Just like the proverbial iceberg, fiction manuscripts can sometimes show only the surface problems. And that’s why I went to Sydney last weekend for Kate Forsyth’s Story Doctor writing course.

Kate is the writer of over forty books for children and adults. My kids loved her Impossible Quest series and I love her historical novels, particularly The beast’s garden and Bitter greens.

I’ve been to two of Kate’s courses before, both in Sydney, so I knew that Kate would help me understand exactly what I need to do to look at my children’s novel with fresh eyes.

Kate taught us to look beneath the surface of our manuscript and check for common structural mistakes. We went through structure and chapter openings and closings, voice, point of view, narrative distance … yes, all in six hours!

I could take what Kate taught in six hours and spend six years applying it to my writing!

But instead, I’ve spent a few hours every day this week – after my paid editing work – taking Kate’s suggestions and working it into my manuscript. I’ve deleted one chapter entirely and dispersed another chapter throughout my book. I’ve given one chapter which had been bugging me for ages higher stakes. I’ve added a few lines here and there to help the reader connect more with my protagonist.

My structure is tight now – nothing is superfluous, everything is working hard to contribute to the narrative arc of the story. I’ve examined my iceberg from both above and below the surface.

I’m back in Sydney this weekend for the final part of the Story Doctor course – time to focus on polishing my language. I’m also going to the SCBWI conference – a chance to learn writing techniques in workshops and listen to publisher panels.

Family meals have been a bit skimpy this week – bolognaise from the freezer, baked potatoes etc. I suspect next week might be similar …

One of the pencil notes in the margins of my tattered Yr 11 copy of Macbeth, says – ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ is theme for Macbeth. Another note says ‘Macbeth is easily manipulated by Lady Macbeth.’ Miss 12 says my 16-year-old handwriting is exactly the same today. Hopefully my understanding of Macbeth has matured, even if my handwriting hasn’t!

My husband and I took a group of Mr 15’s mates to see Macbeth performed in the Melbourne Botanical Gardens this week by the talented Australian Shakespeare Company. It was the coldest night of the week – as Macbeth said to one of the thanes, ‘t’was a rough night’ – but we huddled on picnic blankets and low-rise chairs in coats and watched the performance.

Mr 15 and his mates are studying Macbeth at school this year – such synchronicity that the play was also performed this year! The boys have studied Shakespeare before but hadn’t seen a play performed. They hadn’t started the play at school yet and I did offer to give them a brief synopsis but they decided they’d wait to watch the play unfold. (Who’d want to listen to a mate’s mum discuss literature when you could discuss so many other interesting topics!)

We all enjoyed the play, and the boys had lots of questions at the interval. I was impressed by the way they engaged with the story and could predict what might happen in the second half of the play. It’s certainly easier to understand Shakespeare when either reading it aloud in class or seeing it performed – too hard to read it by yourself.

One of the themes is that of prophecy – the three witches share their prophecy with Macbeth that he will become Thane of Cawdor, then King of Scotland. From that point on, Macbeth acts to fulfil the prophecy, even though at one stage he decides to let chance have his way – ‘If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me/ Without my stir’.

Perhaps this is why I don’t like reading – or believe – the horoscopes in the papers. How can I possibly fit into one of 12 types? And if I’m told I’m going to have a bad day, will I believe it because it rains on the day I’m going to an outdoor theatre performance? But if I’m told I’ll meet with opportunity, will I be grateful I had the chance to introduce teenage boys to a Shakespeare play performance?

The boys were all very grateful they saw the play – or so they told me! We’ll see how well they ‘screw their courage to the sticking place’ when it comes to writing an essay on Macbeth next semester.

I am equally divided – happy the kids are back at school and life is back in its usual rhythm but disappointed that all the unscheduled days are gone. Perhaps you feel the same?

Our holidays were lovely and relaxed – swimming, long meals with friends, kids constantly in and out of the house, more time to read, watching lots of cricket and tennis on tv, salads and ice-cream for dinner – perfect!

One of my wonderful brothers gave me The Little Library Cookbook by Kate Young for Christmas. It’s a recipe book, based on food mentioned in classic books. So there are 100 recipes from Harry Potter,  Love in the time of cholera, The book thief, Winnie-the-Pooh, To kill a mocking bird, Like water for chocolate, etc – and Anne of Green Gables.

Perhaps you remember the scene from Anne of Green Gables where scatter-brained Anne works very hard to make a layer cake for Mr and Mrs Allen, the minister and his wife. Anne is worried about whether the cake will rise but ‘the cake did rise, however, and came out of the oven as light and feathery as golden foam.’ Anne, ‘in her imagination, saw Mrs Allen eating it and possibly asking for another piece!’ However, Mrs Allen has a peculiar expression on her face after taking the first mouthful because Anne has used anodyne liniment instead of vanilla in the cake.

Mindful of Anne’s disaster, I concentrated very hard when baking this cake, because, as Anne says, ‘cakes have such a terrible habit of of turning out bad just when you especially want them to be good’. While it baked and then cooled, Miss 12 and I watched the 1985 version of Anne of Green Gables with Megan Follows.

Well, I have to say – with all modesty – the cake was delicious! It was light and moist, and Mr 9 decided it had become his number 1 cake instead of my chocolate fondant cake.

Flushed with success, I’m now planning to cook the crab and avocado salad from The Bell Jar and an enormous round chocolate cake from Matilda. I’ll keep you posted.

My favourite days of the year are these grace days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. There’s a sense of slowing down, of breathing space, of clarity.

There’s time to bake a show-stopper of a dessert for three hours or there’s fifteen minutes to rustle up something for dinner using leftovers. There’s time to watch the cricket or play it in the backyard. There’s definitely time to read a book for more than twenty minutes.

There’s time to be really present with family and friends, to ask about plans and dreams for next year, and there’s time to play with the kids and let them make a big mess because there’s time to clean it up.

I find that because my mind isn’t filled with excursion notices and basketball training and how-can-we-run-out-of-milk again, that there’s more space to plan and dream. It’s more than just relaxing – it’s reminding myself of what’s really important and how I can make space for that.

It’s so lovely to have no plans or obligations – just spontaneous bike rides with the kids, walks with our newish puppy, reading on the couch (in the middle of the day!), watching the cricket, drinking my new literary tea (thanks, KK!) and maybe trying out a recipe or two from my new cookbook.

Wishing you lots of time for your passions and dreams, and your family and friends over these grace days.

Thank you for reading my blog this year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that 2019 is wonderful for you! I’m taking a break from blogging for a few weeks – see you soon!

Karen x

I’m running some more writing workshops for kids in the school holidays. This time we’re looking at developing fabulous story worlds and creating interesting characters. The workshops are for 8-12 year-old children.

I’m so passionate about encouraging kids to both express themselves creatively and to communicate with purpose.

In these workshops, young writers will learn how to write with passion, using art and games to spark ideas.

Writer’s Notebook

Each child will work in a special Writer’s Notebook, which contains prompts for further writing, reading suggestions, editing tips and much more. The Writer’s Notebook is a useful tool to take home for writing at school and home.

The writing workshops cater for children who are passionate readers and writers, as well as children who need a little more encouragement.

Dates

• Tuesday 15th January – 10am-1pm – 8-12 year-old kids – mapping a story world
• Thursday 17th January – 10am-1pm – 8-12 year-old kids – creating characters
• Tuesday 22nd January – 10am-1pm – 8-12 year-old kids – mapping a story world
• Thursday 24th January – 10am-1pm – 8-12 year-old kids – creating characters

Venue
All workshops will be held at Side Door – 72 Willsmere Rd, Kew. It’s a fabulous space, with an indoor section for writing and an outdoor section for breaks and games, and is next door to Flatiron, fashion and homewares store. All participants will receive a Flatiron voucher for 10% off purchases on the day of the workshop – something for the parents! For more information about Side Door, please see www.flatironmelbourne.com.au/side-door/ or email Emma Bangay at emma@flatironmelbourne.com.au  

Logistics

BYO – drink bottle and snack.

All writing materials will be supplied.

Cost for each workshop is $50. Payment must be made by Friday 11th January.

Karen Comer
Acc. no: 1119 3537
BSB: 063-791

Please email me at karen@karencomer.com.au to register your child and bring the signed form  – link here – to the workshop.

Please forward this post on to your friends and family. I’m really looking forward to working with your children to create some amazing stories!

Younger readers are usually five to eight-year-olds – an exciting age where chapter books become a rite of passage. Of course, there are still five-year-olds who are mastering their sounds and at the other end of the spectrum, there are eight-year-olds who have already read the first Harry Potter novel.

The following list of titles are wonderful stand-alone books. These books are probably more for 8-10 year-old readers, but can be enjoyed as a story to listen to first, then as a book to read alone.

• Brindabella by Ursula Dubosarsky – this is a truly beautiful story about a boy Pender who finds a young joey in her dead mother’s pouch. Most of the story is told from Pender’s perspective but there are a few chapters from the joey Brindabella’s point of view. It would be a lovely story to read in class or at bedtime – I can’t imagine too many children who wouldn’t enjoy listening to a story about a kangaroo who is torn between the boy who loves her and her freedom in the bush. There are also gorgeous illustrations by Andrew Joyner.

• Have sword, will travel by Garth Nix and Sean Williams – Odo has never intended to have any adventures, even though his best friend, Eleanor, would like some. But when Odo pulls a talking sword out from the dried-up riverbed, he and Eleanor begin a quest to find and slay the dragon responsible for drying up their river. This is a classic quest story with lots of humour – and a great title! There’s a sequel available now.

• Flora and Ulysses by Kate diCamillo – this is a graphic novel with words by Kate DiCamillo and comic-book style illustrations by K. G. Campbell. Flora’s parents are separated, there’s an odd but intriguing boy who’s moved in next door with his aunt and there’s a squirrel who writes poetry. This book is about the loss of hope and finding it again – and this sensitive subject is told with heaps of humour by eccentric characters. I’m definitely going to read this one with Mr 9 these holidays.

• Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead – Livy (ten and a half) has come back with her mother and baby sister from Massachusetts to visit Gran in Australia. Livy knows she’s forgotten things since her last visit five years ago. She certainly can’t remember the name of the green zombie (who’s not really a zombie) who’s wearing a chicken suit, lives in a closet and has been waiting for her to come back for the last five years. Livy tries to help Bob find a way back home by remembering how he saved her, and then how she saved him. The story is fresh and original – it’s a quest book and there’s magic but there’s nothing predictable about it. There are themes of friendship and memory, and a small thread of rain and droughts.

Many kids in this age group love series because it feels like such an accomplishment to have read some or all of the series, because it’s fun to compare notes with friends and because it’s fun to look forward to the next book.

Some fabulous series for this age group include:

• Billy B Brown by Sally Rippin
• Hey Jack by Sally Rippin
• Tom Gates by Liz Pichon
• The treehouse series by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
• The bad guys by Aaron Blabey

More sophisticated series include:

• The impossible quest by Kate Forsyth
• The mapmaker chronicles by A.L. Tait
• Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrow

Happy Christmas shopping and reading!

December is very demanding, isn’t it? It seems that my three kids at three different schools have more break-up parties, Christmas concerts, end of year assemblies than I can attend.

There’s also five family birthdays to celebrate – my husband and Mr 14, almost 15 – included.

I find it hard to fit in all the Christmas things that are meaningful to me, among the Christmas things that seem to take priority. And it’s not that any of those concerts or gatherings are terrible – it’s just that the combination of extroversion and commercialism can be a little exhausting.

So this list is my non-negotiable one for Christmas

• watch at least one Christmas movie with the kids.
• spend a day baking, then spend a night with two close friends to wrap our baked goods and create hampers for teachers and neighbours – this is one of my favourite Christmas things to do.
• buy at least 90% of my presents in November – I can’t stand the idea of going into a shopping centre in December.
• make something, if not a few things. Last year, I sewed Christmas stockings in linen with red and white trimmings. This year, I’m going to sew some linen stars – yes, notice the traditional French theme going on! Crafting gives my hands something to do, while my mind slows down and stops racing.
• take the kids for a walk or drive along the streets that participate in Christmas lights.
• make peppermint bark with the kids – we always make extra and there is still never enough to go around!
• go to Christmas Eve mass – our kids have been angels and shepherds when they were younger.  I’m not sure whether Mr 9 is still up for a role this year …
• celebrate the December birthdays at two different gatherings.
• decorate the tree together – we try to wait until the December birthdays are over.
• decorate a gingerbread house – I shut my eyes and try to ignore all the lollies.
• celebrate Christmas Day with a meal with both families.
• open our Advent calendar each day. We have a tradition of mainly notes with only the odd toy or chocolate. Every day, a note tells the kids what Christmas festivity we are going to do that day – as elaborate as decorating the gingerbread house or as simple as showing kindness to someone. It has taken me a few years to hone this art, and to me, this is one of the most important things we do in December to focus on Christmas our way with creativity and connection.
• buy a new Christmas book – we do have quite the collection now!

And everything else is extra. We’ll go to most of the Christmas gatherings we’re invited to, but it’s not possible to go to all of them. We’ll stay up later some nights but I will tuck myself in bed early as often as I can. There’ll be a little more chocolate and champagne than usual but we’ll have more salad and summer fruit as well. There’ll be more money spent than at any other time of the year, but we’ll donate to a charity or two and will do our best not to give in to the general sense of consumerism by avoiding the shops.

And what’s on your non-negotiable list for Christmas?

Young adult fiction is strong in Australia right now, with adults as well as teenagers reading it. It’s a loose term and applies to the age group of 12-20 year-olds, rather than any genre. Within young adult fiction, there’s romance, crime, mystery, historical fiction and so on. It’s always a good idea to find out the age of the main character – that will give you a clue as to the appropriate age group if you’re choosing books for younger readers. Kids are aspirational readers and like to read about characters who are a year or two older than themselves. So a fourteen-year-old might be interested in a sixteen-year-old character but a book with an eighteen-year-old character might not be suitable for a thirteen-year-old. These are such loose guidelines – every book is unique! Here’s a list of my favourite young adult books which I read this year.

I am out with lanterns by Emily Gale – This book is told from seven different perspectives, which means that readers understand someone like Ben, who appears rather nasty to Wren, because we see his point of view and know what’s going on in his life. Most of the characters are about to start year 10. It’s the story of – Adie, who’s moved back to a home she lived in as a kid – Wren, a talented artist who likes both girls and boys – Milo, an autistic teenager who thinks he loves Wren – Sophie, Milo’s younger sister who gets caught up in a horrible online situation –  Juliet, who can remember everything that ever happened to her and anyone she knows – Hari, who also loves Wren and Ben, whose bullying tactics hide his far-from-perfect home life. I loved all the characters and felt it was so fresh, so contemporary. I hope Mr 14 will end up reading it.

The disturbed girls’ dictionary by Nonieqa Ramos – this book definitely deserves a blog post on its own, because yes, it is a disturbing read. I don’t think we – or our teenager readers – should shy away from reading something disturbing. This book transported me away to fifteen-year-old Macy’s life, where she lives with her mother in a small, one-bedroom apartment. She used to live there with her dad and younger brother but her dad’s now in prison and her brother was taken away by child protection services. Macy wants her mum to get a job instead of entertaining numerous men so that her brother can come back. But at least they’re not living in a car any more. Macy’s best friend, Alma, is becoming more distant and is trying to move away from her life of looking after her numerous younger siblings. Written in the form of dictionary definitions, Macy’s voice is strong, offensive, unapologetic and full of swearing. The front cover of the book has a picture of an old, rusty bath – to represent Macy’s bed when her mother’s ‘guests’ sleep over. A compelling and different read for fourteen-year-olds and up.

Catching Teller crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina – this is an exciting book, published this year about ‘the enduring strength of Aboriginal women and girls’ (quote taken from the writers’ notes at the back of the book). Beth Teller, fifteen, is dead, but she’s not reunited with her Aboriginal mother who died a long time ago. Instead, she and her white Australian dad can still communicate. Her dad’s a detective and Beth is trying to help him solve a case so she can ease him away from his sadness over her death. The story is told from Beth’s point of view as well as Isobel Catching’s – she has a connection to the case that Beth and her dad are trying to understand. The writers explain that ‘we are Aboriginal storytellers, but we are two voices amongst the many Aboriginal peoples and nations of Australia and we speak for ourselves alone; there is not a single Aboriginal story, nor a definitive Aboriginal experience.’ I’m going to pass this on to Miss 12 to read – it’s a great book for 12-15 year-olds.

His dark materials by Phillip Pullman – The first book of the trilogy, Northern Lights, introduces us to Lyra, a young orphan girl who lives with the Scholars in an alternative Oxford. Lyra is given a special instrument called an alethiometer which uses layers of symbols to tell the truth. The Master of Oxford tells Lyra to learn how to read it for herself once she has been taken to live and work with Mrs Coulter, a fascinatingly beautiful woman. But Mrs Coulter proves to be as confusing and sinister as she is beautiful, and Lyra escapes when she realises she might end up as one of the kidnapped children who have been taken from Oxford. Lyra’s quest to understand the alethiometer and to find her friends Roger and Billy who have been kidnapped by the Oblation Board brings her into contact with the gyptians, who support her. Younger teen readers will enjoy it, and it’s also suitable for 11 and 12 year-olds but it’s a thick trilogy and quite intense. I loved it! There is action, a quest theme, high stakes, the continual problem of who to trust and an amazing fantasy world with witches, talking bears, angels, humans and their daemons. You can read a longer review here.

Begin, end, begin – a #Love Ya anthology edited by Danielle Binks – some of my favourite authors have contributed to this anthology – Ellie Marney, Melissa Keill, Jaclyn Moriarty and seven other Australian young adult authors. An anthology could be a great way to tempt reluctant teens into reading again – just one short story, that’s all you have to read! It’s also a good way to find new authors through their short stories. There’s a mix of stories told from the point of view of girls and boys. My only complaint is that the cover is more directed to girls with its floral theme. There’s a new edition coming out next month  – perhaps that one will have a more appealing cover for boys? This book is young adult fiction at its best – smart, sassy, perceptive.

The road to winter by Mark Smith – this book is the story of Finn, whose community has been wiped out by a deadly flu which killed his parents. He’s managed to survive for two winters alone on the coast, keeping out of sight from the Wilders. Everything changes when he sees Rose on the beach – she needs help. I found this book gripping and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel. This would be a great book for 13-16 year-old readers.

Other wonderful YA authors include Ellie Marney (her Circus Hearts is out now and is on my list of books to read), Melissa Keill (I loved The incredible adventures of Cinnamon Girl), Jaclyn Moriarty (also the author of the middle grade book, The inconvenient adventures of Bronte Mettlestone) and Cath Crowley (I loved her Graffiti moon and Words in deep blue).

And the winner from last week’s giveaway is – JANE! Congratulations, Jane – I’ll be in touch to deliver your book! Thanks to everyone who left a comment.

Happy Christmas shopping!