Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013 Review of The Paler Shade of Autumn
Erin Golding has written the most beautiful review of my novel, The Paler Shade of Autumn. Her clarity of thought, and ability to see between the layers of this story and witness its core, is truly amazing.
How it all Began
I met a wonderful lady, Erin Golding, on twitter (@eringolding) a couple of months ago. She is an Aussie living in England and is also a writer, having self-published a novel, Run to Me.
As I usually do, I looked through her website, www.healingscribe.com, and realised that I had plenty in common with this woman who lives half a world away. So I emailed her, out of the blue, because I could see our motivations were very similar, and asked if she could do a review of my novel, The Paler Shade of Autumn, for the AWW 2013 Challenge. And she agreed.
You can see the magnificent result here: http://www.healingscribe.com/2013/04/book-review-paler-shade-of-autumn-by.html
For those of you wanting a copy of the Paler Shade of Autumn, you can buy it from all e-tailers world-wide or here: Escape Publishing.
Dream Intervention
I have heard firsthand and read about authors receiving story inspirations from all sorts of places – particularly dreams. But I had never experienced a dream inspiration myself until a couple of weeks ago. And boy, was I supposed to get this message.
I was sound asleep (an essential component to receiving dream inspiration) and began to dream.
I am in a room, sitting at a table next to my sister. She pulls a book out from her bag, and says to me, “This is the best book I’ve read in ages.”
Intrigued as I am hearing a comment like this, I ask her to tell me what the book is about. She says, “It’s about three sisters who all disappear on the same night and they each end up in different places specifically designed for them and based on their true personalities. These places are so eerie, you’d think these sisters were mad. ” (I won’t give away more of the story line as I still need to write this sucker).
Next thing, I woke up and I repeated to myself, as I laid in my bed, remember this dream, please make sure you remember this dream. I soon closed my eyes and drifted back off to sleep, to awaken in the 1800’s.
I’m dressed in a beautiful, black dress with full skirts. I’m walking down a long hallway, upon plush red carpet, lit by wall-mounted candles. And I’m following three men in expensive suits. I end up at a timber writing desk with a quill in my hand and I’m dipping this quill in black ink so I can scrawl across paper a message to myself. I write how I have just received a story idea about three sisters who all disappear on the same night, etc., etc.
I woke up again and I took the hint, loud and clear, this time. I reached for my iPad on my bedside table and wrote the whole thing down.
For my recently published novel, The Paler Shade of Autumn, my ideas didn’t come from a dream, but, more so, were devised out of inspiration from seeing ordinary people doing extraordinary, selfless things.
How have you received inspiration?
Do you see how I see?
I’m driving my son to school and he says to me, “Mum, do you know that how you see the colour blue, may not actually be the way I see the colour blue?”
I say, “Of course I see blue how you see blue. You know the sky is blue and your shirt is blue and… and…”
He says, “Yes, I know that those things are blue, but there is no way to tell if I see blue the same way you do. I may actually see it as red and think that all things that are blue, and shades of blue, are red.”
I think about this more and gasp, because my son is right. I have no idea of knowing how someone else sees colours.
So we talk more about this, posing questions to each other and I say to him, “Try and describe a colour to me. Pretend that I am blind and have never seen the colour blue before and it’s your job to give me an idea of what it looks like.”
Of course, he can’t. I rack my brain trying to find descriptive words to explain a colour to someone else, blind or not. I can’t. It’s impossible. In all our millions of words on the planet, we cannot describe colours to each other. To ever truly understand how another person sees a colour, will we have to create more words? Or devise ways to send mental images of colours from our own mind to others?
After more research, I find out that this lack of ability to describe such things is called an Explanation Gap. This Explanation Gap does make me wonder how much we assume what people experience – taste, smell, feel – is the same way everyone else experiences it. Though many of us will enjoy the same things or abhor the same things, we will never truly understand exactly how one perceives these things. This is because this perception is felt inside our brains. Perception is internal, not external.
Good food for thought, especially because my novel, That Paler Shade of Autumn, revolves around the colours of autumn. Has the image I’ve formed in my mind while writing this novel, about the colours of the beautiful rust, chocolate an ochre maple leaves in Japanese gardens, or the shades my characters possess, be seen in the same way by readers? I guess I’ll never know. I only hope the beauty is translated to each and every reader, regardless of how they, themselves, see blue.
Character Coincidence
With the advent of Google and there being around 7 billion people in the world, the odds are high that your fictional character’s name will be the same as countless real individuals existing on the Earth. But when coincidences in a number of aspects, other than name, occur, are these simple coincidences something more?
Let me tell you about the first experience I had with this.
A couple of years ago I wrote a novel about a World War I soldier whose remains were uncovered in a mass grave in Fromelles, France. This actual discovery was a real event that occurred in 2008 where 250 Australian and English soldiers – lost since the bloody battle of Fromelles, which took place during July 1916 – were discovered in the mass grave. My soldier, whom I created out of thin air to exist in my fictional world, was not real.
In my story, my soldier (a ghost), appears to a young woman while she is visiting this new graveyard in France built especially for these 250 soldiers. As many of these soldiers, still to this day, remain unnamed, my soldier beseeches the young woman to have his remains identified and his name inscribed upon his unmarked gravestone.
This task required a complete search of the soldier’s family tree to find existing family members who could do a DNA test that, when the universe is being kind, will match uncovered remains of the soldiers.
So as a mere writer, and having no experience in researching family tree construction, I had to find as much information as I could on how to undergo this task. The first thing I did, was take the fictitious name I had given to my soldier and type it into Google. What came up astounded me.
Turns out my soldier was a real person. I don’t want to expose anybody in this bog, so I’m going to use another fictitious name (I hope) to demonstrate my point. I had called my soldier, Joe Blogs. When I typed it into Google, I found that there was an actual soldier who fought in World War I called Joe Blogs as well. Except where I had used Joe as the soldier’s first name and Blogs as the last name, the real soldier was called Joe Blogs Jones. Let me say, the name I gave my soldier was very unique and was not something I had ever, in my memory, heard before.
So my solider turns out to be a real soldier, who fought in the same war. But, where my fictitious soldier died during the Battle of Fromelles, the real soldier was one of the fortunate who survived the war, came home and lived to the ripe old age of 86. In fact, there were so many details I was able to find out about the real soldier: where he was stationed overseas, where he trained, what year he signed up for the Army, when he got an STD and had to be hospitalised, who he married, where he was buried, and even how much he bequeathed his wife.
The next coincidence was that the real soldier came from Tasmania. I was originally born in Tasmania. Being a believer in reincarnation, when I found out this detail, I rapidly searched for his year of birth, just to make sure he didn’t die close to my birth year. He didn’t, he was still alive when I was born.
So why am I writing about this real soldier from the same place I was born, who shared the same name as my character and fought in the same war? I don’t know the answer to that. Only that they are sheer coincidences. Coincidences that were set to repeat with my current work-in-progress, based on convicts from England who were transported to Van Diemen’s Land. Both my characters, whose names I, again, plucked from thin air, turned out to be real convicts. Coincidence? Maybe. Something else? Perhaps.But what? I don’t know. What do you think?
By the way, did I mention what I called my novel about the World War I soldier? Beautiful Coincidence, quite a foretelling title. Perhaps a bit of a coincidence in itself.
Check out the coincidences my characters in The Paler Shade of Autumn encounter.
Sneaky, Sneaky at Escape this Valentines…
February 14 – March 15
One romance – 30 authors – 200 words a day – a world first
What happens when 30 Escape authors decide to collaborate to write one short story?
We’re not sure, but we think it will be amazing.
Everyday from Valentine’s day February 14 – March 15 an Escape author will post 200 words on the Escapade Blog.
There’s no master plan. No one knows where this is going until it’s written.
It’s Pass the Parcel meets Chinese Whispers meets Build a Bear.
It’s one girl and one boy in a contemporary romance that guaranteed to surprise.
So come on and Escapade with us by visiting our blog daily over the next month and prepare to be delighted.
The Paler Shade of Autumn – On Sale Now!!
Autumn Leone travels to India to find answers about her unique ability to see into other’s minds. But instead of answers she finds love. It takes one night of passion to fall for Jet Stark, whom fate had sent her half way around the world to meet. But, too soon, Autumn is to fly back to Australia and out of his life.
When Autumn bumps into Jet back in Australia after five long years apart, it’s difficult to dispute fate’s intention in crossing their paths not only once, but twice. Autumn knows it is a risk to fall for an old fling,
especially because Jet now happens to be rich, her new boss, and involved with another woman.
But a connection like theirs proves impossible to sever.
Reunited with the only man she has ever truly loved, Autumn thinks their relationship is flawless. But she fails to see that Jet is hiding secrets from his past. Secrets, which threaten to fracture not only their love for one another, and her career, but also her relationship with her family.
Will the truth about her gift and their unbelievable history be revealed in time before Autumn loses all she cares about? And will the truth be enough to mend old wounds?
The Paler shade of Autumn is available on iBooks now, Amazon,and Kobo. Take a look at the escapepublishing website for more details on my and other books, or head straight to The Paler Shade of Autumn.
Enjoy! And I’d love to hear what you think.
Happy reading!!!
The Paler Shade of Autumn: Cover Reveal!
How can someone with the gift of seeing into others’ minds miss such an enormous secret?
Autumn Leone knew it was a risk allowing herself to fall for an old fling, Jet Stark, especially because Jet happens to be her new boss and is in a relationship with another woman.
But a connection like theirs proves impossible to sever.
Reunited with Jet, the only man Autumn has ever revealed her gift to, she thinks their relationship is flawless. But she fails to see that Jet is hiding secrets from his past. Secrets that threaten to fracture not only her career, their love for one another, but also her relationship with her close-knit family.
Will the truth about her gift and their unbelievable history be revealed in time before Autumn loses all she cares about? And will the truth be enough to mend old wounds?
DUE FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 2013
ESCAPE PUBLISHING
http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/
The Conception of Digital Love
Who doesn’t daydream about participating in an office romance with that sexy co-worker (you know who I’m talking about), whose mere presence makes the work day seem shorter, more palatable? In a time not so long ago, a romance like this could begin with a flirtatious conversation in the office kitchenette, or kittenish eyes across the boardroom table, or an electrifying touch of the hands as you pass in the hall.
But this is the digital age and, with the advent of email, Twitter and Facebook, a little digital romance can be launched from countless platforms and progress to a hot and steamy level with just a few clicks of the mouse. Then, before you know it, you and this office crush are indulging in heart-fluttering, belly-tingling, soul-sighing digital intercourse.
In the new anthology, URL Love, there are ten sexy, sweet and sassy stories that explore love and lust in the digital age. Find out what happens in my story, Digital Intercourse, when Sammy starts receiving flirtatious tweets from Nate, her gorgeous, younger colleague. Sammy learns firsthand that digital intercourse can be great, but the real thing is even better.
Sucker
Am I a glutton for punishment? I’ve returned to university life after nearly a decade – full- time university life that is. Yep, l reside hours away from the campus. Yep, I have my kids to look after. And yep, my husband is constantly working in every other city in Australia other than the one I live in. So that means there is a lot of work at my end: heaving the children to their relative places of childcare and a lot of travel.
One thing for sure, this spontaneous alteration in my lifestyle (and willingness to endure excessive hours of driving) has cemented the notion – I love to write.
After four years of writing fiction, just winging it, floating in the breeze, I decided I should probably learn the names of these techniques that I employ and have thus enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Arts (Writing, Editing and Publishing) at The University of Queensland.
Week one and already my days are spent oohing and aahing as I align names to techniques that I have employed in my own writing, but on a – how should I phrase this? – practical level, with complete disregard for the theory of writing. It feels as though I have completed a hands-on apprenticeship over the years, where I have learnt the actions and processes involved in writing, and am now learning the names for the equipment and techniques used. It definitely feels more – complete.
I think it’s a great way to go about learning this art of writing for a number of reasons:
- I know now that I love writing (you don’t plug away at four full-length novels, sacrificing other opportunities, social and family life for free, if you don’t love it or see a future in the field).
- I know that I can write.
- I know this is what I want to do with my life, without a doubt, so I am willing to work hard, and everything I learn is relevant to perfecting my craft.
- I can relate the theory to much practice so I have, in essence, a reality point on the subjects (not like when I did my first degree in Accounting, of which I had no reality on it at all – I didn’t even know how to bank a cheque, let alone help a business handle their taxes. It wasn’t until many years in the profession that all the theory I had ‘learnt’, gained relevance).
So, not for the first time, my life is heading in a new trajectory, but a trajectory that I finally feel sure about and willing to follow.
The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville – Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012
I wasn’t going to write a review on this book as it is a few years old; however, after reading it, I felt I wanted to. It was written by the long-established Australian author, Kate Grenville, and is a fiction novel based on the life of an actual lieutenant of marines, William Dawes, who was on board the First Fleet that brought convicts to Australia in 1788, and was a scholar in astronomy, language and mathematics.
Summary
Daniel Rooke is an incredibly intelligent young boy, so much so it diminishes his ability to connect or relate to other people in his life. Sent away to school at an early age he learns the hard way how different he is from others. Not until he joins the marines, where nobody knows of his past, does he feel he belongs, though only superficially. However, after experiencing the tragedy of war, death, and what it actually means to be at the service of His Majesty, he mentally declines, preferring solitude.
When the opportunity arises to travel to New South Wales on the First Fleet in 1788, he takes it. In this strange, unchartered new-land, he will be able to undertake scientific work in the field of astronomy never before carried out. After arriving in Botany Bay, he sets up an observatory upon a peak away from the main camp of soldiers and convicts, and plods away at charting the stars and weather.
Whilst there, Botany Bay natives visit him and, as a linguist, he takes it upon himself to learn the language, recording in careful detail their conversations. From these exchanges, he forms a wonderful friendship with a young Aboriginal girl, Tagaran, who becomes his language teacher of soughts. He builds a mutual affection for the local Aboriginal people, which is what ultimately forms the basis of a decision he makes that will change the course of his path in Australia.
Review
I must, first and foremost, comment on Kate’s impeccable writing ability and style. Each word compliments the next. Each phrase, paragraph, and page, seamlessly follows the last and, at times, will wrap back upon itself so beautifully, coalescing one seemingly unrelated idea to the one presented before. Her unpretentious prose sings. I wanted to take each word and play it on the piano, just so I could hear the melody of this novel.
The Lieutenant is a simple story, beautifully bare, and unforced. It is what it is–a fiction novel recounting the events of England’s first encounters with native Australia. Viewed from this perspective this novel offers no flaws; however, viewed as a work of fiction required to entertain it fell short. Though emotive, insightful, and descriptive, I found it hard to keep turning the pages and found my mind wandering and seeking a more thrilling ride.