Inspiration

MR TUMPY’S CARAVAN

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How exciting to read that a manuscript of Enid Blyton’s has popped up in a children’s book centre. Although Mr Tumpy’s Caravan doesn’t sound my ideal Blyton (I prefer Famous Five or the boarding school stories), there’s something so Blytonish about this lost manuscript suddenly appearing.

It’s grim to think in the future that, thanks to our technology, lost manuscripts languishing in dusty, spider-filled attics suddenly materializing may well be a romantic happening of the past. Computer files seem so impermanent, don’t they

And so I’m celebrating this historical moment along with other Blyton fans around the world with a toast of ginger-beer and keeping my fingers crossed the powers-that-be don’t decide to ‘modernise’ Mr Tumpy’s Caravan before publication.

In our house we read a lot of Blyton. My daughter adores the Faraway Tree and Wishing Chair books and never tires of them. She also loves Blyton’s books which are about children – rather than the modern trend of using animals in place of children. And I’ve been slowly collecting all my old Blytons that my mother sent to op-shops when my back was turned. Tony Summerfield of the Enid Blyton Society was quoted in the London Telegraph as certain there are no other Enid Blyton manuscripts sitting around. It’s still lovely to imagine that somewhere out there are early drafts of Famous Five or a mystery never seen. 

And so, if you are interested in a fantasy of a caravan with a mind of its own, a dog-headed dragon and a princess, then cheer along with me that Mr Tumpy’s Caravan has been discovered.  

You can read more on Mr Tumpy here    

 

 

Valentine’s Day 1900

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On the 14th February in the year 1900, a group of schoolgirls set out for their annual Valentine’s Day Picnic. Some were never to return…

What was the secret of Hanging Rock?

Every Valentine’s Day I’m reminded of my favourite Australian movie, Picnic At Hanging Rock, which is based on the book of the same name by Joan Lindsay.

 

When I first saw this haunting, eerie movie in the 70s, I was terrified. After many repeat viewings, it still creeps me out. I’ll do a longer post about this one day as it’s such a fascinating film and I also love Elvira Madigan which Picnic was heavily influenced by. 

Picnic At Hanging Rock is my bookclub (Magic Hat Bookclub) pick this month. Joan Lindsay is a fascinating character and so I’m looking forward to this discussion.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08e9QqQP7sY]

But the Peter Weir movie will be forever associated in my mind with the 14th February. On this day every year, I see white dresses, corsets, elaborate cards, birds soaring in a brilliant blue sky, parasols, the menacing rock and the enigmatic Miranda.

A little bit of Rock trivia: Joan Lindsay married her husband on St Valentine’s Day. The day always had a special significance for her which is why she set her novel on the 14th February.

Enjoy the day and night dedicated to love. 

 

Home

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Returning from Tasmania is always difficult. It feels to me like entering back to grey-and-white Kansas in Sydney from the sparkling Tasmanian Oz. But return we must for the big smoke is where David works. And yet, the Tasmanian soil seemed alive to me when I tread on it. The sea, the sky, the air sang and sparkled. Everything feels crisp, new and more beautifully shaded in Tasmania.

I spent an hour a day walking the magical Nut in Stanley. Here my only company at times were hundreds of pademelons, blue wrens. rabbits and air blowing from Antarctica, said to be the purest in the world. As I walked, the panoramic views stretched for miles of sea and sky. The landscape looks at times like the moors in Haworth and the coastline is very Cornwall in places. It’s an incredibly gothic, spectacular place and both David and myself are more than a little Nut-obsessed.

I was very proud that five-year-old Daisy climbed it one day and didn’t use the chair-lift. It was on the Nut, I received another idea for a book and a title. Stanley is a most inspiring place for me!

 And so I have come full circle. Poets Cottage began in 2007 with my last holiday in Stanley. Now I am editing it and it will be a published book.

 I spent some of the week in the Captain’s Cottage editing and it was a humbling experience to share the edit with that delightful cottage in the most enchanting of fishing villages.

I was also most fortunate to personally meet and thank several locals who inspired the book and provided material that I could use. Warmest congratulations to Marguerite Eldridge of Stanley for her Australia Day award honours in the creative arts. Marguerite and her partner Lin were very instrumental in Poets Cottage, providing the title, and also inspiring the character of Birdie Pinkerton. Marguerite’s books about life in Stanley were also of great help in my research. It is wonderful to see this talented and gracious lady be recognised for her creativity at this stage of her life. I’m very grateful I got to personally thank her and she didn’t object to my daughter taking over her house and biscuit barrel!

We visited close family and it was joyful to see Daisy play with her cousins and relatives and delight in the magic of houses with large backyards, trampolines and sandpits. Always hard to leave but this trip even more so. And every day I see myself back on the Nut feeling that icy wind rush through me and the earth singing as I walk on her. There’s no place like home.

Tourists and Ghosts

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I’m going away for a couple of weeks on a research trip for my writing. Think wild seas, cottage-gardens and overgrown cemeteries. I’m looking forward to escaping from the humidity in Sydney. I’ve been slowly working away at my edit for Poets Cottage. Slowly because my daughter is home on holidays and so finding the time to write is almost impossible.
 
David took Daisy to see Tangled this week and I saw Johnny Depp in The Tourist. This movie has a plot almost as plausible as an episode of Midsomer Murders but the imagery is spectacular. Retro, blue and moody. Venice is always magic. Johnny Depp spoke in a recent interview about walking the Venetian streets at night and the ghosts coming alive for him.
 
Venice is a city filled with tourists, dreams and ghosts. I treasure the memories of the holiday David and I had there. A city with no cars breathes a silence heavy with poetry and memory; it haunts you forevermore. I can still hear her waters and remember the colours of the grand buildings lining the canal. When you wish to walk with ghosts, Venice is the city for your journey.

Happy New Year with Bogart, Bacall, and Tracy Anderson

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Happy New Year to all from a sweltering Sydney oven.
I’m wilting in the heat. I find this city unbearable at this time of year. If you’re lucky enough to live near the water it would ease the pressure but the inner-city is an airless, dusty battery-hen cage.
Wishing you a joyous New Year and I’m looking forward to 2011.
Here is my comfort book.
 
 I re-read it over Christmas in two days. Despite knowing it so well, I couldn’t put it down. Amazing how you get a slightly different angle with the characters every time. It has such a sinister, dark edge to it. Clever, wonderful Daphne du Maurier.
And no surprises as to what I’ve been doing (see Tracy Anderson DVD).
That’s my big new year resolution. Writing is such a fattening job.
If you follow my Facebook, you’ll see that I’m not a fan of the fireworks at this time of year. I’ve had a mini-rant there about the waste of money, cost to the environment and the damage to the harbour, not to mention how it frightens animals. I found several others who also hate the fireworks. How about you? Are you pro the big bangs or, like me, believe it’s fiddling whilst Rome burns?
With all the Green perceptions globally and the fears for how fragile the planet is, I’m dismayed that firework displays are still so popular. I’ve been criticised in the past for my anti-fireworks stance and told that I don’t like people to enjoy magic.
Personally, I find far more magic, splendour and meaning in a simple blade of grass than in millions of dollars polluting the night skies with transient explosions of coloured lights – but that’s just me. I’m not even a fan of going out on New Year’s Eve. The Scribe and I spent a cosy evening with a bottle of Grand Marnier and The Big Sleep. We still aren’t sure what exactly happened in that confusing, twisty movie but Bacall and Bogart are magic. 
Off to try to catch some of the tiny breeze in our courtyard.
xx 
the big sleep image source 

Kate Morton Didn’t Give Up

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 Kate Morton has been a huge international publishing success. Her books sold in the millions to 38 countries. Recently she was interviewed by Mariella Frostup on one of my favourite shows, The UK Book Show with Nigella Lawson and another guest. She has struck publishing gold.  
 
I’ve known Kate for years as we share the same agent the wonderful Selwa Anthony. Below is a photograph taken at the Sydney Launch of Kate’s debut book, The Shifting Fog (released in the UK as The House At Riverton). This photo always makes me smile as it looks as if I”m trying to rub some of Kate’s success off on me. 

  

From left: Kate Morton, me wearing the purple chook feather, Kate Forsyth (who has previously written an Inspiration post for Tale Peddler), and the very Sassy Leigh Redhead. 

The reason why Kate is my pick for an Inspiration post is not her great success but rather her tenacity. She had previously written two books which were both turned down by publishers before she wrote The Shifting Fog.

I just love stories like this. I believe when it comes to writing, you have to have the hide of an elephant and be able to pick yourself up off the floor after many crushing disappointments.

We all know stories of people like JK Rowling, Louisa May Alcott (who had to work as a servant when Little Women was being floated around) or Stephen King (Carrie received 30 rejections before it went onto enormous success). The English crime writer John Creasey received 753 rejection slips and went on to publish over 500 books. 

I know personally how tough it can get in the world of publishing. You can spend years investing all your being into one book that can go nowhere.

You can possess the talent, the discipline, the marketing appeal, the best ideas in the world in spades. But if you don’t have tenacity and determination – well, publishing is a game of snakes and ladders, often with more snakes on the board than ladders.

You have to keep rolling that dice, stay pure to the work and never give in. If you need a dose of stamina power, here’s a link to an article of some great souls who refused to give up.

Enjoy your week. Keep creative.

 

“Flops are a part of life’s menu
and I’ve never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses.”
~ Rosalind Russell 

 kate morton top image source