tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32195263774448190332011-07-08T14:18:26.168+10:00A blog on the perils and excitement of making a living from writing in the modern world. With weekly updates on the progress of writing, editing, selling and promoting his work Bruno Bouchet gives an insight into what it’s like to be a selling, but not a best selling author.Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.comBlogger531100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-8455378852248091482010-06-22T15:45:00.006+10:002010-06-22T15:56:03.427+10:00

When I’m visiting schools and I’m asked which of my books is my favourite I always say it’s a bit like asking parents which is their favourite child. I give the same answer, ‘I love them all equally but differently’. Of course that applies to my ‘birth’ children – the books I created from start from my own imagination. However I’ve recently ‘fostered’ two children. ABC TV in Australia currently

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-65251854457671761862010-06-10T16:09:00.004+10:002010-06-10T16:29:14.650+10:00

What do you call writer’s block in the blogosphere? Bloggerblock? Cyberstumm? Encopensis? It’s hard not to come up with something that doesn’t sound like l’ve been sitting on the toilet squeezing hard for the last six months. I haven’t. I’ve been writing away furiously but somehow just didn’t feel I had anything worth sharing on the blog.Was it was the mind-numbing boredom of writing brochure’s

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-36040752570225346942009-11-12T10:00:00.003+11:002009-11-12T10:09:44.038+11:00

Now I feel like real author again! I've been invited to participate in the Somerset Celebration of Literature Festival in March next year. It's one the leading festivals for Children's writing held at Somerset College on the Gold Coast. I was invited there 10 years ago when Beauty of Truth first came out as a 'young author'. Being under 35 was apparently the criteria for being counted as "young".

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-39227557588292590092009-11-04T12:02:00.003+11:002009-11-04T12:19:54.011+11:00

Catching up with the pastDespite the lack of blog entries, I'm not dead, simply mired in the past trying to get some material out on the next adult book based on aspects of my own childhood. I have to say it's not easy- sifting through your memories for literary relevant events. It's not that there aren't enough, but there are too many. It reminds me of my Uncle Edward who declared with

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-84679901242558148782009-09-14T09:30:00.003+10:002009-09-14T09:41:44.782+10:00

Everyone in publishing in Australia knows how hard it is to garner any sort of review or publicity for children's fiction - especially if doesn't involve wizards or emo vampires. So you can only imagine how surprised and thrilled I was to get a phone call on Saturday morning to say there was a great review in the Daily Telegraph. It made my weekend.When the call came on Sunday from another friend

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-90885745004113265142009-09-09T14:48:00.007+10:002009-09-09T15:02:57.768+10:00

After the great news that The Trouble with Sauce was having a full reprint, I got another email on Monday saying Lab Rats in Space is getting a digital reprint. Another of the benefits of being part of the Harper Collins stable is that they are set up for digital reprints. They're only doing 300 copies, but that's the beauty of digital, they don't need to commit to a big print run and it means as

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-47633007419522546142009-09-04T11:17:00.001+10:002009-09-04T11:17:28.133+10:00

I was at a book launch last night (the first in long long time). It was for Don't Picture Me Naked by Michelle Bowden. Michelle is an expert in and course facilitator on public speaking and presenting and her book is great manual on those topics. The friend I was meeting there was running late to I was left to work the room on my own. It turned out that the room worked me instead. Full of

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-75839148411434527062009-08-19T12:04:00.002+10:002009-08-19T12:10:02.396+10:00

A week ago or so I was wondering if anyone had actually read The Trouble with Sauce. Obviously someone has as I've just heard from the publishers that they are doing a reprint - already. Officially it was only launched last week, although it was in the shops before that. Kids books do have much smaller print runs that adult books but this is great news and very unexpected. Good grief, this one

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-56382888181289496242009-08-17T10:18:00.003+10:002009-08-17T10:23:10.173+10:00

A friend tipped me off that The Trouble with Sauce was featured in a window display in Better Read than Dead, the excellent independent bookshop in Newtown. I trundled down on the weekend and was delighted to see the book was front and centre of a display protesting Parallel Importing, quoting the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd’s ocker line, Fair Shake of the Sauce Bottle asking him to give

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-4038724414935137942009-08-12T11:35:00.002+10:002009-08-12T11:37:46.642+10:00

The first time you read a new work out to an audience is always nerve-wracking. Reading work out is nearest a writer gets to immediate feedback. Faces are less able to come up with something polite to express. It's even more of a worry when you are reading to children as there is no artifice and no attempts to spare your feelings - just raw reaction. So it was with some trepidation that I read

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-55517305008793542712009-08-06T13:46:00.000+10:002009-08-06T13:47:39.923+10:00

Technically it's not officially launched until mid Aug, but The Trouble with Sauce has hit the shelves. All up it's taken a year from me pitching the idea to ABC to the book actually being on the shelves. Looking back it seems like a long, long journey, but right now it seems like nothing - from conception to being on the shelves in less time than it takes to gestate an elephant.I haven't

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-791012641453009832009-07-15T14:43:00.003+10:002009-07-15T14:44:47.181+10:00

In the raging debate on parallel imports the arguments have all focused on big selling authors with overseas deals. The letters you read, the comments that are quoted are all from internationally published authors. For the lowly, such as myself with no overseas deals it’s still sad news. It means publishers have even less leeway to take a risk on lesser writers that aren’t guaranteed to hit the

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-41613717461891718402009-07-15T14:41:00.000+10:002009-07-15T14:42:36.812+10:00

Finally, after all these years I’ve been awarded the accolade of being studied in school. In advance of my visit in September, some students at John the Baptist Primary in Bonnyrigg are doing a novel study on Ta-Da! I’m thrilled. I’ve never been studied before. It’s schools schools schools for me over the next two months as Sauce gets released. I had an excellent visit to Cromer Public last week

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-23201238850945318802009-06-04T10:43:00.002+10:002009-06-04T10:52:18.800+10:00

It was the blended family’s first test run, would we be the Brady Bunch or guests on Jerry Springer? On Tuesday night I attended the drinks to celebrate the union of Harper Collins and ABC Books. Even the invitation characterised it as a marriage with a male and female hand. The event was in the Quay Grand, overlooking Sydney Harbour - immediately marking it as an important occasion worthy of

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-16614782521457915002009-04-30T09:01:00.006+10:002009-04-30T09:32:51.222+10:00

Here it is... well almost. This is the uncorrected proof that gets used for promotional purposes. I've had them for my books before but not without a colour cover. They were made for Lab Rats but I don't think the sales reps ever saw them. It's good to see it in it a physical form for the first time. It's now a thing, an object in the real world. However that means it's also an object that has to

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-57433442711099273682009-04-16T14:45:00.002+10:002009-04-16T14:50:41.728+10:00

This has to be the best typo I've come across in ages and, best of all, it's not one of mine! South Sydney Leagues Club, located in my neighbourhood is under renovation and is hoping to add a supermarket. The development application, submitted to council and available for public view, says the supermarket plans to run a takeaway café with some highly paid staff:'The café will be run by a

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-48700770931114411122009-04-08T15:08:00.003+10:002009-04-08T15:24:45.704+10:00

It's finally happened - I've started writing the adult novel, the one where I try to be the best writer I can and move beyond being simply entertaining. So far I like my intro page. Going into the story it gets a bit "typical Bouchet" but I can work on that. For the present day parts I'm trying present tense narrative. I always hated that as a reader but for some reason I'm giving it a go here.

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-81224282304764082962009-04-08T14:57:00.003+10:002009-04-08T15:07:29.150+10:00

In flurry of last minute activity, the cover has been finalised, the shoutline written, researched and approved, thank yous & dedications rushed through and packs for the book reps put together. Don't let anyone tell you that the book industry can't move fast when it wants to. So far so good with Harper Collins running ABC books. I get the sense that there's more people involved and active and I

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-13497418588777284412009-04-02T14:00:00.005+11:002009-04-02T14:26:39.763+11:00

Thank you to everyone who voted on the cover, left comments and gave me opinions on facebook. It was fantastic and very useful. I also canvassed the opinions of over 400 school children at Waitara Public School along with several young friends. Their favourite was No1, with No 3 not very far behind. Number 2 was a distant 3rd. Of course this clashes with the preference on here and at the

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-75130608749171885692009-03-24T09:29:00.007+11:002009-03-24T09:38:46.752+11:00

One of the most exiting moments in releasing a book has arrived - the first concepts for the cover. When asked what I wanted on the cover of The Trouble With Sauce, I said ‘a splodge of tomato sauce on a school book’ so I’m pretty impressed with how the designer has run with that. Here are the three options. You can cast your vote in the column on the right. Please also leave feedback by clicking

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-23344890086518708352009-03-20T19:12:00.002+11:002009-03-20T19:15:13.266+11:00

In the many entertaining bits of bad writing I come across, pomposity is all too rare. It’s sadly lacking in the modern world. I do think it’s the most refined way to be up yourself and brash arrogant idiots would do well to focus on their pomposity. Santa Sabina College in Strathfield, Sydney might be a great place to learn, if their ‘Director of Human Resources,’ is anything to go by.A friend

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-49892023387136223492009-03-12T08:11:00.001+11:002009-03-12T08:13:53.806+11:00

I have to admit I don’t often read contemporary Australian fiction. This is particularly embarrassing at writers’ festivals when I have to keep answering ‘No’ to questions starting with ‘Have you read...’ Sadly I never get asked if I’ve read obscure 18th century gothic novels like The Mysteries of Udolpho when I could answer positively. It’s especially embarrassing when it comes to award winners.

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-8640201448763266202009-03-10T12:19:00.001+11:002009-03-10T12:20:42.688+11:00

OK I have to admit after the paralysis of the feedback, I am very happy with the net result of the changes to The Trouble with Sauce: the lead have more depth and my evil headmaster is now a much more interesting character which readers might relate to in a strange way. It’s one of the magical things about writing and is that you can go in and change something early on in the book and then

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-60208404312245427542009-02-23T16:46:00.003+11:002009-02-23T16:47:17.458+11:00

I guess it's like waking up to find out that your legs don't work. I got the feedback from the editor on The Trouble with Sauce and found out my brain/finger combination didn't work. I was right, he did HATE it. The feedback was so comprehensive in its list of faults (the plus side could have been written bus ticket) that I couldn't look at the book for over 2 weeks. I felt like sending the

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-74476032626256909622009-02-02T15:39:00.001+11:002009-02-02T15:42:47.036+11:00

I’ve submitted the manuscript The Trouble with Sauce.  It sat ready for a few days, I’ve taken it as far as it can go without outside feedback, but something was holding me back, I’ve been really nervous about sending this one off.  There are three possible reasons for this.1) It’s just not good enoughPart of me thinks it doesn’t work, but I couldn’t actually say why. I can’t pinpoint anything

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-7456118382172633092009-01-28T10:29:00.002+11:002009-01-28T10:33:00.591+11:00

One of the lovely things about writing books, and especially children’s books, is the enormous good will you receive from virtually everyone. I can think of few other professions where you can ask for help and it is so eagerly given. Imagine an accountant coming to you, asking for some help in putting together their figures - short shrift I would imagine. Not as a writer. For a scene in The

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-9240128882600812922009-01-14T16:39:00.001+11:002009-01-14T16:41:55.256+11:00

The point when you first reach the end of novel you’re writing is like breakthrough on a tunnel. It may just be dirty hole that lets through light but at least now you can walk through from end to end. The start of the tunnel is in much better shape than the end. The tunnel boring machine that is my mind’s imagination has chugged along at its lumbering pace, breaking a few cutting heads on the

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-32614969186054917992008-12-11T12:37:00.002+11:002008-12-11T12:48:19.847+11:00

I promised myself when I began primary school visits that I wouldn’t start doing ‘kids say the darndest things’ pieces, but I can resist posting this photo from Newtown Public. It’s part of a display on China. It reminds me of the type of stuff I used to do at school, coming, a cropper on the final hurdle. The school was great. I read out the first page of the next book and we discussed what

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-2830190676592279762008-12-08T10:26:00.001+11:002008-12-08T10:40:12.920+11:00

With the Government’s one off payments to low income earners hitting bank accounts this week, spending up big is the new black (and hopefully not the new red). The global financial crisis has given rise to a whole new bank of terminology we can incorporate into our every day lives to make everything we do sound better.I’m no longer going shopping:I’m implementing an economic stimulus package;I’m

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-69280041671642371042008-12-02T16:34:00.003+11:002008-12-02T16:49:02.741+11:00

I finally have it in my hot hands. Three months after the verbal yes I have a signed contract for the next kid’s book. So in the fairground that is authoring a book, I can get off the “Will it be published” rollercoaster and run with shaky legs to the “Does my text look fat in this” Hall of Mirrors. There is where I start taking distorted looks at my text and think ‘It’s all blobby in the middle’

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-87143695635350184322008-10-29T12:14:00.001+11:002008-10-29T12:14:49.386+11:00

One of the really exciting parts of writing a book is when suddenly it all crystalises and you realise what it’s all about. Some of the problems you were grappling with, things you’re not clear on suddenly fall into place.  It comes when you’re well into the first draft, it can’t possibly happen before, the world is too ill-defined. It’s the point where the world you’ve created in your book and

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-54919999653568262082008-10-13T10:56:00.003+11:002008-10-13T11:00:22.088+11:00

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

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-75887683513764879102008-10-02T18:40:00.001+10:002008-10-02T18:41:48.804+10:00

One of the benefits of being stuck at home with a chest infection is the remarkable things you get to see that otherwise you would miss. It used to be that you were lumbered with daytime TV and would have to marvel at infomercials for ab-blasters and daytime soaps. Not any more. In between episodes of Dexter and the Barchester Chronicles I happened to log onto the US to watch live as they voted

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-44032846132982870912008-09-17T14:33:00.004+10:002008-09-17T14:39:51.961+10:00

It’s confirmed. The NAB really is determined to entertain the world with its word choices. I’m thrilled to have my account with them. For those outside Australia the NAB used to be called the National Australia Bank until some brilliant marketing guru decided they would be known as the Nab, not the N.A.B., but the world meaning to take or steal. Somehow they’ve got away with it, apart from a

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-65182319698312207062008-09-15T15:49:00.002+10:002008-09-15T15:52:19.163+10:00

In a modern city-based life, a whole ‘room of her own’ is a lot to ask for so I’ve settled for a desk of my own: renting space in an office for the first time. After years of working at home I’ve finally conceded that spending $150 a week to work somewhere else with other people is actually worth it. There’s something about the presence of other people that makes we work harder - even if it is an

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-1432307485880984762008-09-04T18:16:00.004+10:002008-09-04T18:20:57.829+10:00

I heard back from the editor who was going to give me feedback on Crash Tactic. Basically the feedback was ‘write something else’. Apparently the characterisation is thin and the plot far fetched - (as opposed to those deeply layered characters wandering through sensible plots in all the other comedy action adventures). Reading her email I got that old familiar stinging sensation in the ears -

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-8350750886287606612008-08-27T15:48:00.004+10:002008-08-27T15:58:36.097+10:00

It’s always a bit awkward when you hear from an EX, as I did last week. Hachette wrote to me. French Letters (B format) is soon to be out of print. Hachette are disposing of the remaining 140 copies. I can buy them at $2.30. It’s sad but better than what happened to Beauty of Truth which got pulped without anyone “realising” and without me having an opportunity to buy. Ironically Hachette only

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-88865343003064351242008-08-18T17:31:00.004+10:002008-08-18T17:57:47.365+10:00

It’s the Children’s Book Council of Australia children’s book week.  At 63 years the event is, apparently, the longest running children’s festival in Australia. I think we can safely expand that to ‘in the Southern Hemisphere’ until NZ or Argentina complains. Each year the week kicks off with a lunch at the South Steyne, a ship permanently moored at Darling Harbour with a dubious line in

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-653605560862351142008-08-08T14:41:00.003+10:002008-08-08T14:51:23.343+10:00

Yesterday was a big day in touting for business. My first appointment was with ABC Kids about the ‘way forward’. I requested a get together and Belinda (the publisher) and Mark (senior editor) fortunately agreed. In the last episode I’d had feedback from Mark on the Lab Rats sequel which wasn’t very positive, well actually it was simply negative. He wanted me to put it aside and do something else

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-86942387246114999232008-07-31T18:00:00.005+10:002008-08-01T08:39:42.566+10:00

How classy is this? I had one of those ‘it’s bleeding obvious’ moments of profound realisation in the middle of the Dolly Parton concert in London on 6 July. It was an amazing concert. She’s a remarkable performer with a great voice who can play at least 6 instruments with considerable skill. There were no light shows, no massive sets or rows of backing dancers, just her and her band in the vast

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-16209430879787472662008-07-02T17:11:00.003+10:002008-07-31T18:14:08.819+10:00

I’ve escaped the daily word mill for a research and relaxation trip but it was a close run thing. The mill owners (copywriting clients) had my nose pressed into the loom, churning out bales of words until the last moment. Surely there’s some world UN labour ruling that a writer can’t be forced to churn out 4 superannuation brochure in one day. My fingers almost bled with the repeated typing of ‘

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-28806303196242583902008-06-25T13:49:00.001+10:002008-06-25T13:52:52.522+10:00

The agent called!You wait for ages and then two come at once...I finally got an email back from the ABC about the manuscript of my next children’s book, the Lab Rats  sequel, Lab Rat Liberation (submitted early March) and I was reading through that when the phone rang and it was the agent! She called but seemed to have no idea why she was calling.I explained the situation and she sounded suitably

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-81574079416422651442008-06-25T13:45:00.003+10:002008-06-25T13:49:24.765+10:00

Saw the new film from the producer of Pan’s Labyrinth which was brilliant. Creepy and suspenseful you get totally drawn into the nightmare of the mother who moves back to the orphanage where she grew up only to have her son disappear. In my ignorance I had assumed it was from the director of Pan’s Labyrinth, not the producer, because despite being different films they both had a very similar way

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-45890547364400345432008-06-17T09:36:00.004+10:002008-06-17T09:45:31.552+10:00

Just when you thought every possible angle of Belinda Neal and John Della Bosca's infamous night had been covered, comes the truth of what really caused the events - you read it here first.While writing some copy for a design company on website they had created I happened by Stone Italiana site and their listing of recently completed jobs providing stone tiling and bench tops. This caught my

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-79698371213813452822008-06-16T10:18:00.007+10:002008-06-18T11:13:50.128+10:00

In Bunyon’s Pilgrim’s Progress, the hero Christian get trapped in a deep bog of misery, guilt and sin from which he must emerge. If you can strip the religion out it’s so accurate - despondency is a bog that you have to wade through. Clearly I have been in that slough but I’m emerging now and all it took was one coffee with a good friend. Isn’t it glorious that a Christian novel from the 17th

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-52194447116061968112008-06-10T10:32:00.005+10:002008-06-11T12:06:29.031+10:00

OK strictly speaking, ‘about a week’ has passed since I was told the agent would call in ‘about a week’. Were this the finance industry or any other industry it would be time to get annoyed but this is publishing so an ‘about a week’ notice issued at the start of June can reasonably last until the end of June. Still I’m having to do the ‘zero expectations’ mantra in the mirror. I do have a

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-44477739977319276272008-06-02T13:15:00.014+10:002008-06-05T14:50:49.273+10:00

An agent has been alerted - will she call?After the terrifying ordeal of simply visiting literary agent websites, I asked Belinda, the lovely children’s publisher at the ABC if she could recommend an agent. I knew generally she was no fan so if there was one she liked, it might be OK. She came up with one she had really enjoyed working with, “she’s so supportive of her authors and I find her a

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-52191268840694327822008-06-02T13:14:00.002+10:002008-06-05T15:04:28.117+10:00

I know everything has been said and everyone has had an opinion on the whole Bill Henson and photo of the young girl thing. I think the response on both sides have been absolutely knee jerk and typical. One aspect which to me has been overlooked (if it's actually possible that anything has) is how it brings into focus the artistic/commercial interplay. As a writer the relationship's pretty clear

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-67539475404339113272008-05-27T11:42:00.003+10:002008-06-05T15:05:08.740+10:00

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullThis is a film that demands some significant suspension of disbelief: that a man could survive a nuclear blast in a lead lined fridge, that there’s even such a thing as a leadlined fridge and that someone called Shia LaBeouf is an actor not a receptionist in a beauty parlour.Once you get over those, you can sit back, enjoy the fun and count the

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-34039759068594249342008-05-26T15:28:00.005+10:002008-06-05T15:05:47.915+10:00

SHOULD I GET AN AGENT FOR MY BOOK?I’d always thought I didn’t need an agent. I could negotiate directly with publishers myself and get as good a deal as they would AND then not lose 15% to them. However now that it’s not easy I’m beginning to wonder if I should revise my opinion. It would be nice to hand the manuscript over, say ‘here you deal with it, get me something fat and juicy.’ It would

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-80200330773081049232008-05-26T15:22:00.003+10:002008-06-05T15:06:18.263+10:00

Ok you can’t be accused of tuning into the soap half way through the third season and annoying everyone by asking what’s going on, because this soap starts in about the 10th season. I began making a living from writing back in 1997 when I gave up employment, began freelance copywriting and then soon after began my first full novel. I had early success. Hodder Headline ( now called Hachette) took

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-24668470808427954732008-05-26T15:17:00.002+10:002008-06-05T15:06:59.919+10:00

All this time my real income has come from doing freelance commercial writing for ad agencies and marketing firms. It’s been the perfect combination, lucrative commercial work that gave me time for my not so lucrative creative output. Everything from Kia cars (you many remember those Kia Happy Deals TV commercials, I was partly responsible) to corporate brochures on solar water heating panels and

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3219526377444819033.post-30822846802917913112008-05-26T14:50:00.009+10:002008-06-05T15:07:37.166+10:00

In the meantime I’ve had a few children’s books published through ABC kids. Captain Wetbeard, a first chapter book which has sold OK (teetering on the brink of earning out it’s advance at the 9 month mark). Dorothy the Dinosaur’s Rosy Tea Party. Written for the Wiggles I am credited as the author but I don’t get royalties (just a lump sum). This is sad it’s probably my best-selling book.Lab Rats

Bruno Bouchethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11980544383957550543noreply@blogger.com0