Author Harvest – Page 5 – Jenn J McLeod

Posted on 05/02/2015 by Jenn J McLeod — 12 Comments

#WriteRoundOz w/ Maggie Joel (book giveaway)

Today I am visiting NSW, and the marvellous Maggie Joel, who recently completed the Allen & Unwin Wordy Women author tour with previous Author Harvestee, Kylie Ladd and also Fiona Higgins (who I hope to ‘visit’ in the near future – hint, hint, Fiona).

Maggie has been writing fiction and non-fiction since the mid-1990s and her short stories have been widely published in Southerly, Westerly, Island, Overland and Canberra Arts Review, and broadcast on ABC radio. Her first novel, The Past and Other Lies, was published to critical acclaim in Australia and New Zealand by Murdoch Books in April 2009 and in the US by Felony & Mayhem Press in 2013 and was chosen as the Sydney Morning Herald’s ‘Pick of the Week’. Her second novel, The Second-Last Woman in England, was published by Murdoch Books in Australia and New Zealand in 2010, in the US in 2011 and in the UK by Constable & Robinson in 2013. This book was also selected as the Sydney Morning Herald’s ‘Pick of the Week’ and was awarded the 2011 Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Christina Stead Award for Fiction. Maggie’s third novel, Half the World in Winter, was published in Australia by Allen & Unwin in October 2014.

Maggie, thank you for letting my park my rig on your …underground car park??

Jenn, I see you’ve managed to squeeze your van into our apartment block’s underground car park which is just as well because frankly you’ll be lucky to find an unmetered parking place on this street! Welcome to Sydney’s Inner West.

What’s that I see written on your ‘welcome mat’?

There IS a welcome mat but there’s nothing written on it – it’s there so I know I have got out of the lift on the right floor and am standing outside my own flat and not someone else’s.

I miss my HUGE refrigerator. If I looked in your refrigerator right now, what would I find?

White wine, Corona beer and Indian Tonic Water. A bottle of vodka in the freezer. Even my closest friends would not exactly describe me as a cook…

Downsizing my life into a 24 ft caravan meant leaving lots of things behind in boxes. What (or who!!) would you have trouble leaving behind if you took off in a caravan?

Space. I’ve only recently moved from a small inner city apartment to a large inner city apartment and every day is joy of spatial discovery for me.

Whose home would you like to visit in your van and why?

Could we go and visit Hillary Clinton? I think she and I could have a good old chat over a cup of tea and some biscuits

Do you REALLY have room at your house to park a fifth wheeler caravan and do you mind visitors? Oh, sorry, you don’t have to answer that one!! 🙂

Oh yes visitors provide a useful distraction from writing. So long as I know you’re coming – I really don’t do spontaneity – you are most welcome. And your van.

Country curiosities…

My latest novel, Season of Shadow and Light, has a strong horse theme. (I love what horses can teach us). If you were an animal what would you be?

A kitten or a panda. Everyone would instantly adore me and I wouldn’t actually need to do anything.

You’re cooking and your food is going up against the best cooks from the CWA (Country Women’s Association). What would be your winning dish?

I mix a mean Gin and Tonic and my skills with a take-away menu are legendary.

About you…

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

Plot. Gets me every time. I love dialogue, characterisation, setting and research, that all comes fairly easily, but nailing that plot down can drive me to distraction on occasion.

If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?

‘My Past and Other Lies’ – which is a corruption of the title of my first novel, ‘The Past and Other Lies’.

What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?

‘How did you feel when you heard you had won the Booker Prize?’

And my answer: ‘I am so humbled. Winning it the first time was incredible, but to have taken out the prize three years in a row is something I never dreamed of.’

Favourite four…

Favourite place in Australia: Sydney. I arrived here one winter’s morning many years ago and never left.

Favourite holiday destination (anywhere): New York City. Took my far too long to get there but it was everything I hoped it would be and more.

Favourite movie: The Hours, from Michael Cunningham’s astonishing book of the same name. I re-watched it on TV recently and was blown away by it all over again.

Favourite quote: Pretty much anything Winston Churchill said – that man was the last word in pithy one-liners, every one of them priceless.

If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?

Well, knowing you’re a fellow writer I’d talk about how I got started as a writer and how I go about writing my novels. I mean what writer doesn’t like talking about their process, or hearing about someone else’s process?

Giveaway

Maggie has a signed copy of her first novel, The Past and Other Lies, to give away. Entries close 20 February. Enter by telling us YOUR favourite Aussie town. (I’ll add an entry to anyone who Tweets/Facebooks.)

Find more about Maggie Joel on her author website.

Now…

About Half The World In Winter, published in September 2014 by Allen & Unwin

In 1881 in London, everything changes for the wealthy Jarmyn family. The misfortunes on the railway the family had built echoes the shocking death of nine-year-old Sofia Jarmyn. And at the heart of this family, a terrible secret is tearing their lives apart.

__________________________________

A captivating drama of family secrets and tragedies.

It is London, 1880, and Lucas Jarmyn struggles to make sense of the death of his beloved youngest daughter; his wife, Aurora, seeks solace in rigid social routines; and eighteen-year-old Dinah looks for fulfilment in unusual places. Only the housekeeper, the estimable Mrs Logan, seems able to carry on.

A train accident in a provincial town on the railway Lucas owns claims the life of nine-year-old Alice Brinklow and, amid the public outcry, Alice’s father, Thomas, journeys to London demanding justice. As he arrives in the Capital on a frozen January morning his fate, and that of the entire Jarmyn family, will hinge on such strange things as an ill-fated visit to a spiritualist, an errant chicken bone and a single vote cast at a board room meeting.

Written with charm, humour and rich period detail, Maggie Joel has created an intriguing novel of a Victorian family adrift in their rapidly changing world.

Posted on 10/12/2013 by Jenn J McLeod — 9 Comments

Author Harvest w/ NZ author – Zana Bell

I have a final Author Harvest and we are heading across the ditch to the land of the long white cloud to meet New Zealander and Choclit author, Zana Bell. Please give her a great big Aussie welcome.

I fell in love with Zana’s beautiful storytelling after reading Forbidden Frontier, a fabulous story about a convict girl searching for Freedom. That was a log time ago, when I was still dreaming about publication, so it is pretty special to have Zana on Author Harvest.

Speaking of special, Zana, I am assuming you have some special treat for me.

Lamingtons, Jenn, because my latest novel is all about the celebrating the wild early days in the Antipodes. Here is the blurb…

We are not going any further until you tell me why yet another fiancé seems intent on wringing your neck.

Masquerades, deceptions and subterfuge – and that’s just on the heroine’s part.

****

Georgiana da Silva is catapulted out of the Victorian drawing rooms and into a world of danger when she escapes her fiendish fiancé to engage in a mad dash across the world to save her brother before an unknown assassin can find him.

Meanwhile, Captain Harry Trent is setting sail for New Zealand. With a mission to complete and the law on his heels, he’s got enough trouble of his own without further complications.

Thrown together, unable to trust anyone, -Georgiana and Harry are intent on fulfilling their missions despite the distractions of the other. But liberty comes at a price and the closer they get, the more they must question the true cost of being free.

Okay, so, at home…

Zana, my mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?

We don’t have gnomes but for many years we always had one pretty little convertible or another parked up beside the driveway. I used to refer them as my garden gnomes. They never went – we couldn’t afford a sports car that was roadworthy! – but my husband could never resist the broken down 1930s MG, the rusted out 60s Porsche etc. Finally, we have one that we can actually drive but now it lives inside the garage while my trusty station-wagon (340 000km on the clock and still going) has been consigned to the drive.

(I’m sorry, but the only picture this conjures up is Noddy and Big ears!)

What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?

Pawpaw. New Zealand can grow a lot of things but not pawpaw, alas. Whenever I go to the Pacific Islands, my first stop is the local market to pick some up.

Whose home would you like to housesit and why?

It depends. Out of sheer curiosity I’d love to stay in Bill Gates’ house because it would be my only opportunity to see what all the money in the world can actually buy.

If I were going with the heart, I’d take any Bavarian castle provided it was fully-furnished with lots of central heating and a first rate chef. They are a wonderful blend of romance and Disney fantasy with all those turrets and towers. A friendly ghost would top things off nicely.

(Bil Gates my HAVE a Bavarian Castle and that would kill two birds, wouldn’t it?)

About you…

Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?

I don’t view writing as a career per se. I just write what I love and then hope to find a publisher and an audience. For example, when I wrote Forbidden Frontier, it took me years to find a publisher who was interested in Australian history. Now that I’ve changed tack, they are begging for Australian sagas!

I loved writing my Superromance but historicals continued to pull at the heartstrings. Close to the Wind was written when even Kiwis were rolling their eyes when I said I wanted to write a NZ historical. But I’d fallen in love with the 1860s gold-rush days and nothing was going to stop me. I had in mind Georgette Heyer meets Romancing the Stone against glorious South Island scenery. Again, it took a while but as soon as I’d signed up with ChocLit in London, one of the big publishers in NZ began to show an interest.

It’s impossible to second guess the market so I write the book that burns to be written. It’s a risky approach but so far I’ve sold all the books I’ve written which has been very lucky.

(Good advice.)

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

I find the balance between family, job, friends and writing extremely tricky. If I’m not careful, a book can become an obsession. On the flipside, I’m also a genius at procrastination!

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

That’s a no-brainer. I’d change places with Georgiana, heroine of my latest book, like a shot. I’ve given her all the skills I wish I had. She’s feisty and, having grown up in a circus, she can climb masts and walk tightropes. She’s an excellent horsewoman and a great actress. I’d love to have the performing gene!

On top of that, she gets to hang out with Harry, the rakish sea captain, and have lots of adventures with him.

Of course I think they are the coolest couple – I wouldn’t have spent all those many months closeted up in my study with them if I didn’t.

(Bill Gates may ALSO have a circus!)

For a more…ahem…serious look at Zana and her novels, I can recommend you check out this post. My ‘old’ critique partner (also a New Zealander) did a great Q&A.

About Zana Bell

Zana Bell writes in a variety of genre, her novels covering YA, historical, and contemporary and historical romance. Her second novel, Forbidden Frontier (Mira) based on Charlotte Badger, Australian convict and pirate and New Zealand’s first known English woman migrant won the Cataromance Single Title’s 10 Best Books of 2008. She won the Cataromance Reviewers’ Award 2010 for Tempting the Negotiator (Harlequin Superromance). In 2012 she was shortlisted for the New Zealand Society of Authors Mid-Careers Grant.

Her New Zealand historical, romantic adventure Close to the Wind (ChocLit) came out in October, 2013.

Visit her website http://www.zanabell.com/ or FB https://www.facebook.com/zanabellauthor

Posted on 03/12/201324/12/2013 by Jenn J McLeod — 11 Comments

Bar Yarns w/ just_a_girl, Kirsten Krauth (Merry Christmas Giveaway)

Some of you already know this demure debut author – sort of! Kirsten Krauth is not only a great new Aussie author to watch, she’s Editor of the NSW Writers Centre mag, Newswrite.

Kirsten and I met last September – author panel virgins at a NSW Writer Symposium.

A promotion powerhouse, mum, business owner – and more – Kirsten is a fun lady (as you can see by her profile pic – LOL) and a generous author, running a program on her blog for other debut fiction authors, so be sure to check out her blog addy.

But first, here’s a beer coaster, Kirsten. Would you mind jotting down the blurb for your book, just_a_girl, on the back?

just_a_girl tears into the fabric of contemporary culture. A Puberty Blues for the digital age, a Lolita with a webcam, it’s what happens when young girls are forced to grow up too fast. Or never get the chance to grow up at all.

Layla is only 14. She cruises online. She catches trains to meet strangers. Her mother, Margot, never suspects. Even when Layla brings a man into their home. Margot’s caught in her own web: an evangelical church and a charismatic pastor. Meanwhile, downtown, a man opens a suitcase and tenderly places his young lover inside.

just_a_girl is a novel about being isolated and searching for a sense of connection, faith, friendship and healing, and explores what it’s like to grow up negotiating the digital world of Facebook, webcams, internet porn, mobile phones and cyberbullying – a world where the line between public and private is increasingly being eroded.

Come on in. Grab a pew. What can I get you to go with your beer nuts? (Shandy? Wine Spritzer? Pink Lemonade?)

I’ll have a tequila slammer. Apparently tequila is the only drink you can have a lot of without getting depressed. Don’t forget the worm.

Hey, did you hear the one about …

Why did the man cross the road?

Because he couldn’t get his hat out of his underpants. Actually, that is my son’s favourite joke (at four). And my daughter has started saying it (at two). There are many variations including cats wearing underpants, pooey nappies, undies on head, bums with no underpants. But when my kids tell them, I find myself giggling hysterically. Some things never change.

I’m a beer nut nut! What bar snack would you be and why?

I’d head to San Sebastian and become a tapas in one of the bars in the old quarter. I’d be a skewer with anchovies, olives and peppers. Sharp, spicy, salty and slippery.

Ahh, that beer hit the spot. Let me slip a drink coaster under your glass while you tell us—on a scale of 1 to 10—as a writer are you a messy desker or tidy desker? (NB: 1 = “I am a neat nut case” and 10 = “What desk? Where? Is there a desk here somewhere?”)

That’s tricky. My ideal is about 2, where I can sit down with a clear, neatly ordered space and start. In practice, at the moment it’s about 8. On my desk I have a Carmen Miranda headband with plastic fruit (from my tap dancing concert a few months ago), three mugs with cold tea, a plate hidden up the back with some kind of banana on it, a phone that’s not plugged in and never used, three years of receipts for my BAS (I must get round to), a yoghurt pot from the Basque country and a black lipstick that I bought the other day when pretending to be a punk (see my profile pic).

The publican offers you free drinks all night if you will:

Dance to Gangnam Style
Sing John Denver’s ‘Take me Home Country Roads’ on the Karaoke machine
Spend an hour washing dishes

Which do you choose?

Oh, there’s no choice. Gangnam Style. I’ve been dancing to it for years. Only if I can play the part of the horse, though. And someone else does the whipping bit. I have a weakness for dancing. Some people will wait for the right song to come on. But not me. I love disco. I have learnt tap, hiphop, salsa, African, jazz, belly dancing — but never ballet. Who can be bothered with it?

Time to liven the place up. Got a buck? We can crank up the old jukebox in the corner. You get to pick three songs.

Stone Roses, Resurrection – to get the party into action
Salt + Peppa, Push It – the best dance song in the history of the world when you’re very inebriated
Nick Cave + The Bad Seeds, The Weeping Song – to regret your earlier actions (they lied about the tequila)

An author, an agent and a chicken walk into the bar… how do you know which one crossed the road?

Perhaps this links to my earlier joke. Look for the one with hands in their underpants. I don’t think many authors or agents can walk past a bar, even if it involves going on a long detour around the block – lushes, the lot of them. NEVER let an agent buy you a drink before signing anything.

NSW Symposium 09_13 — And here is Kirsten ‘unpunked and pretty in blue’ at the NSW Author Symposium

There’s a stapler on the bar. Tell me what it’s doing there.

The publican uses it to murder all those who refuse to leave after last rounds, and insist on staying until ugly lights. Staple in the temple and locked up in an old warehouse ready for demolition. Sounds like The Wire, doesn’t it.

The pub is the heart of a small town and most locals would be lost without one. What are three things you’d be lost without?

My kids waking me up at the crack of dawn every morning, while my husband snores beside me.
A book, and a couch to read it on.
Green spaces.

There are a few good prizes up for grabs in the bar jackpot. Do you have a lucky number?

7 (apparently nearly everyone chooses 7)

Last drinks, my friend! It’s been great. But before we go, tell us how we can find out more about you and your writing/books.

Come over and spend more time with me at Wild Colonial Girl or, if you’re in Castlemaine, always happy to smash a tequila down on the bar with you.

Find out more about just_a_girl: http://uwap.uwa.edu.au/books-and-authors/book/just_a_girl/

Buy my novel (paperback or ebook) at Amazon

Follow my blog at Wild Colonial Girl: http://www.wildcolonialgirl.com

Hang out with me at Goodreads

Visit me on Twitter (@wldcolonialgirl) or Facebook /wildcolonialgirl

GIVEAWAY TIME: It must be Christmas because Kirsten has pressies for two lucky readers: one printed and signed copy of just_a_girl and one e-book version.

Leave a comment below (and if you have a pref). Comp closed. Congrats Elizabeth and Brenda.

If you enjoyed this Bar Yarn, there are lots more to come including more great giveaways. So you never miss a post, whack your email in the TELL ME! box (above/right).

Just wait until you see who’s dropping by for a Bar Yarn next. Prepare to giggle.

Tag: Author Harvest