The Wyvernstone

A Mixed Week...

2006-08-23T14:31:00.000+10:00

The past week started off well with an article written in the local paper. I must say that I thought the article and photo weren't too bad - Belinda & Kris did a great job! :) Deb spent the next couple of days contacting neighbourhood friends to get spare copies of the paper clipping to send to our families. (I now have a packet of about 20 clippings staring up at me from the dining room table!!)

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to doing too much writing this week. I've had a nasty dose of the flu', and as a result, have had the attention span of an ant...! After several days sick at home, and all things improving, I should be back on deck at work tomorrow.

I did, however, get around to correcting a few errors that were highlighted to me in my novel. Despite the numerous edits and proofreads, they still managed to sneak through. I suppose it's been good in one way - in that I've added the whole exercise to the *lessons learnt* list, but at the same time, I felt as though I'd let down a few people. Neil at Equilibrium Books has been very helpful and understanding, and the revised edition should be available in a few weeks. Anyway, as I said, it's an experience that will make the next story even better.

I intend to start making good headway into the second book within the next week - I need to flesh some ideas out whilst they are still trapped in my brainspace! Though I probably wont have much time to progress this weekend as my son is playing in his first ever football grand final!

Apart from all that - at some stage, I will need to get a bit more done of my uni studies - again, it's not something that I have the concentration for at the moment.

cheers,

Andrew

Latest News...

2006-08-15T15:41:00.000+10:00

Just popping on for a short time, just so that regular readers don't think I've fallen off of the planet...

Apart from work, uni and acting as taxi-driver for my children and their numerous social engagements, I'm finding it difficult to allocate time to do things such as update the website and blog... Any spare time I do find, is allocated to continuing the draft of the second manuscript, of which the working title is *The Wyvern Awakes - Return to Dalriada*. Although I've only completed a rough draft of the first couple of chapters, I do have the whole story (in terms of plot and subplots) framed in my mind, and it is slowly making it's way into "readable" form.

As far as the first novel is concerned, it is now listed with many of the online bookstores. I'll put some of the links on the website (once I find the time to do so). I also saw a review, from a young reader, that was placed on one of the various book review websites. That was fantastic! Being an unknown author with an little known first book, it always gives me great pleasure to see someone take the time to tell others about it! Such reviews not only broaden my potential audience, but give me a great confidence boost to continue writing (and to endeavour to find more time to do so!!).

So... please... if you've read my book, and enjoyed it, take the time to write a little blurb about it and post it on a review website. (And if you didn't like it, send me an e-mail... I'm looking to improve my writing all the time, and constructive feedback and comment will certainly help!)

cheers,

Andrew

Generating Ideas (2) - Talking Animals...

2006-08-05T19:23:00.000+10:00

I've always had a love of Australian Native Animals... I've especially had a soft spot for wombats, ringtail possums and bilbies, which is more than likely why they feature so predominantly in the novel.

My fascination for wombats started during my childhood on the farm, where we occasionally saw them in the wild. I found it so hard to believe that such relatively large creatures could live underground, and I recall my dad remarking about how quickly they could burrow.

Also during my "formative" years I first encountered a ringtail possum. We found a very young one not far from our house, who had barely survived an encounter with some other animal. It was severly battered, missing fur and looked quite ill. Mum took it in and nursed it back to health. During this time, I tried everything I could think of to find a way to talk to it - wishing that it could respond in kind: it's no surprise therefore that my first story features talking animals!

I didn't learn about bilbies until I was much older and certainly never saw one in the wild. In fact the first time I viewed this animal, was when I saw a pair of them at Berry Springs Wildlife Park in the Northern Territory. They looked like such unassuming creatures - and so fragile, considering the unknown future of the species. I suppose that's why I picked a bilby to lead the children into the Land of Dalriada, and the very reason why creatures such as those, whose habitats are threatened by man and feral animal, would find themselves in such a mythical, yet protective land, in the first place.

It's these beautiful Australian creatures, along with characters based upon my own children, that form the start of my novel...

Generating ideas...

2006-07-23T10:01:00.000+10:00

People who have talked to me about my book always ask how I have been able to create such events, characters, names and places... Quite simply, there's no special formula involved and I believe that anyone (even if they have no desire to) has the capacity to do it: a bit of imagination intermingled with childhood memories; life experiences & the knowledge gained as a result. Most of the themes and ideas expressed in my story, regardless of how fanciful, are simply a conglomerate of those ingredients. With that thought in mind, my next few blogs will explore a few of these ideas.

Rebecca & Christopher - the main characters...

The main human characters in the story, are based on my own children - as I have said, the story was originally written for them.

The behaviours exhibited by the characters in the story are reflective of the nature of the real *Rebecca* and *Christopher*. Rebecca is introverted. Christopher is more outgoing.

I have, however, mingled these character traits with my own experiences to allow the characters to be placed in situations which would generate thoughts, actions and consequences of their own.

I grew up on a farm, well before the introduction of electronic games, DVDs and the busy lifestyle that now attempts to clutter my own children's time: supressing their imaginative play and the desire to explore the world around them. However, my head was always in the clouds - full of magic and secret places - and the open spaces and landscape offered much for an imaginative boy like myself with plenty of spare time on his hands.

The cave the children stumble across in the opening chapter is actually based upon memories and activities from my own childhood, although alas, there was no talking bilby and no portal gate to another world - although I would have loved that.

Instead, my older brothers, with me in tow, would visit the *bat cave* (as it became known) and discuss how maybe it disappeared under Mount Staffords: opening out into a secret valley beyond the range (despite the fact that the *cave* seemed nothing more than a deep, narrow sliver between a couple of huge granite boulders; and we had indeed crossed over the Mount on more than one occasion - there was no hidden valley there!)

With one of these visits to the cave in mind, I asked myself the question of how two young children - my children - would have reacted had they happened to come across such a location. Rebecca would have been hesitant to do anything other than turn around, head home and ask her parents if they knew anything about it. Christopher only slightly less so. He would have persisted in getting Rebecca to go in after him - for a quick look - and she would have reluctantly followed - if only to ensure that he didn't get himself into trouble (as little brothers are want to do).

Thus the idea for the story was kicked into motion... and all I had to do, was start writing it down!

:)

A busy week...

2006-07-15T11:26:00.000+10:00

The past week is a bit of a blur and I apologise to regular readers, who probably consider me to be a bit slack in providing updates!

On the home front, we finished birthday celebrations last weekend with a trip to DarkZone (laser tag) for my daughter and a dozen of her friends. A good night was had by all, including Deb and myself, who decided to don the game vest and proceed to run around for 15 minutes getting shot at by all and sundry... for the record, I'm blaming my loss on the fact that my *gun* didn't work correctly...

Our cat, for anyone who knew, is on the mend after a bout of cat flu'. Even though she's been vaccinated against it since Day 1, we think her recent stay at a cattery caused her illness. Very nasty to watch her sneezing, and coughing, but as I say, she is now on the mend!

On Monday, I received news that I was being promoted to a new position... without me asking or applying for it. I don't know how well I'll be able to find time for the additional workload, but we'll just wait and see.

Uni results came out on Thursday night, and to my complete and utter surprise I received HDs. Extremely unexpected given that I was almost positive I'd stuffed up one exam. Gotta love that Bell curve and the old scaling factor, I suppose. :)

And of course, there is my book... it's appeared in the Angus & Robertson database, and I've had a few sales (made by people who know me...) which is a good start. We launched the book with a competition for the local schools, and have recieved some feedback from that front already: more information is on the Kids Page of the website! (www.wyvernstone.com) Additionally, the local paper (Whitehorse Leader) are writing a bit of a story, and sent a photographer (Kris) out midweek to snap some photos of myself with the book. As most people who know me are aware, I hate having my photo taken at the best of times, and by the end of the "posing", I was all over the process. And though I feel sorry for her camera lens (!), I think Kris did a great job of managing to force a smile out of me. :)

Anyway, that's about it for now!

cheers,

Andrew

If animals could talk... or read...

2006-07-08T10:35:00.000+10:00

While we over in Adelaide a week or so ago, we couldn't resist heading into the hills and visiting the Gorge Wildlife Park.

Having lived in Adelaide previously, and being a frequent visitor to the park, it was a place I thought about whilst writing the book. Visitors are free to mingle with, and feed, many of the native Australian animals, and I often wondered what they would say if they had the chance to speak to us. I suppose that's part of the catalyst for my story - talking animals, interacting with humans. At least the Swamp Wallabies in the photograph appeared interested in the book... but having said that, they were probably more interested in eating the peanuts and biscuits offered to them! :)

(The Photo was taken by Debra, and is used with the kind permission of the Gorge Wildlife Park.)

Milestones and parties...

2006-07-03T20:26:00.000+10:00

Birthday Milestones...

A big weekend was had by my family over the past weekend... I held a birthday party for my wife (who turns 40 on July 4) and it was a great excuse to catch up with family and close friends. A great time was had by all! Whilst the main focus of the night was for my wife Deb, the party included a total of 4 birthday cakes - my daughter turns 16 (also July 4), my father turns 80 (today - July 3) and my mother-in-law turned 63 on June 30....

Cake Specifics: 1x Mars Bar Cake, 1x Black Forest Cake, 1x Tiramisu Cake, 1x Chocolate Sponge/Mousse Cake... yummo!

What do birthdays have to do with my book?

Quite simply, the party also provided a chance for me to finally give copies of my book to my parents and extended family, and show it off to a few people (at Deb's instigation!!!) without turning the party into a book launch!

I suppose the only downsides for me at the moment have been:

(1) requests to provide *Autographed copies* of my book to people who have purchased it. Whilst I suppose that I do understand the reason, I still find it quite hard to think why people would want me to do this (just my personality, I suppose), and then when I actually try to put pen to paper, it's a matter of "what greeting should I use that doesn't sound cliche or plain?" Anyway, I need to start thinking of this as a positive!

(2) feeling like I'm asking my publisher questions that they have probably already given me the answer to! (Sorry, Neil!!) Equilibrium Books have been fantastic in all facets of the Book development process, so I hope they're not getting too annoyed with my repetitive questions... especially since I want them to consider my second book once the manuscript is finished!

Speaking of which, in other news...

I'm well underway with the second book - well I've written a first draft outline of the first two chapters... about 3,000 words so far, and many more to go!

cheers,

Andrew

First Review...

2006-06-30T18:42:00.000+10:00

Well, I'm back from spending another few days in Adelaide - this time it wasn't so bad though, as I was fortunate in that I was able to take my family with me.

I was also able to drop off a couple of books to family and friends on the way, so it will be interesting to hear what they have to say. On returning home I found, waiting in my e-mail inbox, a couple of interesting messages - one was a royalty statement from Equilibrium Books (I've actually sold some copies...) and also a review forwarded to me via a friend (who it should be noted is not actually the reviewer herself!)

So, I thought I would post the content of the latter e-mail here:

Review of The Wyvernstone: A Tale of Dalriada
By Ella Doonan

“The Magic Faraway Tree meets The Hobbit in this enchanting and refreshingly Australian tale. The reader is almost immediately drawn into the characters’ fantastical world where the magic and adventure begins. The two children are charming as they deal with more mature ideas in their own way. A confidence in the Australian identity shows that young readers all over the world will easily recognise. Blatantly slow in some parts and recklessly eager in others, however generally it is carved thoughtfully and deliberately. Overall, these pages are filled with warm messages for all of humankind. This is Australia’s answer to the world’s current obsession with magic!”

Exams are over... time to reflect...

2006-06-22T19:07:00.000+10:00

I finished my final exam for the semester this morning - although I can't actually tell how well I've gone. I think I've passed the subject... fingers crossed!

At least now that study is out the road, I can actually spend some time looking at my book, talking to people about it, do a little marketing and maybe just take a moment to reflect on what it means to me to have it in print.

On first reflection.... it's great!! :)

My children and wife all have their own copies and are enjoying re-acquainting themselves with the story. My extended family and close friends are in the process of receiving their copies, and I've also sold a few copies.

I was really pleased to get some (impartial) positive feedback about my story - and it came from the United States, no less (thanks, Pauline). It makes me think that the whole process (of allowing my words to be read by people I don't know) has been worthwhile after all and gives me a little confidence to continue writing (the "second" story is well on the way, and ideas are already "floating in" for a third). Finally, it means that I have already achieved my principal aim... someone who doesn't know me, has bought my book and liked it!

Anyway, I'm about to head of to Adelaide for work (again), but looking forward to it. I'm taking a small break with my family and taking some time... to *chill*...

cheers,

Andrew

Back in time for.... exams... :(

2006-06-17T18:28:00.000+10:00

I'm finally back after a week in Adelaide for work... just in time to start studying for forthcoming exams (only two days away)!

While I was away, my carton of books arrived... only to have my beautiful wife and kids "rip into them". They took one each to read, then started to show them around to family and friends, and anyone else who happened to be in the vicinity... all before I caught my first glimpse of it! Oh well - it is their book after all.. :) I've actually resolved not to reread it myself - as with most books there is bound to be at least one (or more) grammatical error/typo in it, and I don't want to see it! The confidence in my own writing ability is already questionable, regardless of what other people tell me, so I think it's best if I just put *my copy* on the shelf alongside a couple of my favourite novels. Hmmm... Tolkien perhaps? :P

A couple of online bookshops are interested in stocking the book so that's a good start - still a way to go before it makes the shelves of bookstores though I suppose.

Oh well, I'll just continue to wait and see!

Now... back to the study...

Heading away for a few days...

2006-06-12T16:43:00.000+10:00

Heading Away...

Just booked a taxi for a 5.45pm pickup tomorrow morning... I really hate early starts like this... heading off to Adelaide again for the umpeenth time. I don't mind Adelaide, and in fact I lived there with my family for about 18 months several years ago. I just hate leaving Deb and kids for the week - we're extremely close. :)

This time around, the anxiousness is exacerbated by the fact that I have final exams (for a couple of Uni subjects) starting on the Monday after i get back. I'm not so much worried about my subject results, but moreso the fact that, for this semester at least, Uni had really gotten in the road of my social and personal life. Only 6 semesters to go... :)

Shower time is creative time...

I've started knocking around ideas for my second novel, hoping that it will be as enjoyable to write as the first. Funnily enough, most of my creative ideas seem to spring into my head when I'm in the shower - I have no idea why that's the case. It's not uncommon for me to come out of the bathroom and tell Deb that I've just written another chapter (in my head). She's keen to see where I plan to take the story and to be honest, I'm not so sure myself yet - just part of the process where I have lots of notes of seemingly unrelated scenarios then try to build a plot around it. I look for *scenes* that I think readers will enjoy, then see how such a scene could fit into part of my evolving story. During my last foray into the shower - this morning - I ended up coming out with the news that I had a problem with my second story - it's already starting to spawn a third.

Anyway, time to be off in order to pack my things for the early start...

I probably wont have the opportunity to post again until Saturday!

Forced to wait... a little longer!

2006-06-10T19:37:00.000+10:00

Well after keeping an eye out for the parcel-post delivery van yesterday, nothing came of it... my books are still in the mail! So, after planning on using the excitement (that the postie’s arrival would inevitably bring) as an excuse to procrastinate from University studies – sadly, I can’t! Consequently, instead of reading my book, I find myself jumping on and off the internet in between bouts of studying the application of Keynesian theory in contemporary macroeconomics... :( The frequent distraction provided by reading sci-fi/fantasy writing forums is helping, just a little, to relieve the study pain...

Compounding this present issue is the fact that I'm heading interstate on Tuesday (Monday being a Public Holiday where I am) for a week due to "real-job" commitments... At times like this, I really dream of being a professional writer. The grass is always greener, I suppose…

My interstate travel also creates another dilemma... when my carton does arrive from Equilibrium Books, I won’t be here to open it! Notwithstanding, both my wife and children maintain that they will still “rip into the box” and start reading the final product straight away. So, while I console myself with the fact that I know they will enjoy seeing and reading it, I personally won’t lay eyes on it for another week! {insert big sigh here}

:)

In the mail...

2006-06-06T17:34:00.000+10:00

The news this afternoon from Equilibrium Books is that my copies of the final product are in the mail. Though I admit that I received this information with a mixture of excitement and terror! It's good news and bad news in a variety of ways, but in the end, it is all good!

The Good News... Excitement!

The wait is over, and the outcome of my labour of love (because that's really what it was) is about to come to fruition (as soon as I rip into the carton). My wife and children will each have their own copies, in the knowledge that it was written for them. That excites me - a very warm and fuzzy feeling.

The Bad News... Terror!

The wait is over, and the outcome of my labour of love can be read by anyone who wants a copy. They can read my story, and comment - good and bad, positive and negative. They can put it on their shelf in order to read it again in the future, or stick it a basket for their local school's second-hand book stall. Alternatively, no one will buy it... and to be honest, I'm not sure which of these scares me the most. Regardless, there is no excuse. The book is there - it will either succeed or fail, and there's little I can do with a limited marketing budget (read: no marketing budget) to alter it's fate.

As indicated from the outset, I want one person (who doesn't know me) to buy it for their kids or themselves, to honestly enjoy it, and preferably, let me know! Then I'll know that I have succeeded.

My mail parcel will also arrive at a time when I'm starting to write a manuscript for the next book - again with the same intent, as a gift to those I love.

:)

Things to look forward to?

2006-06-03T13:38:00.000+10:00

The last couple of days have been an interesting experience... June is set to be a big month and I'm finding it a little difficult to prioritise all the things I need to do. Much of my spare time has been spent trying to learn as much as I can about the world of speculative fiction in Australia: an interesting place.

I've spent some time looking at other writer's blogs and websites, seeing how hard it is to succeed. Admittedly, I'm not sure whether it was necessarily a good idea, as the old confidence (the small amount I had) has taken a bit of a dent. I suppose it's all part of the learning experience.

I came across the Simon Hayne's "Hal Spacejock" website (www.spacejock.com.au) which really offered some great food for thought - especially concerning the road from "self-publication to book-on-store-bookshelf success"! I thought his comparison of an author's survival to that of a pack of wild animals being circled by a lions is most apt. The weakest are the first to be picked off... For that reason alone, he's won me over, I'm going out to buy his book!

Anyway... back to June... apart from awaiting for my book to come out - end of next week apparently, I have to work interstate for a couple of weeks, organise birthday parties for my wife's 40th and daughter's 16th birthdays (both on July 4), and attempt to fit in some study for mid-year university exams.

At least the birthday parties are something to definitely look forward to. Most of this morning was spent sifting through numerous albums with my wife, picking music to play. I thought it would be good idea to pick at least two songs from every year (over the past 40) - one Australian band, and one overseas artist for each year... no mean feat trying to do that, I assure you - we have definitely found that some years are easier to pick than others - we also convinced ourselves that the late 70s and early 80s were a fantastic time for music in general! (But we're biased).

Time to blog off...

A brief wrap-up of the story so far...

2006-06-01T14:53:00.000+10:00

OK... I'm new to the *art of blogging*... so until I get the hang of it, please bear with me! :)

A Brief Wrap-up of the Story so Far...

Several years ago, when my oldest child was about 12, I started writing a story - mainly for her entertainment, but also as an outlet for my own creativity. At the time, work felt all-consuming - intruding on my personal time, separating me from my family. I was spending significant periods interstate away from home - something I hate doing - and I think my state of mind can only be considered to have been approaching *stale*.

I started by scratching a few notes down in an exercise book, and soon it seemed that a story was evolving more rapidly than I could write. Bouncing some ideas off my children, I started to create a fairy-tale - centred on a world that I knew they would have loved to visit.

Several months later, and I had a 300+ page story, that had grown too big for the children to want to read at the time. My daughter told me that *she would read it, when it could be published in a book* - mainly because she had difficulty arranging the A4 sheets on her bed for night-time reading.

I have to admit that whilst I had always hoped to be published one day, that my main aim was for my children to read something that I had written for them. That became the driving force behind my desire, my dream, to see my story in paperback form. I did send it to a publisher or two, but rejection letters followed almost immediately. There is, apparently, not a market for children's fantasy stories written by previously-unpublished authors... :) Similarly, I sought a literary agent with no success. The project was temporarily shelved, although I continued to modify the manuscript, very occasionally, adding and subtracting portions of the story, evolving the characters as my own children grew up.

A couple of years ago, I was chatting with a friend who, like me, had an interest in writing. Over a coffee, and a foccacia, I started to get the notion to dust off my manuscript (thankyou, Belinda) - although realising that I would have to find it first - and see whether it was worth salvaging.

Again, I modified it, sent it out to a publisher or two only to receive similar responses to that I had gained previously. Reading through it again, and parts of it actually seemed so well written, that I had to remember whether it was in fact me who had put those words on paper. Notwithstanding the experience of reading something I had written, but so apparently *foreign*, I'll be the first to admit that my writing isn't the most grammatically correct. I do see myself as a story-teller, however, and that's all I really want to be...

Not so long ago... I returned to part-time University study. The University forums became a tool of great procrastination, and an interesting way to meet people whom I would have otherwise never have met. It's a funny thing, but I seemed to be more comfortable chatting about my writing to people I hadn't met, than to anyone in my immediate family. At that time, my parents and siblings had no idea that I was writing children's stories. And so, armed with relative anonymity, and hoping for some positive feedback, I actually sent the entire manuscript to someone, whom I hadn't physically met, but someone whom I thought would give me an idea of where I was at.

Apparently, she loved it... :) (Thank-you, amanda) A few weeks later, and after an *msn chat*, I'd been dared to send it to another publisher! About the same time, I accidentally came across a Print-on-Demand (POD) publisher, Equilibrium Books (www.equilibriumbooks.com). It seemed to me that fate was somehow intervening and that I should send my manuscript to them. A week later, I was offered an agreement to have my story published.

Much is made of the merits of POD publishing, and I must admit that there are times when the adverse nature of comments I've read have tarnished the experience of having a book published in this way. Nevertheless, it's provided me with an opportunity (for which I am grateful) to be read by people who don't know me personally, and that does give me a sense of satisfaction.

All that aside, the three-month intervening period between then and now, has been a time of excitement, nervousness and difficulty. The latter emotion associated with the requirement for me to atempt to self-publicise my writing, and probably the thing I find most difficult to do and the knowledge that my book will more than likely take significant effort and luck to ever appear on a maintream bookshop shelf.

At this particular point in time, I'm waiting for a box in the mail - :D - a few copies of the novel to give to my family and friends. It's due for release, any time now. Finally, my kids will have a paperback copy of their story, and so regardless of anything else that happens in the future... I'm glad to have brought my fairy-tale this far...

www.wyvernstone.com