Despite the freezing temperatures the cold wind from the Artic brought to London, books lovers bravely gathered at the events hall of Waterstones Piccadilly to attend an inspiring and pleasant conversation with three of the current best YA writers. Karen McManus (One of us is lying)–in her only event in UK–Emily Barr (The girl who came out of the woods), and C.L. Taylor (The treatment) without constraint discussed their latest novels and what means to be a writer with Katherine Webber.
As the room became full of readers and the air filled with an excited buzz of voices, the acclaimed writers stepped on the stage, and a roaring round of applause welcomed them. Although they were used to appear in front of fans and ardent readers, their shy smiles and glistening eyes betrayed them; it didn’t matter how many times they had done those events, speaking before the public was a unique and emotional situation. “I think the thriller is a genre that helps people to process the reality,” McManus kicked off. “We’re living in an age of uncertainty and fear. What people desire are stories that represent this reality and end positively.” Emily Barr came to writing thrillers and crime novels through her passion for Agatha Christie, whose she is a huge fan. Taylor, instead, has always been interested in focusing on what teenagers were worried about and mattered for them in unusual and scary scenarios. “I had never thought about writing YA genre,” Barr said. “My novel was supposed to be for adults, but, after my partner read it, he suggested that it would be better as YA, so I transformed my book.” “I didn’t focus only on teenagers’ reactions,” Taylor interjected, “but I think setting is very important. I really enjoy putting my characters in extreme and challenging environments to see how they could deal with them.” “Characters are my main worry when I start a new project,” McManus said. “I usually begin with their creation and, after, I elaborate the scenarios they have to act in. I need to know my protagonists to develop their stories.” Karen McManus pointed out the importance of family relationships, which deeply influenced their books. “They add an intriguing and intense tension to the characters.” Families were an important factor for Taylor, too; the writer enjoyed creating troublesome parents-son interactions because these conflicts reflected on their subsequent behaviour. “Writing from a different point of views is undoubtedly very challenging and satisfactory,” McManus replied the following question. “I use two techniques to do it as properly as possible. The first way is by listening what I’ve already written from one point of view while I’m writing from a different perspective. The second is write a scene, then put that on the side, and write it again from another angle.” “I’ve been experimenting multiple PoV writing,” Taylor said. “I decided to write down the story from a point of view, then planning the other point of view, being very careful. Every character’s action influences others’ actions under every scenario.” As the conversation quickly concluded, the writers talked about their source of inspiration. Reality and reading were the main origin of their ideas. “I’ve always read thriller and crime novels, and those inspired me,” McManus said, “although I don’t read them while I’m working on a project because I don’t want to contaminate my plot with others’ ideas.” “Politics and news are my main source, especially the events of the last years in which we saw an extremization of ideologies and politicians, which increased my anxiety.” The author then concluded: “I tried to write a comedy, but it was working out, and my dark side came out. While dystopian novels augmented my interest in human psychological conditions.”
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It’s very difficult to describe the inward emotion I feel when I enter the conference room where authors unfold their experiences and explain the work behind their amazing books. The queue of people at the entrance, the check of the tickets, and the warm welcome of the bookshop staff may seem normal rituals, but, for me, they have a special meaning; they permit me to plunge into fascinating worlds and meet incredible writers.
The first event of the New Year was a pleasant conversation with three stunning thrillers authors. Will Dean (Dark Pines and Red Snow), Abir Mukherjee (Smoke and Ashes), and Anna Mazzola (The Unseeing and The Story Keeper) – in the role of mediator - talked about their latest novels and the hard job of being an author at Waterstones Piccadilly. There was no time to waste; the event had to start at six-thirty in the afternoon, and, at that precise time, the writers walked into the room under the craving glances of the members of the audience. Anna Mazzola, a short, pretty lady with waving thick blonde hair, led the company, followed by Will Dean, a tall, robust, bearded man with salt and pepper hair and two piercing blue eyes, and Abir Mukherjee, a black-haired man wearing an elegant dark blue suit. “I’ve always been a weird kid,” Dean answered the initial question. “I used to pass my spare time alone by reading and writing.” As many authors claimed in previous events, Dean said he had always had the story for his novel buzzing in his head. It was inside his mind, willing to come out and get created as soon as possible. “I’ve worked as a lawyer as long as I could, then, when the right moment to be an author came, I decided to write down my story,” he concluded. “I had to do that because I promised to myself that the day I had quit my job, I would have started writing. So it happened.” The spark that ignited the need to write came to Mukherjee in a quite unusual way. The author said that he had never felt sure about his writing abilities, so he decided to put on the side his passion. “Until, one day, I was reading a book, written by an American author who became a millionaire, and it was awful,” Mukherjee told the audience, causing a general chuckle. “I thought that, if that writer could publish his stories, I had to give a try to mine.” Mukherjee got motivated by another author: Lee Child. “I had heard about Child a lot, but I had never read any of his books. Besides I read an interview in which he said that he had started writing when he was forty because he had lost his job. That was what motivated me.” After his answer, suddenly Mukherjee turned to Mazzola and, taking her completely aback, asked why she had begun writing. The mediator opened his eyes wide, her cheeks blushing slightly. “That’s an unexpected question to me.” The audience guffawed, enjoying the funny exchange. “I think it happened because I also was a weird kid. I used to read a lot, and the stories suddenly popped out of my mind.” Despite reading and being a weird kid were common reasons for becoming writers, the authors had different methods to create their novels. “The voice of my characters sounds in my mind during the writing process,” Dean said. “I don’t plot a lot, and usually I write down the story, then, after having finished the draft, I go back to read it, changing what I think doesn’t work and polishing where it’s necessary.” “I actually do plot my novels,” Mukherjee interjected. “I can’t create anything without planning what happens. I tried with my second novel, but it didn’t work out, and I ended plotting.” The creation of the characters and setting of the novels involved massive research for both writers. Dean’s main character is a woman who works as a journalist for a local newspaper in Sweden. She’s deaf, and, because of her disability, her life is more intense than a person who can hear. Mukherjee’s characters may seem less demanding, but the historical period they live in - India during the British colonialism - led the author to do intense historical research. The very enjoyable conversation rapidly came to an end, and the authors dealt with the last question regarding the creation of the characters. “Writing on a feminine point of view was challenging because I had to use a different and unusual point of view.” Dean then concluded, smiling, “If I had written something which I was comfortable with, it probably would have been boring.” As 2018 slowly comes to an end, it’s time to sum up our reading year. There had been numerous books I read and carefully perused. Some of them excited me, some made me shiver and scare, some left me baffled and stunned, some totally captured me, and I still seriously struggle to let them go. Below you can find my Top Ten of books I’ve read during 2018. I based my list on a simple judgment: what I have felt while I was reading them and which emotions they triggered in me. I also preferred to include only works of fiction – although I read a few amazing books about politics and history. I didn’t divide them by genre – I have come to the conclusion that dividing them would have complicated my listing a little bit. The following Top Ten, therefore, represents the best fiction readings I’ve had. Now, it’s time to make yourselves comfortable and scroll down the list of amazing novels I came across. 10 – “Covenant” by Dean Crawford Conspiring plans, secret organisations, governmental agencies, a mysterious finding in Israel’s desert, and a kidnapping. I forgot: a very troubled main character, Ethan Warner. The novel has the whole set of characteristics which make a mystery-action book good. Crawford perfectly combines these ingredients to serve a pleasant and enjoyable story, suitable for a good deal of readers. 9 – “The perfect murder” by Peter James How can a marriage go wrong? What can happen if husband and wife both plan to kill each other at the same time? Peter James provides us with all the answers to these questions in this lovely – and unfortunately too short – novella. Mind-blowing and with a totally unexpected end. 8 – “Leviathan” by Scott Westerfeld My first experience with the steampunk is an incredible success. Since the first page, “Leviathan” grabs your hand and accompanies you into an astounding world in which huge genetical modified steam-powered creatures can fly and carry people, and the steam energy supplies power to metallic giant walking machines. A very good and pleasant story which has to be read if you’ve never come across this sci-fi subgenre. 7 – “The Irregulars – a different class of spy” by H.B. Lyle I’m a traditionalist. I love Sherlock Holmes and I’ve always been loath to read something invoking his world but written by someone else. I decided to give Lyle’s work a go, and, honestly, it was not a waste of time. The story is compelling, and the original narrative point of view undoubtedly satisfy the readers. 6 – “If I die before I wake” by Emily Koch Another great thriller. Emily Koch’s debut novel especially strikes for the unusual point of view the writer chose; the main character is in a vegetative state coma. But he has to discover who tried to kill him. It seems impossible he could do that, but his conscious/unconscious condition and a backward analysis of his professional life as a journalist reveal the necessary answers to this intricate puzzle. 5 – “The Court of Broken Knives” by Anna Smith Spark Anna Smith Spark brought me back to read fantasy; a genre that I’ve always been into, but I had momentarily put on the side. Merith, the main character, has a twisted morality which completely overturns the usual idea of the brave and predestined hero. He is a dark anti-hero with a terrible past to forget, but the same past came back to him and it wants to be sorted. Beautiful and engaging novel. 4 – “Guess who” by Chris McGeorge This book was a surprised. I’m always careful when I read intriguing blurbs because they sometimes don’t meet the expectations. This didn’t happen to McGeorge’s novel. The story is beautifully written and contains the right, breath-taking amount of unexpected twists. We are slowly reaching the hot zone, the top three positions; these amazing authors delightedly stunned, surprised, and entertained me. 3 – “Rosewater” by Tade Thompson “Rosewater” by Tade Thompson definitely deserves the position number three. The novel is an entertaining example of how sci-fi can be innovative. The story is an intriguing mixture of mystery, paranormal events, and psychological connection between humans and a strange invading alien. Very well done, Tade! 2 – “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline Ka-boom! The Eighties and Nighties fiercely come back in this astonishing novel. Cline’s story is a huge step back to an age in which gaming, computers, and, partially, role-playing games were triumphally appearing on the scene. If you grew up in this age, turning the last page of this book would make a tear slowly roll down your cheek. If you didn’t, well, reading this novel would enlighten you about the sweet birth of the video games and the dawn of pop-culture. Absolutely brilliant, Ernest! 1 – “The Chalk Man” by C.J. Tudor Drum roll, please! Ladies and gentlemen, the number One has finally arrived! “The Chalk Man” by C.J. Tudor is the best book I read in 2018. The novel has everything a thriller-horror story must have. It contains plot-twists, unexpected twists, expected twists, logical twists, and illogical twists. It’s scary, dark, mysterious, tremendously beautiful! Congratulations, C.J. Tudor, the top position is all yours!
Christmas time is getting closer and closer; the shops adorn their windows with brightening lights, colourful and mesmerising decorations enrich the grey and austere streets, multi-sizes Christmas trees pop out in every corner of the city, music and cheering songs continuously resound in the passers-by’ ears.
Among the endless short-stories and novels celebrating this specific moment of the year, ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens is likely the most famous and significative literary work that express the meaning of Christmas. The Carol influenced the popular culture so intensely that a myriad of authors – and scriptwriters – claimed that it had deeply inspired them. Dickens published the novella in 1843, on 19th of December precisely, after six intense weeks working on it. It’s said that the writer composed the biggest part of the story at night, and he used to have long and enlightening walks to clear up his ideas. The novella was an immediate success. The magic of this story lays in the contraposition of its main characters – Ebenezer Scrooge and Tiny Tim – and in the powerful creation of a deep sympathetic feeling towards the poor and encouragement of benevolence. When Dickens wrote the Carol, the British were rediscovering the Christmas’s old traditions; Christmas card, trees, songs, and carols were becoming more and more popular after the harsh decline the Cromwell Puritans’ scrutiny had caused. The following Industrial Revolution had left no time to think about celebrating. This revival, however, was only one of the reasons which motivated Dickens to create a Christmas story. John Dickens, the writer’s father, was arrested and jailed for debt when Charles was only eleven. Although the family belonged to the middle-class, the author had to leave school and go to work in his father’s boot blackening factory to support the family. The experience showed Dickens the worst side of the industrialisation: the extreme and growing poverty of the working class, especially the dramatic situation of the children. Charles was completely shocked. During his entire career, Dickens visited ragged schools, mines, and participated in fundraising and public speech to point out the terrible condition of the working class and promote an educational reform. In 1843, a Parliamentary report exposed the condition of the working class’s children, and Dickens wrote a letter to Southwood Smith, a commissioner of the report, to point out the necessity of dealing with the situation. The author realised that that the most effective way to reach the public opinion out was to compose a deep-felt Christmas story instead of writing political leaflet. Dickens shared the belief that the nostalgic English Christmas would restore the social harmony on the modern world with the author Washington Irving. In ‘A Christmas Carol’ we had strong and meaningful descriptions of the reinvigorate tradition; the opulence of the festivity and the rich and pleasant scents of cinnamon, tea, pastries, candied fruit, and figs were used to point out the working-class condition. The transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge remained magical, but acquired a more political meaning, too. Numerous literary experts pointed out that the path Scrooge went through symbolised the redemption of a sinner. The historian Penne Restad preferred to identify the change happened to Scrooge as the “Carol philosophy”, in which the readers could perceive the victory of altruism and charity over individualism and patriarchy. Dickens criticised the British attitude towards poverty, but he aroused a strong feeling of charity which didn’t turn the attention of the middle-class away. The author wanted to create a charitable consciousness in the citizens who enjoyed a better condition and well-being. He deeply felt sorrow and shocked that the society was overlooking the country fellows who were struggling to survive. The Carol philosophy was exactly this: a deep intense feeling of sympathy for the less-lucky and a strong ‘call to arms’ to change the situation and create a more liveable society for its members. Charles Dickens has always had a lively interest in Christmas – the short-stories “A Christmas dinner” in Sketches by Boz and “The story of the Goblin who stole Sexton” in The Pickwick Papers, for example. “Great Expectations” began with the scene of a Christmas dinner, and, in 1851, the writer published “What Christmas is as we grow older”, a short story about the change of perception of Christmas. During this journey from bookshop to bookshop, we have discovered very special stores. Everyone has its own characteristics and particularities which makes it unique.
I’ve been working around High Street Marylebone and, before starting my shift or at the end of it, I can’t help to visit Daunt Books. The shop stands in the middle of the busy street – the Edwardian-style light green wooden frame surrounding the windows are pretty easy to spot. As I step into the shop, a strong pleasant odour of paper fills my nostrils, and the hollow thumping of paces on the wooden floor, along with an excited buzz of voices, reverberate in my ears. The history of the shop is quite recent; James Daunt, a former banker, bought the site in 1990 and renamed it. It was the first. Afterwards, he opened other books stores in different areas of London – Chelsea, Hampstead, Holland Park, Cheapside, and Belsize Park. The founder wanted to focus and specialise on a determined subject: travelling. Although the fiction and non-fiction areas do not disappoint the most demanding reader, the section displaying the books on travelling is mind-blowing. The room itself is majestic. A huge window of frosted glass, opposite the entrance, dominates and illuminates the entire chamber. Packed and tall dark oak shelves soar from the floor and occupy the whole side-walls. The atmosphere emanates an incredible aura of sacredness and solemnity – a temple dedicated to books. The writings are neatly displayed and thoroughly divided continent by continent, state by state, region by region. It begins with Europe – it’s easy to jump from Portugal to Germany, going through Sweden and Poland – and then focuses on America and Asia. Caribbean nations concluded the intercontinental world journey. It’s not like travelling for real, but you get a delightful taste of every country. On the upper floor, a wooden terrace runs along the perimeter of the hall. Books regarding the most bizarre and unexpected curiosities about London fill the shelves – a section quite unusually contains a rich variety of second-hand books. Daunt Books is a precious and valuable gem located in one of the most significant areas in literature – Baker Street is only ten minutes on foot from High Street Marylebone - and, I’m pretty sure, readers and visitors will literally fall in love with it. We often fall in love with fictional stories and books. They capture us, they take away from the monotony of our life, and they make us dream something we wish to be or something we would have desired to be.
In the myriad of stories we read, we rarely take authors’ creative process in consideration. What really lies behind those stories? What generates them? How creativity shapes what we make? Writers and artists need inspiration. Getting inspired might be easy or troublesome, but the best way to trigger it is observing the reality around you. You meet people, you talk to people, you see people all the time. That is your source of ideas. The variety characterising our society is an endless source of characters and situations which we can turn into novels and stories. For example, we never know who the person sat in front of us on the tube, carrying two huge orange bags from Sainsbury’s, could be. At first sight, the traveller might be a married person that needed to buy food on its day off. Maybe, the person has children, and they’ve been waiting for his return at home. That’s an easy and slightly predictable creation – it looks very normal life. What if the person in front of us is the leader of a robbers’ group, instead, and what this individual has in the bags is not either food or drinks, but explosive material for their next robbery. As you can see, the quiet, daily reality turns into a thrilling crime story. Everything can inspire you. An idea can pop in your mind while you’re doing the wash-up or hanging your clothes. Once you have the idea, you have to define and plan what you want to achieve with that. A purpose for what you do is the motivational strength that pushes you to carry out it as best as you are able to. Bearing in mind what you aim to – it doesn’t matter if you desire is publish it or to make a film – is the main motivational energy. Now, after that the idea came out and started buzzing in your head, the world you’ve thought about has to be made. Feelings and emotions are the most important things you absolutely don’t have to overlook. Communicate them, plunge the readers in what you feel and want to deliver. The world you’re creating in a reflection of how you see the reality surrounding you. The reader has to cry when your story makes cry, laugh when something funny happens, get angry when something bad occurs. If you have to borrow an idea from another book, you can do it, but do not forget that doing that is acceptable during your creative process. Copying is not to create. Characters come along with your world. Feeling and emotions have to be the core of their creation, and you have two ways to make them. The first method focuses on the character; you personify the individual you want to create, and you soak it with your emotions in the situation you want him to live. Depending on the medium you’re planning to create the story for, you can or cannot disclose the background of your character – for instance, if you’re writing a short story, the writer can quickly hint some situations happened in the past, without explaining it wholly. If you’re writing a book, you may desire to spend a few more pages and words as to how the character became what he is. The second method, instead, focuses on the background. You, thus, have to define and ponder the main characteristics of your characters and include them in the world you made. Depending on how you thought about them and laid in the story, the characters shape their existence in that determined scenario. The difficult part of the creative work comes at the moment you actually created everything. The story has to be refined and revisited. During this phase, you can realise two things: first, you don’t like what you made, and, second, the project is not as good as you thought. Whatever is your final judgment, do not put your effort in the bin. Instead, lay that on the side for a while – it may be one week or one month – then get back to work on it with a fresher and clearer mind. This can be very useful in finishing your project and completing it properly and successfully. A big thank to Ed Jowett and Leo Cosh of Shades of Vengeance who chaired two intense and interesting panels at the ComicCon London 2018 in October talking about the creative process behind the making of worlds and characters. Podcasts have become more and more popular. They deal with numerous and different topics, and they have millions of listeners. What I haven’t ever realised is that they can be an amazing resource for aspiring writers. You can find everything you need, explained, analysed, and tailored for any necessity or curiosity you fancy to satisfy.
I’ve never been into podcasts. I can’t reckon exactly why. Maybe it wasn’t the right moment to start getting into it, or, more likely, I hadn’t yet found a good app which allowed me to select, arrange, and organise the programmes I was interested in. I’ll get started with what I usually listen to during my break at work, at home, or before lying down to sleep. “Partners in Crime” focuses on what happens in the crime fiction world. Every Friday, the authors Adam Croft and Robert Daws talk about the latest releases, events and festivals which have occurred during the week, and interview international authors – I truly recommend Episode 006 with Peter James. “They walk among us” and “Criminal” enrich the list. The first podcast tells of true crimes stories, analysing the minds of the people who committed horrible and despicable actions. “Criminal” focuses more on the protagonists of the investigations. We can listen to episodes dedicated to doctors who regularly look after victims of attacks, shooting, and stabbing. You can also listen to lawyers, detectives, and parents who got involved in investigations. You may find this podcast a very useful source of information if you want to write short stories and novels. Predictably, it appears on my list “Serial”. The famous podcast, hosted by Sarah Koenig, examines and analyses characters, plots, and investigations, unravelling surprising mysteries and unexpected twists episode by episode. I mainly talked about podcasts focusing on crime. “Life is scary,” hosted by “The terrified writer” – a.k.a. Ann Hirst – faces fears, doubts, successes, and defeats writers have taken on during their path to becoming a published author. To close this short journey into podcasts, I have to mention “The Allusionist.” In any episode, Helen Zaltzman transports the listener into a linguistic adventure, explaining the origin and etymology of English words and popular colloquialisms in an ironic and funny way. The programmes I mentioned in this post may or may not interest you, but they definitely are a useful and entertaining source of advice and inspiration for they who have been dreaming of and working on becoming an author. The last panel I attended dealt with a quite sensitive topic; the diversity in fiction. Diversity can have different meanings; we can have an ethnic diversity, or it may be physical, or it may be a sexual orientation. Whichever it is, we don’t have to underestimate its importance and value in literature and fiction.
RJ Barker (King of Assassin) chaired the event at the Creator Stage of the ComicCon London. Along with Barker, the authors Micah Yongo (Lost Gods), Marieke Nijkamp (Before I Let Go), Temi Oh (Do You Dream of Terra-Two), Tasha Suri (Empire of Sand), and Jeannette NG (Under the Pendulum Sun) expressed their opinions and told their experience on diversity during their careers. “I’m super-weird,” Nijkamp kicked off, “I’ve always been a super-weird person.” Temi Oh focused her diversity on her origin. Although she grew up in the UK, her origins are Nigerian as well as Micah Yongo. Tasha Suri instead has a South Asian cultural background. “British,” Jeanette NG said, causing the audience to chuckle delightedly. “My diversity is to be British.” Jeanette NG grew up in Hong Kong, then moved to the United Kingdom with her parents, where she started her career as an author. Barker’s characteristic was to be eccentric, he said. “Very eccentric,” he then confirmed, before asking the writers the following question. “I haven’t ever seen myself in other people,” Nijkamp said. “I did see me in a character I’ve recently been writing about.” “I used to watch a historical TV series, when I was in Hong Kong, about a woman who had been educated in the Western society and got back to her country after decades,” Jeanette said. “She was an outsider. That woman was the person I identified with.” Micah Yongo has never seen himself in somebody else, but he saw himself doing things or being in certain places instead of the actual people. “I don’t feel the necessity to write about the group I belong to,” the author went on explaining, “but I did find numerous aspects of my culture which I felt the need to explore and deepen.” “When I was in the United States on a tour for my book, I met a group of disabled kids,” Nijkamp told the audience. “In that moment, I realised that I had to write about people with disabilities.” “I think that we also have to use our cultural background to improve certain characteristics,” Suri said. “I like to create different characters, and my multi-ethnicity helped me in their making.” The conversion then switched to which writer the authors would like to be. Yongo went for David Foster Wallace. He would like to see him nowadays and know which his opinion would be. Suri instead remained in the world of fantasy. “I would like to bring a dragon in the British Empire society,” she claimed. “A dragon sort everything out” The diversity could enrich the authors, but sometimes the media represented it in irritating or stereotyped ways. “I don’t like the continuous sexual desire black women appear to communicate,” Oh said. “I really like when an author gets out of his comfort zone,” Yongo said. “That’s the moment in which a writer can personify somebody different from him and absorb an opposite point of view.” “I don’t like to when somebody calls me ‘mistress’,” Jeanette NG claimed, making the people frowning. “It’s easy to understand why, if you want one of them, you have to pay for!” The audience and the fellow authors couldn’t help of closing the event with a heartily and booming laugh. Everybody comes to wonder how authors got published, how they found an agent or publisher, how long it took to create their work, and what their daily life looked. Attending panel does improve your knowledge of the industry and provide infinite advice – it also gives the opportunity to do a little bit of networking.
Ed Cox mediated this interesting conversation with established and recently published authors. The sitting area of the Creator Stage at the ComicCon London slowly filled with attendees. An excited buzz sounded in the air; people had been waiting for the occasion to hear their favourite authors’ professional experience. Marieke Nijkamp (Before I let go), Stephen Aryan (Magefall), Lucy Hounsom (The World Maker trilogy), Tim Pratt (The Wrong Star), and Jeannette NG (Under the Pendulum Sun) sat on the red-white-blue sofa, smiling and curiously observing the crowded audience before them. “I’m not a full-time writer yet,” Nijkamp started off the conversation. “I’m planning to start living off writing soon, but now I’m still dedicating my day off to writing.” I was quite surprised to hear that the authors on the stage had part-time jobs. Lucy Hounsom worked for a bookshop – she told us that sometimes her colleagues called her on the floor to meet the customers who bought her novels, leaving the purchasers stunned and incredulous. Tim Pratt instead was an editor and he, too, used to write on his day off. “Finding time for writing is not easy,” Aryan said, “even if I work part-time.” Jeanette NG had strange and unusual habits before starting to write every day. The first was immerge her head in cold water and keep it for a few minutes – “It helps you to think clearly and liberate your mind,” she claimed – the second was the use of scented candles. “I love candles. I couldn’t write without them,” the author said. “Their scent inspires me.” Cox immediately got to the core of the meeting; how hard a writer has to work for creating their novel. “It’s very difficult to quantify the time I spent on my novel,” Hounsom said. “I can only say that it took a long time.” “Reading is the main part of the job,” Nijkamp said. “You have to read a lot of books without overlooking any genres. You also have to change your way of reading, by starting to look at them as a writer and not a reader.” “I’m not able to make up without reading,” Jeanette NG said. “Books are endless sources of inspiration.” Aryan felt that having an author’s point of view helped him to decide as to which kind of story he was able to create. “A big issue is not writing anything. It’s frustrating and stressing,” Nijkamp said. “Our mental health is very important. If I’m not happy and relaxed, I can’t write well.” Hounsom and Aryan had a similar solution to their difficult moments; they just handed the manuscripts to someone they could trust to read. “I different angle is always helpful to sort your doubts out,” Hounsom concluded. The authors admitted that motivation was essential to fulfil their desire, and it was the main factor which pushed them to make and, subsequently, submit their work. “Pomodoro technique,” Jeanette NG said, leaving her colleagues and the audience baffled. “Pomodoro technique is what keeps me motivated. I usually write for twenty-five minutes, then I take a small break. After that, I resumed writing for twenty-five minutes again. It works and keeps me focused on what I’m doing.” Reading and writing are two different faces of the same coin. Lucy Hounsom’s metaphor explained the importance of reading for a writer. The more you read, the more you improve your style, for example. Your vocabulary increases and gets better and better. By reading other books, you may also get inspiration and ideas – which obviously doesn’t mean that you have to steal from them.
The Centre Stage stood in the central part of the North exhibition area of the ComiCon London, squeezed among colourful stalls packed with merchandising and t-shirts. Despite the surrounding noise of people wandering around, a sort of soothing silence prevailed within the dim conference room. I reached the front rows – anytime I attend an event, I can help to have the best view of the panellists – and chose my seat. Beneath the dominating MCM ComicCon logo, the conversation almost immediately kicked off; Jared, the moderator, stepped on the stage, followed by the participants Daniel Polansky (A City Dreaming), Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke & Bone series), Steven Erikson (Rejoice), Nicholas Eames (Bloody Rose), and Vic James (A Gilded Case). They made themselves comfortable on the upholstered chairs, their hands thoughtlessly toying with the microphones. “I was highly inspired by ‘The Lord of the Rings’,” Eames started off, replying the initial question. “The detailed descriptions of the landscape and countryside completely enchanted me.” Daniel Polansky switched in his chair – I expected a reaction, instead, he just chuckled. “There are endless books which inspired me,” Jones said, “but I would say that ‘2001: Space Odyssey’ entirely impressed me.” The panellists were sci-fi and fantasy authors, and they all read numerous novels of these genres. The reasons as to why these books stroke them were varied. “Even if the books impress me, I tend to read them once only,” Erikson said. “The second reading may change the perception of the story and, consequently, change your opinion.” Taylor has never been a fantasy reader during the college, but she then rediscovered the genre and fully plunged into it. “Re-reading doesn’t provide the same emotions,” Polansky claimed. “Although you can deepen some aspects of the story, the second time won’t ever equalise that feeling.” “I don’t re-read either,” Eames said, “but I started picking up books that I wouldn’t ever choose when I was younger. I discovered numerous titles that I had unforgivably missed.” The writers agreed that reading as a reader was a completely different thing from reading as an author. “Harry Potter brought me back to fantasy,” Taylor said with a chuckle. “I got inspired and started working on my ideas.” “I read books of all genres and kinds,” James said. “The best one I had sparked my writing ability.” Erikson confirmed to have been – and still be – a voracious reader of any book falling into his hands, but he also thought that writing fantasy was harder than writing fiction. “When you write fantasy, you have to create a world and characters with endless details,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of reference books to check when you decided to create a story about elves, dwarves, and humans.” “Fantasy has deeply influenced me since I was in the High School,” Eames claimed. “I chose to start writing something that impressed and influenced readers as much as those books had affected me.” It was time to focus on contemporary authors. So far, the writers had spoken of books written in the past and authors who literally created a genre. “Doris Lessing with her ‘The fit child’ astonished me,” Polansky said. “It was amazing and, at the same time, terrifying.” “Becky Chambers is the most amazing author I read of,” Erikson said. “I could add dozens, but her books are very good.” “Tade Thompson is involving and stunning,” James said. “The classics of sci-fi anyway still delight me. They are perfect. They have everything a good book can have.” She then added: “As a reader, I sometimes get bored of fantasy, that’s why I prefer to vary my reading with other genres, especially historical essays. They also help my research.” Contrarily, Taylor claimed that she had never ever got bored of fantasy. It was in her heart and mind. “The number of books published every year is so huge,” she said, “that I can’t help to contribute to this genre.” The last bit of the conversation involved a few suggestions from the authors. Steven Erikson gave a more practical and professional tip to they who wanted to become authors. “You always have to finish what you started as you’re still inspired,” he explained. “In the moment you give up or begin to care less about that project, the inspiration flies away, and getting it back is very difficult.” |
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