Best feeling ever: Seeing my novel as a finished book!

This is really one of the most exciting bits of all: All This Could End in the flesh! (Well, not flesh. Paper?) It is incredibly pretty. It's really finished! Soon people in the world will be reading it! (This is actually terrifying.)

There's a nice little blurb from Gabrielle Williams (author of Beatle Meets Destiny and The Reluctant Hallelujah) on the cover, and here's the whole thing: "This book has one of the best 'hook-you-in' starts I’ve read in a long time. Steph throws you right in at the deep end with this crazy family who are headed for disaster, like it or not. She’s expertly woven a thoroughly original crime caper into a story about ‘outsider’ teenagers connecting with each other against all odds. Stand back, world, Steph Bowe is a serious talent." 

And here's some of the first review! From Junior Bookseller & Publisher: ‘I am in awe of Steph Bowe. Her second novel, All This Could End, is so confident and perceptive that it is difficult to believe its author is only 18-years-old. Her outstanding evocation of what it is like to be on the verge of adulthood demonstrates a degree of self-awareness that most writers achieve only with the benefit of hindsight…Sophia Pretty is a particular highlight; a pathological mother figure with a flair for emotional blackmail who, while exaggerated, is sure to have teenage readers everywhere nodding in recognition.’ 4 stars

Only a month till it's in bookshops!

 

Does everyone have to be so attractive all the time?

You know when you're reading a novel (which if you are Steph Bowe is more often than not*) and it's pretty good so far, but then the love interest has to show up? And then it's all downhill from there?

This is usually the worst part of the whole book because nine times out of ten instead of being described normally like a normal character, they are described in ridiculous hyperbole. They are breathtakingly and arrestingly and unfathomably beautiful. They are the most attractive person the protagonist has ever seen.

They are so otherworldly in their beauty, in fact, that everyone in their immediate vicinity stops and stares at them. NO. NO. A MILLION TIMES NO. I don't even care if they are from another world.

Why? Can't they just love normal-looking people? Isn't how attractive people are a fairly subjective thing? I know that people in movies and on TV are really, ridiculously good-looking but when you are writing a book the people can look however you say they look. So why make them generic hotties? Really? Wouldn't it be so much more interesting in your world of amazingly gorgeous folks if the love interest wasn't just one step of hotness above everyone else?

Why aren't there more average-looking paranormal creatures, really? It's all either tall, broad-shouldered super-babes or really evil ugly ones (as if ugly somehow equates to innate evil. How does that work? Does that seem illogical and kind of offensive to you? Those poor Orcs probably weren't even bad guys).

The profundity of people's love is not based on how ridiculously attractive they are, as far as I know.** Always, in these books, it's like they're reincarnated soul mates or magical partners in crime or at the very least they're gonna get married because they have some profound bond. Is them being the most attractive person ever to have lived really necessary if they're soul mates?

(Imagine if you lived in a world actually populated by the characters of these novels. It'd just be all redheads and seventeen-year-olds and people with creepy-coloured eyes and overly muscled immortals. I mean, really. What a nightmare. I'm confident I could be the dorky best friend of the gorgeous-but-doesn't-know-she's-gorgeous protagonist, and then conveniently disappear once the other main characters show up.)

Writers of future YA novels: please don't make the love interest the most attractive person on planet earth. It's not necessary. Especially if it's all about ~true love~. Because it's blind, guys. Haven't you ever seen a romantic comedy? (In which all of the characters are really, ridiculously good-looking, of course.)

*I am hoping to evolve past the need for sleep because I feel like that third of my life could be put towards better use i.e. reading***
**Maybe I'm wrong and us normal-looking folks aren't particularly loveable. I'm going to go and adopt a cat now.
***I'm kidding. You need your sleep, kids.

Why is it so hard to be a writer and read?

Like, when you finish reading an amazingly brilliant novel that has won lots and lots of awards, you can't just think to yourself: "Wow, that was a fantastic book." Instead, you think to yourself: "Why can't I be that brilliant? How do they manage this brilliance? Can I steal this writer's brain? Did this writer make a deal with the devil? Can I make a similar deal? What is the secret? I will never be this great, might as well give up now!"

Or, when you finish reading an amazingly terrible novel that has sold lots and lots of copies, you can't just think to yourself: "Wow, wasted three hours of my life there." Instead, you think to yourself: "How come I can't write books that sell seventy billion copies? They don't seem that complicated! What's the secret? Why am I so bad at cliff-hangers? I will never sell this well, might as well give up now!"

It's just demoralising, frankly. The answer, of course, is to always read books that you think are perfectly average, with perfectly average sales, and with a perfectly average number of fans, and then you don't feel bad for not being brilliant or for not selling well enough or for not being universally adored. Which makes no sense whatsoever because what's the point of reading if it isn't finding stories you love?

Hopefully I am not the only one who unnecessarily does this "I wish I was a literary genius" bit every time I read a good book. If you have advice for those attempting to read while being a writer (how could I not! I'd rather not be reduced to reading textbooks and cereal boxes), do share.

Everything Left Unsaid by Jessica Davidson

Tai and Juliet have been best friends forever – since they met at kindy and decided to get married in first grade.

They understand each other in the way that only best friends can.

They love music, beach walks, energy drinks and, they are slowly discovering, each other. 

As they begin to dream of adventures beyond the HSC – a future free of homework, curfews and parents, a life together – their plans are suddenly and dramatically derailed.

For Tai is sick.

And not everything you wish for can come true.

A poignant story of first love, hope, grief, family, and the twistedness of life.

I can't read novels about dying teenagers anymore. I just can't. I've reached my limit. (I think writing a novel about a dying teenager didn't really help.) That said, Everything Left Unsaid is beautifully written and sweet and thoughtful. As well as being, naturally, incredibly depressing. This is a good book to read if you want to have a good cry, but then afterwards you should probably read something light and uplifting and not-at-all serious.

One of the more remarkable things about this novel is the utter believability of the dialogue. I think there's a tendency in YA generally for everyone's conversations to be filled with incredible wit and snappiness and generally more eloquence than teenagers actually have, which is entertaining but perhaps doesn't always ring true. There was no point at which the dialogue seemed false in Everything Left Unsaid, and the way the characters related to each other (and the way in which they behaved) was very authentic. There's also quite a lot of drinking and sexual references. There's a great deal of realism overall, which makes it all the more heart-breaking.

Davidson is yet another Australian writing brilliant contemporary YA. Really. I don't think I've read a single contemporary YA novel by an Australian author in the last year that I've disliked.

I'd recommend it to older YA readers (and adult readers also) if only because the tone is incredibly somber. It's a heavy and incredibly poignant novel. If you read it and don't cry (or at the very least get that unpleasant about-to-cry sensation in your chest), then I'm not sure you have a soul.

On the publisher's website
On Goodreads

Dialogue I would be pleased to never read in a work of fiction ever again

1. “But that’s just a myth right? Surely it couldn’t be real?” And then two lines later whoever spoke these lines has fully accepted the existence of angels/vampires/chupacabra. This is an idiotic line because it appears in every paranormal novel ever and no one would actually say it. Someone tells you supernatural creatures are real, you don’t ask them in an uncertain voice whether they are being legit. You yell that they are crazy and you run away. Or you at least tell them it’s a myth with a bit of conviction, I mean, really.
2. The all-knowing minor character who says “You know he/she loves you, right?” to Entirely Clueless Yet Devilishly Attractive protagonist. This also comes up in romantic comedies at around the forty-five minute mark. The problem I have with this is how could they know? Do people say this in the real world? Do we all have secret spidey-senses that allow us to figure out who’s hot for whom and I’m just not tapped into it? I feel that characters should only be able to inform other characters who they’re loved by if a) they are directly told by the unrequited lover, or b) they are Edward Cullen. Then again I don’t think Edward Cullen should either. There’s just too many casual observers able to figure out other people’s feelings. A bit unbelievable.
3. “I don’t trust you.” “You shouldn’t.” This causes me to throw the novel across the room. 92% of all paranormal romance novels contain these words. It’s always Vulnerable Teenage Girl speaking to Powerful Supernatural Guy (who’s secretly an oldie but still looks young and hot. How is that even okay?).  There’s just a lot of poor decision making generally when it comes to supernatural romances. I could write a book of advice for the lady protagonists of paranormal romance novels. Never go to a second location with a stranger, no matter how attractive they are! Preferably have age-appropriate romances with other mortals! Don’t move to dreary regional towns in America! Eat plenty of garlic!

If there are any terrible, recurring lines of dialogue you’d like to see banished from literature, feel free to share. (I will likely hate them too. Sorry. Strongly dislike.)

New year, old you: Wherein I am bad at recaps

I didn't write as much as I'd hoped I would in 2012. I didn't blog as much as I hoped I would. I didn't stay as up-to-date and organised with my email and everything else as I'd wanted to. I spent a lot more time aimlessly reading stuff on the internet than I planned. I think that's okay, and maybe a bit inevitable. I hope to do better this year.

2012 was my gap year but I'm not sure I did a very good job of it. I had planned on more Life Experience (what counts as life experience? When will I get this life experience? People are always telling me I need more of it but it's very difficult to find). I had just as much difficulty as I always do with the fact that reality is quite poorly plotted. My character arc this past year hasn't really gone anywhere. Being a real person is tough.

In my resolutions post at the start of last year, I wrote 'This time next year I'll probably have the same goals and will be bemoaning the fact that the year went by so fast'. This is true.

Still, it was a pretty wonderful year. I spent my first year living on the Gold Coast. I went to some nice places: Sydney (twice), Cairns, Mackay, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia. I was on TV. That was terrifying. I spoke in more schools and appeared at a couple of festivals. I finished editing my new novel. I spent lots of time swimming, and I spent lots of time with my family, and those are both very good things.

For a bit of a blog recap, here are my top 6 (why not 6? I feel both 5 and 10 are overly favoured) most-read blog posts of 2012 (how annoying all those comments got lost):

1. 'Let's stop doing this, shall we?'
2. 'America is not the centre of the known universe'
3. 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar & other books I loved as a kid'
4. '10 Things the baffle me about YA paranormal books'
5. '7 Things I never want to read in blurbs for YA novels ever again'
6. 'How to get a book deal when you're fifteen'

I don't so much have resolutions for this year, but I have plenty of goals. I've noticed telling other people about them doesn't actually make me any more accountable, though. I promise to tell the internet all about these goals as I achieve them, as that is much more satisfying. I've a lot to look forward to in 2013, including the publication of All This Could End. Which I am both excited and anxious about.

I hope you had a wonderful 2012, and a lovely new year. I know everyone is always talking about how a new year doesn't really signify anything much, and just instils a false sense of optimism, but honestly those people are pessimists and I am quite tired of them: be as hopeful as you like. Hope is always a good thing. If you give up on your resolutions by mid-January, don't be too disappointed in yourself. You're awesome. I hope this year is good to you.

'Next Big Thing' Meme

Woo, first post of 2013! Memes, you guys. I haven't done a meme since 2009. I'm not entirely sure what a meme is. This one seems kind of arrogantly titled. But Will Kostakis and Sue Whiting both tagged me, so here we are!

1. What is the working title of your next book?
All This Could End is the final title. The working title This All Could End. As you can see, dramatically different.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea for this novel started as almost all of my ideas do: by wondering ‘what if’. What if I went to the bank one day and someone I knew was robbing it? What if this was someone I’d been close to? What if I were robbing a bank myself? Why would I do that? And how would someone I know react to me holding them hostage in a bank robbery? (This was followed by how cool would this be to write about?) When robberies are reported on the news, I always wonder what these robbers would be like personally. Would they seem perfectly ordinary in person? What are their families like? And from there I progressed to writing about a family of bank robbers.

3. What genre does your book fall under?
Contemporary YA. And there's crime stuff, obviously. It's a bit dramatic. Really, it's the same genre as Girl Saves Boy, but instead of somebody dying it's about a bank robbery.

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I wouldn't choose. If a movie were being made I would leave everything up to the movie-makers. I don't really have actors in mind for what characters look like, because I don't really imagine my characters being especially conventionally beautiful like the majority of actors. I would like the actors to look like ordinary people, thank you.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
"Teenage girl takes former friend hostage in bank robbery, hijinks ensue"? Clearly I am not that good at one-sentence synopses. That is a very condensed version.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It's being published by Text Publishing on February 27th of this year.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Maybe six months. And then almost two years editing after that, on and off.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I should probably have a whole lot of titles in mind here, and I did for Girl Saves Boy, but I guess I haven't thought about it as much this time around. Comparing yourself to others is necessary in a marketing sense but crap for your own writerly self-esteem, I think. I will let other people read it and figure out what books to compare it to, because I can't be objective about my own writing.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I dedicated the novel to my sister, and lots of things I wrote in the novel were because of her. There are two younger siblings in the novel, because my sister was a preteen while I was writing it, and I wanted to explore the relationship between older and younger siblings. Younger siblings tend to be equal parts hilarious and frustrating, and the sense of obligation and love is often at odds with how short-sighted people can be as teenagers.

I very much wanted to write a book teenage readers could relate to, and I think having people read my first novel and write to me about how much they enjoyed it and identified with the characters was a big motivating factor. The things that Nina and Spencer individually go through in the novel – not knowing their place, their shared sense of uncertainty about the future, the complexity of familial relationships – are things I hope readers will be able to relate to.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
Well, there's a bank robbery.

Okay, maybe I should think of something else. There's a sister that communicates only through lollies, a crazy but delightful mother (it's very much a book about realising that your parents are not always right, especially if they are dangerous criminals), an obnoxious best friend with an obsession with bassists, a little bit of grand theft auto, and lots of secrets. It's a novel that attempts to be both silly and heartfelt and I very much hope it succeeds.

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You're supposed to tag people with these meme things but I'm not very good at that. If you do this meme (or have done it), you should comment the link so I can read it! I am always very curious about what people have to say about their own books.