The Melbourne Writers Festival is on at the moment – I went to hear novelist Sonia Orchard speak about her latest novel, Into the fire.

It’s a story about womanhood and friendship, even though Sonia told us she didn’t set out to write a book about friendship. Lara, the protagonist, and her friend Alice, become friends when they meet in the Women’s Studies department at Melbourne University but as they grow into young adults, they make different choices which leads to a drifting in their friendship.

Readers know from the beginning that Alice was killed in a home fire. The story begins when Lara is returning to visit Alice’s husband and three children, a year after Alice died.

Tali Lavi, who interviewed Sonia, noted that as soon as you have finished reading the book, you want to flick back through it to find out when your ideas about what happened changed. Doesn’t that make you want to read this book?

I’m halfway into this novel but I’m so intrigued by the characters and their choices that I suspect cooking dinner, washing clothes and puppy-walking may fall by the wayside in order for me to sneak a few more chapters in. It also brings back memories of being a young Melbourne Arts student, with three-thousand word essays to write and lectures about obscure writers to attend.

A few years ago, I attended a writing workshop with Sonia about time management techniques for writers. Sonia encouraged us to fill out a few questions sheets, which I still pull out and use now when I’m stuck or have lost my way. Sonia had both practical and empathetic strategies, as well as a range of questions which made me consider my writing style and habits in all sorts of different ways.

Sonia’s article about feeling as if she’d failed her three daughters when she struggled to maintain a writing career while looking after her young children, also struck a chord with me. Women writers need more than a room of their own now – they also need a nanny, a virtual assistant and a cleaner.

Might be time to fill in Sonia’s worksheets again.

On a whim, I took my three kids to see The Lion King after school one day last week.

When the original movie came out in 1994, all the kids at the after-school-care program where I worked knew every single word and were constantly singing the soundtrack.

When we watched the current film, Mr 10 sang the chorus to almost every song. (Apologies to anyone in the same cinema as us!)

When I saw the original movie, I went on a date with a guy I didn’t know very well. We came out of the cinema, and I asked, ‘There were so many parts that reminded me of Hamlet – did you study that play in school?’

He didn’t know Hamlet. And we didn’t have another date. (These two facts may or may not be related!)

Watching the current film with my kids reminded me again of the similar themes. So forgive me – I’m about to have that conversation with my date from 20 odd years ago!

So Hamlet is a Shakespeare play about a son, a young prince, who has recently lost his father. Hamlet finds out that his father, the king, was poisoned, and as his mother has recently remarried his uncle, his father’s brother, he is suspicious of his uncle.

The funeral-baked meats did
coldly furnish forth the wedding table.

Such an apt way to explain there was not much time between Hamlet’s father’s funeral and his mother’s second wedding! We might call it a rebound in modern times!

In The Lion King, young Simba, the lion cub, future king, is convinced by his Uncle Scar that he is responsible for his father’s death. Scar tells Simba to run away and never return, and Scar then ascends the throne. However, Sarabi, Simba’s mother, is not at all tempted to be Scar’s queen, no matter how threatening Scar is to her and the other lionesses.

Both Hamlet and Simba see the ghosts of their fathers, and both of them are acutely aware of missing their fathers.

Hamlet comes to an untimely death as there was definitely ‘something rotten in the state of Denmark.’ But Simba returns to Pride Rock, defeats Scar and the hyenas and becomes king – following the circle of life as he and his queen produce a cub.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads – all kings to their kids. Hugs to all those who are missing their dads – the circle of life is not always easy to accept.

Thud, thud, thud – can you hear the cacophony of balls at the stadium?

Last night I went to an exciting game of basketball between the Australian Boomers and the USA. A friend had organised tickets for Mr 10’s basketball team, and there were a few parents to supervise – lucky, lucky me!

Both my sons play basketball, my middle-grade book is about basketball and I’ve recently read a couple of books about basketball. Whenever I watch my boys play basketball, as well as chatting to other parents and watching the silky-smooth moves of my boys and their mates, I’m trying to put into words the sound of the ball thudding on the court and to work out how to describe a lay-up movement or the feeling a player has when their ball swishes through the ring.

The game last night was exciting and fast-paced (even though the Boomers lost), and the pre-game entertainment was fun.

There are quite a few novels about basketball at different levels. The first one I’ve reviewed below is great for 10-14 year-olds, the last two are more suitable for teen readers.

Crossover by Kwame Alexander – I loved, loved this one. I borrowed it from the library but I’ll buy my own copy. It’s a verse novel, which means the story is told in poems. I’ve already decided this is the next book to read aloud with Mr 10. The character is 12, so be aware that there are older issues here – his twin brother has a girlfriend and his Dad is not well.  The rhythm, language and rhyme – as well as the fabulous plot – really makes this book worthy of the Newberry Medal. Look at this clip where Alexander reads one of his poems – his writing is just as warm and humorous as he is. Imagine opening up your kids’ eyes to the possibilities of a story being told in poems, with a thudding basketball rhythm to boot. So awesome!

The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian by Sharman Alexie – this is for teen readers – the protagonist deals with racism, alcoholism and puberty. The 14-year-old protagonist, Junior, is such a self-deprecating story-teller, and it’s easy to immerse yourself in his world. He’s skinny, stutters, has a big head, is a cartoonist and decides to leave his school in the ‘rez’ and go to the all-white high school miles away. I read it earlier this year, and when I flicked through it again for this review, I wanted to start reading it from cover to cover – again.

Take the shot by Susan White – this debut novel was published only this month. Bug has to keep his new basketball team a secret from his parents because his genetic illness means he’s not supposed to play high-contact sports. Life has suddenly become complicated for 14-year-old Bug when his family moves house to live with his Nana and he starts a new school. Themes include genetic illnesses, attraction to girls, friendships.

All three of these books feature male protagonists who love basketball. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this blog, it’s wonderful when girls read books about male protagonists and vice versa. But the book I’m writing has a girl who is passionate about basketball – time to even up the score!

Walking up our driveway to the side door a few weeks ago, I noticed a folded piece of lined paper on the ground. As I picked it up, I could see it had handwriting on the inside so I opened it up in case it was a piece of homework from one of the kids.

It was a letter addressed to Natalie from Mum, in an unfamiliar handwriting.

I don’t know any Natalies who live in my street.

I did read the letter, and it made me feel such warmth to the Mum who wrote it to her daughter, Natalie. I’m guessing that English isn’t the first language of this writer, but she expressed herself so beautifully.

The letter was dated in 2007, and Mum was writing to Natalie because she was going on her first trip away from home in Melbourne to Queensland with friends. There were 6 pieces of advice – numbered – on bedtimes, swimming, health issues, manners, emotions, and drinking and driving.

Mum wanted Natalie to know that she was so proud of her – I think she had recently finished Yr 12 and turned 18 because there was mention of a driving licence and study.

Mum used a beautiful simile – I will miss you big big big … like … ocean!!!

I don’t want to quote anything else from this warm, personal letter. Local friends – do you know a Natalie, maybe around 30 now, with two older brothers, a fabulous fashion sense and a gorgeous Mum? I would love to return her letter to her.

I have a couple of boxes of cards and letters from friends, parents, grandparents, work colleagues, and maybe once a year or so I flick through them. There’s something so nostalgic about reading old notes and remembering where you were at a particular point in time when a friend reached out to you. I have a lovely note from a friend when one of my grandmothers died, funny, grammatically incorrect notes from my kids, beautiful love letters from my husband, kind thank-you notes from friends.

It’s so quick and convenient to send text messages or emails but reading a handwritten note is almost a tactile experience and seems embedded with more thought and connection.

It would be easy to invent a story about Natalie and her Mum, springing off from this letter. Perhaps Natalie never came back from her Queensland holiday because she found a surfer boyfriend? Perhaps her two big brothers and her Dad came up to find her? Perhaps Natalie was suffocated by her mother’s advice? Perhaps she deliberately ignored her mother’s bedtime suggestion and the advice to swim between the flags?

But the real story is the very obvious love that this Mum has for her Natalie.

I so appreciate that ‘Love your bookshop’ day – Saturday 10th August – happens around the same time as my birthday! I’ve been banned by my family from buying any books but as long as they are supporting our local bookshop, I don’t mind at all.

After all, I support our local bookshop throughout the whole year, not just on one particular day!

Here are ten reasons why you should find time tomorrow to mosey into your favourite bookshop:

• buy yourself a treat – readers deserve treats!
• learn about a new topic with a non-fiction book
• spice up your cooking with a new cookbook
• become the favourite person for your child/grandchild/niece/nephew and buy them a book
• give yourself a wonderful reason to stay in, get cosy and hunker down on a winter’s evening with a glass of red or cup of tea and read
• flick through a beautiful coffee-table book with glossy photos
• make a head start on your Christmas shopping – think how good you’ll feel!
• buy two or three copies of a juicy novel and give them to your friends – so you can discuss over a coffee
• support a favourite author – they usually receive only ten percent of the sale price of their book
• have a chat with the passionate bookshop staff who love reading and love discussing all things literary with customers

Have I convinced you? Please report back!

I have rushed into many a school sick bay for my children. There was the time Mr 10 was concussed during a PE lesson. And the time there was a call to pick up Mr 15, then 5. It ended up with a doctor appointment, then a five-day hospital stay – while I was eight and a half months pregnant with baby number 3. Fun times!

Thankfully, most of the time, a calm but purposeful walk into the sick bay, a big hug, a quick sign-out and a rest on the couch was all that was necessary.

Nova Weetman’s book, Sick Bay, tells the story of two grade 6 girls, who don’t have much to do with each other at school but end up getting to know each other in the sick bay. Riley has diabetes, Meg relies on breathing in brown paper bags to keep her calm.

The story is told from both girls’ perspectives in alternating chapters. Meg’s mother is not coping very well after Meg’s dad’s unexpected death. Riley’s mum is protective (controlling?) about her daughter’s diabetes.

Chapter by chapter, the girls edge towards friendship with a few hiccups along the way.

For anyone who feels a little different and has tried to hide it, this is a perfect book for 10-12 year-old girls. It’s an age for friendship dramas, and the end of grade six is such an important stage. Sick Bay thoughtfully presents a range of characters whom readers will adore.

I certainly did!

Nova’s earlier books, The secrets we keep and The secrets we share, are also worth checking out – beautifully written with lots of heart.

Yesterday, I listened to a panel of writers at Readings bookshop talk about the books they read growing up, at ages 8, 12 and 16.

The panelists – YA novelists Nova Weetman, Emily Gale, Allayne Webster and Vikki Wakefield – spoke at the event The readers we were, the writers we became.

There was much hilarious laughter at the overlap between the writers – Judy Blume, Trixie Beldon, Flowers in the attic, Sweet Valley High …

As a kid, I read Anne of Green Gables, Trixie Beldon, Nancy Drew, C. S. Lewis, Judy Blume, all the Billabong books. Plus lots of standalone titles – anything I could find from both the school and local libraries.

Allayne Webster spoke about the importance of reading Deanie by Judy Blume because there was a character who had eczema, and for the first time she saw herself on the page, as a person who had eczema.

Emily Gale remembered feeling that she’d rather be in a book than living her own life, and talked about walking around the streets aimlessly as a teenager, waiting for her life to begin.

Nova Weetman wanted to be Miranda from Picnic at Hanging Rock, and was so disappointed when the final chapter was published years later – the story wasn’t real!

Vikki Wakefield read because she was bored, and found many a trashy novel under the bed of her friend’s parents.

I bought Nova Weetman’s latest middle-grade novel, Sick Bay, because Miss 12 is still sick. She’s been entertaining herself on the couch under a quilt with watching Gilmore Girls. One of the main characters, Rory, talks about books constantly. So Miss 12 has made herself up a reading list of classics – Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, To kill a mockingbird etc. I wonder how many she’ll read and how influential they’ll be. I’m glad Nova’s book will make it to her list, even if it didn’t appear on Gilmour Girls!

Let me know which books you read as a kid which have stayed with you.

At the moment, my favourite book is … the thesaurus! My copy is The Macquarie concise thesaurus, first published in 1985 – I have the 1998 version. Maybe its time for an update! It has an orangey-yellow dust jacket with green edges and the iconic gum leaf symbol in an acrylic painted motif on the front. The keywords are printed in bold and there’s a letter to tell you whether the keyword is a noun, verb or adjective before the suggestions for alternative words.

I use this book all the time in my writing. It’s not a tool for first draft writing but for editing. Every word has to count, every word has to pull its weight, every word has to portray exactly what you want it to say. That’s a lot of pressure on each word! Here’s a few snippets from my middle-grade novel –

Before the thesaurus – The poor mouse is desperate, hitting its head against the front of the trap.

After the thesaurus – The poor mouse is desperate, butting its head against the front of the trap. (Butting sounds more desperate than hitting).

Before the thesaurus – Mum’s voice is a wave of anger coming down the phone.

After the thesaurus – Mum’s voice is a torrent of anger hurling down the phone. (Torrent is a stronger word than wave. Coming is a vague word – hurling has a lot more force).

I attended a writing masterclass with Kate Forsyth in Sydney earlier in the year. She taught us that each word has a connotation and a denotation. Denotation is the literal meaning of the word – sparkle means to shine brightly or to be vivacious or witty. The connotation is the implied meaning, it’s a little more subtle. Sparkle in this case means artistry, fire, happiness, light, to be happy, to bubble, to excel or to shine. The word sparkle can be a verb or a noun.

So sparkle could give readers an impression of creativity, illumination,  accomplishment, festivity, gladness, joy, exuberance, light-heartedness OR can imply to surpass, glow, gleam, shimmer, radiate, burn, flare, twinkle, depending on your purpose and your audience.

If your audience are eight-year-old kids and you’re talking about happiness, you might use the word joy or glad. If your audience is a group of business people and you’re trying to persuade them to improve their customer service, surpass might be the best word. If your audience is a group of women listening to a talk on spirituality, illumination or radiate might work best.

Even if your perfect word isn’t listed in the entry you’re reading, often those synonyms will trigger the right word for you.

I used my thesaurus to show a grade six class the difference in words and their implied meanings. We looked at the word walk, then used the thesaurus to find alternatives – amble, meander,  saunter, roam, stroll, march, parade, swagger, tramp, sashay, hobble, shuffle, totter, traipse … It’s so much fun to do this word with kids and ask them to act out the different ways to move from point A to point B!

I’ll be taking our puppy for a walk today which means that sometimes I’ll be swaggering along with pride as really, she’s just so cute and everyone wants to stop and admire her! But sometimes I’ll be pulled along by her energetic gambol and other times I’ll be ambling along as she’ll stop to sniff everything!

If you were going for a walk today, how would you do it? Would you sashay along city streets? Would you meander along a river? Or would you shuffle through a busy crowd?

As usual, I’ve been reading an eclectic mix of books. I like to mix up my reading material, moving from a middle-grade fantasy book to a contemporary adult novel to a non-fiction book.  Here’s what I’ve been reading over the last few weeks –

• The year of magical thinking by Joan Didion – I’ve been meaning to read this for a while and finally borrowed it from the library. It’s a non-fiction account of the year after the unexpected death of Didion’s husband. Didion describes herself as a ‘cool customer’ so this is no sentimental story but a clear-eyed perspective of how life moves on after death. I found myself holding back tears – it’s a beautiful lovesong to their marriage.

• Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo – I reread this favourite middle-grade novel about Opal and her smiling dog because I just love DiCamillo’s writing. She blends humour and quirkiness with heartfelt observations and moments – something worth savouring again and again. Mr 9 is reading it with me now.

• Boy swallows universe by Trent Dalton – amazing debut novel. A friend lent this to me, and I’m so glad she did because it will definitely be in my top ten books for the year. It’s the story of Eli Bell and his older, mute brother August. After their junkie mother and heroin dealer stepfather are caught up in a drug scandal, the boys are sent to live with their father, whom they haven’t seen for years. Eli has a compelling voice, the novel has an original concept and the ending had me turning pages swiftly to find out what happened next.

• The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris – a non-fiction story of a Jewish man imprisoned at Auschwitz who was responsible for inking the indelible numbers on all incoming prisoners. It’s a love story about the charming Lale who meets Gita in the camp, and a story of triumph and sadness and death and friendships. We read it for our bookclub this month.

• The vein of gold by Julia Cameron – I’m still reading this one, a little bit every morning with my cup of tea before the kids wake up. Renowned creativity writer Julia Cameron has plenty of experience in guiding creatives in all sorts of fields. It’s lovely – and challenging at the same time.

• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert – I almost ran to my local bookshop to buy this one within days of its publication date. Marie Foleo interviews Liz here. I’m only a little way in but I am fully immersed in her world of 1940s showgirls and theatre life.

Let me know what you’ve been reading in the comments. It’s the perfect season for going to bed early with a page-turning book or for sitting by the fire with a compelling book and a hot drink or glass of wine!