1. If you have a book dedicated to you, you should probably read it. It's generally a nice thing to do. If a book is dedicated to your memory, try floating your ghostly presence towards someone who is reading the book, or become a poltergeist so you can manipulate physical objects. If you have gone straight to heaven, do not pass go, do not collect $200, see if you can order it online. Maybe Amazon ships there? I don't know, it might be pricey. (You know when shipping on a book costs as much as the book itself? That's annoying.) (ARE YOU READING THIS BLOG POST FROM THE ASTRAL PLANE? KNOCK TWICE FOR YES.)
2. It really is incredibly lovely to buy a copy of your friend's book when it is published. I understand if you are poor, though, so maybe just borrow it from the library and then tell all of your rich friends how wonderful it is. Yeah, I don't have rich friends either. Just yell about it on the internet.
3. If you have a friend who has a book published, and you read that book, and you think it's the worst thing ever written, and you value the friendship, try to lie convincingly when asked what you thought of it. You don't have to say you loved it if you didn't, but soften the truth a little. "It's not really my kind of book" is not really an acceptable answer. I think "I am so proud of you" is better, and not technically a lie (assuming you are proud).
4. That said, don't review your friend's book positively on the internet if you didn't actually like it or even read it. It's very obvious when someone's mates are boosting their ratings on particular sites. (Maybe a little bit of this is okay? I don't know, it's a slippery slope.) And don't get in arguments with people on the internet (generally a waste of time, but you know this), especially over negative reviews (it reflects poorly on the author. And you love the author, so you don't want that).
5. Don't ask how many books your author friend has sold. No author knows the exact number! If you obsess about these things you go mad! I actually have an amazing superpower where the lightning-bolt shaped scar on my head burns every time someone buys my book, but I'm bad at keeping track. Other unappreciated questions include "How much money have you earned?" and "Are you a bestseller?" How much money a writer earns is largely out of their control. You work really, really hard at the writing bit and at the promotional bit but that doesn't guarantee you're going to do well. There's a lot of hoping for the best.
6. Do not alert your author friend every time an awards longlist is released that they are not on, or every festival program they are not part of, or the success of other authors generally. They probably already know about these things. There are a lot of ways to feel lame when you are a writer, and I don't think writers require much help in that department.
7. Don't bring up the fact that they've been working on their book for two years, and that lots of other writers manage to bring out a book a year. It takes a long time, all right? You can't rush it.
8. Continue to encourage your author friend to leave the house at regular intervals and communicate with other human beings. (If the author you know is an extrovert, I feel they will be much easier to maintain a relationship with. I think they're a rare breed, especially among the novelists.)
Brisbane Writers Festival! The State Library! Awards for young writers!
Sunday, June 9, 2013
1. Guess who's going to be part of the Brisbane Writers Festival this year? Me! I am very excited. I have a session in the online literature festival for grades 8-10 on Thursday September 5 at 11am. (You can book here.) (Yes it is still three months off the kids' program has been announced now so I couldn't not tell you.)
2. The State Library of Queensland is spectacularly excellent. For instance, on Saturday afternoon, I went there for a reading event run by the Queensland Writers Centre and had a rather lovely time and drank rather a lot of tea. (It was a special 'young writers' event, which is always wonderful.)
Also, the SLQ's Young Writers Award is currently open for entries! So if you're a Queenslander, writer and aged between eighteen and twenty-five, you should have a look at this (Submit a short story of 2,500 words or less! $2000 first prize!).
3. I really like this state. I think people underestimate Queensland. There are lots of wonderful arts initiatives and festivals and things for youth, at least in this corner. I find it is a nice place to be a YA writer. There is less noise and less of a scene to get caught up in, but still enough going on and enough of a writing community about that you don't feel cut off from everything. I am going to go write a proper blog post now. (And I should probably work on that novel. Damn you, internet. So very distracting.)
2. The State Library of Queensland is spectacularly excellent. For instance, on Saturday afternoon, I went there for a reading event run by the Queensland Writers Centre and had a rather lovely time and drank rather a lot of tea. (It was a special 'young writers' event, which is always wonderful.)
Also, the SLQ's Young Writers Award is currently open for entries! So if you're a Queenslander, writer and aged between eighteen and twenty-five, you should have a look at this (Submit a short story of 2,500 words or less! $2000 first prize!).
3. I really like this state. I think people underestimate Queensland. There are lots of wonderful arts initiatives and festivals and things for youth, at least in this corner. I find it is a nice place to be a YA writer. There is less noise and less of a scene to get caught up in, but still enough going on and enough of a writing community about that you don't feel cut off from everything. I am going to go write a proper blog post now. (And I should probably work on that novel. Damn you, internet. So very distracting.)
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
Thursday, June 6, 2013
1. I'll be at the State Library of Queensland in the Library Cafe this Saturday (the 8th), for the Queensland Writers Centre's Whispers reading salon event. It's from three until five in the afternoon and there will be readings from me and four other emerging writers. More details here. If you are in Brisbane it would be wonderful if you came along. (I am a bit nervous about it.)
2. I have just returned from Voices on the Coast Youth Literature Festival on the Sunshine Coast. This was my second time at the festival (I was there in 2011, also). It is always nice to be invited back. It is a really fun festival. I took my camera but I got so caught up having a wonderful time and speaking to all the delightful kids that I only took three photos and they were all of the view from the balcony of where I was staying, which probably isn't very interesting to you (plus I also took near-identical photos two years ago. It's a nice view, up at Alexandra Headland). I didn't think I would ever enjoy speaking and being at festivals but I think my comfort zone may be expanding. It is fairly brilliant to get to speak to roomfuls of kids (lots of whom are keen readers) about books and writing, and meet lots of authors and illustrators. Plus the food was really good.
3. Here is my talk from TEDx St Hilda's School back at the start of May (it is rather hilarious watching myself speak. I am also getting to the point now where the sound of my own voice doesn't make me recoil in horror, which is a good thing). It's about the way teenagers are portrayed in the media vs. how great teenagers actually are (the audience was about 95% teenage girls):
4. Here is an interview that the very lovely kids at Voiceworks magazine did with me while I was in Melbourne (I say they are kids when really they are 20-somethings and older than me, but it's a youth literary magazine so I think I can get away with it) (The last question is my favourite one):
Voix interview: Steph Bowe from Voiceworks Magazine on Vimeo.
5. It is difficult to write about what you've been up to on the internet without it coming across as bragging, and it is sort of un-Australian (I have no idea where to put the capital in that word, or if there even should be one) to talk about yourself too much. I tend to be very self-deprecating generally, so the business of self-promotion is a very odd one to me. My next post isn't all about me, I promise.
2. I have just returned from Voices on the Coast Youth Literature Festival on the Sunshine Coast. This was my second time at the festival (I was there in 2011, also). It is always nice to be invited back. It is a really fun festival. I took my camera but I got so caught up having a wonderful time and speaking to all the delightful kids that I only took three photos and they were all of the view from the balcony of where I was staying, which probably isn't very interesting to you (plus I also took near-identical photos two years ago. It's a nice view, up at Alexandra Headland). I didn't think I would ever enjoy speaking and being at festivals but I think my comfort zone may be expanding. It is fairly brilliant to get to speak to roomfuls of kids (lots of whom are keen readers) about books and writing, and meet lots of authors and illustrators. Plus the food was really good.
3. Here is my talk from TEDx St Hilda's School back at the start of May (it is rather hilarious watching myself speak. I am also getting to the point now where the sound of my own voice doesn't make me recoil in horror, which is a good thing). It's about the way teenagers are portrayed in the media vs. how great teenagers actually are (the audience was about 95% teenage girls):
4. Here is an interview that the very lovely kids at Voiceworks magazine did with me while I was in Melbourne (I say they are kids when really they are 20-somethings and older than me, but it's a youth literary magazine so I think I can get away with it) (The last question is my favourite one):
Voix interview: Steph Bowe from Voiceworks Magazine on Vimeo.
5. It is difficult to write about what you've been up to on the internet without it coming across as bragging, and it is sort of un-Australian (I have no idea where to put the capital in that word, or if there even should be one) to talk about yourself too much. I tend to be very self-deprecating generally, so the business of self-promotion is a very odd one to me. My next post isn't all about me, I promise.
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