. Bigelow co-penned with Eric Red, in which she took home a Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film Award and a Saturn nomination.

Ms. Bigelow is only the fourth woman in the history of the Motion Picture Academy, as well as the second American woman to be honored with a nomination. She became the first woman ever to win an Oscar for Best Director category.

Her film ventures includes, The Loveless, Born in Flames, she also continued to receive more attention with her 1995 action film “Strange Days,” which she won a Saturn Award as a director. Her film “The Weight of Water” captured another film award by the Sea International Film Festival and a San Sebastián International Film Festival nomination for her work in the movie

Ms. Bigelow’s other directorial credits are: Blue Steel, Point Break, K19: The Widowmaker and her latest film, The Hurt Locker, a film following the fortunes of a bomb disposal team in Iraq. The film has received 9 academy award nominations for an Oscar and won 6 Academy Awards of the night, at the 2010 Academy Awards including history maker for director by a woman.

She is known personally for her short-lived marriage to Academy Award-winning Canadian filmmaker, director James Cameron on August 17, 1989 but divorced in 1991, after having been together for only two years. They maintained to work together following their divorce in 1991. During the 2010 Academy Award, she competed against her ex-husband, James Cameron who directed Avatar, for the Best Director.

The Hurt Locker is the nominated film that had the lowest gross sales ($21,356,139) beats out Avatar, the nominated film that has had the largest success in the box office ($2,559,189,000).

Ms. Bigelow breaks into the boy's club of testosterone-filled action drama. It's hard to believe that she is only the fourth woman to even earn a nomination, following in the footsteps of Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties in 1975, Jane Campion for The Piano in 1993, and Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation in 2003. It only took 82 years to get here. She's spent her entire career making "man" films, choosing to follow her own interests rather than the stereotypical roads well traveled.

She has served as member of jury in several film festivals, including the 1990 Sundance Film Festival, the 1998 Venice Film Festival and the 2003 the Venice Film Festival.

Ms. Bigelow was born on November 27, 1951, in San Carlos, California. She is the only child of the manager of a paint store and a librarian. She started her creative life as a painter in her teens. She developed an early interest in painting and took a formal study at the San Fransisco Art Institute.

She moved to New York City in early 1970’s. After two years, she won an esteemed scholarship to New York's Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in 1972.

She got her work criticized by the likes such as Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Serra, and Susan Sontag. Bigelow got her first professional art job when she was hired as the assistant of conceptual artist Vito Acconci, during which time her duties included filming slogans to run behind Acconci's performance parts.

Later, in 1979, she received an MFA degree from Columbia University's Film School. Bigelow had her first taste of filmmaking with “Set-Up,” a 20-minute short she directed and produced in 1978 and was on her way pursuing a career as professional filmmaker.

After serving as script supervisor of the Cannes-premiered “Union City” (1980), directed by Marcus Reichert, Bigelow joined Monty Montgomery to write and direct “The Loveless” (1982), a dreamy biker film which became star Willem Dafoe's feature debut.

This project caught the attention of producer-writer-director Walter Hill, who offered her a development deal when she relocated to Los Angeles in 1983. That same year, she also could be seen acting in the Lizzie Borden film “Born in Flames,” in which she appeared as a newspaper editor. She also once modeled for a Gap advertisement.

UPCOMING INTERVIEW: Laura Rennert - Author of Children's Book "BUYING, TRAINING, AND CARING FOR YOUR DINOSAUR" & EMMA, THE EXTRA-ORDINARY PRINCESS

Dr. Laura Joy Rennert is the author of the picture book, BUYING, TRAINING, AND CARING FOR YOUR DINOSAUR which was published in the Fall of 2009. Her new highly illustrated book for young readers inspired by her daughter, EMMA, THE EXTRA-ORDINARY PRINCESS is coming Spring 2011.

She speaks at writer's conferences throughout the country and abroad. Dr.. Rennert was awarded her Ph.D. in English literature by the University of Virginia. She has worked as a freelance editor in the United States and Japan, and has nine years of experience teaching on the faculty in the English Departments of the University of Virginia, Osaka University of Foreign Studies, and Santa Clara University. She has published articles in various scholarly journals in the United States and internationally.



FROM HER AUTHOR WEBSITE:

Coming Spring 2011!

Psst. Over here... in the corner of the page. No, I am not the one brushing her golden hair. That's my friend Rapunzel. But this book is not about her. (That's another story.) I'm Princess Emma. And I'm telling this story because I am NOT your typical princess.

I'm in my first year at the Royal Princess Academy. Yes, even Princesses need to go to school. My best friend Rapunzel and I are in the same class. But unlike Rapunzel, I am NOT your usual princess.
I don't like pink.
I'm too clumsy to dance.
I'm always tearing my gowns.
Here are the things I like best:
1. Kicking a soccer ball
2. Playing with my Pug and my Chihuahua
3. Racing my cousin Prince Ben
4. Reading about magical animals and faraway kingdoms
5. Sliding down the castle banisters (Don't tell my mom!)
The most important day of the whole year—the All School Princess Contest—is almost here. I'm a little worried about it. The girls in my family have always outdone themselves in the Contest, but I don't think I'm going to win any trophies. Everyone's always giving me advice on how to be a proper princess. I'm not exactly the star student at school, and some of my classmates are worried I'll make us take last place.

Plus, Lady Mary our teacher just let us know, this year, the boys from the Royal Prince Academy are going to come and help out with the contest. Great. Now even more people will see me mess up!

What if I trip during the royal parade out onto the field? Or accidentally break a glass slipper! What if I do everything wrong?

HELP!


To learn more about Laura Rennert, please visit her website.
To purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

Up to my elbows

Been up to my elbows in writing recently.  It's my preferred state so I'm not complaining, but have been a bit quiet in blogdom as a consequence.  So here's a quick catch-up of the other stuff, outside of that trough of creative words:

Exploring opportunities for the Opportunities page over at The View From Here - contacting publishers, conferences, etc, that might be profiled.

Was in Melbourne at the weekend, catching up and eating extra well, and took the chance to see Avatar in 3D (on the third largest screen in the world, no less).  Loved it.  Though most people rave about the effects, some are less enthralled with the story, but it worked for me on both counts.  (Went for a delicious Malaysian meal after.)

While in the city, also went to the Ron Mueck exhibition at the NGV. Very precise and clever, but I felt like I was looking at large dolls or miniature models rather than sculpture.  The man in a boat and Dead Dad conveyed something more to me because of the posture in one and the starkness in the other, but there was a piece of rough bronze sculpture in the foyer of the gallery (I didn't catch who it was by) that resonated far more for me.  It did everything the others didn't.  Oh well, you can please some of the people some of the time...

I've been reading a fair bit of poetry by Philip Schultz (from the Pulitzer prize winning Failure) and loving it, and I've been listening to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros on the way to work.