The Colour of Her Magic is perfect for any lover of a good adventure story who wants fantasy, magic, wicked sorcerers and a fight between good and evil. It’s suitable for ages 12 – 13 and above, has the barest mention of sex, and the relationship between the two main characters is platonic friendship – and how often do you read that in books these days?
I've had these characters hanging around for a while now, but each time I tried to write them they always petered out... It was never right. Alison and Celia Griffin fought back each time I tried to put them into a book. They didn't like what I had in store for them, and each time the ideas just went slowly downhill and I stopped writing. I watch a lot of renovation programs and thought one day - why not renovate a magic kingdom? The very next morning this first chapter wrote itself, and this time it feels right. Check out...
Recently I had an amazing catchup with my writing buddy Renee Dahlia (http://www.reneedahlia.com/) who is well on her way to becoming a prolific romance author. Now I do romance as part of my overall plots, and I love to read them, but it's not my jam to write. My jam is fantasy, as well you might have guessed. Her jam is romance. While we caught up about the usual (family, friends, work), we also chatted about writing, which is one of my favourite things to do. I am fascinated with the way other writers work, and comparing that to the...
See that picture? That's me in 2000. With the long hair up in a ponytail (that hasn't changed) and the bedroom wall positively covered with posters of movies and movie stars (Joseph Fiennes was the man of the moment I can see) and the grim look that says taking selfies with an actual camera is hard. This is also the year I had an idea. Or at least, I think I had the idea then. My notes from then are completely lost, which is a shame. I've transferred ideas from paper to paper, from note to note. At university I...
Last week, while on a zoom with a few friends on mine, one asked "what are you writing?" I was a bit stunned at the question. I'm always writing, to start with, but also I didn't realise this particular friend knew that I wrote at all. "Anything sci fi?" they asked. "Yeah," I said. "A book about a kid in space." "Sounds awesome. Tell me more." I struggled to find words to sum up this 800 page behemoth I'd been writing for years, but I ploughed ahead. I've always been one to write enormous novels, and summing my work up...
Dying natural fibers in ancient ways using all kinds of natural stuff like Madder and Woad and Berries
At the end of last year, my family had decided that we would go for a family holiday to Fiji in June. We had it all planned: flights, accommodation, swimming costumes and blow-up rings for the kids to float around in. We were all looking forward to the break. But then along comes a global pandemic, and we had to say farewell to our vacation. Our flights were cancelled, and a credit given. Our accommodation was refunded. I felt terrible for the hotels in Fiji which are all struggling, given that tourism is a huge part of their economy, but...
During February, we heard rumours of this Coronavirus thing. We shared jokes about Corona beer and thought it wouldn't come to much. During March, it was declared a pandemic and everyone started stockpiling toilet paper. My kids got sick from a generic daycare virus, and we stayed home just to be safe. A week later, NZ declared level 4 lockdown and we were all forced to stay at home. While my friends shared "day 5 of quarantine", I shared "day 10" and they all got confused. A week in, we all recovered from our cold and stayed at home to...
I got halfway through a second draft the other day and then stopped, unable to think of how to go next. When this happens, I usually put it aside, let my brain do some thinking, and pick up something else. In this case: another first draft that needed a second swing. So I picked up the laptop and took that swing. My Twitter (@elgeelen) is a nice reminder of just how crazy this got, and how quickly it got out of hand. I had just anticipated a few gentle edits here and there, but WHOA! No. Within the first chapter,...
2007 Entry into a short story competition that unfortunately did not win because apparently short story adjudicators don't like fantasy... I hung up my oilskin with relief. It dripped on Bruce's bunyip, who scrabbled closer to the door and watched me suspiciously. I sat down, elbows on the bar, as my staff balanced itself on my knees. 'Caught in the downpour, Alan?' Bruce asked, polishing a glass. 'Doesn't often rain here,' he continued. 'Have a beer, mate.' He swirled a finger around the rim of the glass and slid it along the bar to me while the purple clouds rumbled...