maryvictoria

Originally published at Mary Victoria. Please leave any comments there.

The US health care system isn’t all that, as we know. It charges you for dying.

There must be a Kafka story resembling this somewhere. Or at least, Kafka would have written the tale, had he been alive in our times, in the land of the free, home of the terminally ill. To confront one’s own mortality is one thing. To let a loved one go, quite another.

But to be charged $20000 for it, after a mere two days, is close to unconscionable.

Please read this appeal. Even if you can’t spare a dime, pass the word along. Alma is a storyteller of the first order. This time, unfortunately, the story is true.

THE STORY OF THE WHITE RABBIT

Originally published at Mary Victoria. Please leave any comments there.

It’s that time again. I’m good at the once-a-month appearances, aren’t I? 

On the personal front, I haven’t much to report, except that I feel I’ve seen this road before. We’re contemplating moving yet again, to be closer to work. I’m still doggedly chipping away at the ms in between all the rest. While it seems never to be done, I suspect that may be because I’m close to the finish. It’s when I think I’m finished that I find I’m nowhere near done.

Meanwhile, and on a related topic, a couple of articles caught my attention this morning. The idea that artists shouldn’t expect to be paid for their work continues to gain credence in some quarters while Jaron Lanier takes the opposite view, arguing the internet hasn’t really helped us create a fairer world.

I am continuously amazed at people who advocate reducing the already precarious livelihoods of artists. I want to put that smug ‘pirate party’ European parliament member in the shoes of a working author or musician who needs three pennies to rub together to keep writing, making music etc. Please, direct your zeal for transparency and fair use towards a worthy target – politicians, perhaps?

Originally published at Mary Victoria. Please leave any comments there.

I get a great deal of spam on this site. But it isn’t all wasted. If you sift random sentences from the muck, there’s a strange, found-art beauty to the phrases:

Chinese cinema big-shot, environmental immunity enthusiasts
launched out of the ordinary responsibility
in a 19th-century construction surface
some may be struck before to skin the slump 
a substitute alternatively of thinking
He said: braids fancy
marrow shops displaying and selling Confectionery
located on the left-wing bank of the Seine
as a replacement for the accrual of dirt.

Eisenstein knew it: We can make sense out of anything.

Originally published at Mary Victoria. Please leave any comments there.

You turn your back for a moment, and a whole new fantasy and sci-fi website springs up! I am very pleased to announce the arrival of Booksworn, a site featuring the work of some fine emerging authors in SFF:

Bradley Beaulieu, Elspeth Cooper, Doug Hulick, Betsy Dornbusch, Teresa Frohock, Kameron Hurley, Zachary Jernigan, Mark Lawrence, Stina Leicht, Helen Lowe, Anne Lyle, Evie Manieri, Jeff  Salyards, Courtney Schafer, Mazarkis Williams, Mary Victoria… wait a minute, who’s that last joker, and what does she think she’s doing there?

But wait, there’s more. To celebrate the inauguration of the website, BookSworn member Helen Lowe is hosting a masked ball – in which you can guess the names of the protagonists featured in selected excerpts, and be in to win books galore! That’s sixteen chances to win free books. That’s FREE. And BOOKS!

There have been nine masked ball posts already, and they’re set to continue for a week. So check out the site and leave a comment if you know whose face lies behind the mask! Get thee hence, internet-lubber.

Originally published at Mary Victoria. Please leave any comments there.

The adage might be ‘do much of one thing, not many things,’ but unfortunately I am firmly in ‘multa’ mode at the moment and have many small items of news to report.

Item the first: I have finished an iteration of my latest manuscript and sent it to my agent – huzzah! It’s under 90000 words, a far slimmer offering than the three previous books. It’s also firmly in the magical realist camp and a big departure for me. Exciting, nerve-wracking, you name it.

Item the second: ‘Tymon’s Flight’, ‘Samiha’s Song’ and ‘Oracle’s Fire’ many be getting their worldwide release sometime this year from HarperCollins, in both e-book and printed format.  More on this unlooked-for good news when I have it!

Item the third: Slowly settling into life in London and on the boat, both of which involve a learning curve. This city has changed a great deal in the last twelve years. I love it, as always.

Item the fourth: Somewhat related to the above, I have put out my back. Ouch! The inflammation, it burrrrrns.

Item the fifth: Hollywood is nuts. My former life appears to be imploding. Thank goodness, this doesn’t affect us too much for now as Frank has a teaching job. But if he didn’t? Serious pain.

For now, we’re walking the wire. For now, we’re balancing…

The adage might be 'do much of one thing, not many things,' but unfortunately I am firmly in 'multa' mode at the moment and have many small items of news to report.

Item the first: I have finished an iteration of my latest manuscript and sent it to my agent - huzzah! It's under 90000 words, a far slimmer offering than the three previous books. It's also firmly in the magical realist camp and a big departure for me. Exciting, nerve-wracking, you name it.

Item the second: 'Tymon's Flight', 'Samiha's Song' and 'Oracle's Fire' many be getting their worldwide release sometime this year from HarperCollins, in both e-book and printed format.  More on this unlooked-for good news when I have it!

Item the third: Slowly settling into life in London and on the boat, both of which involve a learning curve. This city has changed a great deal in the last twelve years. I love it, as always.

Item the fourth: Somewhat related to the above, I have put out my back. Ouch! The inflammation, it burrrrrnnnnsss.

Item the fifth: Hollywood is nuts. My former life appears to be imploding. Thank goodness, this doesn't affect us too much for now as Frank has a teaching job. But if he didn't? Serious pain.

For now, we're walking the wire. For now, we're balancing...

Originally published at Mary Victoria. Please leave any comments there.

Another month has passed before I come dragging in here, shamefaced and knock-kneed as a little schoolboy: “Sorry sir it won’t happen again…”

Actually, I thought it was high time I posted a few pictures of the boat. Yes, the Victoria clan are now embarked on adventures of a nautical bent. Namely, we’ve bought a live-aboard Dutch barge, currently moored in west London. Surprised? Not as much as we were, I assure you…

Here she lies, a converted 1904 sailing Klipper:

The inside looks something like this:

And this:

She has elegant lines (and a fine dress sense:)

…And in a word, we’re chuffed. Nuts, yes, maybe, but chuffed.

Originally published at Mary Victoria. Please leave any comments there.

Well, what a year. Amazing, difficult, full of reversals, full of promise. Pretty much everything went wrong, in order to then go right – in a different way to what was expected. Everything turned inside out and upside down and it was all very interesting. We set out to go to Paris, and found ourselves in London. We set out to buy a flat and ended up living on a boat. We thought we’d be nice and conventional in our choices, and surprised ourselves… mightily. And I’m grateful for it, because this is what keeps me sharp. Surprise me. Challenge me, and I will be content. Never leave me in a rut.

So what next, 2013? You look set to be another cracker. We’ve started our London journey, but have by no means completed it. Much remains to be done. Work-wise, the WIP stands at over 70000 words. Less than a fifth of the novel remains – I’m close to wrapping this one up, so close I’m getting the Screaming End Terrors. After that there will be The Rewrite and The Pitch.

Work aside, I’m looking forward to enjoying London. I’ve already started dragging my long-suffering daughter around the Science and Natural History Museums. I want to see exhibitions, concerts and films. Enough with the serious stuff, let’s have some fun in 2013!

Best wishes to you all.

Originally published at Mary Victoria. Please leave any comments there.

I was invited to participate in the Next Big Thing meme by the most excellent Helen Lowe.  I thought, “Fabulous – any excuse to find out what some of my fellow authors are up to!” I’ve asked several ‘River’ anthology writers to the party, as well as other friends, because… well, see no.2 below.

The rules are simple. I answer ten questions about my current project, then tag five other authors. They post their own answers the week after mine, tag more authors, etc., etc. So without further ado, here I go…

1) What is the working title of your next book? 

‘This Bare Island’.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book? 

I wrote a short story for an anthology called ‘River’, a version of the Daphne and Apollo myth set in twentieth-century Cyprus. The world of the short story called out to me and I knew there was more material there waiting to be used.

3) What genre does your book fall under?  

Can you imagine falling under a genre? “Oh no, six tons of Fantasy just fell on my head!” Seriously, I hate boxes and labels in writing. I suppose you could say this book was contemporary lit with an edge of magical realism…

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? 

If there was a movie version it would probably be a low budget French/German co-production filmed entirely in Montenegro. So the actors would be fresh-faced unknowns who later make it big in Hollywood, giving the film its one and only claim to longevity.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

Caught between East and West, ancient and modern, Cyprus is a crossroads – a portal between the worlds, where a homeless spirit may sometimes slip through, unnoticed.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? 

Represented by an agency, I hope!

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?  

I’m still writing it. I began it more than a year ago, but in my defense I sold a house, moved continents and bought another home in the interim.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? 

I love tapestry stories weaving many different tales into one. ‘Cloud Atlas’ by David Mitchell and ‘The Saddlebag’ by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani are good examples, but there are many books using this device with greater or lesser success. I like the idea of building up a picture of a particular reality through multiple points of view.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?  

I was inspired by my own memories of growing up in Cyprus, though the book isn’t autobiographical and the characters are pure invention. Of course, the places are real, from the abandoned ghost town of Varosha to Limassol Zoo. I used to live on Economou Panayides street, and I beg my neighbour’s forgiveness for modeling one character’s house on hers, with its high hibiscus hedge.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest? 

Bits of this book keep breaking out in verse, like Prince Herbert in Monty Python’s ‘Holy Grail’. I try to beat them back into prose-shape but they’re stubborn. Actually, that’s more of a warning than a draw for readers. Beware of poetry! If you’re lucky, none of it will make it past the final edit.

There we are! Now I get to tag five other authors. They are:

1. Tiffany Trent, author of ‘the Unnaturalists’

2. Brenda Cooper, author of ‘Mayan December’

3. Joyce Reynolds-Ward, author of the ‘Netwalk’ sequence

4. Barbara Else, author of ‘The Travelling Restaurant’

5. Gillian Polack, author of ’Life Through Cellophane’

And last but not least, although she has already participated in the meme, I’d like to point you to Alma Alexander’s entry as well. Apparently, she already tagged me… last August. It has taken this long for me to figure it out. Oy…

Looking forward to hearing from everyone!