Why I Write Fantasy
I write Fantasy because I’m an incurable and unabashed, romantic. I want a world where good can triumph, where virtue can be rewarded, nobility and self-sacrifice are lauded, not scorned. I want a world where honesty, loyalty and friendship are prized possessions, not causes for embarrassment. I want a...
Indonesian ‘Blaze of Glory’
The Indonesian edition of ‘Blaze of Glory’ has just landed on my desk. Shiny!...
‘The Extraordinaires’ cover!
Here it is: the cover for my upcoming book, ‘The Extinction Gambit’, the first in ‘The Extraordinaires’ series! Look for it in December! ‘The Extraordinaires’ cover...
Rewriting: the basics
When we talk about the writing process, most attention is usually given to the planning and the first draft stages. This is natural – starting at the start is logical. With all this talkspace given to plotting, dialogue, characterisation, pacing, structuring and prose details, sometimes we neglect to discuss...
Name Dropping
It’s been a time and half, really, over the last week or so. First was the Sydney Writers’ Festival with all of its well-earned hooplah. I met Garth Nix, Morris Gleitzman, Belinda Jeffrey, Judith Ridge, Bernard Beckett, Sean Williams, Deb Abela, Jacquie Harvey and Richard Newsome, as well as...
Doorways Trilogy download
I still have many people asking me about my ‘Doorways Trilogy’ (The House of Many Rooms, The Book of Plans and The Unmaker) even though it’s been out of print for some time. Second hand copies are hard to find, too. So I decided to do something about it....
‘Word of Honour’ gets a gong!
I’m extremely chuffed to announce that Word of Honour has been included on the Children’s Book Council of Australia ‘Notable Books’ list for 2011. I’m in exalted company – James Roy, Fiona Wood, Sonya Hartnett, Melina Marchetta, Cath Crowley, Kirsty Murray and many, many more. See the full list...
Series, series, series
Look around the bookshops and the libraries and you’ll see series all over the place. On some streches of shelves, you could be forgiven for thinking that EVERYTHING is part of a series....
Writing ‘The Laws of Magic’
When I began writing The Laws of Magic I wanted to do a number of things. I knew I wanted to write a steampunk/comedy/adventure (the romance and political elements developed later). Having chosen the quasi-Edwardian setting, this necessitated that I do some research (not a problem—I’m a researchophile) and...
Top Tips For Writing Fantasy
I was going to call this ‘Golden Rules for Writing Fantasy’ but I wasn’t happy with the ‘Rules’ part. Rules are a problem in Fantasy because when imagination is king, anything is possible. So as Captain Barbossa said about the Pirates’ Code, these are more guidelines than your actual...