Guest Post: Tim Jones interviews Keith Westwater about Tongues of Ash

 Posted by  Comments Off
Feb 082012
 
Guest Post: Tim Jones interviews Keith Westwater about Tongues of Ash

Today’s guest post: Tim Jones (author of Men Briefly Explained) interviews Keith Westwater (author of Tongues of Ash). Thanks Keith and Tim! 1) The publisher of Tongues of Ash, Interactive Publications, has described the collection as ‘travel poetry’. Is that how you see the collection? I must admit, when I first saw the term I was a little taken aback, as I had not considered the work in that light. My thinking was that the poems as a whole are representative of landscape writing, in the sense that they are to do with place, memories of place, the physical world, and the environment. They also touch on what is meant by ‘home’. On reflection, I think the publisher has insightfully picked up on the journeys that are also woven into the fabric of the collection   – my personal journey through time and place and my travels within New Zealand and overseas. [...read more...]

Guest Post: Keith Westwater interviews Tim Jones about Men Briefly Explained

 Posted by  Comments Off
Feb 072012
 
Guest Post: Keith Westwater interviews Tim Jones about Men Briefly Explained

Today’s guest post: Keith Westwater (author of Tongues of Ash) interviews Tim Jones (author of Men Briefly Explained). Thanks Tim and Keith! 1) Is it possible to explain men, briefly or otherwise? It would probably take a much longer book than mine to do that job full justice. I guess that Men Briefly Explained attempts to reveal the mysteries of the male from two angles: partly internally, through a report on what it’s been like so far to grow up male, and partly externally, through observing how other men behave. I have tried to look at how men’s biological role affects our behaviour too – although it’s important not to try to push such sociobiological explanations too far. (That’s a frightfully serious explanation, so I should also add that the book is a great deal less serious than I’ve just made it sound!) 2) Is this really an explanation of [...read more...]

Six Quick Questions with Bestselling Author Cassandra Clare

 Posted by  Comments Off
Dec 082011
 

Author of The Infernal Devices – the prequel trilogy to the bestselling The Mortal Instruments. All text courtesy of Walker Books. 1. The first book in The Infernal Devices, Clockwork Angel, ended on a cliffhanger as Will went to seek help from Magnus Bane, but we weren’t told why. Can you tell us where Clockwork Prince picks up? Clockwork Prince picks up about two weeks after the end of Clockwork Angel. We still don’t know why Will went to Magnus, and a Council is being held to determine whether Charlotte should get to keep her position as the head of the Institute after the disastrous events of Clockwork Angel. 2. You mentioned that Will is hiding a big secret that might be revealed in Clockwork Prince. Can you give us any clues as to what this might be? That would be telling! I can only say that it is a [...read more...]

Interview with Gary Corby, Author of The Pericles Commission

 Posted by  4 Responses »
Feb 032011
 
Interview with Gary Corby, Author of The Pericles Commission

Gary Corby, author of The Pericles Commission, spoke to the Bookiemonster Henchperson on writing, strong lady characters and of course, sea battles. So, tell us a little bit about yourself. Having your first novel come out is a bit like being exposed as a serial killer.  All your friends and neighbours say, “But he was such a quiet fellow.  Who would have thought?” I’m really very normal.  I come complete with one very normal family: one wife, two daughters, two budgies, four guinea pigs, and four fish in the backyard pond that I made this summer.  We live in a normal house in a normal suburb. What inspires you to write? Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process? I have no idea why I started writing!  No doubt a psychologist would have a wonderful time analysing me, but then, any writer would probably make good material.  The [...read more...]

Book Review: Villa Pacifica by Kapka Kassabova

 Posted by  4 Responses »
Oct 132010
 
Book Review: Villa Pacifica by Kapka Kassabova

Villa Pacifica by Kapka Kassabova, Penguin New Zealand, RRP $39.00, ISBN 978-0-14-320502-9, Available now. Villa Pacifica included two of my favourite things: homunculi and time distortion. Aspiring authors take note – that’s really it all takes to win me over. Before you start thinking Villa Pacifica is the bastard child of Donnie Darko and Maugham’s The Magician I can tell you now it stands up on its own merits and reads like a ‘proper’ novel, not some sci-fi loving hipster’s daydream. Anyway. Our protagonist, Ute the travel writer and her husband Jerry the non-traveller academic visit the Villa Pacifica resort somewhere in South America. Villa Pacifica is filled with wonderful and rather bizarre characters that are all over the top in the nicest possible way. I enjoyed the crazy American most, but found the sexy-cowboy character was bordering on the unbelievable. The scenery is great too – there’s beaches and [...read more...]

An Interview with Fleur Beale

 Posted by  5 Responses »
Sep 292010
 

Fleur Beale is the award-winning New Zealand author of over 20 novels for young adults and children – and the new release Fierce September, the second in a series which started with Juno of Taris. She very kindly agreed to answer a few questions for us! You’ve written over 20 novels for teens and children – what is your favourite aspect of writing for this age group? Is there anything you dislike? I think it’s good to have a framework within which to write, something that puts limits on characters that they have to push against or learn to live with. When you’re writing for kids and teens, those limits are the rules of the adult world and society in general. With teens too it’s always interesting to write about characters finding out who they are and what they’re made of. I can’t think of anything I dislike about writing for [...read more...]

 Older Entries