May: Back to the Writing Board

The Month So Far:

Okay, so the month hasn't been overly long, yet, but I missed posting last month, so you get this one for free.

This week, I'm back to writing Out of the Blue. Quite the accomplishment. I felt especially accomplished once I looked back at my February post and realised I was on 19,000 words then. I just passed 21,000 yesterday.

-.-

This morning, I had a visit from a side character who doesn't get introduced to the story until 20,000 words in, but I think he might end up being another of my favourite characters. At 8.30 this morning, he decided he just had to share this with me.

I'm loving this series of books. I'm getting a lot of short stories out of it that I can throw at publications.

Speaking of, I've had a small one this week, a section of a larger piece, at this blog: http://littleravenpublishing.com/2014/05/02/featured-writer-nicole-field-nee-fergusson/

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And books. I've been reading so many and I feel quite snowed under by my current set. The only problem with borrowing from a library is that they have to be read within a certain time.

This month, I had a bit of a difficult time figuring out which was the most truly amazing and stand out book I'd read since last month. Philippa Gregory and Laini Taylor are hard acts to follow. Still, I think a compelling argument can be made for the first book in Catherynne M. Valente's series The Girl Who Circumnativated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. 


This could be seen as a children's book. Certainly, the subject matter of a 12 year old girl getting pulled out of her own life and going through a fairy tale-esque adventure could be seen as aimed at kids. And I would be right behind that, except for the lyrical writing.

It is at times lyrical, whimsical, self-referential and literary. The narrator herself is almost a character in the story, but not in such a way that it takes away from the narrative or others characters. Every part of this story is planned in such a way as to make it all look effortless and, again, that is just another part of its charm. By the second chapter in, I wanted to quote every line.

These little illustrations at the beginning of each chapter were just the cherry and icing.

I'd only read Palimpsest by Catherynne before, but somehow The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland made me immediately run out and grab Deathless, which I've been vaguely meaning to read since it came out in 2011.

March: Queermance #1 Book Launch

The month so far:

So, aside from a whole bunch of personal stuff that has been keeping me particularly quiet on here this month (which I may or may not post eventually in detail) I've had a really good couple of days.

-On Monday, I was advised that a short story I put in for a Queermance short story anthology had been accepted.
-On Tuesday, I realised Kerry Greenwood was one of the other authors to be featured in the same anthology!!!
-On Wednesday, I was asked to do a reading for the launch. Which was going to be on Friday @ Hares and Hyenas in Fitzroy, Melbourne. IE: The first time I've been in the same country where my writing is being published (eeeeee!)
-On Thursday, I worked myself into a panic attack, which was not fun.
-On Friday (yesterday) I managed to pick myself out, drag myself out of the house and successfully did a reading of a portion of my story that appears in an anthology that was just 6 weeks from conception to publication.

That happened to look a lot like this:

Yes, I am really that tiny, but also it was nice that the audience wasn't right in our faces there, although the lighting was very bright.

The most exciting thing for me, apart from being able to meet and greet with everyone who had had a hand in putting the publication together, was actually one of the names that went into Q: Queermance Volume 1. 

When I was a strapping young aspiring author of about nineteen, I happened to stalk go to a library run campaign called Meet the Authors. One of the authors to appear was none other than Melbourne based Kerry Greenwood. I remember sitting very patiently while she spoke and at the end I went up to her, asking what advice she would give to someone wanting to get published.

Last night, ten years later, I was featured in an anthology with her. I don't even know how to start to describe what that experience felt like.

Q: Queermance Volume 1 is a short story anthology which includes eleven retold fairytales with gay and lesbian protagonists. It was put together in six weeks with the amazing work of Lindy Cameron from Clan Destine Press in Melbourne and Jacob Coates from Jaffa Books in Brisbane

It turns out that said anthology is a little hard to Google search, though, so here's a little help. Q: Queermance Volume 1 can be found --

Here at Clan Destine Press
Here on Amazon  
Here on Smashwords

On reading in the last month, my new glasses have led new life into the pasttime and I'm able to get through so much more than I ever could! (Actually, that probably made the reading last night far more manageable too.)


By far and away my favourite book so far this month has to be Wideacre by Philippa Gregory. I'd been meaning to read this book for ages, so long in fact that I had managed to collect all three books in the series very cheaply. Had I known how completely immersed I was going to be in the story, I don't think I would have been able to wait.

The best description I've come upon for Wideacre is that it's a strange mis-match of 1999's Cruel Intentions  and basically anything written by Jane Austen. The main character is Beatrice, a young woman who loves her family home very much but is unable to inherit. Unlike in Cruel Intentions, there are very clear reasons underlying each and every one of Beatrice's actions. Also, I find her a very capable character to be behind the wheel with, which just keeps me page turning even when the events in the story are alarmingly high stakes or off-putting.

I read and loved her Tutor series, was kind of turned off by her contemporary writing, so this series could have been very hit or miss.

November Reading List 2013.

Yes, I am just crazy enough not to be slacking on books while writing NaNoWriMo this month. Boy, do I have a list of books I'm excited to read this month! I hardly think there's an author in here that I haven't been excited enough to either make a post about up till now, or plan to write about soon enough.

Grave Surprise.

This is the first of many of my continued series reads. Last year, I started the first one in Charlaine Harris' series after it was given to me for free. I've always meant to get back to it. Luckily, there are a bunch of readers on Goodreads who are happy to join me in that aim.

Magic Strikes.

The second continued series read. This book series just keeps getting better and better. Not quite as amazing as Patricia Briggs (I know, I'm a hard judge), but more in keeping with a female Dresden by Jim Butcher. As with that series, the more we get to know about this world, the more and more I'm being dragged into it.

Ship of Destiny.

This is actually the last book in a series, so at least one series will be closing up for me this month. Totally reason for me to start a whole bunch of new series? Whether it is or not, that's what I've got coming up this month!

Wideacre.

I first fell in love with Philippa Gregory reading The Queen's Fool. This is a very different time and type of story. Still historical, the main narrative point that has jumped out at me is that it involves incest between brother and sister. Intriguing, I say.

Charmed Life.

Another first book in a series. This also doubles as my young adult token read of the month. Apparently this is the woman who has taken a large hand in defining Young Adult writing as we currently read it. Published in 1977, I can't wait to see where Young Adult writing has developed from.

Five Quarters of the Orange.

For all I know, this is another young adult-ish read. Heavy on the "ish" as this is not usually the style of writing that Joanne Harris employs. However, what I do know about this novel is that it's meant to be a book primarily about childhood. So. It's not part of a series, but it is the second book I've read by her this year.

Shelf Life.

This book doesn't appear in the picture, largely because I have it on ebook format. Still, I have been waiting for the next great book from Stephanie Lawton, and I have been lucky enough to score an ARC just before release. Be assured, there will be more written about this book to come!

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As ever, feel free to follow my progress on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878229.Nicole_D_Fergusson