I'm Going To Talk To You About Women.

(Originally Titled - The Male Feminine.)

A friend of mine once made the observation of my writing that I am able to grasp female protagonists really well. It hadn't actually occurred to me that there was anything especially remarkable about this but on reflection, it is clear that as an author, I have gravitated towards strong women characters in my work.

In my first novel, The Hambledown Dream (2010), I conceived a grieving young lawyer, Sonya Llewellyn, a fiercely independent woman who is left to pick up the pieces after the death of her true love. Hers was a character study in grief based, in part on my observations of my paternal grandmother, who lost her husband to cancer after 48 years of marriage. In Gifts of the Peramangk (2012), I portrayed a complex Aboriginal matriarch in Virginia Delfey whose secret gift may or may not hold the key to her family's redemption. Here, I was influenced by my experiences as a community nurse, working with many Aboriginal families in the suburban fringes of Adelaide and noting how central and authoritative matriarchal figures are.

Casey Schillinge as portrayed by a stock photo.

In my 2016 psychological thriller, The Recipient, Casey Schillinge is a young heart transplant recipient who is introduced to us as her life hangs by a thread. At the eleventh hour, she is given a second chance of a donor heart. In the subsequent story, she is remade as a troubled young woman who sees her gift of this life saving heart as a curse that holds a dark secret. In this instance, there isn't so much a template for this particular character as there is an instinctual drive on my part to create a compelling female protagonist who, in the tradition of strong pop culture heroines like Ellen Ripley, Lisbeth Salander and, more recently, Imperator Furiosa, gets to kick some serious butt.

Australian actress Sophie Bloom was the inspiration for Isabelle Sampi in The Artisan Heart.

in my 2018 novel, The Artisan Heart, I returned to my romantic roots with a gentle tome about a brilliant paediatrician, Hayden Luschcombe, who - having lost everything after a tragic event - returns to his home town in the mountain country of Southern Australia. There he encounters Isabelle Sampi, a struggling single mother who is trying to resurrect a moribund bakery in the town of Walhalla whilst raising her hearing impaired daughter. Isabelle is introduced as another independent, no nonsense woman who is driven to succeed as a business woman and mother and has no time for matters of the heart. Her secret past makes her wary of men in particular, until the handsome and damaged young doctor arrives in town and gradually dismantles her defenses. The story starts out with Hayden as the protagonist, but I like to think that Isabelle becomes the protagonist by the end of it. 

Where does predilection to write female characters come from? As a male writer, I have tended to occupy a space that many would argue is not suited to me. Well, I can say that it was never a conscious "thing" where I said to myself - 'I'm going to break through a gender wall and shake things up'. 

It kinda just happened.

I simply enjoy writing women and, as my many readers have fed back to me over the years, they very much enjoy reading them, noting how fully realised, dynamic and believable they are.

The fact that I am a male writer who chooses to portray strong female characters doesn't make me unique but, I realise that it does place me into a fairly niche group - one that has been regarded with some antipathy in literary circles. 

In a 2013 article for The Hairpin, blogger Ester Bloom bemoaned the apparent inability of male writers to accurately portray female characters. "Far too often...when you open up a book by a male writer—even a good male writer, and occasionally even a great male writer—you encounter ladies who are a variation on one or more of four themes: virgin, whore, mother, bitch."

Ellen Ripley *is* Woman.

Bloom goes on to deride the mysoginistic tendencies of male authors in their depictions of women based on these four themes. Though, she does acknowledge some works where men have, sometimes, gotten it  right...almost.

Putting aside the healthy dose of snark contained in the article, it illustrates the kind of antipathy I hinted at; the suggestion that men can't possibly hope to accurately portray women in fiction.

I say bollocks.

I recounted to Australian romance author Georgina Penney on the Bookish Tarts Podcast, that in drawing my protagonists - regardless of who they are -  I am,first and foremost, drawn to their humanity and how that humanity serves the story I'm telling. What are their goals? What are their motivations for achieving those goals? How do those goals serve the story? These things happen regardless of gender. 

When it came to sketching the characters, having decided they were going to be women, I'm certainly not bound by arbitrary themes such those mentioned by Bloom - nor am I writing with an agenda. It comes down to observation.

My own observational skills are keen. I am inspired by human behaviour and interaction and I reflect on the people who have influenced and inspired me. It happens to be the case that a lot of those people are women.

Central among these are my partner, my mother and my two grandmothers. These are women who have nurtured me and guided me in life, who I have communicated with and learned from. There are the colleagues I have worked along side as an Intensive Care Nurse - often in high pressure situations requiring a special kind of resolve. And there are my writing colleagues - my publisher and editor, fellow writers and artisans with whom I collaborate with and learn from.  All of them are strong and independent women, filled with wonderful complexity and dynamism -from which I have mined enthusiastically for material.

Jean was as tough as Ellen Ripley...possibly tougher.

I admire and respect these women and they have enhanced my appreciation of what makes a strong, well drawn female character. It is perhaps, no accident that their character traits find their way into my fictional creations.

There isn't any great secret to writing character - be it male or female. The key ingredient to any character is an ability to imbue them with and convey genuine humanity, one that invests the reader in the protagonist's journey. As a writer, I see it as essential to be able to observe and accurately reflect that humanity.

Oh, and women are really great.

DFA.

The Sharing Ecosystem - Instagram for Writers.

One of the cool things about Twitter for writers is the ability to re-tweet fellow writers. It's become such a ubiquitous function of the platform that many of us do it without so much as a second thought.

Instagram is another social media platform that writers have taken to with enthusiasm. I myself use it a lot. It's helpful in teasing bits and pieces of the projects I'm working on as well as promoting my published titles. It's also useful in helping fellow authors reach new readers by way of sharing their posts. And yet, in my experience, I've yet to see the scale of content sharing on Instagram that I've seen on Twitter. 

I'm puzzled as to why it hasn't seemed to have taken off to the same degree. One reason could be that it's not as simple as it is on Twitter. It requires a few more steps to achieve the same or similar outcome. For me, the process of re-sharing or "re-gramming" content is really easy. 

I use an app called "Regrann", which I picked up free from Google Play.

(image credit: Regrann.com)

The app integrates with your Instagram app and the learning curve is fairly simple. In order to use it in-situ, all that's required is for you to choose the post that you want to share, tap on the three dot icon in the top right hand corner of the Instagram post and select "Copy Link" from the drop-down menu. The image will then open in a Regrann menu that looks something like this...

(image credit: Regrann.com)

You have several options available to you, but the one we want is the Instagram icon on the far right. Upon tapping this, you're then taken back to the Instagram app where you'll find the image has populated a new post. If you're satisfied with how the image looks, you can tap through to the "Write a caption" pane. Here, instead of writing a caption, all you have to do is tap and hold in the caption pane, triggering the "Paste" and "Clipboard" menu. Then tap "Paste".

(image credit: Regrann.com)

What happens is that the original poster's caption will populate the pane, along with a "Reposted from @(username)" - whose ever that is. Regrann adds a #regrann following the post. You can actually edit the caption as you wish. I sometimes do this if I want to add some content of my own - say, a shout out to the original poster of the content or some extra hashtags if I think they will help. 

Once you hit "Share", you're done. The post will appear in your feed along with the accompanying caption that essentially tags the original poster so they'll know you shared their content. 

There are numerous apps out there - on both Android and Apple platforms - that will help you achieve the same result and they each have their own individual quirks and functions. For me, Regrann has been the easiest app for me to adopt. 

It's a great way of helping your writer and creative friends *potentially* reach a new audience. I see a lot of re-sharing of content among many groups of Instagrammers - but not so much among writers.

It would be a good thing to see more often. 

DFA.

For The Love of Writing. Obsession, Balance, and Time - A Conversation With Gabriel Blake.

This guest post has been a long time coming so, at the outset, I have to begin by apologizing to the author Gabriel Blake for my tardiness. 

Now that's been said, I am really pleased to introduce you to an outstanding British writer and genuine human being. I met Gabriel recently and was introduced to his gripping psychological thriller "The Mother Of All Things", which has quickly gone to the top of my best reads so far this year. 

Author Gabriel Blake (image credit Gabriel Blake).

Gabriel has been wonderfully supportive, both of me and a community of independent authors all around the web, sharing advice, hints and tips and generally helping others out with the minutiae of author marketing. He's actually one of the key reasons that social media remains something worth engaging with.

Before we get to the man himself, let me give you a quick look at the book that sprang forth from this brilliant mind.

(image credit: Gabriel Blake).

It was supposed to be a new beginning for Elaine Davis. Returning to her childhood home in North Yorkshire, she hopes to move on from a devastating past and rebuild her life with the help of her mother and children. Sometimes though, new beginnings in familiar surroundings can come with the stirrings of memories long forgotten. As Elaine’s mind begins to unravel, discoveries of deceit and betrayal reveal themselves and circumstances spiral beyond her control. Elaine must fight to hold on to her sanity; unless of course, she has already lost it?

When I reviewed "The Mother Of All Things" back in July this year, I praised it as an absorbing, disturbing and kinetic thriller that balances a tight rope between a conventional whodunnit and a Gothic horror. Blake commands this tome with a skillful hand wherein you're never quite sure what state of existence the real world lies. 

Elaine Bennett, Blake's tortured protagonist, is a fascinating character as the events in the story unfold and the deepening psychological disturbances she endures hint at a whole other subplot keep the reader engaged. Blake executes his mystery competently, and there's a satisfying interactivity to it that had me going back to check and double check a couple of plot points to see if I was putting things together. That, to me, was fun and it kept me invested. The action is taut, confronting to be sure but it kept me on the edge of my seat and had me looking over my shoulder once or twice in the darkness of my own living room. 

The Mother Of All Things is a worthy thriller off which Gabriel Blake should be justly proud.

So let me now hand you over to Gabriel as he explores the things that are common to us writers. 



First of all, I’d like to thank Dean Mayes for being so kind as to invite me to write a guest post on his website. I’d also like to wish him every success with his new novel The Artisan Heart, which I am looking forward to reading.

Obsession, Balance, and Time play a huge part in our lives. It has had a detrimental effect on my life. I didn't realise this until fairly recently when it was rightly brought to my attention. 
Looking back through my life, I have had this terrible habit of being all or nothing with no in-between. It’s not an easy habit to break and it can also become unhealthy. In the latter years of my job in property maintenance, I would leave the house before 5am and sometimes not return home until 10pm or later. All because I wanted to get an empty flat repaired, cleaned, and redecorated in one day. I’d go the entire day without a break and food was out of the question. Eating would take up too much precious time, time when more work could be done. Time was my enemy!

(image credit: Gabriel Blake).

I don’t know why I forced and pushed myself to do this. It would later be pointed out to me that this was a form of self-harm. I was punishing myself and they were right. It is something I have always done.

We don’t know the exact moment when our lives develop particular behavioural patterns. Unwanted traits that sneak up on us and become part of who we are. Among many imperfections is obsession, which can co-exist with addiction. Mingled together, the pair can be challenging to rectify. Obsessions can be either productive, unproductive, or destructive.

Unproductive obsessions stem from our anxieties, putting a block on the productive side of our lives. We let our worries, fears and doubts hold us back from the obsessions we would prefer to have. Wouldn't it be better to have obsessions about our interests and passions, those that fuel our creative side? 

(image credit: Ian Emes.)

I finally found the time in my life to write my first novel and do something that had always interested me. In writing, I found passion, fire, and a helping hand to fight off depression and anxiety. I’d like nothing more than to write all day and night if it helps me escape what I like to call the quiet noise inside my head.

This is where balance comes into play. We can’t simply switch off every other aspect of life. We may have a family, partners to consider, or household matters that have to be dealt with. As much as we wish they could, everyday issues, problems, interruptions can’t be ignored. Finding the balance and control of your productive obsession is the only way to prevent it from becoming a destructive obsession, which in turn will take you back down the unproductive road to where you began.

Time! I have always had a problem with time in general. How long something will take and setting myself unrealistic targets. Then my anxiety kicks in and I become a complete mess. I’m sure I’m not the only one who obsesses over time; at least I hope I’m not. This is one of my obsessive compulsions I’m trying hard to control. While writing my debut novel, I put myself under so much pressure, and for what! I had no agent or publisher to keep happy. 

There was no deadline. I lost count of how many release dates I announced. This is something I’m aiming not to repeat. 

My message here is simple:

For the love of writing or whatever your creative interest may be, never underestimate the power of obsession, balance, and time.

Purchase "The Mother Of All Things" here.

Visit Gabriel Blake here.

Tweet with Gabriel Blake here.

DFA.

Reviews & The Hating Of Goodreads.

You know...as a writer, I understand the importance of reviews. I need them, not only as a marketing tool, but as a tool for growth as a writer. Constructive criticism has been invaluable in helping me improve my craft.

But here's the thing.

It seems to me that book reviewing has become a bloodsport, where the objective is not to review a book in good faith. Rather, it has become an exercise in grandstanding - of unloading with the snarkiest take downs, of maligning the writer with the slickest burns possible. It's been apparent on #Goodreads for a while - (Like, what the fuck is it with these *reviewers* and gifs??) It's also an emerging trend on Netgalley - (minus the gifs).

I generally turn around a title in 18 months to 2 years. I pour countless hours into it - honing character, setting, story into a cohesive whole. I work with an editor, a publisher, a marketer to refine the project & polish it into the best product it can be. I sweat over it. Experience sleepless nights. I run the gamut of all the highs and lows that a creative endeavor offers.

Then I, along with my publisher put it out there to garner advance appraisal, months before release. We hope for reviews because, as I said, they are important. They help to build an awareness for the product and, hopefully a positive buzz that will translate into readers.

Generally, I take a lot of notice of 3* reviews (even more than 5* or 4*) because these offer the most in terms of constructive criticism. I have yet to encounter a 1* or 2* review that offer anything of value.

Often, these reviews hide an underlying agenda and I've come to view them as the reviewer trying to build a brand of their own, which has very little to with the noble art of reviewing a book. 

Appraising an entire project, simply because a character "pissed you off" is not worth the keyboard strokes. Seriously! It just makes you look like an arsehole. Did you consider maybe that was the intention? And a 1* review that damns a project, simply because it's "Slow"?

Not every reading experience has to move like a freight train! Tell me why you thought it was slow. What was it about the structural elements of the story that failed to gel with you? Tell me why the character pissed you off.  Don't just drop these in my lap & walk away without fleshing out your reasoning. It does nothing!

There should be a commitment to learning the art of a review - & there is an art. If you're going to invest the time in crafting a review, at least work on making that review one that can help an author, rather than discourage them. If you can find nothing of value in a work, don't write a review at all. Keep your slick burns and your smart arsed gifs to yourself.

I am a writer. I believe I'm good at it - but I also believe I have more to learn.

Teach me.

DFA.

Writing Through The Roof - A Conversation With Dean Mayes.

This past week, I was pleased to be the in-studio guest of Melbourne based writer and podcaster Madeleine D'Este on her weekly program Write Through The Roof. 

Over the course of an hour or so, Madeleine and I discussed my writing career, the techniques and quirks I employ as a writer and I was given the opportunity to drop some tid-bits about my forthcoming novel "The Artisan Heart".

If you're on iTunes, you can listen to the episode here. 

If you're on Stitcher, you can listen to the episode here. 

For all other podcatchers, subscribe and download the episode here.

Originally growing up in Tasmania, Madeleine D’Este now lives in inner city Melbourne surrounded by books.  After studying law (and never practising) and travelling the world, Madeleine now lives a double life, immersed in the corporate world by day and writing female-led speculative fiction by night. Madeleine hosts a weekly speculative fiction review radio show/podcast on artdistrict-radio.com as well as the podcast for writers Write Through The Roof.

When not writing, Madeleine enjoys podcasts, knitting, forteana, indie films, kettle bells and likes her coffee as ‘black as midnight on a moonless night’.

DFA.

Trailer Park.

One thing I've done in support of marketing my books is to put together a book trailer. It's not a new concept and plenty of authors are doing it. With a little bit of imagination, and some patience, book trailers can come out looking pretty good.

Of course, You Tube is the best avenue for uploading and promoting your book trailers, but Facebook, Amazon and Goodreads all offer a similar facility for uploading video trailers.

Here are three trailers I've put together for my three books so far.

One of the best pieces of advice I've received in creating book trailers is that no trailer should be more than roughly a minute long. Attention spans for an unknown or obscure quantity are only good for about a minute, after which, you can be guaranteed they'll switch off. 

I think I've broken that minute rule with every one of these trailers. Did you last? Let me know in the comments. 

DFA.

2016 International Teaser Trailer for "The Recipient" by Dean Mayes.

2012 International Teaser trailer for "Gifts of The Peramangk" by Dean Mayes.

2010 International Teaser Trailer for "The Hambledown Dream" by Dean Mayes.

My Strange Addiction - Bad Reviews & Where To Find Them.

Bad reviews.

They're nothing new. They are part and parcel of being a published author and, if there is one thing I've learned after seven years of writing and being published, you are bound to get one - or two.

You know something?

They still hurt.

Even with all of the advice I've received about bad reviews and the knowledge that you can't please everyone all of the time, there are occasions when the bad review cuts - and cuts deep.

(image credit: Goodreads.)

Of course, one nexus where authors can almost be guaranteed of seeing bad reviews of their work is Goodreads. The Amazon owned, global hub of just about any book that has ever been published is either a blessing or a curse for the working author.

I still haven't decided which.

Sure, it's a platform that gives exposure to an author's work, allows discussion and interaction about that work and literature more broadly. 

In the past couple of weeks, some reviews have appeared on the Goodreads entry for The Recipient that are less than kind. In a word  - they suck. I won't relay the details of them for you here. You can visit the entry for yourself and check them out. Suffice to say, there are no positive take aways in them. There is nothing in them that I could use to apply to better myself as a writer. Over the course of several hundred words, their basic take-home is, 'This is shit. Move on.'

You maybe asking, why would you do this to yourself Dean? Why would you visit a site like Goodreads, if you know that the reviews may not all be good?

Well - because reviews matter. Reviews are still the pre-dominant indicator of an individuals decision to purchase or not to purchase. If the reviews are bad, and they come from a reviewer of influence, that is quite a powerful position to be in.

I've had plenty of advice, saying to avoid reviews - good and bad - and I know, intellectually, that is the right thing to do. 

But sometimes, I have moments of weakness. I've had a few moments of weakness recently.

I'm close to a stage of burn out. I've recently had two patients at my work pass who I were really close to and I think they affected me more than I am willing to admit. There has a constant pressure associated with the daily grind. Work, the school run, the weekend sports, juggling the house hold budget, my health. Not to mention the challenges of trying to remain creative and finish a story that I've committed quite a lot to emotionally over the past year.

I missed a pressure release valve somewhere along the way.

In those moments, I find myself indulging in a crazy little game of self flagellation. There is something about bad reviews that is strangely attractive. It's almost like, seeing a bad review acts as a sort of leveler. That, even after multiple titles, you're not actually top stuff at all. You're not even decent. You're a fraud.

(image credit: REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail.)

The best place, it seems, to do that is by visiting Goodreads and checking up on your reviews. Ignore the good reviews and go straight for bad ones and bask in them like some strung out drug addict. 

Feels good, don't it. 

I've endeavored to adhere to the idea that all reviews are valuable. All reviews offer something that an author can use to better themselves. Truth is, not all reviews are helpful. In fact, there are actually bad, bad reviews. 

And it still hurts.

DFA. 

Adventures In Beta - Journey To Walhalla Journal Entry 2.

I'm sitting here at my computer on a rainy Adelaide afternoon. My daughter is home sick from school today - her chest sounds like a freight train. It's cold outside and very gray. 

I've just completed the initial editing phase on my manuscript and I have just submitted it to my publisher, Central Avenue Publishing. 

I kinda, sorta can't believe it! 

In the month or so since I last posted here, I have been furiously working on the manuscript, going through several phases of editing. Part of that process has involved putting together a team of beta readers.  A beta group is something that will be familiar to a lot of writers in the pre publishing phase, but for the general audience, a beta group for a story works the same as a beta version for a piece of software. 

I put the draft out to my group to test the early version and I sought their participation to get their impressions of the story, to offer advice on what works and what doesn't and to discuss the technical aspects of the narrative. The group came through in spades and I took all of their feedback, printed it out and stuck it on my office wall so I could refer to it as I worked my way through the editing process here.

And, to me, they're not just any readers. They are an amazing group of people - my own Story Group, if you will. I want to take a moment to give them a shout out here, because each of them have brought something really to this part of the process. 

Molly Ringle is a Seattle based author and ridiculously brilliant word smith. I have come to regard Molly as my mentor and shadow (me being the shadow). 

Molly has had a fantastic career an author who has routinely explored multiple genres. Her works have explored the paranormal, romance, coming of age and epic fantasy.

Having recently completed a trilogy of novels informed by Greek mythology, Molly is about to release a another genre bending epic with The Goblins of Bellwater which is due for release later this year.

Scottish based Australian author Georgina Penney has been a mainstay of romantic fiction in this country over the past few years with her much loved series of novels set in the gorgeous Margaret River region of Western Australia. 

Georgina has also been a strong supporter of up and coming romance authors and has spoken widely about the genre to writing groups and professional organizations. 

This year saw the release of her latest novel "The Barbershop Girl" which marked the conclusion of a series of books following the Blaine sisters.

Georgina has been a champion of mine. She kindly offered her assistance on my previous novel "The Recipient" and her romantic nous has been invaluable on Walhalla. 

Another of my Central Avenue Publishing stable mates is Minnesota author Abbie Williams whose Shore Leave series of romance novels along with her more recent Civil War epic romance novels have won hearts all over the world as well as significant plaudits from her peers. 

Abbie has been a constant support of both myself and other Central Avenue authors and we've benefited from her astute story telling skills and eye for detail. She's encouraged me to be brave with the editing process. Whenever I have felt unsure about how to proceed (or whether to proceed) Abbie has been there, giving me the nudge towards editorial courage. And I've loved it. 

I've been a fan of Melbourne based author Ashleigh Oldfield for a long time now and she has always been in my corner, encouraging me and offering her perspective on story telling which I have always valued. 

Ashleigh is another author who consistently steps outside of her comfort zone, exploring multiple genres and occupying them handsomely, with rich narratives and bold characterization. 

Ashleigh has been great in identifying little character nuances and encouraging me to explore them deeper. 

 

Queensland based blogger and reviewer Gem Blackwell has been a dear friend of mine for several years now. We've shared the coal face as paediatric nurses and we've continued our friendship into our respective writing pursuits. 

Gem is a food and health blogger and she has extended herself into longer form writing, undertaking further education in creative writing. Gem is another writer with an astute eye for word economy and I've valued her advice greatly. 



It has been a long and laborious task. Working back through a years worth of material, you come across scenes and story that you may not have looked at for a considerable amount of time and it can be a little jarring. You see all of its warts and imperfections. You see how bloated and full of repetition, over description and riddled with errors it is. It makes you cringe and want to tear it to pieces. Well - it did me.

Somehow, the ingredients were all there, laying underneath the fat and blubber. Gradually, I've uncovered them, cutting away all of the gunk and grunge and, I have to say, it's looking pretty sharp. 

The process is not over and, indeed, the life of this book is not yet assured. But, I am encouraged to be in the place that I am now and free to think a little more clearly before I delve back into more revisions. 

Stay tuned. 

DFA.

When The End Is Just The Beginning - Journey To Walhalla Entry 1.

It never ceases to feel special to me, whenever I type the words "The End" on a writing project. 

For my latest work in progress, a romantic fiction novel that carries the working title "Walhalla", I reached that milestone yesterday - and I almost couldn't believe it.

I've spent just short of a year working on this one, if you include the time that I spent *not* working on it because of some health challenges, and it was because of those health challenges that this milestone feels all the more sweeter. 

When I lost my voice after I had surgery on my throat and vocal cords, I mistakenly believed that I would actually throw myself into the project during my enforced convalescence at home. In truth, I lost all motivation for writing. My writer's voice had become just as silent as my physical one and there were times when I thought I would abandon "Walhalla" completely. I grew to hate writing and I grew to hate myself because I hated writing. 

What pulled me out of the hole I found myself in?

She... (image credit Lucasfilm Ltd.)

Carrie Fisher's death in December of last year had an impact on me. Apart from the fact that she was my most favorite "bad-ass princess" throughout the now 40 years of Star Wars, Fisher was widely regarded as a brilliant writer and script doctor - able to weave complex narrative tapestries and turn the most parlous of screenplays into something special. And she did all this while waging a none to secret battle with mental illness. In the ensuing obituaries and reflections on her life, I guess I received something akin to a kick in the pants from her. 

Somehow, I clawed my way out of the hole and I recommitted to this story. I realized that I actually loved it. For this is a story that I think will likely be my most personal one.

"Walhalla" is set in a little mountain town in Victoria, Australia - a place I have known and loved my entire life. Steeped in history and the site of one of the biggest gold rushes in 19th century Australia, Walhalla has refused to die - even though it was thought many times that it would. Somehow it has endured and is undergoing something of a renaissance, thanks to a renewed interest in its history and the opportunities afforded to it by tourism. 

For me, Walhalla serves as the setting for what I hope will be an engaging love story between a Doctor who has returned to his home town after the failure of his marriage and a Baker whose tragic past has instilled her with a steely determination to succeed with her nascent business. Walhalla - the story, like the town - is filled with a cast of quirky characters, all of whom are derived from people who have been a fixture in my life and I hope their presence will leap off the page as I develop the story further.

Because, even though I have typed the words "The End" on this first draft - it is really just beginning. 

Editing is a process that I love. It is challenging, frustrating and rewarding all at the same time. Once I have completed my first pass over the manuscript, I'll have a team of people to whom I will pass a second draft onto to get their insights, advice, criticisms and recommendations. I will incorporate all of those into a third draft - and then I'll be at a stage where I hope to submit it to my publisher.

I hope you might like to join me on this journey. I'll keep you updated - not too frequently - about my progress and I'd like to share a little bit of ephemera about the actual town Walhalla and how it has influenced me over all these years. 

DFA.

The Writer's Emotional Investment.

I've somehow worked myself up into an emotional state this afternoon. 

In my continuing development of my latest work in progress, I've been working on the back story of my central character, Hayden Luschcombe, that involves a falling out with his father Russell that remains unresolved at the beginning of the story. 

See, Hayden's mother Lavinia died around four years before the events in the story, having suffered from ovarian cancer. His father Russell, who devoted himself to being her sole carer, died about a year later - ostensibly from a broken heart. During his mother's illness, Hayden made many trips over to Walhalla from Adelaide but often had difficulties in getting away from his demanding job in a hospital's emergency department to be with his parents and help with his mother's care.

When Lavinia's illness took a turn for the worse and Russell warned Hayden that there was much time left, Hayden tried to get a flight over but, due to circumstances at work and, possibly, some intransigence from his unsympathetic wife, he didn't make it in time. Lavinia died before Hayden got to her bedside.

Russell, in his grief, turned on Hayden and, I guess, blamed him for not being there at the last moments of his mother's life. This developed into a rift between father and son that went unresolved. When Russell died a year later, father and son never reconciled and so Hayden is left to live with guilt and regret. This is part of the reason why Hayden appears as something of an introvert at the beginning of the story and doesn't find it easy to mix with others.

Family dynamics can be really complex when cancer visits a loved one and relationships are often strained. Sometimes they can break. I was reminded of this, this afternoon as I sat trying to flesh out this aspect of the story and I couldn't help but feeling an overwhelming sadness as I considered how I am going to incorporate this back story into the main story. Part of Hayden's journey will involve him 'reconciling' with his father in a posthumous sense and I have an idea about how that will play out but getting to that point requires a bit of work. And it's not easy. 

When considering weighty issues such as these, it's inevitable that I become emotionally invested in these characters and these situations. It's a little surprising just how invested one can become. I'm not gonna lie, it's more affecting than I anticipated.

Do you find the same thing happens to you? Do you find yourself being affected by the situations you place you characters in? Tell me in the comments section below.

DFA.

Will Australia's Book Industry Burn? I'm Not So Sure.

So, I'm going to talk with you about an issue here in Australia that has been brought back into the spotlight this week and it concerns possible changes to parallel import restrictions and copyright as they apply to the Australian publishing industry. Some argue that the changes will destroy the industry here.

It's a little more complicated than that.

A body here in Australia - The Productivity Commission - tabled a report recommending a relaxation of parallel import restrictions and a change to the length of time a copyright can be held by an individual writer. The Federal government noted in its response to the report that 'the removal of PIRs will ‘make local booksellers more competitive with international suppliers, promote lower prices for consumers and ensure the timely availability of titles’.

Also highlighted in the reform proposals was a relaxation of the time frame intellectual property right of an author could be asserted - meaning that, after 15 years, an author loses the intellectual right to their published work. It follows that, a previously published work - without the protection of its authors copyright - could then be taken up by anyone and the author can do nothing about it.

There are two distinct issues here.

I have a problem with the parallel import protections as they stand currently. I am an Australian author, writing Australian stories but I happen to have a Canadian publisher. Now, presently it is not easy (though not impossible) for me to bring my titles into Australia for sale in Australian bookstores. The costs are considerable.

(Comfortable in the club - author Tom Keneally. Image credit: Australian Financial Review/Paul Jones).

The way I see it, the current parallel import restrictions limit new and emerging Australian voices from having their stories published and distributed widely at the expense of more widely known authors and more established publishing houses here in Australia. As it stands now, parallel import restrictions favor the few at the expense of the many - which is why you see the likes of Peter Carey, Tom Keneally, Richard Flanagan and Mem Fox being so vocal in their opposition to these changes. Parallel Import Restrictions amount to a protection racket.

A relaxation of these parallel import restrictions would make it easier for Australian voices to be heard - not only here but overseas. They can pursue publishing agreements with global publishing houses and import their titles for sale here in Australia more economically than they can currently.

(Federal treasure Scott Morrison. Image credit - Sydney Morning Herald. photography: Tim Bauer).

Now, the copyright changes that are being touted are another matter entirely. It is frightening to me that our intellectual property rights are being placed on a chopping block by legislators who have no appreciation of the creative process of writing and the amount of dedication it requires for a writer to will a story into being. In 2012 article for the Sydney Morning Herald, Federal treasurer Scott Morrison remarked “I don’t read international fiction. I just don’t relate to it. I’m interested in our stories.” Scott Morrison has no insight - and therefore no right to contribute to the debate on copyright.

That my intellectual property right on my titles can be deemed null and void after 15 years is nothing short of horrifying. I have bled for my work. Toiled in isolation. Wrought Australian stories about Australian people into being and to be told that, after 15 years, those stories are no longer mine...

Parallel Import Restrictions and Intellectual Property Rights are a vexed issue when thrown in together. They have the potential to pit authors against authors in an industry that is already struggling just to be viable. Already there is a split in the in the industry on the way forward at time when unity and a common position needs to be adopted. A conversation about these issues separately needs to occur.

The Federal government intends to implement changes to these laws in August, 2016.

DFA.