2012 - My Year of Reading

The last two months have shown an incredible spike in the page views this blog has been getting. I haven’t blogged anything new in the last two months so I can only assume that Google has found me or that through you good people reading and sharing I’m getting some pretty good backlinks.

Anyway, in honor of this increase and to show people I am still indeed alive and kicking (well, kicking back anyway, I’m on leave) I thought I would end the year with a bit of a list of some of the books I have enjoyed in 2012.

I read some amazing fiction this year - 31 titles in total - but my top ten were:

Nine Days by Toni Jordan.

White Horse by Alex Adams.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett.
The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail.
Revived by Cat Patrick.
Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell.
House Rules by Jodi Picoult.
Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

  
I also read a lot of poetry, a couple of biographies, a handful of writing reference and one self-help. All up I devoured 55 books total for the year which isn’t half bad. The best of the non-fiction were:

The Road to the Dark Tower: Exploring King’s Magnum Opus by Bev Vincent.

Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak.
Help! for Writers: 210 Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces by Roy Peter Clark.
Wannabe a Writer by Jane Wenham-Jones.
Tamam Shud: The Somerton Man Mystery by KerryGreenwood.

Well, that’s it! Why not get along to your local library and borrow some of these to read over the summer? If you do, come back and leave me a comment to tell me what you thought.

No matter how you spend this holiday season I wish you a wonderful time with good food, family and friends and all the best for a happy and safe 2013.

Kerry Greenwood - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries - Interview

"Have you met Phryne Fisher?" It seems we will and very soon. Fans of Kerry Greenwood and particularly fans of her enchanting protagonist the Hon. Miss Phryne Fisher will no doubt be as excited as I was to learn that next year the ABC will be airing a 13 part series based on these popular novels.

I had a chat with Kerry about it...

Will you be involved in any way during the production of the series?

YES! I saw all the auditions and I entirely agree with their choice of Essie [Davis]. She reminds me of a young Diana Rigg. Her voice and her self assurance are perfect.

Where did the idea for the character of Phryne Fisher originate?

She walked into my life in a tram on Brunswick Street Melbourne just after I had got a 2 book contract. A perfect 1928 woman. It's as though I met her. By the time i got off the tram we were friends.

You seem happy with the casting of Essie Davis as Phryne. Do you know who makes up the rest of the cast? I would love to know who will play Dot and Cec and Bert.

Hey, me too, but I dont know about Dot, Bert or Cec.

When you wrote Cocaine Blues did you ever envision Phryne jumping from page to screen? How do you feel about it now that it¹s going to happen?

I held out firmly against a film because of the V I Warsharski film, which had such a bad effect on the author (she [Sara Paretsky] gave up writing V I) I dont want that to happen to me, film has power and creation comes from the imagination. I cant afford to let mine become contaminated. I always thought they would make good TV movies but I wouldnt sign until I got someone I trusted.

Was there a reason behind you choosing 1920s Melbourne as the backdrop for the series? How important is research to your writing? What is the most important thing to 'get right' when writing historic fiction?

I have to get everything right, or as right as I can. Luckily there is a lot of research material available, esp newspapers. Police reports. Maps. I adore doing research and from the research springs the book, I cant do one without the other. Phryne arises like Aphrodite from the ocean of fact. I have abandoned plots and ideas because I could not find out enough about them to convince me. If it doesnt convince me, it isnt going to convince anyone else. It's 1928 because I researched a Legal History thesis on the 1928 waterfront strike (my dad was a wharfie) and I knew a lot about that year.

The murder-mystery television series genre is popular in the UK, why do you think it's taken so long for an Australian producer to decide to bring a character like Phryne to the screen?

Historical stuff costs 30% more a day to make - that might be it. I know that funding has to be gathered from a lot of sources. And the English have rejected the Phryne novels for some reason. Whereas the US really likes them. No accountiing for tastes...

Is there any chance of a second season if the first series is a hit?

That's what they say. I'd better write more books. Actually I have this idea and am researching the Unemployed Womens' Movement, the brothel scene in Melbourne, and the Abbotsford Convent at present. No idea how or why, but it's worked nineteen times already so I trust the process.

Are you currently writing a new Phryne Fisher mystery?

I usually am... She's now in high summer 1929 and the economic situation is starting to look grim.

Do you know which of your stories will be brought to the screen next year? Do you have a personal favourite that you are looking forward to seeing brought to life?

All the ones which are set entirely in Melbourne, so not Castlemaine Murders, which is sort of my favourite. Actually I like all of them. Another favourite is probably - er.... well, I dont know. Raisins and Almonds, perhaps. It is solved in the last line of the book. A surpise to me, too.

If there was one thing you would want the producers to get right with the adaptation from page to screen what would it be and why?

The relations between Bert and Cec, and between Phryne and Dot. They are key. But they have the right Phryne, she's perfect, she even LOOKS like Phryne but more importantly she sounds like Phryne and she moves like Phryne. She'll manage it. And the scripts I have seen have been excellent. They are letting me check for dialect mistakes and historical errors, and I am very grateful. One Okay would drive me right up the wall...

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries has its own facebook page here.
Find out more about the delightful Phryne Fisher here.
I interview Kerry about her reading habits here.

Kerry Greenwood - Author Interview Series

Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series began in 1989 with Cocaine Blues. Kerry has written sixteen books in this series with no sign yet of Miss Fisher hanging up her pearl-handled pistol. Kerry says that as long as people want to read them, she can keep writing them.

What authors/books did you read as a child? When did you first discover your love of books?

I learned to read when I was three beause I had a favourite book, Katie the Kitten - a golden book - and my mother read it to me so many times that I coud recite it and associated the words spoken with the ones on the page. "Katie the Kitten a small tiger cat is asleep in a hall in a ball in a hat..." Then I read EVERYTHING including the backs of cornflakes packets. My favourites were Milne, Lewis Carroll, Kipling, C S Lewis, Doctor Doolittle, Elizabeth Goudge... and everyone else.

When did you first realise you were a writer? What do you hope your readers will take away with them from reading your books?

I wrote my first novel when I was sixteen. I just love writing books. I hope to amuse my readers, to take them away to another place, where there will always be a happy ending.

Do you find it difficult to read purely for pleasure? Does everything you read come under your 'writer' microscope?

To a certain extent, particularly detective stories. But I am very pleased when a writer convinces me and seduces me into a false solution. I enjoy the artistry and the journey.

Do you have to avoid reading certain types of fiction while writing your own? Does what you read while writing have an effect on what you write? In what way?

Yes, I never read detective stories while I am writing one, due to the possibilites of cross-contamination. I stick to other genres while I am writing. I haven't had any bad experiences in this way, because I avoid the possibility.

Name five authors or books that have influenced or inspired your own writing in some way?

Dorothy Sayers, my hero. Wrote the best detective stories in my genre.
J R R Tolkein, who wrote the definitive fantasy, the definitive second creation, to which I can only aspire.
P G Wodehouse, for his skilled, ingenious and very funny use of language.
Leslie Charteris, who wrote The Saint and perfected the caper novel.
Joan Aiken, who invented alternate histories.

If you were travelling and were told you could only take one book with you, what book would it be and why?

The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein. Or if it has to be non fiction, The Histories by Herodotus.

What makes a book 'too good to put down'?

Pace, ingenuity, clarity of character.

What makes you put down a book without finishing it?

Unimaginative characters, boring exposition, too much description, (Walter Scott, I see you!) and predictable plot.

Do you have a favourite author? Who is it and what is it about their writing that draws you to them?

Tolkien again. It's the most perfect sub-creation. You believe that there are hobbits, or have been hobbits. I like to believe that, too.

If you had to list them, what would be your 'top ten' reads of all time (excluding the classics) and why?

Can't exclude classics, sorry.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens - the book which changed the law, complex, fascinating, passionate.
The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein - for reasons already cited.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken - another perfect sub creation and a romping good read.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - the original psychedelic fantasy.
The Beast Master by Andre Norton - clever, deeply felt YA adventures in space-time.
A Morbid taste for Bones by Ellis Peters - another perfect re-creation of another time.
Nova by Samuel Delaney - epic in future form, redolent with other myths.
When Things Fall Apart by Ron Goulart - who can be funny about dystopias.
Goblin Reservation by Clifford Simak - I love his dry, constrained style.
The Christening Quest by Ann Scarborough - witty, ingenious, intelligent fantasy.

What do you think of the non-traditional publishing methods - eBooks etc? Do you think the new technology will encourage more people to read? Do you think there's a future for print books?

Yes, as a niche, and because people will always like to have a book or two around the house (they do not need batteries). Also it is not a good idea to read ebooks in the bath. I suspect that printed books will become art objects and plain everyday novels will be something you download. Fine with me.

When Kerry is not writing, she works as a locum solicitor for the Victorian Legal Aid. She is also the unpaid curator of seven thousand books, three cats (Attila, Belladonna and Ashe) and a computer called Apple (which squeaks). She can detect second-hand bookshops from blocks away and is often found within them. For fun Kerry reads science fiction/fantasy and detective stories.

You can find out more about Kerry here.