tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-325578152024-03-07T06:24:57.437+00:00Lucy Ann WadeA Blog about WritingLucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.comBlogger359125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-52331630531910623242016-04-18T22:58:00.000+01:002016-04-18T22:58:03.220+01:00Flawless - a film<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So here it is, our short film Flawless. I hope you enjoy it.Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-55078104325410334132016-01-14T08:52:00.000+00:002016-01-14T08:52:39.597+00:002015 - What a year!2015 was an extremely busy and productive year, and so before I lose the memories forever (no doubt due to one too many whiskys at the bar), I thought I'd better chronicle them here.<br />
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<strong><u>Flawless success</u></strong><br />
So, my short film <em>Flawless</em>. <a href="http://lucyannwade.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/my-first-film.html" target="_blank">Remember that</a>? Well, it had a pretty good run last year. It's been shown at 23 film festivals across the world, including in New York, Lanzarote, Serbia, West Bengal, Puerto Rico, at Cannes in one of their screening tents, and at Aesthetica in York. <br />
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<strong><u>CERN</u></strong><br />
It was also selected for CERN's film festival <a href="http://cineglobe.ch/" target="_blank">Cineglobe</a>, which meant I got to travel to Geneva and not only treat my lungs to the freshest air there ever was but also check out the facilities. The festival is dedicated to the connection between creativity and science and it was inspiring to learn more about the research that is taking place, as well as being introduced to the Borscht Corp, a film collective in Miami with some amazing films such as this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfY1lfFu8j8" target="_blank">one</a>. <br />
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<strong><u>14/48 Leicester</u></strong><br />
I was also exposed for the first time to Leicester premier dramatic community, via <a href="https://1448leicesterfest.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">14/48 Festival</a> - based on an idea from a bunch of cool people in Seattle, this is a festival where 14 plays in total are created, produced and performed in front of an audience all within 48 hours (7 plays per night). I took part as a writer, writing a new play through the early hours of the morning based on a theme drawn from a hat that evening, which was then assigned to a director and cast the following morning and performed later that evening. It was an amazing experience; it made me realise completely that fantastic things can be created with little time and no sleep, and also realise how lucky I am to live in such a great city that has this kind of arts community. <br />
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<u><strong>Circle of Two</strong></u><br />
This was a short film written in a night (albeit Jim Worrad did most of the hard work) and then filmed over 2 days as part of Colchester Film Festival's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/662269897192810/?fref=ts" target="_blank">60 hour Challenge</a>. We were assigned a title "Circle of Two", a line of dialogue and an action that had to be included. Here is the finished product.<br />
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<u><strong>New films in development</strong></u><br />
I've been working on a new full length film script with Keith, Jim (aka the Flawless team) and Alison, which will hopefully be produced in 2016. Watch this space...<br />
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<strong><u>Novel updates</u></strong><br />
I've shelved the <em>Banshee</em> idea, and now am concentrating on the novel based on two sisters who are no longer witches but instead superheroes (earlier drafts are tagged "Matti"). Draft 1 is done, so as I move into 2016 it's editing time. Joy!<br />
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So that was 2015, in a nutshell. There's probably something I've left off the list, but all in all 2015 was pretty good. My plan is to keep up the momentum for 2016. Wish me luck, and good luck with your own writing projects!<br />
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<br />Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-81944433344882307182014-09-02T18:42:00.001+01:002014-09-02T18:42:12.485+01:00Editing and commitment issues<p dir="ltr">I have become fickle in my middle age and seem to have developed commitment issues.<br>
I'm talking about my writing of course. Whilst the film stuff is all chugging along nicely, The Novel has stumbled again. Having taken a little break from my <i>Banshee </i>novel, re-reading it plunged me into despair - so many plot holes, clichéd characters and saggy bits. And I do find it difficult editing my own work at the best of times. <br>
So I am cheating on <i>Banshee </i>with <i>Dorcas Grubb</i>, a former lover I set aside a few years ago when I decided I wanted to write a novel for adults. So with <i>Dorcas </i>I have a story of just under 50000 words for 10-14 year olds that needs a new middle.  <br>
I have also started on a new piece I have been toying with for a while called <i>Three</i><i> Sisters </i>that is a YA novel set in the village of the title, which blends fairytales and myths with present day village teen life. With family feuds. And Grim Reapers. <br>
My writing routine is improving, and I am hoping to finish the new version of <i>Dorcas </i>by Christmas. I'm sure nothing else will distract me before then...</p>
Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-63927127962346404562014-08-11T19:52:00.001+01:002014-08-11T19:52:52.238+01:00Films (plural)<i>Flawless</i>, the short film I co-wrote and mentioned in my previous <a href="http://lucyannwade.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/my-first-film.html" target="_blank">post</a> is still doing the rounds for various national and international festival submissions so isn't on general release yet. However, if you are based in Puerto Rico, you may have seen it at the end of July at <a href="http://new.thefilmfoundation.org/" target="_blank">CineFiesta</a> festival. If you are based in the UK, <i>Flawless</i> has been accepted at the <a href="http://worcestershirefilmfestival.co.uk/" target="_blank">Worcestershire Film Festival</a> (16-19 November) and at <a href="http://www.phoenix.org.uk/index.php?cms_id=598#" target="_blank">The Short Cinema Festival</a> in Leicester on 27 August. SO FAR. I think it has been submitted into around 60 festivals worldwide. I will keep you posted.<br />
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In the meantime, I've been keeping busy. My second film (or more correctly mine and James Worrad's second film) is called <i>Atonia</i>, and it's a bit out of my comfort zone. It's a horror film about a girl's struggles between dream and reality. That's about as much as I can say at this point. I wasn't able to go and watch the filming for this one (aside from the last scene), and so rather than deprive you of the excitement of it, I'm going to redirect you to <a href="http://jamesworrad.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/bad-shoes-in-underworld.html" target="_blank">Jim's blog</a> where he's written a fab summary about the filming process. Plus: pictures!<br />
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Really excited about this one, simply because it involves special effects and that's always cool. The young lead actress Jess O'Brien is amazing, and so I am really looking forward to seeing it once it is all pieced together.Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-57031671105635858602014-04-02T22:47:00.000+01:002014-04-02T22:47:53.430+01:00My First FilmSo you're probably wondering what I've been up to lately. "Long time no see" and all that. Well, I've been working on a few things, not to mention trying to liaise with my day job to actually try to reclaim something resembling a "work-life balance" in the hope of being able to have time to write something half decent.<br />
Anyway, the project that I'm most excited about, the one that is almost completed, is my first short film <i>Flawless</i>, co-written by the wonderful Jim Worrad and produced by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/badshoesfilm" target="_blank">Badshoes Films</a>.<br />
Jim approached me back in January I think it was to see if I'd collaborate with him on a film project pitched by his amazingly brilliant director friend Keith Allott. The project, after much discussion and refining, was to be about a woman genius who tries to prevent her father's death when she was a young girl. It was to be a modern sci-fi fairytale. The script went through a couple of edits, with Jim building on my initial structure and adding his script for the "woman genius" sections to my script for the "young girl" sections and generally doing a bloody good job of blending the two together. And that was our part done really. Just like that.<br />
And then the magic happened.<br />
Keith gathered together a band of nomads and renegades and artists in the form of the production team and actors, and they created something so beautiful and touching it has reduced pretty much everyone who has seen the rough cuts to tears.<br />
I think the current plan is to send the film off to some festivals once it is finally finished, but here is a photo from when I visited the crew on location to whet your appetite.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VN5HodzJAzMjn8fHXF15Oo8HrQGCV-0AOpFO5BDO1t3ErOP2_e6RdZTtRJxkfL_Lli-ZAnV3PijQABb6tez7Tdnz12zk0Gw-XuxtaUIi-nNhTVRKjRr62xnsbPoj070z_FVMTg/s1600/flawless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VN5HodzJAzMjn8fHXF15Oo8HrQGCV-0AOpFO5BDO1t3ErOP2_e6RdZTtRJxkfL_Lli-ZAnV3PijQABb6tez7Tdnz12zk0Gw-XuxtaUIi-nNhTVRKjRr62xnsbPoj070z_FVMTg/s1600/flawless.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keith with the actors on the soon to be famous bench on New Walk</td></tr>
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<br />Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-74977888282887873842013-11-20T18:42:00.001+00:002013-11-20T18:42:22.713+00:00My Humble Musings post-World Fantasy ConI know it's been around 3 weeks since I went to <a href="http://wfc2013.org/" target="_blank">World Fantasy Con</a> in Brighton, but I'm still benefiting from its effects.<br />
I'm not going to give you a run down of the Con itself, not the sessions I attended; my friend <a href="http://girlycomic.livejournal.com/180457.html" target="_blank">Selina</a> has done an amazing job chronicling most of our adventures already.<br />
I also won't comment here about the organisation of the event; this was my first big convention and so it's a shame to read reports about all the<a href="http://www.cheryl-morgan.com/?page_id=18014" target="_blank"> negative aspects</a> of the event.<br />
What I <i>will</i> share with you is what I learned from attending the event, one of the main inspirations to my sudden burst of writing drive.<br />
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<b>1. Most people are lovely.</b><br />
<br />I think I can truthfully say that every person I spoke to was wonderfully welcoming and friendly to me. I went with the preconception that it might be a bit cliquey, especially as I'm new, but people were happy to engage in conversation, and even the famous authors I met were really generous with their time. I know this experience was not shared by all who attended the Con, and so I count myself lucky that I was surrounded by amazing people and didn't encounter and of the dross.<br />
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<b>2. No one knows shit about upcoming literary "trends"</b><br />
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This is something Neil Gaiman talked explicitly about at the World Fantasy Awards ceremony, but the theme was visible throughout the event. With medias changing and the "word of mouth" phenomenon growing (aided by the internet), no one can really predict what's going to take off in the next few years or even in what format or media it will appear. This hit home for me as I was reminded of about 4 years ago when I was told by an agent quite bluntly that girls don't read dystopian fiction and that no one would buy my book because there was no market for it, so why not try my hand at Steampunk instead? Fast forward, post-<i>The Hunger Games</i>, and "dystopian SF" is the latest, hottest genre in the YA category. Don't get me wrong, in no way am I saying my novel would have been the next <i>Hunger Games</i>, but it did make me think: actually, people can be wrong, and that leads me into my next point...<br />
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<b>3. Write what you love and write it well</b><br />
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This is advice I'd read or heard before, but after realisation number 2 above, it became much more apparent to me that now there is more of a free market, you should spend your time writing those stories that you love and with all the new publishing options out there, if it's good enough it will find its market. Be the trailblazer! Buck the trend! Create good art! That is the only way to combine creativity and personal happiness. Do what you love, and hopefully it should resonate with others who will love it too.<br />
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I was surprised by how happy I was at the convention - hungover, tired, yes, but happy - and rejoining the real world was a jolt. Attending the convention has strengthened my resolve from "wannabe" to "will be". I will finish <i>Banshee</i> and seek publication. It will be accepted and published and read. I will write a sequel, and a standalone, and another, and I will go to more conventions where I hope they will continue to inspire me and thousands of other "will be"s, way past the point where we become "I am"s.Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-49722151195913645052013-10-29T07:59:00.000+00:002013-10-29T07:59:54.604+00:00Status Update So regular readers will know that I've been working on my <i>Banshee</i> novel for a little while now.<br />
I'm starting to pull together my pitch and marketing ideas now, and for those of you who don't know, the premise of the story is that Caoimhe is a "normal" maths student, living with her best friend in London, until she is involved in a mugging that goes horribly wrong and she transforms into a banshee, keening a soul into the afterlife. You see, banshees in my mythology are actually more similar to grim reapers than flyer ghostly hags, and when they sing, it opens a portal to the otherworld. Hearing a banshee's song can kill a human or drive them insane, hence the bad press I suppose. Anyway, so now Caoimhe isn't who she thinks she is and has to work out why she is a banshee in exile, as well as deal with the new threat posed from this undercover community (someone's not too happy with her transformation), and to add complexity to the situation, she also has to try to save her best friend's arrogant boyfriend from becoming her next "victim". <br />
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As for the novel itself, I am about four chapters away from finishing this current draft, and have had to make a few changes. One of my characters was supposed to die at the end, but after the death of my grandmother in May, I just couldn't do it. Before you start telling me to "kill my babies" and all of that, actually this decision has led on to a healthy sub-plot for the sequel, so it's rather enhanced my story than diminished it.<br />
After this draft is finished, I owe the manuscript another edit for language, consistency and grammar, and then I hope it'll be in a fit state to show the world. Hooray!Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-79656922653133202072013-06-18T08:44:00.001+01:002013-06-18T08:44:48.715+01:00And so...<p>After all of your kind feedback and support, I sat down and wrote for an hour on Sunday. I timed it on my phone and set an alarm and everything.</p>
<p>Going back to my novel, I found it was actually in pretty good shape. I mean, don't get me wrong, it still needs work, but the skeleton is practically there. Now all it needs is a few large meals and it'll be sorted. </p>
<p>Now I just need to find a way to keep writing. My motivation is back at any rate, and I suppose that's half of the battle.</p>
Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-201713762032416702013-06-14T19:29:00.002+01:002013-06-14T19:29:26.950+01:00How to get writing again?Work has become crazy busy recently, now that I am in charge of organising events full time. I am trying to finish the second draft of <i>Banshee</i>, my WIP, but scheduling time to write is really difficult, especially when my "day job" creeps into evenings and weekends too.
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<br>So I've been thinking about ways that I can still work on my project, but without obviously slacking off during the day and getting into trouble at work.
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<br>Here are some ideas I've had to get started again:
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<br>* Writing for 30 mins - 1 hour before breakfast.
<br>* Pretend conversations in my head between characters, and then scribbling it down or recording it on my phone.
<br>* Staying late after staying late to write a little bit (this is how this blog post has come about!).
<br><br>What are your suggestions? Do you have a good way of staying focused when life tries to get in the way of your writing?
Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-9502906248569340072013-01-28T19:27:00.003+00:002013-01-28T19:27:52.211+00:00Banshee - Editing UpdateHappy Almost the End of January! Officially it's the saddest month, simply because it's been sooo long since pay day and the weather is simply awful.
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I'm in the midst of editing and revising <i>Banshee </i>(book 1) and it's going pretty well so far. After the first draft, the two main issues to fix for draft 2 are:
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<b>1)</b> The character of Tom is very passive, one-dimensional, which = boring.
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and:
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<b>2)</b> The first three chapters don't work!
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So, I've been fixing 2) first, as in doing so, I've been able to make Tom much more exciting and not so much of a wuss. Huzzah!
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I have to say, I'm really loving working on <i>Banshee</i> right now. I think the thing that makes it interesting to me is here is a story about a girl who had everything, who was powerful and successful in practically every way, and she gave it all up for the love of her life - who turned out to be a dick. It's not one of those stories where a girl bends over backwards (!) to conform to her lover's ideal. She's already done that <i>before</i> the story started, and so is completely lost at the beginning but doesn't even realise it. Sigh.
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Thanks to a link from Zoe Marriott's <a href="thezoe-trope.blogspot.com">blog</a> to <a href="http://azaleasdolls.com/heroine.html">Azaleasdolls.com</a>, I've even been able to create a cartoon version of what my banshee, Caiomhe, looks like. Ta-da:
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Now, even procrastination can count as work!
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I hope to have at least the beginning of Banshee in some sort of shape where I can post a little bit on here over the next month or two, so would love to hear what you guys think.
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Here's hoping February is productive.
<br />Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-69857883565092551202012-12-11T13:58:00.001+00:002012-12-11T13:58:22.886+00:00Editing Mode: OnSo after finishing the first draft of Banshee v.2, my plan is to edit it and have it finished to send to agents in May 2013. Since finishing on Nov 30th, I’ve read the draft through again on my Kindle and thought it was pretty good (if I do say so myself). The end needs work, partly because an incident at the end needs to occur earlier in the novel, and partly due to pacing. Once that is done, I need to do a little work on my male love interest. And voila! One finished novel, and then on to Book 2.
Sounds easy, right? (I can hear Future-Me’s patronising laugh from here).
Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-86954694949234702472012-11-30T19:47:00.000+00:002012-11-30T19:47:47.020+00:00National Novel Writing Month 2012Look what I did.
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You can check out my final word count and a very (very) small extract here:
<a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/grizabella">http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/grizabella</a>Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-35470539503150163302012-09-13T17:51:00.000+01:002012-09-13T17:54:04.793+01:00Lovely, Lovely WalesMy trip to Wales was simply lovely. I spent 3 days in Cardiff and 4 in the middle of the Brecon Beacons. Both areas lovely. Driving to Cardiff first of all, we made a bit of a diversion to visit Puzzlewood (see picture) – a completely amazing place. It’s like stepping back in time, standing amongst the ancient trees and stones. It would have been even more magical however if it hadn’t have chucked it down about 15 mins into our visit. At least I got to try out my new rain coat.
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In Cardiff, naturally went to the new <a href="http://www.doctorwhoexperience.com">Dr Who Experience</a>, which was extremely fun and not just aimed at kids – which was what I was afraid of. If you’re in Cardiff at any time in the near future, definitely go. Well worth a visit.
The Beacons national park is very beautiful, especially our walk through “Waterfall Country” (see pic).
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The best part of the holiday though was spent underground – we went to the <a href="http://www.showcaves.co.uk">National Showcaves</a>, which is a weird mix of geological wonders and plastic dinosaurs, and down a former coal mine at <a href="http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/bigpit/">The Big Pit Museum</a>. Again, totally recommend a visit to both, especially the latter, as it was quite emotional learning about how the coal industry affected the surrounding communities. Proper oral history.
Honorary mention to the Penderyn Distillery, and especially for <a href="http://www.welsh-whisky.co.uk/spirits/brecon-gin.aspx">Brecon Gin</a>. If you haven’t tried it, you are missing out! It’s so good you can drink it neat.
Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-39571521042398232542012-07-18T11:12:00.000+01:002012-07-18T11:12:17.135+01:00Banshee Second DraftLast weekend I finished the outline for draft 2 of <i>Banshee</i>. If you remember, I wrote the first draft a few years ago as part of NANOWRIMO. Back then it was written from the perspective of Tom, as he discovers and falls in love with a banshee. This was where most of my problems lay in the first draft, as I just couldn't relate to Tom as a character (he was quite egotistical) and I realised that if I couldn't relate to him as a lead character then my readers wouldn't. So I've changed the focus and now the story is told from the pov of a young banshee . This opened up lots more story possibilities and I've even been able to think about ideas for the sequel. I'm looking forward to writing my second draft, and hope to have something to show you all soon.Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-24397224472076249622012-06-20T21:07:00.001+01:002012-06-20T21:07:30.649+01:00Mythical, Magical and Monstrous WomenToday I attend a symposium on "Mythical, Magical and Monstrous Women in Contemporary Women's Writing". It was a very interesting event.<br />
The main themes of the symposium were those of the nature of a "She-Monster" in literary terms, examining archetypes and subversions of this trope using feminist theory. We were treated to panels as far-ranging as "The Wicked Anti-Mother: Bellatrix Lestrange" to "Angela Carter and the Sadeian Gothic" to "Addressing Female Sexuality and Identity in Japanese Comics".<br />
As well as increase my desire to study a Masters, the symposium was also useful when considering my own writing. I'm currently creating my own "she-monster" in Matti, and I do not want her to succumb to typical patriarchal stereotypes of powerful women, and I do not want my story to reaffirm the Mother/Madonna/Whore doctrine found in so much classic literature.<br />
Matti is coming together piece by piece, and I am glad I am taking my time with it, as I hope that the finished product will be something amazing.Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-14935163212043278772012-05-30T13:50:00.000+01:002012-05-30T13:51:45.698+01:00The Hunger Games and E-Books<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">*Contains minor spoilers for The Hunger Games trilogy*</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've just finished
reading <i>The Hunger Games </i>trilogy and must say I really enjoyed it. I became
completely immersed in this dystopian society, and as the traumatic events
continued, I too became slightly traumatised. This is why I liked the ending,
and was very pleased with how it was written. I felt that Katniss had the
happiest ending she could have hoped for, given everything she experienced and
that showed great skill (and restraint) on the part of the writer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
I read the series on my Kindle, and whilst it was convenient and has helped me overcome my problem with storing paper books, the one negative I can
identify with ebooks is that I am unable to share it with my friends or pass
these stories on to my own children one day. So yes, "sentiment" and "community".
Ebooks just can't compete.</span>Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-75589919163841315172012-04-19T19:00:00.002+01:002012-04-19T19:26:28.575+01:00Alt.Fiction Day TwoHowdy all,<br />Finally, here are my notes from Day Two of Alt.Fiction, Leicester's premier SF convention.<br /><br />The day started off for me with a panel by Graham Joyce and Kate Laity about fairy tales and folklore. Like most members of the audience, I was a little hungover, but what I took away from this session was:<br /><ul><li>Myth and fairy tale actually have very little to do with one another; there is more elasticity in folklore, whereas myth was deemed as more "fixed".</li><li>Fairy tales exist in every culture, the same stories recur over and over again.</li><li>The image of fairies from the Victorian age (delicate wings, white dresses, etc) was a way to make fairies "safe".</li><li>The idea that fairies are linked to a sense of the uncanny, of uncertainty, menace, and creativity as a destructive force.</li><li>Graham's new book sounds awesome!</li></ul>Next up was a session on Diversity in Fantasy. I was pleased that they covered diversity in most senses of the word - sex, race, sexuality, even touching on religion. If they had included disability as well, then they'd have had to call bingo. The panel discussed secondary worlds, and how it is a writer's responsibility to consider diversity when creating their own universes. If there can be dwarves and dragons, why not minority ethnic characters? They touched on whether as readers, are we still conservative when it comes to homosexuality, male homosexuality in particular, and pointed at recent criticism of gay characters as evidence. The session made me reflect on my own writing, and I was pleased to discover that most of my stories contain characters from non-white backgrounds in (hopefully) non-stereotypical roles. Perhaps though the fact that I live in Leicester in a multi-cultural society, it is very hard for me to imagine even in a secondary world a place where "white male" is all there is.<br />I missed the last sessions because my stomach was rumbling something chronic and so I had to get something to eat before hunger turned me into the Hulk. Therefore I spent the rest of the afternoon in the Phoenix cafe, chatting to people, eating chunky chips with mayonnaise and improving my laughter lines.<br />I'm already looking forward to next year's event. So thanks to Adele and all who organised it. See you in 2013!Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-78542677199959833062012-04-16T17:59:00.002+01:002012-04-16T18:28:08.000+01:00Alt.Fiction Day OneLast weekend was Leicester's turn to host Alt.Fiction, the sci-fi/fantasy convention run by Writing East Midlands. I had a pleasant time overall, meeting new people as well as hanging out with the Speculators. I took notes, and rather than let them fester in my notebook, I thought I'd share them here for you. This is a collection of my thoughts and notes from day one. Day two will be in a separate post.<br /><br />The first panel I went to was about Science Fiction and Non-Fiction. It was a little disorganised at the beginning (I believe one of the panelists had been delayed) but got off to a good start. I was still waking up however, so didn't take a great deal of notes in this one. I think it can be boiled down to science fiction and non-fiction have a bit of a symbiotic relationship, and also fiction writers should be careful not to put all of their research into their fiction (a la the Da Vinci Code).<br /><br />Next, I headed off to a workshop on The Business of Writing, with Mark Chadbourn. Quite interesting, although full of scary advice like "quit your day job". Mark was putting forward that you should treat being a writer in the same way as you would if you were setting up your own business. I totally agree with that, but for me, quitting my job now would be like starting my own plumbing service before I'd even qualified. Anyway, Mark gave loads of ideas as to how and where we could make money writing, and the key idea is to diversify, try a bit of everything if it pays, and use the crap jobs you do to buy you time to work on your ideal project.<br /><br />The next panel was based around Dragon's Den, where writers role-played pitches to agents to show us what not to do. Basically:<br />DO:<br /><ul><li>Tell the agent the end of the story in your pitch letter.</li><li>Compare yourself with authors who are similar, but only if they have been successful in the last 5 years.</li><li>Show you are passionate about your work.</li><li>Consider series potential.</li><li>Finish writing the novel before you pitch anything.</li><li>Consider where your book would be placed in the bookshop.</li><li>Pay attention to details such as the agent's name, as well as spelling & grammar.</li><li>Keep the pitch short - ideally 3 paragraphs.</li><li>Read the guidelines on the agent's/publisher's website and follow them.</li></ul>DON'T:<br /><ul><li>Write in the pitch letter that "my mum loves it".</li><li>Be closed off to feedback and criticism from agents, as they are there to help.</li></ul>I think that's everything!<br /><br />Onwards to Online Marketing, with Tom Hunter. Interesting session, especially as I work in Marketing for my day job. Condensing this session down to a few words of advice, I would say it boiled down to "don't be a git on the internet" and "be open to new opportunities". The other thing that was interesting was to learn that imprints are themselves trying to create more brand recognition, trying to be more personable. As a reader, I think this is a great idea.<br /><br />Next, Comics. I came away with a long list of books I want to read, and will buy when I have some money. Also, the ways to get into comic writing are:<br />1. Get together with an artist and self-publish your own.<br />2. Be successful in another literary genre (ie TV, novel writing, etc) and then comic publishers will contact you.<br />3. Learn to draw. I laughed at this one, when relating it to myself. Next time, I'll try to remember to upload one of my "Lucy Drawings" and you'll see what I mean.<br /><br />Finally, I went to a talk by James Swallow on "Games Narrative". I'm not a gamer, aside from loving Super Mario on the NES and having a pretty strong Sims 2 addiction, and hadn't really considered writing for games before. After this session, however, I was eager to buy an X-Box and have a crack at it! Games writing is all about the discovery of the story, as opposed to the delivery of a story (as in film/novels). I never realised how much work there was for a writer on games; not just the cut scenes and main story, but also every little bit of throw away dialogue by background characters, as well as all the stuff for the different options and pathways you can go down. James also talked about "environmental narrative", which was something I'd never thought of before, the way in which the environment is shaped tells you about characters, setting, time and place, mood and tone. Converse to novels and short stories, narrators in games have to be empty vessel characters, because you want the gamer to pour themselves into the game. The one thing he didn't touch on, I think because we ran out of time, was how you actually become a games writer. Maybe I'll find out at the next convention I go to!<br /><br />So that was my Saturday, minus the free goodie bag, the wine and the curry. Really informative and fun day.Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-5979256322128066252012-03-22T13:03:00.003+00:002012-03-22T13:09:44.527+00:00Pitchfork DisneyI went to see <em>The Pitchfork Disney</em> at the Arcola in London last weekend. Philip Ridley is one of my favourite playwrights and it was great to finally see a professional production of this classic. I think this production really brought home to me Cosmo and Pitchfork's position as part of Presley's dreamscape. It's hard to feel pity though for someone so fucked up and I'm not sure you're supposed to pity him. I think that's the point of those wonderfully-written nightmare speeches, so that you feel like you are in the nightmare, so you live the nightmare with him. All great! I have tickets for <em><a href="http://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/main-house/shivered/">Shivered</a></em> at Easter and might possibly go and see <em>Mercury Fur</em> too - there seems to be a bit of a Ridley resurgence in London at present and I'm loving it!<br /><br />There was a call for papers for this conference on the <a href="http://pgcwwn.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/cfp-mythic-magical-monstrous-women-in-contemporary-womens-writing/">University website</a>. I would love to write about the legacy of Angela Carter, looking at modern writers like Cat Rambo, Erzebet Yellowboy, Catherynne M. Valente and many, many others reclaiming and creating their own myths, rewriting fairytales to better understand gender and politics and the human experience, but I don't have time and haven't written anything academic for almost 10 years (yikes). Maybe after I retire and get to do a doctorate I'll revisit this idea, though by then it'll be classified as "Ancient Literature"!Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-64399830833416521532012-02-06T18:58:00.003+00:002012-02-06T19:07:28.199+00:00W.I.PRight, so I'm still trying to work on my novel about the witch/superhero sisters, which started life as a short story and developed into a first draft during NaNoWriMo 2010. I've been having problems with it because I just didn't know how to tell the story - whether to set it in the present with flashbacks or to tell it chronologically and perhaps stretch it out into a series.<br /><br />I've finally decided to give the version with flashbacks a go. I had started to write a series, but the reason I got stuck, I think, is that all the good stuff that I was interested in actually happens in the present, rather than the past. So anyway, here goes version 3.<br /><br />If anyone would like to recommend good novels (SF/Fantasy or not) that deal with flashbacks particularly well, I'd really appreciate it.<br /><br />There's an interesting competition looking for stories to be included in an anthology at Fantasy Faction. I think I might use it as motivation to finish one of the short stories I've had lying around for months. The details are <a href="http://fantasywritingcontest.com/">here</a>, if any of you are interested (good luck!).Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-34084693977667788002012-01-30T19:38:00.004+00:002012-01-30T19:50:12.847+00:00York<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB14nGqpcUYaVkpqyxKKU3eoW2eZsIn_gGAHSv5-owf6FEMmsTpxWv26eTgJw6qq5Igxw9WnxRliLBd2ap6ouxCdqHKznAxtbs_BdnfEHZiUet1BU4WhysBzAa_MWNjxiKjYJ47g/s1600/hotel+room+royal+York.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703514332965154290" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB14nGqpcUYaVkpqyxKKU3eoW2eZsIn_gGAHSv5-owf6FEMmsTpxWv26eTgJw6qq5Igxw9WnxRliLBd2ap6ouxCdqHKznAxtbs_BdnfEHZiUet1BU4WhysBzAa_MWNjxiKjYJ47g/s200/hotel+room+royal+York.JPG" border="0" /></a> I've been in York for the past 3 days, at a conference for work. If you haven't been, it's very pretty, even when it is peeing it down with rain, but I swear there are more drunks wandering the street than pretty much anywhere else I've been.<br /><br /><div>The hotel was nice, and I basically got to stay in a room the size of my old one-bedroom flat, so that was nice. The conference signed us up to go on a ghost walk, which was fun and fine until our guide told us our hotel was haunted by a ghost AND a poltergeist, which meant I couldn't sleep for fear of being prodded by some supernatural being.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I find ghosts interesting. I'd love to say I don't believe in them, and say what a load of tosh it all is, but the irrational side of my brain is absolutely petrified that the world is really like it is in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/">Sixth Sense</a>, where there are dead people literally everywhere, and that I might one day be made aware of this fact. *shudder*. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div><em>(above: can you spot a ghost in this picture? If so, please don't tell me!)</em></div>Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-51719333013033575502011-12-13T17:10:00.006+00:002011-12-13T17:16:25.965+00:00"Nooooooo!"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicCfgzYd82BVzqhfuSsWp7tsKtjhZbh6KxkDbC4geqjkVhRIw-5G27aLxb6l4sq9PL_giRxq4nnLaBeo949I68o_yRMm7cAyp6G51qlBgfI3NKJ-wMfvJ6A9CEGoIyE1vlcS-sw/s1600/wolverine_hugh_jackman.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685662508168278658" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 170px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicCfgzYd82BVzqhfuSsWp7tsKtjhZbh6KxkDbC4geqjkVhRIw-5G27aLxb6l4sq9PL_giRxq4nnLaBeo949I68o_yRMm7cAyp6G51qlBgfI3NKJ-wMfvJ6A9CEGoIyE1vlcS-sw/s200/wolverine_hugh_jackman.jpg" border="0" /></a>I know the film has been out now since 2009, but last week they were showing <em>X Men Origins: Wolverine</em> on Film 4. I quite enjoyed the other <em>X Men</em> films, so thought I'd give it a go, but was very disappointed. None of it made a whole lot of sense, and it was so cliché it was ridiculous. How many times did Wolverine hug a dead person to his manly chest, turn to the sky and scream "Nooooooooo!": 2. How many minutes of the film were dedicated to long shots of someone driving through Canada in a truck?: several. And the plot was all over the place. Why was the man baby Wolverine thought was his father played by Hugh Jackman, if he wasn't in fact his father? Who was he then? Why did Wolverine and Victor have to fight in <em>all</em> the wars of the twentieth century? Why would an adamantium bullet kill Wolverine, when he survived his skeleton being fused with the stuff? Similarly, why would a bullet make him lose his memory? I have to admit, they did a pretty good job on Gambit, given that I never saw the appeal in the past after watching the cartoons (his mutant power is that he can shuffle playing cards? <em>Lame</em>). Just a pity we'll probably never see him again. I found myself more moved by poor Ryan Reynold's character than Wolverine/Victor's sibling rivalry. The poor man got his mouth sewed together, injected with mutant powers, and then manually controlled like a toy car by that Striker bloke. Poor sod. And his only crime was that he talked too much.<br /><br />I'm on a bit of a Superhero bent at the moment, having dressed as Batgirl at Butlins a few weeks ago (How come most of the famous female superheroes are DC?). I'm currently reading <em>Demo</em>, a brilliant comic by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan about disenfranchised youths with certain superhuman abilities. I'd like to say it's all research for <em>Matti</em>, but really it's just for fun. I'm still having problems with <em>Matti</em>; I'm still not sure how to write it. I mean, I have a plot, I have characters, but how to stylistically do it justice, I can't figure it out. At least I know not to make my heroine scream "Noooo!" anytime she finds someone dead. That's just plain annoying.Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-70308075552696507372011-11-22T17:28:00.001+00:002011-11-22T17:32:02.060+00:00Monsters, Monsters Everywhere<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2R90BEktsCr64iplVUq5rqoIjLX3D532zSCTVcIA0iUa2KcNRMTpLdr9hGz-9F2hcaTRw46wtdThdR2bPj4RgVT97c6cOu6MWw7atzlOlgJldNIGdwYjOx08m0QdG8idKIlFxRQ/s1600/Monster_High_Frankie.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 132px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2R90BEktsCr64iplVUq5rqoIjLX3D532zSCTVcIA0iUa2KcNRMTpLdr9hGz-9F2hcaTRw46wtdThdR2bPj4RgVT97c6cOu6MWw7atzlOlgJldNIGdwYjOx08m0QdG8idKIlFxRQ/s200/Monster_High_Frankie.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677874085132699506" /></a><p class="MsoPlainText">My god-daughter is really into Monster High at the moment. I bought back a doll for her from New York in April, thinking how cool it was to have little goth dolls, as opposed to the normal pink-wearing Barbies or those Bratz dolls with their freakishly-large heads. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoPlainText">I really fell for the idea of them, these anti-Barbies who face the oppressive "Norms" to get an education and get on in life (afterlife?). So I was a <i>tad</i> disappointed when I saw that there was a Monster High website, which seemed to imply that all these monster teens actually cared about was cheerleading and stealing someone else's boyfriend. I know that's the bread and butter of teen dramas, but really. Perhaps they ran out of imagination after the initial product designs were completed.</p><p class="MsoPlainText"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoPlainText">Anyhow, she's asked for another one for Christmas, which I will happily supply, because she's currently too young to read the novels and I like the fact that not all of her dolls are blonde (OK, so <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monster-High-Lagoona-Blue-Doll/dp/B005F29H98/ref=sr_1_1?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1321982970&sr=1-1">Zombie-Blonde</a> is allowed).</p><p class="MsoPlainText"><o:p></o:p></p>Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-14952863745857237232011-10-20T18:38:00.003+01:002011-10-20T18:54:48.844+01:00Why I Will Not Be Participating In NaNoWriMo This Year...I have been taking part in <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org">NaNoWriMo</a> since 2006 and have won every year since 2007. In the past I have explained <a href="http://lucyannwade.blogspot.com/2010/11/nanowrimo-day-5.html">why I think it is useful</a> for writers looking to complete a first draft. From taking part in the programme not only have I learned discipline and seen a novel through to finish, it has also given me the self-confidence that writing is something I am capable of, and that there is always time to write no matter what the circumstance.<br />All this considered, it may seem a little strange that I am not taking part in NaNoWriMo this year, and in fact it has only been over the last couple of months that I have really finalised that decision. It is not because I won't be writing, and it is not because I've become one of those snobs who looks down on the programme and can't see the benefits. Rather, I am going to use my time productively to create a first draft organically. By that I mean, I am going to give myself the time to let my prose develop, my characters breath, my plot develop at a natural rate, so that (hopefully) I don't have too many major problems when it comes to the second draft.<br />I believe that if I did not work full time (and wasn't also studying German) I may be able to write an excellent first draft for a novel through NaNoWriMo in 30 days. However, because work is crazy busy, because I can never seem to go long without adding a new extra-curricular activity into my schedule, what I get through NaNoWriMo is passionate if sketchy dream worlds that need a lot of elbow grease afterwards.<br />So that is why I am not doing NaNoWriMo this year. I will miss uploading my daily word count into the website and chatting with people in the forums, but it's for my own good.<br />Best of luck to all those who will be taking part! I hope you get what you want out of it.<br />For me, for now, I am moving on.Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32557815.post-1261301642722661942011-09-13T19:13:00.005+01:002011-09-13T19:32:34.535+01:00Re-Writing: My "New" SystemI'm still trying to re-write my fantasy story, and have developed my own system (I can't claim it as unique, as I'm sure it isn't).<br />First, write a story.<br />Second, print out said story and read it again, preferably after letting it sit for a few days. Mark on the manuscript where there are errors or where things need expanding or changing for the sake of the story/plot.<br />Third, create a new second draft, starting from a blank word document, using your notes and incorporating all the necessary changes from your notes.<br />Fourth, go back through this second draft, and think about phrasing and correct any errors.<br />Fifth, finished. Share with friends and have a night off.<br />I'm currently at step 3, and it is DIFFICULT. I'm out of my comfort zone now, writing with my editor's hat on (rather than my creative hat, which has daisies and paper windmills and bubbles coming out the top...). I'm determined to get it finished, I really need to get into the routine of finishing what I start.<br /><br />And on that note, let me tell you that last week I workshopped a story from the "Corrie Flint" canon at Speculators and spent a little time outlining a plot. This might be my next big project, but I'm aware that I still have so many things unfinished, so near to completion.<br /><br />I'll let you know how the re-writing system works out. For now, back to the grindstone.Lucy Ann Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08024780152614835172noreply@blogger.com0