Children's and YA Author
Long time no talk- er, type. Whatever. The writer-postman is back – and I have a lost interview to share.
I was very fortunate to land a gig on this interview show. I discussed a children’s fantasy novel that was slated to be published . . . only to see the publishers go out of business! yeah. Reason Number 423 an author doesn’t get published.
Oh well, here’s the interview from ‘The Covid Years’.
The weather continues to be the enemy of all posties here in Eastern Australia.
Rain, rain, and more rain. And then more rain, rain, rain.
But how does this ‘rain’ of which you write manifest itself? I hear you ask. (see below)
Need I say more? It’s a lot for a modern writer/postman to deal with, but deal with it I did. I mean, the sooner the mail is delivered, the sooner I can get home behind the keyboard. Of course I take care of family matters, domestic chores, and then it’s off to the world of . . . well, wherever my imagination takes me.
MANUSCRIPT UPDATE: Corruption is currently under consideration at a publisher. The Squeezed, my latest in-progress manuscript, progresses well. 75,000 words down. Editing on the run has got me caught up to where I’m at. This means I’ve added in changes, made adjustments, deleted unnecessary sections and generally tidied the draft. Now it’s on to uncharted waters. But never fear, there is a plot line for me to follow. Now it’s onward to:
T H E E N D
Hiding Letterboxes
My crime manuscript Squeezed continues to blossom. And bloom. And now I am pruning. Yes yes. I know. It’s premature – the blinking thing isn’t finished yet, but the edit is really tightening the prose and focusing the plot and developing the characters.
So it’s onwards and upwards. I shall continue digging out my novel and finding those pesky hiding letterboxes.
I’m doing something I promised myself I wouldn’t do. No. It’s nothing illegal or something that could be deemed ‘naughty’. I’m editing my manuscript before I’ve completed the first draft.
Finish the damn thing. Completely. Then tinker and cut and polish, the little voice inside my head yodels. But no. I’m editing.
Why now? you ask. Now, when you’re so close to finishing the manuscript. The short answer is: I have to.
This pollution monstrosity on my postie run is a pretty fair representation of what’s going on in my writer’s head at the moment.
But I shall prevail!
Onwards and upwards to ‘The End’
When mail thieves strike, your friendly writer-postman is on the job detailing their dastardly work!
What can I say? To some, the sanctity of the written word, of the Royal (okay, not anymore) mail means nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. And so these ne’er-do-wells swoop in the dead of night while good folk slumber – and steal their bills and junk mail!
Calamity!
But fear not, we are on the hunt and shall bring these perpetrators to book.
Spot the letterbox.
No Prize offered – just the satisfaction of solving a mystery.
The weather . . .
. . . enough said.
It had to happen. Just had to. It happens with every novel. A crisis of faith in the story and the characters. Self doubt. A dip in confidence.
This crisis was triggered when I realised I’d taken a wrong plot path – and followed it a very long way. Aargh!
But now I’ve picked my way back through the wilderness and found where I veered onto the wrong path. The good news is that I think I can use some of this material later in the manuscript.
The even better news is I do have confidence in this manuscript and characters and it will be back on track in no time.
But, oh, the darkness, the doubt, the fear. Be gone!
Aaah, that feels better. Okay, back to the keyboard. . .
Spring is here in Australia and so I’ve embarked on my annual ‘clean up my desk’ adventure. Don’t try this at home kids! These are highly trained professionals at work. They may make it look easy – but it ain’t.
My crime-novel-in-progress Burned continues to ‘progress’ well. I’ve been in a writers group with respected and award winning author Bill Condon for many years. But with the advent of COVID 19 our meetings have been curtailed. Bummer. But, Bill and I meet up online weekly and critique and discuss the manuscripts we’re currently working on. It’s been very productive and a lot of fun. And I still feel very connected with Bill. It’s funny. I’m not seeing him in person but we’re both still a part of each other’s lives.
The Highlands continues to be out there in the publishing world. Two considered no’s so far. The last publisher said my main character was ‘refreshingly and complex’ in an ‘incredibly readable’ novel where I brought characters and setting to ‘life brilliantly’. And still a no. Aah, crime writing’s a tough gig.
Stay safe and well.
And no, I don’t mean a person who repairs cars, trucks, tractors who writes. Although I’m sure there are mechanic-novelists out there. If you’re a budding novelist you have to make sure you can still pay the bills!
You can see what I mean by “mechanics“ below.
These pages are a literal chapter breakdown of my manuscript-in-progress called Burned. I’ve written fragments of a backstory for my protagonist and now I need to figure out where to slip them into the manuscript so the plot continues to unroll naturally and the reader can gain some insight (drop by drop – not massive info-dump) into the character without losing the momentum of the story. T’is a challenge . . .
Chris McTrustry 