The Ideas Shoppe: In The Groove

One of my biggest sources of inspiration is music; so much so that I gave a presentation at uni on songs that had inspired my writing. It…did not go well. I’d hoped to stimulate conversation amongst my fellow students about what music sparked their imaginations. What I got instead was muted befuddlement. I was eventually told by someone who’d been in the class that the excerpts I played dragged on too long to maintain everyone’s interest, which is something I should have probably realised on my own.

At the risk of having history repeat itself, I thought I’d write about a few of the songs that inspired Vanguard Prime: Goldrush. I’ll try to keep things as spoiler-free…and succinct…as possible!

 

National Anthem – Radiohead 

This was not a song that had to grow on me. I loved it from the very first moment I heard it. It’s dark and hypnotic and brimming with a hard-driving energy, and it’s the song I imagine playing in Machina’s room when sirens start going off to tell her and Sam that something on the Round Table has gone terribly wrong.

 

Take a Bow – Muse

Not a devastatingly original choice, given its use in one of the trailers for Watchmen, but it’s the song that changed my mind about Muse (well, this and Feeling Good) and its slow-building grandeur is endlessly compelling. It’s the song I played over and over again when first envisioning and then writing the passage where the Overman stuns the Round Table’s crew by demonstrating just how powerful his telekinesis has become. 

 

Runaway – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I don’t know if you could find a more appropriate song  for Sam than this one, which I always felt would work perfectly in the moment where he turns and runs from the Overman, but that would also fit quite comfortably into the passage where he’s describing to Machina what happened to him the day his powers first manifested.

 

Army of Me – Bjork

Goldrush isn’t the only one piece of writing I’ve had inspired by this track, which remains as energising and…well, cool…as it was when it was first released. It’s a very cinematic piece of music, immediately bringing to mind scenes of action and stalwart determination. You may even notice that I named a chapter after it, which would be the exact same chapter where I imagine it playing.

 

Heroes – David Bowie

My original vision for the book’s ending involved the members of Vanguard Prime standing on a beach watching the sun go down. It was an image that came to me when listening to this song…which, I’ll admit, is a fairly on-the-nose choice. The book’s ending may have changed somewhat, but the imagery still occurs to me whenever this song plays on my car’s stereo. Side note: David Bowie’s eyes inspired the Knight of Wands’ appearance when his mask is removed, which you’ll learn more about in March when Book 2 is released.

 

Hero – Childish Gambino

Sticking with the ‘hero’ motif, this song didn’t play a part in inspiring the writing of Goldrush, but it’s one that I can easily imagine Sam loading onto his gauntlet’s MP3 player. Note for younger readers and their parents; track contains explicit lyrics.

Now, I could keep going as I’ve just barely scratched the surface of the music that inspires me – I haven’t even touched on the cinematic scores of Murray Gold, Two Steps From Hell and Daft Punk – but this seems like a pretty good place to wrap up, lest I end up confounding my audience with my self-indulgence all over again. And given how many more books I have to write and how many more songs I have to talk about, I don’t want to burn you all out too quickly!

In the meantime, drop me a line and let me know what songs inspire you when writing. I’m always on the lookout for new music to listen to!

‘Til next time.

The Art of the Matter

Another weekend has ended, another week has started, and another event is done and dusted.

 

The signing at Dymocks Southland turned out to be a lot of fun. I had a table set up at the front of the store and got the chance to chat with people as they came in. Quite a few people who’d never heard of Vanguard Prime before walked away with a copy of the book (signed, of course!), and even better than that was all the support that was expressed for Aussie authors and the publishing industry in general. Thanks so much to store owner Jerome for the opportunity! If you guys get the chance, make sure to drop by the store and check it out.

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Vanguard Prime: Goldrush has had three more reviews this week, the first (and worst) of which was written by…well, me. Let me explain. You see, in addition to being an awesome writer, Jack Heath is also really supportive of new authors. After I mentioned how influential Third Transmission was in the writing of Goldrush, Jack got in touch with me and we ended up hanging out. What a nice guy!

 

Cut to last week, where (or should that be ‘when’?) I got an email from Jack saying how he was asking various authors if they’d be interested in reviewing their own books, much as he did for his latest book, Dead Man Running. It was a daunting challenge to say the least, but one that I couldn’t possibly turn down. It proved to be a struggle, trying to walk the line between honest self-analysis, neurotic self-flagellation, and blatant self-promotion. Hopefully you’ll agree that I struck a decent balance.

 

A far more glowing review came from Vic and her blog, Mummy Ate Me. Any review that starts off with “I LOVED this book!” always heads straight to the top of the pile of favourite reviews. But! Vic may have been beaten out by the third and final review I received this week. This one came from 9-year-old Ethan, who actually took the time to do a review of Vanguard Prime: Goldrush…in diorama form! Thankfully, Ethan sent through some pictures and has given me permission to share them here.

For those who can’t make out what the text says, Ethan also generously provided a typed-out version. It says; “The Vanguard Prime team lives in a aircraft carrier with a prison on board and lots of aircraft. The characters of Vanguard Prime are super heroes. My favorite character is Ethan or the Knight of Wands. My other two favourites are Goldrush and Machina. The last of them is Agent Alpha, Gaia and Major Blackthorne. My favourite power is Machina’s. She can control technology. The bad guy is really hard to beat because stuff with his mind. His name is the Overman. Another is called Cronus and he is strong. He has a helmet with a horn.”

 

I honestly don’t think I could have summarised the book better myself.

 

If that wasn’t cool enough, Ethan also sent through the very first piece of fan art I’ve received! You may notice that the diorama contains an illustration of the Knight of Wands, but in addition to that Ethan provided this drawing of Goldrush;

 

Cool, right?

Very big thanks to Ethan; it’s reader mail like this that keeps authors writing! And if anyone else out there has some Vanguard Prime art they’d like to share, make sure to send it through (along with what name you’d like it credited to) and I’ll post it here on the blog.

‘Til next time.

Weddings, Parties, Moving

At the start of the year, just as we were about to start the editing process for Vanguard Prime: Goldrush, I was asked if I’d be interested in doing a freelance copywriting job. I was a little concerned about biting off more than I could chew, given that in addition to editing Goldrush I also had Book 2 in the series to write, as well as a full-time job. But the opportunity was way too exciting to turn down, so I said ‘Yes’, and now Party! The Ultimate Kids’ Party Book has been released!

My contribution to the book was fairly minimal, though it turned out to be a lot of fun. I wrote the introduction to the book and for each section, where ideas are outlined for throwing the perfect kids’ party. Basically, I got the chance to see how many puns I could cram into a piece of writing before making the publisher’s head explode.

And speaking of the publisher, you can watch Mary avoiding Larry Emdur’s efforts to tape up the studio on The Morning Show with Larry and Kylie. Don’t worry, that’ll make sense when you see the clip (note: tried to embed video. Failed).

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In addition to all this writing and working stuff, my fiance Simone and I have also been building a house. The original completion date was March 2013, but after speaking to the builder this week it’s looking more likely to be ready by mid-November. As in, eight weeks from now. We’re also getting married in December – which is never a stressful thing to organise in itself – so adding a house move into the mix seems like a genius idea. Not that I’m complaining, mind you! I swear I’m not the 1%! I’m 5%, tops!

Part of the excitement about the new house is the fact that I’ll be getting an office, where I’ll be able to display all my curios and memorabilia (read: toys) and indulge in quiet study and introspective work (write make-believe stories about people who can fly).

Ideally, I’m picturing this is what it’ll look like (plus toys);

Given my track record, however, it’ll end up looking like this (plus toys);

Sigh.

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One of the best things about being engaged is that you get to rope your partner into helping you out when you do stuff, which means that Simone will be with me on Saturday for the Dymocks Southland event. Make sure to come by and provide us with any tips you can about hiring movers and packing up your belongings. Or, ya know, I could sign a book for you or something.

‘Til next time.

The Ideas Shoppe: 5 Things I’ve Learnt About Writing

My post about what I’d learnt from being published generated a bit of interest, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to explore the subject of writing in greater detail. This time, I’m going to outline five pointers I’ve picked up through the study and practice of writing. Hopefully it’ll be of some help…but make sure to heed Point #5, which is probably the most important point of all!

1. Don’t Be Wishy-Washy

I’ve always had an issue with describing action that’s about to happen, rather than the actions themselves. When going through both the proofreading and the editing stages, I do everything I can to remove terms like “seems to”, “try to”, “almost”, “slowly”, and every phrasing that positions the character as passive, rather than active. The fewer qualifiers you use, the stronger your writing will be. Of course, as with all rules this one will sometimes need to be broken, but the trick is to be more conscious of making that choice.

2. Pick a Perspective and Stick to It

Jumping from one character’s point-of-view to another is one of the major hallmarks of a first-time writer, and the faster you jump the more off-putting it can be to your reader. Distinguish for yourself from the onset whose perspective will best serve the story and stick to it. That’s not to say you can’t write things from the point-of-view of an omniscient narrator, but I tend to fit that a POV like that works best in small doses. You can find ways to change perspective if you need to, whether through chapter or paragraph breaks. But avoid switching POVs in the same slab of text.

3. Have Something Happen in Every Chapter

The temptation for a writer is to indulge themselves in description, to fill their stories with rich detail, poetic imagery and unique metaphors. It’s so tempting that you can lose yourself in it, which will often leave readers bored as they slog through all this description to get to the actual story buried underneath. I could write an entry in itself on how description is best used to reflect mood and character, but the main point I want to make is that the way you create momentum in your story – and how you keep the reader engaged – is to make sure that you include at least one notable story development in every chapter. Don’t miss the opportunity to include a new piece of information, a new complication. Which leads to…

4. Pose Questions to Your Reader and Make Sure to Answer Them…Eventually

Every story is essentially a mystery story. It starts with something going wrong (as almost all stories do) and then the central question becomes “How will the character fix this problem?”. But along the way, you can pose a variety of other questions to the reader. One trick is to have the characters reference something or someone, make the reader curious about this person or object, and when the time is right reveal the nature of the subject in question. Make sure to not string out your reveal, however, and always keep track of what information you’ve provided and what you haven’t.

5. Everyone’s Approach is Different

By all means, listen to what the authors you admire have to say, but always remember that there’s no prescribed method of writing. Take the best advice – in other words, the advice that most applies to you – and use it to synthesize your own approach.

 

‘Til next time.

 

The Adventures of Links

I’m currently working on two new blog posts, both of them part of The Ideas Shoppe. They’re also both on the wordy side, so they’re taking a bit more time to complete than I’d like, especially as I’m aiming to have a new blog post up every week. So in the meantime, I thought I’d provide some updates of what’s been going on Vanguard Prime-wise.

 

The September issue of DMAG has a review of Vanguard Prime: Goldrush, while the September issue of K-ZONE has an interview with me in it. Hopefully I’ll be able to provide some scans soon. Vanguard Prime: Goldrush is also reviewed in the latest issue of Magpies magazine, a publication for librarians and teachers, where they have a lot of positive things to say about it. Check the Books page for quotes!

 

Penguin’s Off the Shelf magazine has a double-page spread on the Vanguard Prime team, which you can see right here. The best part is that it separates out the characters so you get to see Chad McCown’s awesome illustrations unobscured. Adelaide’s Sunday Mail also ran an interview with me that featured the members of the team, which you can read here. And the Goodreads entry for the book is sprouting more readers every week, with a couple of really insightful reviews up as well.

 

I handed in the manuscript for Book 3 a couple of weeks ago now and have started work on Book 4, though I may be getting ahead of myself as Book 4 isn’t currently contracted. If you’ve read Goldrush and want to see the series continue, make sure to tell all your friends and family about it! Nothing sells books like good word of mouth!

 

And finally, I think it’s worth mentioning again that I’ll be at Dymocks Southland on Saturday 22nd September from 1-3pm. Come and say hi!

 

‘Til next time.