Two New Books

News | Posted by Carole on Tuesday 8 July 2008

I have two new books out this month. They are both non-fiction.

The first isn’t completely new, it’s a new edition of my book on the Olympic Games. It has a new cover, a new title — The Games: The extraordinary history of the modern Olympics — and it’s been completely updated. It’s full of the dramas, the scandals, the trivia of the Olympic Games. It’s not just about sport.

The Games is part of The Drum series by black dog books. There are ten books in the series so far, all on fascinating historical topics.

The second book is called Hatshepsut: Lost Pharaoh of Egypt. It’s about the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut who was wiped out of history for 3000 years. Hers is an amazing story of intrigue and mystery that lasts from 1500 BCE right up to last year (which was when they finally found her mummy). Those of you who have read my Ramose series will recognise her name — she was Ramose’s sister. This is her true story. You can look inside the book here.

Hatshepsut is one of the first two books in a new series for younger readers called The Beat. The other book is by Craig Scutt and is about Captain Cook.

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Brisbane Workshop

News | Posted by Carole on Monday 23 June 2008

I will be in Brisbane next Wednesday taking a writers’ workshop at the Queensland Writers Centre.

It will be an all-day Young Writers’ Masterclass for students from Grades 10 — 12. I will be helping young writers learn how to get ideas and build stories. It costs $70 and there are still a few places left.

Date: Wednesday 2 July

Time: 10am to 4 pm

Place: Queensland Writers Centre

Level 2, 109 Edward Street, Brisbane

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Storylines Festival

News, Ramose | Posted by Carole on Wednesday 18 June 2008

I have just returned home after a hectic week or so in New Zealand at the Storylines Festival. I appeared at free Family Days in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, along with well-known UK author and illustrator Babette Cole and many NZ authors and illustrators including Margaret Mahy, Joy Cowley, Gavin Bishop and Kyle Mewburn.

The Family Days had a full program of authors talking about their books, book readings, illustrators creating. There were activities for kids to take part in, and theatre performances by some school groups, based on visiting authors’ books. Students from Auckland Normal Intermediate and Heaton Intermediate School did terrific performances from my book Ramose: Prince in Exile.

Here are some photos I took.

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New readers’ art

Website | Posted by Webmaster on Monday 9 June 2008

Artwork by Rhys from Melbourne and Travis from Inverell has been added to the readers’ art page.

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New Zealand Here I Come

Uncategorized | Posted by Carole on Friday 6 June 2008

I am going to New Zealand tomorrow which is very exciting. I am a guest of the Storylines Festival.

I will be speaking at three free Family Days during the festival.

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Short

News | Posted by Carole on Thursday 8 May 2008

I’ve just received my author copies of a new black dog books book called Short: a collection of interesting short stories and other stuff from some surprising and intelligent people. I have a short story in it. As well as stories it contains poems, pictures and things that don’t fit into any regular categories.

All royalties go to Big Brothers, Big Sisters, an organisation which provides mentors for young people in need of support and friendship. Contributors include Andy Griffiths, Micheal Panckridge, Michael Gerard Bauer, Karen Tayleur, Scot Gardner, Alicia Sometimes, Michael Pryor and Sue Lawson and many others. And it was expertly edited by my daughter, Lili Wilkinson. You can read more about it here.

My story is a sort of ancient Egyptian ghost story.

It’s a lot of fun and for a good cause. Look for it at your local bookshop or you could buy it online at the black dog books shop.

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Reluctant Advice for Keen Young Writers

Writing | Posted by Carole on Thursday 24 April 2008

I’ve recently had a number of emails from young writers asking for advice on how to improve their writing. They seem to think that because I write books, and some of them have been successful, I can explain how to write a successful book. If only it were that easy. The truth is, I can’t tell you why one book is popular and another isn’t. There isn’t a formula to learn like in maths or physics.

I am not an expert on writing. I am just a writer. I don’t feel comfortable giving advice about something that I am still learning. But since people have asked, I will have a go.

Firstly, I have already written some stuff in my FAQs, but no one seems to read that!

The way to improve your writing is to write. Write, write, write and then write some more. Practice is what makes you a better writer. If you wanted to be an Olympic gymnast or an AFL footballer, you wouldn’t expect to walk out onto the mat/football field and be an expert immediately. You know you would have to train for years. It’s the same with writing. A few writers have great success with their first novel, but more than likely they have spent a long time writing and rewriting it, perhaps writing other unpublished things first.

I started off writing short stories. That worked for me. It gave me practice at writing. I tried different types of stories. I tried to get them published, to see which ones people liked. Then after a couple of years, I tried writing a novel. It took me two years. It was terrible. It was never published (thank goodness!). I kept writing all kinds of things—TV scripts, newspaper articles, brochures, more short stories. It was all good practice. It was eight years before my first book was published.

The other question I get asked is “How do I make my story longer?” The short answer is, you can’t. A story is as long as it takes to tell. That may be six paragraphs or 600 pages. If you try and stretch a story, it just gets boring. If you want to write a longer story, my advice would be to spend some time plotting it before you start. I don’t start writing until I have a beginning, middle and end to a story. Then I write a synopsis of about three pages. It might take me two months to come up with those three pages. Then I start to write the novel. That will take me about a year, and that’s writing every day. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes I feel like I can’t do it.

I know J K Rowling and Christopher Paulini became millionaires with their first books. But that isn’t what usually happens. Writing isn’t a way to earn a quick million. And this is my last and most important piece of advice—Only write if you love writing. If you haven’t got the patience to write lots, then writing probably isn’t for you. You have to do it because you love it, not because you want to be rich and famous. You have to be prepared for the hard slog.

I have some more advice here on how to improve your writing. Also here. There are links to other authors’ advice as well. You might also want to read this.

I hope I haven’t made writing sound too hard. There are times when it’s wonderful—you get a great idea, or write a terrific paragraph, or think of a fabulous turning point, or someone tells you how much they enjoyed reading your work. Then it’s the best thing in the world.

Good luck to all the writers out there. Keep at it.

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Dragon Moon Shortlisting

Dragon Companion, News | Posted by Carole on Thursday 17 April 2008

The shortlist for this year’s NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have just been announced, and…Dragon Moon has been nominated for the Patricia Wrightson Award. I’m delighted, of course. That’s two shortlistings for the book. The winners will be announced on 19 May.

You can see all the other shortlisted books here. It’s a tough field, with Li Cunxin and Emily Rodda among the shortlistees.

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Medieval Faire

Dragon Companion, News | Posted by Carole on Thursday 17 April 2008

The State Library of Victoria is holding a Medieval Faire this Saturday (20 April) from 10-4. There are lots of interesting-looking events and activities including opportunities to learn how to sword fight, try drawing dragons and dress up in Medieval clothes. There are story-telling sessions and performances of Medieval music. It’s all to accompany The Medieval Imagination, a terrific exhibition of Medieval illuminated manuscripts (which I’ve already been to twice). The exhibition and the Faire are all free.

The reason I mention this, apart from it being a great event, is that I will be there speaking about Medieval dragons in my book Dragon Companion. This will be from 1.30-2.15 in the Theatrette (Entry 3, LaTrobe St). So I hope to see some of my Melbourne readers there. Remember it’s free!

The State Library is on the corner of Swanston St and LaTrobe St in Melbourne.

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Imperial

dragons | Posted by Carole on Tuesday 15 April 2008

While I was at the Shanghai American School, I had a look at the beautiful Beijing Opera costumes that belong to the school. When Jacqueline Meijer asked if I’d like to try them on, I didn’t hesitate. Here I am in Imperial dragon robes. Thanks to Jacqueline for sending me the photos.

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