Sandy Fussell's Blog, page 22

[image error] For me it's a no-brainer. I'd choose Darth Vader every time. He's tall, dark and imposing. He dresses with style and how about that cape? He's not much to look at underneath the disguise but I've never been one than to judge someone by appearances.

Yes, I know he's the bad guy. He's done truly evil things but he fought a great struggle and in the end triumphed over the dark side. He made the ultimate sacrifice.
Luke's a good guy but he doesn't have the same depth. True, he's seen some...

I have son who is an excellent writer. He would be great for advice and feedback - if only we were on the same page. We don't read the same thing (although he did introduce me to the Night Angel trilogy which I loved) and we certainly don't write about the same things.

Recently I was working on a new idea and passed over the first 200 words or so for his opinion. He threw it back at me. "I'm not reading anything where a little kid gets killed in the first sentence." Fair enough. That might ha...

I been a little blog absent of late. I've just been so busy - writing to an approaching deadline and doing a number of day trips into educational literacy. One of those excursions involved holding a Masterclass for primary school students at the State Library as part of the Sydney Writer's Festival.

For a number of years I've poured over the Festival program wishing I could make it to an event or two... or three... or ten. But I never expected to see my own name on the program. Was it...

It's taken me a year and a half to work it out - but then I am a slow learner - finally I have realised what I should be blogging about. It was right under my nose all the time. 'This blog is about my personal experience in the (stories are) light' my blog header promised. Except I never did that. I tried to be all the things I wasn't. Now I am going to concentrate on what I am. I am a puddler. I write short bursts in between long stretches of thinking. I cyber hop from blog to blog...

Why is it so hard to write about the books I like best? Recently I wrote a review for With a Sword in My Hand, a marvellous historical tale with a truly feisty heroine and loads of medieval weaponry. What more could I ask and the book won a swag of awards too - so it's very well-written. My first review was not. It was so bad the Editor at The Reading Stack sent it back saying "I thought you really liked this book." So I started again and even then, the end result is not one of my better rev...

Today I'm very pleased to welcome two special visitors to my blog, Catriona Hoy and Puggle, the hero of her latest picture book. You can find a list of their other blog tour stops here.


1 There are a number of Australian animals in Puggle, what made you choose an echidna as the star of the story?
Puggle's story came about after a visit to the home of wildlife rescuers. There were a number of baby animals but the cutest were the wallaby and the echidna. Although we actually spent more time with ...

There were five of us, comparing our bling. We were all struggling writers so there weren't any diamonds or pearls to show off but there were some beautiful creative pieces with wonderful stories to match.

And then it was mine turn to show and tell.

I have three bracelets. One is made of wooden beads, bought from the $2 stand at the markets at the end of the best holiday ever. One was found in the street and brought home because 'it's so you Mum'. The other was pulled from the rewards treasure ...

To help celebrate teh launch of her new verse novel Toppling , I have been blogging over at Sally Murphy's Writing For Children blog on What Sandy Fussell Likes ABout Children's Poetry. At first I was hesitant - after all, what do I really know about poetry. I'm not a poet although I do love to read poetry and verse novels are high on my list.

I love the way words rise and fall in waves. I love the way they roll off my tongue and drop at my feet with a crash or a gentle plink. I love the sound...

I only have one sibling. She's younger than me. And wiser, braver and stronger. We're like chalk and cheese. She lives out the back of nowhere on a farm where the internet connection is non-existent. Not that it matters. It's an unnecessary luxury. She works hard, despite poor health and wearily loves the land the way only country people can. I live between the mountain and the sea, daily surfing an on-line world of art and amusement. My working world is filled with technology and words.

One o...

Today's website for writers is the cyber home of Brian Falkner, author of Brainjack and The Tomorrow Code.

With my software developer hat on, I am often asked by writing colleagues about web sites. My answer is always: Don't re-invent the wheel (or the website!). See who is already doing it right. And while you're looking, the key is.... content, content, content.

Brian Falkner Writes is one of my favourite websites for exactly the reasons above. It's interesting to look at, lots of reader rel...