~ A Book Review: The Dragonslayer’s Apprentice, by David Calder ~

I have finished reading my fourth novel for 2023, The Dragonslayer’s Apprentice, by David Calder. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this slim novel which I picked up for a dollar at a local book fair, apart from expecting a few dragons. It turned out to be a story about Jackie, a fifteen-year-old female dragonslayer’s apprentice, though written from the point of view of the Dragonslayer. The story is set in medieval times and follows the fortunes of the Dragonslayer as he and his team attend various towns in need of their services. Jackie is not the male apprentice her master had wanted. The Dragonslayer, (who remains unnamed throughout) thinks he must be “stark-staring, raving mad” to take on young Jackie. Naturally, we expect the story will prove that he was right to take a chance on a female apprentice, and with a few adventures along the way, that is what happens.

One of the first things that struck me about this novel was the tone. It was tongue-in-cheek. The Dragonslayer noticed that it took each of the latter about ten minutes to say, in effect, that they had nothing to say. Why don’t they have a meeting with the beast and just bore it to death, he thought. From the get-go, we realize this book is not taking itself seriously, which is fun for the child reader. The enigmatic assistant, Ron, says ‘two words a day’, and his gestures and grunts are interpreted by the Dragonslayer in regular comedic installments. He translates a nod as, “I’ve unpacked the equipment, checked it, sharpened everything, made repairs where necessary, oiled everything, laid it out in order, and locked it up safely.” LOL.
First published by Scholastic New Zealand Ltd, in 1997, with the tagline, “She’s smarter than Xena, funnier than Guinevere, and spunkier than Catherine (a.k.a. Birdy). She’s Jackie, Dragonslayer-in-training, and she’s moving through the land to kick some major tail!” I like that. These days girl power is trending. I suspect that back in the 90s, the idea was new and exciting. Kudos to Calder. The problem was, despite the official backing of a traditional publisher, the book failed to launch, which is a shame because the characters are there and it’s a decent story.

No one can really ever say how another person’s story should be written. Art is art. However, in my opinion, there is not enough structure. I prefer the structure nailed down. The plot arc pertains to Jackie being a female in a “traditionally” male role. She faces sexism throughout, with most folks being surprised by her gender and then dumbfounded when she dispatches the monsters. Toward the end of the book, the Dragonslayer realizes Jackie is a worthy apprentice, and the guild of dragonslayers welcomes Jackie to the guild. We discover she is a princess who had feared the royal family would disapprove of her apprenticeship to the Dragonslayer. The king and queen, who are in attendance, accept her back into the family fold. I feel it would develop that connection and tension for us readers if the fact that Jackie was a runaway princess had been introduced in the beginning. Then by her endeavours, and her adventures, if she had built the courage to triumph, face her parents, and get welcomed into the guild, we could engage with her on a deeper level. But Jackie’s feelings about her parents and her royal heritage do not appear until the last four pages of the book. It could have proved the emotional heart of the story. And, unfortunately, from the point of view of character arcs, Jackie starts smart and sassy and ends up more or less the same way, too, which is a lost writing opportunity.
A great story is about cause and effect. The reader endures the building tension to see if the characters will get through/win the day, know the answers to the story questions, and rise through the arc of their journey. With The Dragonslayer’s Apprentice, the small band accompanies the Dragonslayer traveling from one town to another to defeat various beasts. Surprisingly there is only one dragon. There is a giant kitten (?), a pair of monstrous killer birds, and a woman claiming to be a witch. Jackie gradually proves herself a worthy apprentice. It is a good enough story in itself. But, it could have been so much better if the chapters had been better connected to build the tension necessary to keep us turning pages. When you reach the end of the book, there is not enough emotional payoff. No cause and effect; no payoff.

When I realized the author was a New Zealander, I looked up David Calder to learn more. He is a Kiwi-American author of two novels who cites his influences as F Scott Fitzgerald, Wilbur Smith, and Bernard Cornwell. Calder has a fascinating backstory. He was a soldier during the Vietnam era and had two engineering careers in the US, in automotive and software businesses, before transitioning to full-time writing. These days, Calder divides his time between a small horse farm in the Waitakere Ranges north of Auckland in New Zealand, as well as his base in Long Beach, Southern California. He is working on a follow-up to Redemption Cove, set in southern France, and another Israeli terrorism novel.

My rating: One and a half stars

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
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“Act I — Get your character up a tree; Act II — throw rocks at him; Act III — get him down again.” ~ Anne R. Allen

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~ IWSG: Book Envy ~

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post on the first Wednesday of every month. Every month, the organizers announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. Remember, the question is optional!!! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

March 1 question – Have you ever read a line in novel or a clever plot twist that caused you to have author envy?
All the time! My gosh, I couldn’t begin to count how many times that has happened. Isn’t it fairly typical of all writers (and artists) that we compare ourselves unfavourably to those peers we most admire?
In the last few years, I’ve read some stellar novels. The boys and I read Mortal Engines, the first book in the award-winning Mortal Engines quartet, by Philip Reeve, and every night, after reading, we’d have to talk it over. We could not read four pages and go to bed silently. I thought, wow, imagine publishing a book that stirred people that way. The unique dystopian world, the images raised large in our minds, the issues brought to life clamoured to be heard. The boys and I would end up having long existential conversations, in consequence, thinking about pollution, progress, and what we would do if… I felt deep envy of the vastness of the concept Reeve had conjured. It was so fresh and keen, the world-building first class, the story gripping. It was dangerous and scary at times, touching at others, spellbinding – it had it all. And, boy, did I wish I’d thought of the sheer scope of the Mortal Engines world.

Another book that stands out is Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. This one is mainly because of the lyrical style of storytelling and the truly intriguing central question, that of a drowned girl who, hours later, seemingly comes back to life. How? This perplexing mystery draws us through incredibly detailed depictions of country life revolving around the enigmatic Thames River. Unfortunately, the answer to the mystery lets the whole novel down. Therefore, any feelings I’d had of wishing I’d written the enchantingly detailed body of the book had dissipated by the end.
Then there was Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, a tour de force of world-building enough to make any fantasy writer quake with covetousness. From the astonishing opening, I read with my mouth agog. It begins:
When the Moon rose in the Third Northern Hall I went to the Ninth Vestibule
Entry for the first day of the fifth month in the year the albatross came to the south-western halls

And with those words, one finds oneself ushered into the House, which shares its halls with the tide and the earnest, endearing Piranesi, the only living inhabitant of the House apart from the strange weekly visits from a man he calls the Other. So beguiling, so otherworldly, so clever, and haunting was this novel that I literally “looked forward” to every chance I got to read some more. As with Mortal Engines, I found myself thinking about Piranesi long after each day’s reading. I was absorbed. And the twist was killer. What I envied most was the world-building prowess demonstrated by Clarke. Being a fantasy author, I know how hard it is to build a world out of thin air, and to do so as convincingly as this was awe-inspiring. The world of the House was so real in my mind I wished I could go there. Piranesi won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2021 and was chosen as Book of the Year by The Times, Guardian, Observer, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, and many more. That book is envy-worthy!

That wraps up the books I’ve read recently. But, if we go a bit further back in time (say 50 years, to my childhood), then we reach the pinnacle. Last but certainly not least in the jealousy stakes has to be my all-time favourite books, which most readers of this blog will have heard me bang on about many times before, the Moomin series by Tove Jansson. What I love and admire the most about this series is the charm, the sense of humour, and the child-centered voice with all the guilelessness and transparent innocent joy of a child in springtime. Even reading them as an adult, the humour on every page is subtle, sweet, and life-affirming, the books make me want to weep with happiness. They are the perfect children’s books and deserve their place as revered classics in every library worth it’s salt. Jansson’s masterpiece, the Moomin series, remains my Everest – my hope has long been to one day be a good enough writer to write a series to compare. I don’t know if I’ll ever get there, but that’s my secret (and now, not so secret) hope.
What about you? Are there any books you wished you’d written?

Keep Writing!
Yvette Carol
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To write a story that works, that moves the reader, is difficult, and most of us can’t do it. ~ George Saunders

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~ A Book Review: The Secret Island, by Enid Blyton ~

I have finished reading my third novel for 2023, The Secret Island, by Enid Blyton. I know, I’ve reviewed books by this British author before. But, considering Blyton authored 600 books in her career, they are bound to pop up now and then. The Secret Island was first in The Secret Stories series, which follows the adventures of four spunky kids, Peggy, Mike, Nora, and Jack. As a child, I remember loving The Secret Seven and The Famous Five because capable, resourceful, brave kids solved the mysteries. They were great child-led stories.

The central premise of The Secret Island is that ill-treated children run away to an island and manage to live there without anyone discovering them until someone does. Captured my imagination straight away the idea of the kids escaping from their terrible lives by being clever and figuring out how they could live on an island, and then doing it. The idea was novel, and the various ways the kids figured out how to feed and shelter themselves and structure their days on the island seemed well thought out. A kid would love this.
Our story begins with Mike, Peggy, and Nora Arnold shipped off to live with relatives after their parents are killed in a plane crash. Their aunt and uncle make the siblings work like slaves and mistreat them. Likewise, an orphan living next door called Jack is being neglected and ill-treated by his grandfather. Jack tells the Arnold children about a secret island. The children long to escape, so when their friend Jack takes them to visit the deserted island, they dream of living there.

From that moment on, the children plan their escape meticulously, thinking about what they will need to take to survive in isolation. Then, they slowly – frankly – nick it all. Once they have gathered enough supplies, they make a daring dash for freedom. It’s exciting, and – spoiler alert – they make it. The four kids organize themselves and make a dreamy life on the island. They build a house out of willow, make wonderfully comfortable beds of heather and bracken, and grow their vegetables.
It’s satisfying for the reader to see the kids succeed despite the difficulties. It’s interesting to note that whenever the kids run out of necessities, they sneak back onto the mainland and steal things from the cruel Aunt, Uncle, and Grandfather! Over these thefts, the children have no qualms. They raid both gardens on several occasions. And Jack even nicks his cow, Daisy, and some hens, sneaking them back to the island for fresh milk and eggs! The children are doing so well as cultivators and “borrowers” they’re stretching the seams of their clothes and are happier than they’ve ever been. It’s morally questionable, yet, they are never “taught a lesson” about these misdemeanours, the way they probably would be in modern literature.

I would say The Secret Island is one of my all-time favourite Enid Blyton stories. An island where kids rule? C’mon.
Apart from the day, the invaders come to the secret island at the end, the bulk of the story belongs to the minutiae of the kids’ idyllic life there. These formerly abused children don’t have to go to school. They don’t have to work. Every day, they attend to simple needs: creating food, maintaining their shelter, swimming to bathe then drying off in the sun, and so on. Enchanting and delightful.
Of course, they get found out in the end. Intruders arrive and interrupt their happy idyll and bring the kids back to the real world. I was disappointed the gang had to leave their sanctuary. It was sad when they said goodbye, and also a little odd that they abandoned the cow. LOL. Not sure if Enid dropped the ball there or what, but we won’t hold it against her. Overall, this is a charming story and a lovely lil trip down memory lane.

The Secret Island was first published on January 1, 1938, by Basil Blackwell. It was illustrated by E.H. Davie. Enid Mary Blyton, (1897—1968), was an up-and-coming author in high demand. She had abandoned her studies in music to train as a schoolteacher and had worked as a teacher and governess, but her stories and poems brought her to the attention of the public. She switched to full-time writing in 1924, becoming a tremendously popular author of stories, poems, plays, and educational books for children.
During her career, Blyton came under some criticism for using the same typical adventure template for her stories, for having stereotyped characters and a simplistic viewpoint. However, fans continued to love her unreservedly, and new editions of her stories continue to appear today. By the early 21st century, Enid Blyton’s books had sold some 400 million copies and been translated into at least 90 languages. The readers are always the final arbiters of good stories, and that’s the way it should be.
This book is what my sister-in-law would call cool beans.
My rating: Two and a half stars

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
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Reading is dreaming with your eyes open. ~ Anon

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~ A Book Review: Nancy Drew, The Secret in the Old Lace, by Carolyn Keene ~

I have finished reading my second novel for 2023, a Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret in the Old Lace, by Carolyn Keene. I have fond memories of reading Nancy Drew mysteries as a young girl and was curious to take a peek back into my past. It is interesting, is it not, to read material that fascinated us when we were children and gain that window to our more innocent, younger selves.

The first part of the mystery is the cold case of a famous Belgian aristocrat, Francois Lefevre, who vanished in the 1700s. A magazine runs a contest where people can write the “solution” and win a prize. Needless to say, our ‘attractive titian-haired girl’ Nancy Drew enters the contest with her story solution. Bess’ mom has asked Nancy and the girls to solve the mystery of Madame Chambray, a friend of hers in Bruges, who has found a fancy cross and wants Nancy’s help finding the owner. Add to this a side plot where the bad guys, having heard about the cross, try to sidetrack Nancy by stealing her story and submitting a copy of it before her entry arrives. Then Nancy gets accused of plagiarism.

*Spoiler alert* (I’m going to tell you what happens).
The intrepid sleuth leaves her father to sort out the accusation of plagiarism, while she jets off to Belgium with her pals. While staying with Madame Chambray, the girls learn of another mystery involving the home. Somewhere on the grounds, the famous Belgian aristocrat who vanished has a hidden treasure. The girls meet the great-grandson of the aristocrat, and they discover the hiding place of his lace cuffs and the fortune, which turns out to be jewelry. Nancy has solved the century-old mystery. Hurrah!

It was a company called the Stratemeyer Syndicate that created the Nancy Drew series. The author’s name, “Carolyn Keene,” was a pseudonym used by many people – both men and women – over the years. But the original writer of the first 23 novels was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt). Also contributing to Nancy Drew’s catalogue of titles were Walter Karig, Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf. Notably, Harriet Stratemeyer, the daughter of Edward Stratemeyer, also wrote a number of novels.

Nancy Drew still has fans all around the world. However, the stories don’t stand up too well to modern scrutiny. Casual sexism and outdated attitudes rankle. In 1959, a concerted effort was made by the publishers to rewrite the earlier books, removing racial stereotyping and attempting to update the language. But 1959 was a long time ago, and there is still a lot left to raise an eyebrow. Nancy’s boyfriend Ned is mentioned multiple times as a potential hero to rescue the girls if needed. Nancy says at one point that she would not be able to stop the bad guy herself but would need a man to do it. Also, the non-P.C. element of constantly mentioning Bess’ weight would not fly these days, and we are told: “calories are bad.” Nekminit, George grabs a kid and shakes them. The P.C. police would have a field day!
Reading a book like this is an invitation to consider how much things have changed in our modern era. Nancy Drew is the sort of light reading that reminds us of simpler times. The child reader I was fifty years ago did not think to question stereotypes or gender bias. I read for the love of reading alone. That’s a lovely state to remember. These classic stories are a bit of naive fun. Having said that, I doubt I’d bother reading another Nancy Drew novel anytime soon. There is insufficient specificity, zero character development, no depth, and no real challenge to the mystery. Perhaps some books are best left to our fond childhood memories.
My rating: One star

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
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“For me, euphoria is simply the act of waking up, making my coffee, and sitting down with a book and being able to read.” Elliot Page

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~ A Book Review: The Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz ~

In 2020, I challenged myself to get back into reading. That year I set the bar high by completing twelve novels. A big step up from 0. Then I went further by reading a total of eighteen books in 2021. But, somehow, last year, I fell back to thirteen. As a person who sets high standards for herself, this came as quite a blow. A fellow blogger said she had read 166 books and that the standard number read by most Americans is thirteen or fourteen. The goal for this Kiwi in 2023 is to read more than thirteen! The challenge is on! And I’m proud to say I have already finished reading my first novel for 2023, The Grimm Conclusion, A Tale Dark & Grimm #3 by Adam Gidwitz.

I bought this book while cruising around the secondhand bookstores at Christmas. I thought anything to do with the Brothers Grimm would be interesting. Boy, it did not disappoint. The Grimm Conclusion is the final book in Gidwitz’s acclaimed series, A Tale Dark & Grimm, preceded by A Tale Dark and Grimm and In a Glass Grimmly. Gidwitz did the brilliant thing of retelling the famous Grimm fairytales with a stroke of genius, adhering more closely to their original gruesome forms. Blood, gore, and death abound. So horrifying are these tales that the Middle-Grade reading age is sometimes questioned. Are these children’s stories?
But, I was entertained from the first minute of reading because I have read a number of the original fairytales. I remember vividly reading an early version of Cinderella. There was a scene where the ugly sisters were so desperate to fit their feet into the glass slipper they cut off their toes and stuffed their feet into the shoe, blood dripping everywhere. I could not believe a modern author would have the audacity to retell these stories. And let’s face it, that’s where the richness, the weight, and the true meaning of the stories lie.

As an adult reader, the opening line amused me. “Once upon a time, fairy tales were grim.” Surprise after surprise followed. When one considers the 8 -12-year-olds reading this book. Raised on the diluted fodder of today, I imagine the child reader would immediately devour the book whole. The narrator is hilarious in a dark, daring, dangerous way. On the first page, he talks directly to the reader – which drags you in, like being sucked into Jumanji (you can’t resist). He wants to tell us the story of Ashputtle. “‘Cinderella’ is the name of the cute version of the story, the one that makes little girls want to dress up like pretty princesses. That story makes me want to hit myself in the head with a sledgehammer, also.”

We then shift perspective and hear the tale of twins Joringel and Jorinda. The pair are conceived magically by infertile parents from the blood of their mother after cutting her finger and making a wish. Joringel and Jorinda grow up, but where we would expect the twins would have the best childhood ever with a family made whole at last, they become afflicted in every way. Straight away, their father is so happy he dies the night they are born. Their neglectful mother remarries, giving them an evil stepfather. The cruelty shown to the twins by their parents is disturbing. And the twins, rather than growing into wonderful human beings, become twisted people.
Our gleefully unapologetic narrator leads us through the world of Grimm-inspired fairy tales, like The Juniper Tree, Cinderella, and Rumpelstiltskin telling us their story. Our emotionally crippled protagonists proceed to make terrible mistakes and then try to make reparation for them. Somewhere along the way, the author brings the characters to the classroom where the narrator (author/teacher?) is reading this story to his students. Things get very confusing. Yet, always, the story has a pulsing heart of truth that is its salvation. Gidwitz deals with the fall-out of abuse in a way that we never feel preached to. Kudos to the author for an ambitious project.

American author, Adam Gidwitz, was a teacher for eight years before deciding to write, which (according to his bio) ‘means he writes a couple of hours a day and lies on his couch staring at the ceiling the rest of the time.’ Since producing the first book in the Grimm series in 2010, Gidwitz hit the New York Times Bestseller list. The idea was unique and well-written. It was fresh, different, and shocking. I admired the author’s willingness to break the 4th wall, too. Always a risky move.
I think where it fell short for me was when the story shifted from the realm of a fictional story being told to students to the protagonist characters somehow crossing into the ‘real world,’ meeting the narrator, and so on. Whoa, it gave me vertigo. It was hard to keep clear on what was happening. However, kudos to Gidwitz that he kept me reading despite this setback.
The Grimm Conclusion bravely tackles life, death, and the intense emotions in between. It’s an impressive undertaking.
My rating: Three stars

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
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“Because, you see, every triumph begins with failure.”—The Grimm Conclusion

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~ IWSG: Your Word for 2023? ~

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post on the first Wednesday of every month. Every month, the organizers announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. Remember, the question is optional!!! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

January 4 question – Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year? For instance, in 2021 my word of the year was Finish. I was determined to finish my first draft by the end of the year. In 2022, my word of the year was Ease. I want to get my process, systems, finances, and routines where life flows with ease and less chaos. What is your word for 2023?
My sister and I had already decided this week that our word for 2023 would be synchronicity. I finished writing the rough draft for my next book at the beginning of last year and started working on editing it. Whereas in the past, I have poured decades of my life into editing my stories, there was a decided impulse this time to make things simpler. So halfway through 2022, I formed a writing group, The Fabulatores, and began editing my book through these sessions with other writers. I am nearly halfway through polishing the manuscript this way. We took a hiatus before Christmas and re-adjourn on January 20. I intend to complete running through the material with The Fabulatores this year and then turn it over to the professional proofreader and editor for the polishing steps.

Am I hopeful to publish before Christmas? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. But the difference now is I’m not willing to wreck myself. The biggest lesson I learned last time was that nearly all my ills related to the deadline I had set for publication. The moral of the self-publishing story is do not set unrealistic deadlines. Publishing a book takes waaaaaay longer than you think it will. Therefore, knowing that up front this time, I won’t make the publication deadline on a date set by wishful thinking. Trying to meet the date I had slated for the book release party nearly killed me in 2020 and made everyone around me miserable. My youngest son begged me not to write and publish another book because he didn’t want to go through it again. I felt sorry for my family, friends, and everyone who had to deal with me. I made my apologies and resolved that I would never self-publish another book, at least not in that working-around-the-clock way ever again.

The quandary was how to do it differently?
My general feeling about how the word synchronicity applies to my fiction writing in 2023 is this. From now on, I will try not to push my work to publishable standards in a vanishing amount of time but to allow for the production to happen more naturally. Not to run around like a headless chicken the whole time but to manage running everything else in my life calmly. It’s about relaxed, organic, sustained effort on the goal while maintaining an attitude of humility and patience. I want to allow time and grace for the synchronicity to happen. I’m hoping that if I keep the Ace up my sleeve of a flexible publication date, I can produce my next book without poisoning the goodwill of everyone else in the family! That’s the hope. Wish me luck!
How about you? What is your word for 2023?
Happy New Year, everyone!

Keep Writing!
Yvette Carol
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A great success is the cumulative effect of many small opportunities seized and wisely used. ~ Lord Wakefield

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~ HOW TO MAKE A GIFT FOR THE WRITER IN YOUR LIFE ~

Still, looking for that perfect gift for your writer friend for Christmas? You could try making one. After attending a writing workshop by Graeme Simsion earlier this year, I wrote several writing posts sharing his best tips for writing a novel. One of Graeme’s fascinating ideas was the “bucket of scenes.”

When brainstorming the content for our stories, Graeme advocated having an actual bucket and using index cards to jot down a couple of ideas each day using the cards. We can then toss the cards into the bucket, aiming for 180 per book, though we might only use 120. ~ From my blog post, Step by Step

As the festive season approached this year, late November, or early December, I began to think of the people I wanted to buy gifts for and made my lists. For my talented writing group, the Fabulatores, I thought of Simsion’s bucket of scenes. Although I would not call myself a crafter, I am an ideas person, and I stumble through discovering how to craft things myself. If they turn out well and are after deemed valuable, then I will share the “how to do it yourself” information at some stage afterward, whether as a blog post or an update in my monthly newsletter. This is such.
Here, in a nutshell, is how I make the bucket of scenes:
What you’ll need:

Start by buying small buckets. Initially, when I walked into one shop, I was drawn to big silver, highly decorated buckets. Then I thought no, they would take up too much space. Far more practical to get the smaller variety.
I also bought a couple of packs of cardboard, some lined, some not, and some pages of adhesive letters. I needed a sheet of fancy writing paper, a ribbon, and a bag of chocolate coins.
The method:
Spell out the words “Bucket of Scenes” onto a blank adhesive panel and adhere to the front of the buckets.

Cut your cardboard down in size until you have 180 cards each.

The lined and the unlined stacks of the card I tied with ribbon separately – a sweet touch to give the writer the option in the heat of the inspired moment – whether they feel like writing on lines or want to scribble down a few words on a blank canvas.
Then write the quotation I’ve given above, taken directly from my notes from Graeme Simsion’s workshop, on a nice piece of paper. Tie with a ribbon to make it look like a scroll.

Put two stacks of the card in each bucket – one lined and one unlined. Pop the scroll of instructions in behind them.
Fill the gaps with chocolate.

Voila! You have a bucket of scenes, writer’s aid extraordinaire, with instructions.
Gift wrap and give to the writer in your life.
‘Tis the time of year for being jolly and giving and sharing love with others.

As my dear grandmother used to say, “Be kind.”
Happy Holidays!

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things, not the great occasions, give off the greatest glow of happiness.” – Bob Hope

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~ IWSG: Festive Writing? ~

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post on the first Wednesday of every month. Every month, the organizers announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. Remember, the question is optional!!! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

December 7 question – It’s holiday time! Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?
Fall behind, way way behind. This is the time of year when – ooh, look, something sparkly – I can easily get distracted. There is a very small child inside of me who is all agog about coloured lights, baubles, and glitter. When December begins every year, I imagine I’ll carry on just the same way I have the rest of the year, that I’ll do all my writing jobs each week the same as normal. And every year, on the first weekend of December, I go to the Xmas market and start my gift shopping. Something gets ignited within, and from then on, for the rest of the month, my life turns into a whirlwind of Xmas-related things. I watch all the movies and cooking shows about how to make festive dishes. Working on my stories starts to take a back seat to list-making, shopping, catch-ups, get-togethers, and sparkles.

I have to-do lists as long as my arm. I make the annual greeting card and post them to family and friends. The boys and I bake the big Christmas cake (rich fruit cake). We go visit friends with food and gifts. We attend group lunches and end-of-year dinners. I go out shopping most days, to various carefully chosen stores to buy small gifts for family and friends. I wrap gifts. Wrapping gifts is one of the most universally hated jobs. Not for me. I make an evening out of it. I treat it like a craft project, getting out my boxes of ribbons, papers, and bows. It’s fun.

I still have the end-of-year maintenance jobs to do: washing the house and the windows, cleaning and repainting the three verandahs, and repainting the bathroom. I’ll add them to my “to-do” list. December is a juggling act. I intend to relish every moment of this wonderful season. The food, sunshine, time with family, and vacations. What’s not to love? Hello, Summer. (Yes, here in the southern hemisphere it is summer!)
Wherever you are for the month ahead, whatever you celebrate, I wish you every success. And I hope you do celebrate, make (or order) a big cake, light some candles, play beautiful music and enjoy the coloured lights. After the year we’ve had, we deserve a party. A big party.

Writing? What writing? LOL.
Happy Holidays!

Keep Writing!
Yvette Carol
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Let it be easy. ~ Anon
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~ Frankenstein’s Children ~

This is the final report from the local writers’ festival I attended in August. It took me a while to get through them all. The last session I attended at the festival was called Frankenstein’s Children. Acclaimed Kiwi Speculative Fiction writers, Elizabeth Knox & Lee Murray debated the influence of Frankenstein on modern literature. Knox is one of my favourite Kiwi authors. I’m a big fan of her Dreamhunter series, which I found transformative and compelling reading (reviewed long ago when I was a member of Goodreads). Knox has an ONZM, is an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate, and won the Prime Minister’s Award of Fiction in 2019. She teaches at Victoria University and lives in Wellington, New Zealand with her family.

Lee Murray is a New Zealand science fiction, fantasy, and horror writer and editor. She is a multiple winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a twelve-time winner of the Sir Julius Vogel Award. She is a well-respected rising star.

It felt like a privilege to sit in on their live-streamed interview. I love hearing how other writers think and how they approach their craft.

Both authors were asked the same question about why they had chosen the spec. fiction genre. “From childhood, the things that most excited me had dragons and ghosts. My imagination went in that direction very early.” Elizabeth Knox said, “You have a reaction to the world, and you want to push against appearances and say, what if? How much do we live in the present; how much do we live in imagination? It’s a penetrating, all-time approach to the state of the human being.”
Lee Murray had done her research. “It was a term coined in the 1960s. It was called Speculative, and it’s developed over time. Ursula le Guin said, ‘It’s about possibilities.’ It’s also about myths and legends, asking what if, and looking at the human condition. It’s new perspectives. It’s changing all the time.”
What a great way of looking at it. Why did the two authors consider their work to be “Frankenstein’s Children”?

“Mary Shelley is considered the mother of spec fiction,” Murray explained. “She wrote Frankenstein at the age of 17 in the 1800s, writing about the resurrection of life with electricity before it was invented. It’s a book about othering. The monster wanted to belong. Shelley couldn’t be published because she was a woman. Spec Fiction is a place for women’s narratives. She was able to show she is intelligent.”
I found this thought-provoking.
Murray went on. “I wanted to write about what mattered to me and things that frighten me. It allowed me to write about things safely. Spec fiction is not this world. It’s not pointing at this person or thing. It gives us a little bit of distance.”
The author neatly skewered one of the reasons this genre drew me to it. I can tell my stories without having to worry about treading on any toes because it’s all make-believe. The genre is a forgiving umbrella. I’m fascinated to hear it is popular. Since the age of seventeen, I’ve been writing spec fiction, but whereas in the 80s publishers told me, ‘No one is interested in fantasy,’ now, suddenly, it’s cool. Or, as Murray said, “It’s the place to be.”

This reminds me of Neil Gaiman’s interview. When asked at a previous festival, did he expect to be where he is today in terms of career, Neil said he never expected to be famous. When he started, he worked in niche areas where no one in those days ever got famous. ‘You didn’t get famous in comic books, fantasy, or children’s writing—I thought I’d be out here with the weird kids. Then it spread out, and now we’re all the weird kids.’ That’s it exactly. Our strange little frowned-upon fantasy corner of the world is becoming more mainstream. Hey, it’s nice to have company.

I am also drawn to writing middle fiction, and maybe there’s a reason for that. Knox said, “There’s a period when young people are entering the world, and they’re refusing it.” I liked that. There’s an inherent kind of rebellion that comes naturally with being young or young-at-heart and trying things out, questioning the status quo. “I think we need fiction more than ever.”

Murray said, “Spec. fiction has a role in social change. It has real value. It’s the new black. It’s the place where the young people are.”
I agree. But you have to write with a lightness of touch. “As soon as you start hitting readers over the head with your message, they don’t want to read it.” Knox said, “I’m an avid reader. But I’m resistant to being told I have to do anything. You can’t step outside reality. Spec fiction is the world outside the consensual reality.”
That’s what makes it so exhilarating.
“I love fairies and Arthurian legends. Even a tragic ending can bring joy because of the shapeliness,” said Knox. “I’m changing my mind about hope. I think it belongs to the things that console us like fiction.”

Wow!
Do you see why Elizabeth Knox is one of my current writing heroes?
I’m proud to write Speculative Fiction or Frankenstein’s Children. It’s fun! How about you? Do you read it or write it?

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

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Good stories are dangerous. Dangerous, anarchic, seductive. They change you, often forever…they challenge our vocabularies and our history. Sometimes they challenge our comfortable morality. And sometimes…they challenge our most basic assumptions. ~ Jane Yolen

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~ Timeless Tales ~

This is another report from the local writers’ festival I attended in August. My apologies that it’s taken me so long to report on it. The session was called Timeless Tales, with Hereaka & Jones. After this, I have one more session to review and hope to get on to writing it up soon.

I enjoy the live interviews or “conversations”. You get to see authors at the top of their games speaking about their books and answering thought-provoking questions. The theme of traditions of fable and myth drew me in to witness Timeless Tales, storytelling forms I find compelling and endeavour to utilize in my work.

Delayed leaving the house, unfortunately, I arrived at the event late. Bah humbug! It started everything off on the wrong note. I had missed the introduction and the opening questions, and I had to disturb others to find an empty seat. But, that hitch aside, I sat with my trusty pad and pen in my lap taking notes throughout.

Let me tell you, ‘contemporary writers at the height of their powers’ make fascinating conversation. Commonwealth Prize winner and Man Booker-shortlisted Lloyd Jones and 2022 Ockham NZ Book Awards Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize Fiction winner Whiti Hereaka spoke about their books, The Fish, and Kurangaituku, respectively. They were interviewed by Claire Mabey with a focus on the power of mythology and why each chose them for their stories.

Lloyd Jones put it this way. “The whole of literature is a rewrite. You can find threads in contemporary stories that go back to the beginning of time.” He was making the point that even when we don’t intend to write about mythology, we are inherently familiar with the old storytelling forms and resort to them unconsciously. “Stories are malleable from one generation to the next when they are told and told again.”
I agree with that 100%. That’s part of why I love to draw upon mythology because the stories are ours, and we’re allowed to retell them.
It reminds me of Neil Gaiman’s interview at last year’s writers’ festival. Gaiman said that writers who think their prose all comes from within them are not being honest. He likened it to there being a giant pot of stew bubbling. And we all take bits out and “along the way we get to add a potato or two to the stew pot or a bit of gristle.”

Neil Gaiman said, “I don’t think it’s always dishonesty by the authors. In a lot of cases, you write what comes to you and you do not realize that you are pulling archetypes and story tropes from a treasure trove of shared ancestral memories.” That explains why legends are always the first things to hand in whenever I start a new story. Jones said when he sits to write, he never knows what he’s going to write, but these time-honoured story templates come up readily because we already have the story forms within us.
Whiti Hereaka concurred and spoke about growing up with myths. They “had always been there” so were a natural resource. In her book, Kurangaituku, she is retelling the Māori myth of Hatupatu and the bird-woman Kurangaituku. “In the original story, Hatupatu is captured and finds the strength within him to trick the bird woman and escape from the clutches of Kurangaituku.”

Hereaka found the writing of her mythological story so profound, that she even began to feel taken over by her main character, who was talking to her and telling her the story all the time. Hereaka said she learned “to say a karakia (prayer) to create the space to write and then again to close it and step away” to separate herself from the character. Even so, she was driven to right the balance of male-centric mythology and present a female voice.
Lloyd Jones added, “Fables are at their core an imaginative risk.” And, he elaborated, “You gather stories just in living, and one day you use them. It becomes lodged in you and you never know when they’re going to bubble to the surface.”
What is it about ancient stories that hold us transfixed? I know for myself, that the older the story, the more I pay attention.
“There’s truthiness in fiction because of the lies,” Hereaka said, “There’s an emotional truth that holds us. We are creatures who need a story to figure ourselves out.”

You can say that again. It was a riveting afternoon, guys. Thanks for the brain food.

It’s a fact we all use these fables instinctively. Do you? Do you notice the echoes of mythology everywhere?

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

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“Someone said once when a person is being read to they inhale it and when they exhale it, they have made it their own.’ ~ Lloyd Jones

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