Back on the roller coaster

After a period of quiet the roller coaster has picked up again. Crikey.com, the Australian news site had a ‘tips and rumours’ item that  stated ABC Books was being shut down. The staff had been told find other jobs and the titles were being sold off. I had known that some major changes were afoot but not that. Great, I thought, there goes the next kids book down the pan.

I raised the rumour with Belinda the publisher at ABC Kids which she promptly scotched. ‘That reminds me,’ she said, ‘I haven’t made you a formal offer for Little Green Pills’. The formal offer came through via email which I quickly accepted. So thanks Crikey for the erroneous rumour, that made me contact Belinda and remind her about the offer!

We’re looking at an initial print run of 3,000 which for a kids book isn’t bad. It’ll be released mid next year. Now I’ve formally accepted, the contract is grinding its way through ABC legal and I might actually see some money this month. Given how much of my ‘commercial’ writing is based in the (nose-diving) finance industry, that’ll be a welcome addition to the coffers.

It’s all about quality

This is the high point, the point of hope, excitement and expectation. I shall enjoy the exhilarating rush of being a published author with a potentially brilliant book ahead of him.

All I have to do now is write the book! Actually it is the fun part, the bit I enjoy most. I have to be aware of not getting too carried away with enjoying the story. I have such fun writing, I often write scenes because they are an entertaining diversion, or a moving moment. In this book, I’ve got a whole soccer match scene which I’ll have to axe but it it was fun and helped me explore the characters. It’s almost like you need to ‘observe’ the characters a bit outside the actual confines of the final book to see what they’re like.

At this point I’m pouring it out onto the keyboard without editing. At the 10,000 word mark (the whole story will be around 25000) I’m about a quarter of the way through the story so I’m going to have a big base to work with. This is fine. I always see the first draft as creating your block of marble from which you then sculpt your work of art.

Each book I write is a different experience. For this one the key word is ‘crafting’. I can’t wait to get the first draft out and then really hone it into a great kids books. I’m not settling for simply entertaining any more. I want it to be great.

Good grief I think I’m finally taking myself seriously as a writer!

In the back of my mind bubbling away quite pleasantly is the next adult book. So many incidents, memories, thoughts are popping out and I think I have a structure, but I’m not putting anything down yet. There’s no hurry. I shall gestate like an elephant.