Wendy's Writing World
But how could you live and have no story to tell? ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, White Nights
Dear Reader,
Have I any fresh stories about Patrick? Besides my suspicion that his habit of walking over the keyboard of my laptop has changed some of my settings, not really. Of course, he continues his determination to get out of our house to explore. Fortunately, when he does escape (he is so fast!), he never goes too far and is easy to coax back inside.
The new novel is moving along well – although, it has already become clear my concept for this work equals an extremely challenging mountain climb. But, then, I suspect anyone writing a novel finds it a challenging mountain climb. I know this is the case for me, but passion drives me up my mountains. I have written about this process before:
There is something quite magical about creating something out of nothing – when the first blank page becomes the threshold to stepping into a world inhabited by my characters, before I inhabit my characters themselves. It is when I take my work through subsequent drafts, the ghost of the work begins to gain true substance. Through the drafting process, I scrape away at the palimpsest of my textual ghost for the work to seize its life, its purpose for coming into being – first for me as its writer, and then, through more scraping, to connect to the reader. Once I have the clay of my first draft and start the process of shaping my bricks, building my work as if inside out, then more and more objectivism is called for until such time my creation is complete.
I am a long way from having a complete first draft of this new work, but I already have a strong sense of the story I want to tell. It is a story I feel excited about, despite the mountain I will first need to conquer to tell this story well.
SAVE THE DATE!
Join us at Eltham Library (Victoria, Australia) on the 15th of March to hear your favourite female writers speak, take part in engaging in workshops, and delve into the world of historical writing (fiction and non-fiction).
This year’s guests include:
Leah Kaminsky
Leah Kaminsky is a physician and award-winning writer. Her debut novel, The
Waiting Room, won the Voss Literary Prize. The Hollow Bones won both the Literary
Fiction and Historical Fiction categories of the 2019 International Book Awards,
and the 2019 American Book Fest’s Best Book Award for Literary Fiction. She is the
author of ten books and holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Alison Goodman
Alison is the author of eight novels and her most recent release, The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies, is an adventure/mystery set in the Regency era. It is the first book in The Ill-Mannered Ladies series and was recently long-listed in the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Award.
Her award winning Lady Helen dark fantasy trilogy has been described as ‘Buffy meets Pride and Prejudice’. The first book in the series, The Dark Days Club, was a 2017 CBCA Notable Book for Older Readers, a 2017 Bank Street Library Best Book and an NPR Best Book of 2016. The second book, The Dark Days Pact, won the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best YA Novel. The third and final novel in the series, The Dark Days Deceit, was an Aurealis Award finalist …
https://www.alisongoodman.com.au/
Artist turned writer Kate Murdoch is the author of Stone Circle (2017) and The Orange Grove (2019).
Her short-form fiction has been published in literary journals and anthologies in Australia, United Kingdom, United States and Canada.
Stone Circle was a First in Category winner in the Chaucer Awards 2018 for pre-1750’s historical fiction. The Orange Grove was a finalist in the Chaucer Awards 2019 for pre-1750’s historical fiction.
Kate was awarded a KSP Fellowship at the KSP Writers’ Centre in 2019. In 2024, she travelled to France for a writing residency at the Chateau d’Orquevaux.
https://katemurdochauthor.com/
Marion Taffe
Marion Taffe grew up surrounded by history. As a teenager, she spent weekends dressed in Edwardian costume while showing tourists around the living museum that was her family home. After a 20-year journalism career, Marion started writing her own stories. She is a recent graduate of RMIT’s Professional Writing and Editing and her debut novel is coming early 2025 (HarperCollins). Set in the tenth century Mercia during the reign of war leader and diplomat Lady Æthelflæd, the novel explores women’s strength, rage and creativity. It is a tribute to the many women whose written words have been lost to time.
https://www.mariontaffe.com/
Keren Heenan
Keren Heenan has won a number of Australian short story awards, placed 2nd in the Fish Prize, and was a winner of the Griffith Review Novella Project 2019. Published in Australian journals and anthologies, including Island, Overland, Griffith Review, and Award Winning Australian Writing, and also in anthologies and online in the US, UK, and Ireland.
https://kerenheenan.wordpress.com/
Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour Excerpts
