On homeschooling

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

I homeschooled for several years in primary school, and I've spent most of high school studying via distance education. I went to a few schools in between and met some lovely people and had nice experiences, but the way I'm currently studying suits me better than a traditional school environment.

This is something that I haven't really discussed much at all on the internet before, and not something that I ever go into a lot of detail about when I speak to people in my physical life either - perhaps because I've been homeschooling so long that it doesn't seem that different anymore. And in the past I also really didn't want to be characterised as a homeschooler - when I was younger, the stereotypes and assumptions that people had about homeschoolers and homeschooling really irritated me.

There were two questions people (mainly adults - people my age usually just said 'you're so lucky!') always seemed to ask me. One being 'Do you feel like you're missing out?' And the other, my particular favourite, 'Are you socialised?' (Because apparently if you don't spend six hours every weekday in the presence of a whole bunch of people you share nothing in common with but age, you must be some kind of hermit. I mean, really. How will you ever live in the world!) I find that people don't tend to ask these things anymore - being an author and speaking in front of large groups of people is probably evidence that I am a functioning human being. I wonder though, if I were not an author, would people still question my decision to homeschool?

My issue with the whole 'Do you feel like you're missing out?' thing is that everyone is always missing out on a lot of things. Just because I'm doing something that the vast majority of 17-year-olds aren't doing doesn't mean I'm doing the wrong thing and I'm going to spend the rest of my life bemoaning the fact I never went to a school ball or had a group of besties or suffered through five years P.E. classes. Yes, sometimes I do feel like I'm missing out. I wonder what my life would be like had I made different decisions. I'd like to feel part of a school community and have friends I like and see on a daily basis. But if given the choice between this alternate reality Steph and the Steph that I am (who gets to meet brilliant people all the time, and is writing books, and can speak in front of roomfuls of people now about something she's passionate about), I would always choose the life I have. We have to make decisions that rule out other possibilities. If I were still going to school and not pursuing writing than I think I'd be missing out on a hell of a lot more than I am right now.

'Are you socialised?' (or some variation thereof) is really just the product of assumptions that people make about homeschoolers. Just to be clear: I have plenty of friends of all different ages. I am not devoutly religous. I love my family dearly, but I am definitely a distinct and independent person from my parents. Writing was something that I pursued of my own accord, and no one in my family ever pushed me to become an author. I'm shy, but I was shy when I was at school, too, and I'm a lot less shy now than I used to be. You can't guess someone's entire personality or relationships based on whether or not they homeschool, same as you can't say that every single student in the public school system is the same. Some homeschoolers are pushed by their parents to achieve success. Some are religious and some are shy, and some are very social and some are not. Some people study from home for a short time, some their entire schooling careers. The tendency of people to make assumptions endlessly frustrates me.

I also think that if I were going to school, I would still be the same person. And I think that if I'd held back from pursuing writing, I'd be frustrated. I'd be longing to get out of there. I don't see the point in living life as the majority live it if it's crushing your spirit. Why do anything that isn't enriching you as a human being?

It doesn't really bother me anymore if someone thinks I'm a hermit. Or that the fact that I've been lucky enough to have a book published as a young person in combination with the fact I've homeschooled for years means my parents must be monstrous creatures trying to produce virtuoso* (which I'm not and they're not, but hey, I could write a good memoir if they were. Why do all the people around me have to be so sane! It's impossible to be a tortured artist when everyone's so nice).

I'm not suggesting you all drop out of school immediately and come and have midweek pyjama parties with me (though if you want to, I think it'd be great fun). But just to let you know - homeschooling (in primary school with the help of my mum and in high school with the help of the Distance Education Centre) has been pretty awesome for me. I think there's a lot of ways to live your life and conduct your education (or that of your children) and just because you're not doing it the way most people do doesn't mean you're doing it wrong or you're 'missing out' (my friends, right now you are missing out on being Steph Bowe. Missing out big time). I'd be the same person at heart if I'd gone to a 'normal' school. And I'm pretty sure homeschooling doesn't produce child geniuses more than traditional schools do (but I can't say that for sure, because I haven't conducted a study. But I'll make inquiries and get back to you). Thus concludes my blog post! No wait, I have questions...

What's your opinion on homeschooling? Are you a homeschooler yourself?
Would love to hear from you and hear about your experiences! (Also, who's up for midweek pyjama parties?)

*Remember this? Out of context quote made commenters at that blog think I was crazy and was probably taught French verbs in the womb. When in fact I don't know French at all. It's pretty funny if you know me or my family.**
**I had to edit that sentence because it sounded like I was the one teaching French verbs in the womb. Who to? I wonder. Who was I teaching French verbs to when I was a fetus? It's just one of the many mysteries of life.

Voices on the Coast festival

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A quick post to let you know that last week I had a brilliant time at the Voices on the Coast literary festival - I got to go to a very literary dinner, speak to heaps of very attentive and interested students and chat to lots of wonderful authors.

Huge thanks to the fantastic Kelly Dunham, the mastermind behind the whole festival, who just did an amazing job. Thanks also to the wonderful students and teachers at Immanuel Lutheran College, and to the many fabulous volunteers (including the ever-patient Clint the bus-driver), the wonderful audiences and all the other lovely authors! Sometimes being a writer can be lonely, but sometimes it is just the greatest (though pretty exhausting) thing ever - this festival, obviously, was one of the awesome times! So glad to have been a part of it.

Now, photos!


Signing books! To my right is the lovely Kate Forsyth!


One of my wonderful introducers at the festival, Abbey!






Lots of photos of the signing tables! In the last one you can also see the fabulous Richard Newsome and Oliver Phommavanh!


Speaking to Year 8s at Immanuel Lutheran College!






Lovely view from my hotel room. Sunshine Coast ftw.


A media crew kid who did an excellent job, me and my other awesome introducer, Milly.

Visual Inspiration, Week Sixteen

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Images I've found this week that I've used visual inspiration for my current work in progress. All images sourced from Tumblr and We Heart It, none are mine. If you know any original sources let me know and I'll update the post with them. If you've done a visual inspiration post, comment with the link - I'd love to see it (it'd be awesome if you say you're participating in my meme and link back here but you don't have to do that).











Guest post by Paul Collins

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Dystopian YA Fiction – Mole Hunt – Book #1 in The Maximus Black Files

Someone recently asked me why I’d written a dystopian novel. Had I specifically targeted a booming genre? Well, truth be known, I wrote Mole Hunt some four years ago. The submission process can be long and tortuous. One major publisher still hasn’t replied to my submission after two years. During the four years many publishers expressed interest. Penguin UK said if they didn’t already have the young James Bond and Artemis Fowl, they would have taken The Maximus Black Files trilogy. Sometimes it’s just a matter of timing. But one thing I have learnt over the years is that persistence pays off most of the time. Two of my best-selling books, Dragonlinks and The Glasshouse, were also rejected up to fifteen times each before finally getting published. There must be thousands of manuscripts in bottom drawers right now that, if published, would become best-sellers.

But I digress. Why dystopian fiction? Well, I’ve written it in the past with The Earthborn Wars published by Tor in the US (The Earthborn, The Skyborn and The Hiveborn). Fifteen years before The Hunger Games, I also wrote a virtual reality dystopian novel with a remarkably similar plot called Cyberskin. People dying from a terminal illness can sign their lives over to a legal “snuff” movie company and get killed live for the audience (for payment, of course – a life insurance policy that goes to their grieving family). They’re pitted against a superior fighter who is an enhanced fighting machine.

So it’s a genre that I feel comfortable with. I think dystopian fiction also lends itself to fast-paced filmic action, which is usually attributed to my writing. Sometimes it’s best to stay with what we know and love. My own favourite authors are Ioin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) and Philip Reeve (Mortal Engines). I can just as easily see these books as films, as I can my own Mole Hunt. No wonder when I grew up in a house without books. However, I had a voracious appetite for Marvel Group Comics such as The Hulk and Captain America.

Here’s a run down of the plot. I hope you enjoy the book.

Special Agent Maximus Black excels at everything he attempts. The problem is, most of what he attempts is highly illegal. Recruited by the Regis Imperium Mentatis when he was just fifteen, he is the youngest cadet ever to become a RIM agent. Of course, being a certified sociopath helps. He rises quickly through the ranks, doing whatever it takes to gain promotion. This includes murdering the doctor who has certified him, as well as a RIM colonel who Black deems to be more useful dead than alive. Now seventeen, he is a valuable member of a highly secret task force whose assignment is to unearth a traitorous mole. Unfortunately for RIM he is the mole, a delightful irony that never ceases to amuse him.

In the two years he has been with RIM he has only met his match once. Anneke Longshadow, another RIM agent, who nearly succeeded in exposing him. But nearly wasn’t enough. Now she is dead and he is very much alive to pursue his criminal activities.

Right now, Black has a new problem; one that will challenge him to the max. He has a lot of work to do and little time to do it but as with every facet of his life, he plans each step with meticulous precision.

Maximus needs to find three sets of lost coordinates to rediscover the power of the dreadnoughts – a powerful armada of unbeatable power, long since put into mothballs by the sentinels whose job it is to keep peace and harmony in the ever expanding universe.

Sadly for Black, complications arise. It seems Anneke Longshadow isn’t dead after all. Every bit his match, Anneke eludes the traps Black sets for her. Born on Normansk, a planet with 1.9 gravity, Anneke is more than capable of defending herself against Black’s hired help, the insectoid Envoy, and his professional mercenary and hitman, Kilroy.

Power-hungry, Black usurps the throne of Quesada, a powerful crime syndicate. His ultimate aim is to replace the Galaxy gate-keepers, RIM, with his own organisation. Matching him step by step, Anneke collects as her allies all those who Maximus has deposed in his march to becoming ruler of the universe.


Paul Collins
Melbourne June 2011

Mole Hunt – Book #1 in The Maximus Black Files by Paul Collins and published by Ford Street Publishing
RRP $19.95
Available at all good bookshops

Visual Inspiration, Week Fifteen

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Images I've found this week that I've used visual inspiration for my current work in progress. All images sourced from Tumblr and We Heart It, none are mine. If you know any original sources let me know and I'll update the post with them. If you've done a visual inspiration post, comment with the link - I'd love to see it (it'd be awesome if you say you're participating in my meme and link back here but you don't have to do that).











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