Burnt Snow, my first novel, was released in 2010 by Pan MacMillan Australia. White Rain, the sequel, is due soon. As part of a trilogy about witches, earth magic, curses, love and revenge, this blog archives my research into the world of the witches - as well as my own magical saga as a new author.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Gettin'... Swampy

Wow. The Writers 4 Queensland auction I wrote about in my last blog raised AUD $20,000 for flood relief. Thank you to the sweet people who bid on Burnt Snow, as all proceeds went into a very deserving pot. Poor Queensland - first floods, now cyclones - they need all the help they can get. It was an honour to take part. Muchos kudos to the magnificent organisers.

This woman is a spy.
Now, a little more news. While White Rain, the Burnt Snow sequel, races towards its TOTALLY SPOOKY climax with snakes, bad guys, knives, even more snakes, magic rocks, shapeshifting, demons, snakes and some more snakes along the way, something VERY GOOD has happened to me.
I have been writing a play for the fantastic Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, USA. I have been writing this damn play for FIVE YEARS because it is about Valerie Plame, the American CIA agent who was outed as a spy by the Bush Administration in order to discredit claims that there were no reasons to go to war in Iraq. Remember that? That Iraq thing?
Well, when I started the play in 2006, the "truth" of what happened in Iraq was a very different thing to what the truth turned out to be. So over five years, the play has changed form, story, characters, content... until last year the dramaturg flew out from Philadelphia and the Finborough Theatre in London gave me some actors and a director and I forced this nutty CIA-agent play called Swamplands into the world. We did a reading as part of the Finborough's annual Vibrant! season... and then I hid under my blanket for a while.
Anyway, I've done some more work on the play, and now a NEW director and a NEW group of actors is going to set to work making it beautiful as part of the National Play Festival 2011 in my home town of Sydney, Australia. Whoohoo! It's a big honour for me to be selected for the festival, and if you're in Sydney in March, it would be GREAT if you could make it along to one of the two public rehearsed readings the actors are going to do on March 16 (4pm) or 18 (7pm). 
You can read all about Swamplands at #NPF11 here... and I sure hope I see you there.

1 comment:

Misaki said...

Hi!

I just read your book Burnt Snow, which I absolutely fell in love with! You're an amazing writer and you've easily become one of my favourites.

I'm sure you get flooded with these questions all the time, but I'm an inspiring young writer, though I haven't progressed much anywhere. I have some questions on your writing process and would be extremely grateful if you answered them.

1. How difficult was it to get published?
2. What difficulties did you experience, while writing the novel (s)?
3. How do you plan your novels? Are you a discovery writer or outliner?

I'm afraid I might have many more questions but I can't think of them at the moment.

Sorry about bombarding you with questions! It's okay if you don't answer them! :D

Also, just as I side note - I'm an Australian too! :) I live in NSW and it was refreshing to read a book actually based in Australia :)

Thank you so much!