going back

There is a saying that you can never go back again. As a historian and as a writer I whole-heartedly disagree. The beauty of living in the world that we live in today is that we can go back. Whether we want to stroll down memory lane with school pals on Facebook, or research into a past complete with pictures, documentaries via Youtube, university notes and online books, or even shut the computer and go back to writing a letter. With pen and paper. In fact there is very little these days that is stopping us from going back.

I am particularly comforted by this fact at the moment. My 85 year old grandfather is quite sick. He has recently had a couple of falls which have resulted in a broken shoulder (now healed) and a broken hip (operated on but which has left him weak and unable to walk). He is in a public hospital undergoing serious rehabilitation.

I always had a very close relationship with my grandfather, who was born on the Greek island of Syros. Growing up I adored him and loved that fact that he came from somewhere so exotic. I memorised the Greek words and numbers that he would teach me and my sisters and I held tightly to his promises that one day he would take me back there with him. We never got there but the stories certainly remained with me.

They promised them a working paradise, they delivered hell.

One hot, summer day when the Captain and I were driving back home from a trip to Wollongong a new idea for a story came to me. One that revolved around his life. When he was barely eighteen his island was attacked by Nazis and he ended up in a ball-bearings factory in Austria. After the war ended he, like so many other displaced young men, joined the French Foreign Legion. After fighting in Vietnam he finally caught a boat to Australia where he jumped shipped and lived as an illegal immigrant before finally becoming an Australian citizen.

I love my grandfather and I love his story. A couple of years ago I sat down with him and got as many details as I could from him, writing them all down on scraps of paper that came to hand. I collated them all and brought them home to put together in my story. It is these scraps that led to the development of the character Tommaso in Pepper Ridge Lane.

Then I went back to work, had another baby, got re-focused on writing Orpheus and poor old Pepper Ridge got put in the dusty folder on my desktop. After speaking with my grandmother this morning and hearing the mixed news about my grandfather's transfer to a much nicer hosptial with better rehab facilities, and the fact that he has lost ten kilos because he isn't eating I felt the need to be close to him again. So I opened Pepper Ridge Lane. The file told me that it had been almost a year.

And as I read over it again I remembered just how much I loved it. I realise now that it is because it is real to me. I can picture Tommaso, just as I can picture the black and white photo of my handsome grandfather, twenty one years of age in his FFL uniform, one of my favourite photos of all time. I know Tommaso' story, because my grandfather already told it to me. Sure, there are fictional elements, quite a few that I've added in actually (Tommaso is Italian after all), but the bones, the heart of it are real. I've just fleshed it out with make believe.

I guess I'm just trying to say that I am so grateful that I was able to get the story from my grandfather when he was well (he is now also suffering from dementia and according to my mum gets quite confused and muddled at times) and that I can write it down. That day when we were talking and I was taking notes he pointed at my papers and asked me what I was going to do with it. I told him I was writing it down in a story. And he smiled. I think he would really like the story. Although not as much as I am enjoying writing it.

reading it up, writing it down

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A Book by Edgar Guest

“Now” - said a good book unto me -
“Open my pages and you shall see
Jewels of wisdom and treasures fine,
Gold and silver in every line,
And you may claim them if you but will
Open my pages and take your fill.

“Open my pages and run them o’er,
Take what you choose of my golden store.
Be you greedy, I shall not care -
All that you seize I shall gladly spare;
There is never a lock on my treasure doors,
Come - here are my jewels, make them yours!

“I am just a book on your mantel shelf,
But I can be part of your living self;
If only you’ll travel my pages through,
Then I will travel the world with you.
As two wines blended make better wine,
Blend your mind with these truths of mine.

“I’ll make you fitter to talk with men,
I’ll touch with silver the lines you pen,
I’ll lead you nearer the truth you seek,
I’ll strengthen you when your faith grows weak -
This place on your shelf is a prison cell,
Let me come into your mind to dwell!”

The weather seems to be making its way rather rapidly toward autumn here in the 'berra, which means lots of rain and time spent indoors. What a perfect time to pick a book!! (Although for some of us a waking moment is a perfect time to pick up a book :)

I am still ploughing through Homer's Odyssey but I've also acquired a few new books which I'm making my way through at the moment. They are Buddhism for Mothers by Sarah Naphtali, a beautiful book which is helping me deal with my anger and frustration in regards to the kids. I wish I was a gentle parent and this book is helping me get there :) I love it's very practical suggestions and Napthali's words speak right to my heart.

Patriarchs of Time by Samuel L. Macey is a book that I got for Christmas. I am only up to the third chapter but it has already impacted on Orpheus and every page I read continues to inspire and delight me. I also love his research, especially into the 16th and 17th century emblematic depictions of Father Time. In other research I have also been browsing through some Petrarch, the Bible (as much as one can browse through the Bible) and Orpheus' Hymns.

Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I have a wonderful app of Sherlock Holmes stories on my iphone so that no matter where I am I can tap into this amazing character and share his magnificent adventures. (And as an aside, as a Holmes fan I am also appreciative of the new tv show Elementary. I like the new take on an old classic :) It's good when I need to sit in with the kids as they go to sleep because being on my phone I don't need a lamp on to read.

And with the impending release (well, US Autumn/Fall 2013) of Diana Gabaldon's new book Written in My Own Heart's Blood I am seriously considering going back to re-read An Echo in the Bone. The one I had autographed :) I've only read it the once so I think it's time I went back over it again. 

What are you reading? Share below - I'm always on the look out for something good.

what the doctor ordered

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Dr Who Season 7 has just finished up here. Booooo!!!!!!
Now we have to wait for Season 8 to begin. What does this mean? Well, for me, a very big Dr Who fan, it means a number of things.

1. I now have a free window of time from 7.30-8.30 every night.

2. Recently our DVD player broke (and the DVD player in the tv has been broken for a while) so my plan to send the Captain out to buy Season 1 of the Doctor to relive the magic right from the beginning during this sad, lull period, is a bit of a moot point.

3. I am no longer getting my daily fix of adventures in space and time.

4. The inspiration that the Doctor's fantastic character development, plot, settings (both time and space) and twists and turns inspire in me have left me feeling excited and restless.

Again, what does this mean???

Well, it means that I have made a big decision about my own writing. And I'm going to write it down here, because all experts say that you have more chance of achieving your goals if you write them down. So I am. Here. Now.

I propose that for three nights a week, from 7.30-8.30 I am going to devote myself to writing Finding Orpheus. This year it has undergone yet another facelift (what? no one's surprised to hear that?? hmm) and I'm really happy with where it is at and where it is heading in my mind. This way, I'll be getting my adventure fix, plus working with the inspiriation and ideas that have been floating around my mind for the last few months is very exciting.

So there you have it. I have publicly made this declaration and I am going to stick to it. I'll be on here next week to let you know how it has gone. I have big hopes for this week. This new Orpheus is currently sitting on 29,060 words. Maybe if this is successul I'll be able to make my goals into reaching word limits. Like I said, big hopes.

Anything inspired you this week??

Coastliners

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I just finished reading Coastliners by Joanne Harris. I'm a fan of some of her other books (including Five Quarters of the Orange but more so Blackberry Wine) and when I read the blurb for this one online I was intrigued. The story reminded me a bit of Pepper Ridge Lane (which, by the way, still lives :) and I wanted to see how Harris dealt with some of the same issues.

On reading the book however I found that it was actually quite different to Pepper Ridge. And I was glad for it. Normally I tend to stay away from books similar to my own ideas, but I really loved Blackberry Wine so much I wanted to give this a try.

I suppose the main difference between Pepper Ridge and Coastliners is the simple fact that Coastliners is set on a small, isolated island. The community there are generations-old, their history is complex and intertwined and their issues are very locale relevant. With Pepper Ridge the township of Mount Houser is much newer as are its occupants. Yet I suppose there are some overlapping themes in that there is both a girl returning home, with little idea of what to expect and finding herself faced with a changing community and the threat of encroaching development. So, yeah in that respect, similar. But otherwise the characters, themes and setting are all quite different.

I enjoyed this book, though I found it quite long. There were however some excellent twists and turns that made me both cringe and sigh in relief! I like that :)

The sad thing about this book is the common theme that it holds to many disappearing villages all around the world. Globalisation has brought many good things, yet the loss of these small places as their young people leave to find jobs in big cities may not be one of them.

If you like stories of personal accomplish, communities coming together in the face of a common enemy and some good humour thrown in then I'm sure you'd enjoy Coastliners.

A World Lit Only By Fire

Yesterday I went to see Bangarra Dance Theatre's performance of Fire: A Retrospective at the Sydney Opera House with my mum. It was brilliant. The collection, which their website describes as: "the most memorable and potent elements of the company’s repertoire during this extraordinary and dynamic artistic period" contains work from the company's last 20 years since its inception.

(This picture has been taken from their website, which I acknowledge - I hope that's all right!)

The dancers were amazing and so fit! Anyone who has seen Indigenous dancing, or Indigenous-inspired dancing knows that it can be a very full on form of dancing with lots of jumping, bouncing, stamping etc. I really enjoyed the production and considering that last night was the final performance, I can't recommend you all to go and see it! But keep an eye out for them in the future, it's a spectular experience that you can really take away a lot from.

I found myself, in the second half of the performance, thinking about my novel. I don't know why or how, but sometimes I think being around creativity and inspired works causing inspiration in others too. I've made a few changes already this morning to my second novel, which by the way now has the working title, "For Tomorrow We May Die" and I'm really looking forward to it now. New ideas have since started to flow and the story seems to developing a lot more shape and depth.

Speaking of fire, we had an incredibly eeried dust storm here in Sydney and in other parts of NSW this week. It brought to mind the Medieval/early Renaissance text title - "A World Lit Only By Fire" by William Manchester (whose title I've kindly borrowed for the title of this post). I didn't actually take any pics myself but here are some that I found online. (Hover over the pic for web locations).

It was totally mindblowing and more than a little apocalyptic. The really scary thing is that the air pollution levels skyrocketed through the levels of safety. Normally around 200 is considered "hazardous" (200 what I'm not entirel sure) but on Wednesday they hit an impressive 1700! Needless to say, BT and I did our very best to stay indoors.

Suddenly that book I was going to write about nuclear fallout in the future isn't looking as much "science-fiction" as it is "non-fiction." Scary what we're doing to this world. If you're interested in some blogs or sites on climate change or global warming, here are some that I found.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/global-warning-sydney-dust-storm-just-the-beginning-20090923-g1fi.html

http://www.climateark.org/blog/

http://www.globalwarminghysteria.com/ - this one is for those of you who think that Global Warming is all mass hysteria. Hey, I don't judge you...

Well, there's only so much each of us can do to help our planet and for my part, today I'm going antiquing. That way I'm buying recycled goods from small, independent stores that do not contribute to the mass conglomerations of malls and department stores. :)

Happy Sunday k.v-ettes

(or Happy Winds-day as we say around here - it's so windy!! Cheers Pooh Bear!!)

Bacci
xx

Let's hear it for the boy...

I was reading something the other day about Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of "Treasure Island."



Apparently when Stevenson was writing his novel in 1881 he would often read the latest chapters out loud to his family who would add suggestions. I thought this was a pretty darn good idea and asked my dad, a retired history teacher and avid reader (especially of historical fiction - must run in the blood!!), if he wouldn't mind having a read of my story and boy was I glad that I did!! I got some great feedback from him. He made a lot of really useful comments like alternate words, parts that weren't particularly clear and other suggestions to make the story sound more like written English and less like the spoken word.


This is often a problem that many writers face when they are writing; that is, they write like they speak. Now for some writers, such as Junot Diaz in "The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Diaz", a book I was unable to put down and had a lot of fun reading. It is so completely different to my novel that I loved it! (When possible I try and avoid reading fiction that is too closely related to my area - with the exception of Diana Gabaldon of course!)
or Judge Edwin Torres' "Carlito's Way" (made into one of my all time favourite flicks of the same name)

or even the stream of consciousness that characterises Jack Kerouac in "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums", this is fine.


In fact it is better than fine - it is a highly skillful way of writing. For the rest of us who are writing fictional pieces, in particular historical fiction or romance fiction, I'm not sure if it works as well. I have yet to read any :)

As for me, I know that I cannot possibly write like the aforementioned authors, and nor do I have any intention of trying. It's just not the vision I have for my book. So, having my dad edit my work for me has been a huge bonus.

I did a fair bit of reworking on one of the earlier chapters myself yesterday and today. It was a scene set in the Uffizi gallery in Florence, Italy. I have been there but that was almost 7 years ago now (where do the years go??) So I had to do a fair bit of online research. The two sites that I found most helpful were the Uffizi's site (http://www.uffizi.com/) and the Virtual Tour website of the gallery (www.virtualuffizi.com/uffizi/index.htm). Both of these sites helped me to write the scene as authentically as possible.

And for those of you who are interested here's a sneak peak at the Uffizi's famous checkered hallway.


When I do scenes like this it always blows my mind to think how lucky I am to have the internet and how totally fantastic those historical writers of the past who did not have such immediate access to information were to write their novels. One of the novels that is coming to my mind is "Burmese Days" by George Orwell.


I know that George (we're on first name basis you know!) spent a lot of time in Burma during a military posting but to recall it as vividly as he did was so impressive. I felt like I was actually living in the jungle with Florey. Apparently George's pusblishers feared libel action for this work due to the possibility that it was based on real people. Well I can guarantee you that all my characters are purely fictional (not that I presume to put my novel in the same league as one of George Orwell's!) And if I do take inspiration from somewhere it is other pieces of fiction. For example, in my mind Giovanni looks remarkably like John Winchester (the father) in "Supernatural" (played by Jeffry Dean Morgan) only younger and with more red in his hair :)


Well looking back over this post it seems to me to be a bit of a homage to some of the talented men who have touched my mind and imagination. This was purely incidental, but I suppose that as I began talking about my dad it seems like a fitting way for the post to turn out. So I'd like to send out a big THANK YOU to my dad, Robert Louis Stevenson, Junot Diaz, Edwin Torres, Jack Kerouac, George Orwell and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, for the wonderful impact you have had on my life.
And in that vein I'd also like to acknowledge my wonderful, supportive and loving husband and my beautiful baby boy! I love you both!!
Who knows maybe next time I'll do a post on all the wonderful women I love!!


Ciao for now xxx

Book wine carton - handle with care

It's amazing the obstacles and inspirations that inhabit a writer's world. For example I am sitting in a room that still smells like wet dog, having finally gotten my son to nap and quickly checked my Facebook. There are piles of boxes around me patiently waiting to be unpacked, yet I am diligently ignoring so that I might have some time to write. It's been a while, but I have been jotting down notes and the story continues to evolve, and de-volve sometimes (if that is such a word - hey I'm a writer I can make up my own words now :)), in my mind.
I have read recently two very inspiring books. One was 'The People of the Book' by Geraldine Brooks and the other was 'Dirt Music' by Tim Winton. I'm quite pleased with myself for having read these books as they are both by Australian authors and as I am a generation y-er most of my literary delights (and indeed most of my pop culture) comes from the US of A. So having read these two books AND being inspired by them is a cheerful occurrence. Now I don't intend my little novel to reach anywhere near the heights of literary genius that these two books did, in fact I'll be pleased if mine ends up in the 3 for $10 box at the Newsagents, at least I'll be published. Of course though a nomination for the Man Booker, or what the hey, Pulitzer prize would be just as lovely. Aim for the stars right?
I found the number of a woman named Jan at the local shops claiming to be a "super nanny;" I haven't yet brought myself to call her but she lingers quietly in the back of my mind. Think it might be best if we concentrate on settling in here first. I'm actually quite excited today as BB and I are heading to the beach. Our first foray into a whole new world of rashy vests, sunscreen and sand in our pants (or nappies for some). Can't wait.
So don't worry, I'm back on track and have found if I breath very shallowly in this room and every five minutes or so stick my head out the window so I don't hyperventilate, it's quite a nice place to write.
Ciao xx