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January 8th, 2010
karenhealey
 | 02:31 pm - *rolls around in airconditioning*
Stolen from many, but directly from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) delux_vivens.
Were I a summonable creature, what kind of ritual would you craft to summon me?
Current Music: Tacobel Canon - Christine Lavin
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karenhealey
| 01:21 pm - OKAY Y'ALL
I am SO EXCITED about this. My very first ARC giveaway!
YES, thanks to the good folks of GoodReads for their organisational skills, I am able to give away a copy of the Guardian of the Dead American ARC! I intend to give away one a month until mid-March, since it comes out in April.
All you need is a Goodreads account, which is a neat thing to have anyway. Then you request this giveaway, and LO it could be yours. Unlimited by country, because I too know the sadness of being excluded by geography.
Current Music: Transatlanticism - Death Cab For Cutie
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karenhealey
| 07:50 am - What Dreams May Come.
Oh lord you guys I come to you at 8 am on the morning of my first "weekend" day because I just had the most horrifying nightmare in years.
DON'T RUN AWAY. I SEE YOU. SIT THERE AND BE STILL I AM INDEED GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS DREAM.
I was part of a university improv comedy group, and we were finishing our final practice before a really big competition the next day where STEPHEN FRY would be judging!
"Oh, what's the format?" I asked innocently, meaning, in what order do we go on to perform.
"Nothing much," said our coach, EMMA THOMPSON. "You start with your individual stand-up routines, and then-"
"What," I said. "I have never done stand-up comedy in my life. Why didn't you tell me?"
Then I burst into tears, slid down the doorframe, and clutched it, howling.
"Um," said Emma Thompson.
"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" I shrieked.
At that point, my body, shuddering in terror, forced me awake. My heart is still beating out the jitterbug. You guys, I may never sleep again.
Current Music: Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) - Susanna and the Magical Orchestra
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January 7th, 2010
karenhealey
| 02:11 pm - Juvenilia II
The winner of last time's juvenilia extension project was undoubtedly mattcowens, whose spectacular essay on the brilliance of my adolescent poetry earned him a prize I'm still contemplating. It starts with "Reminiscent of Coleridge’s earlier works," for goodness' sake. Points off for misspelling my name, but at the very least he deserves an internet, and your eyes on his awesome sci-fi Christmas story, The Death Star of New Bethlehem.
Today's offering is the (very short) first chapter of a novel of which I never wrote more. This is a very common genre of my teen years - I think I was probably 16 or 17 when I wrote this - so I offer this representative sample of my early fantasy chops. The best part, which I can't really reproduce here, is how I evidently went through and added adverbs where I felt their absence was leaving the prose sort of naked.
( The woman stood at the centre of the circle and probed delicately the crystal in her hands. )
Current Music: Blake Says - Amanda Palmer
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karenhealey
| 12:03 pm - A brief summary of Year of the Griffin, by Diana Wynne Jones
DWJ: Magical shenanigans in a university!
ME: Yay!
DWJ: Families that argue constantly but truly love each other!
Me: Yay!
DWJ: Everyone hooks up at the end!
ME: YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
I'm so easy.
Current Music: The Rider Song - Nike Cave & Warren Ellis
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January 6th, 2010
karenhealey
| 03:46 pm - Because WoW's racial politics are such an excellent base.
karenhealey: At [event] all anyone wanted to talk about was Avatar.
karenhealey: I have plenty of things to say about Avatar, but it turned out none of them were the kinds of things people who wanted to talk about Avatar wanted to hear!
miggy: Ha!
miggy: I think all those Important Academic Points
miggy: Also. I look at it and go, "Those are draenei and they are living in Nagrand."
miggy: I wonder if there was a giant crystal mountain anywhere.
karenhealey: Maybe the next movie could be about the planet of the cow people.
Which brings me roundaboutly to critique and reviews. Lately I have been getting some early reviews from librarians. I love librarians, y'all! Positive reviews from librarians make me sick with joy. Negative ones will probably just make me sick.
But reviews of Guardian are not for me, of course, and my reactions are totally irrelevant. They are for you, potential reader!
Fortunately, reviews of every other book in the world are for me. I love reading good reviews, even when I disagree with the reviewer's opinions. A well-written review is a thing of joy. Good reviewers often sit down and go, "what can I tell people about this book that will help them decide whether or not they want to read it?" Or, sometimes, "what can I discuss about this book that other readers might find interesting?" Or sometimes "this book is so appalling that I will invent all new forms of awesome in my attempt to hilariously squelch it."
I promised I would not link to reviews all the time and so far I have kept my word! But here is a review by librarian Pink Me of Guardian of the Dead that I think is hilarious and well-written, and it would be a shame not to point you at it. SPOILERS (some fairly big ones!) WITHIN.
Current Music: There Are Worse Things I Could Do - Stockard Channing
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karenhealey
| 10:46 am - I have about nine hundred recipes for vege lasagne
In an effort to cut down on my consumption of non-eco-friendly meats, I'm looking for awesome vegetarian recipes.
Vege-eating friends, what dishes do you recommend? I hate eggplant, and eye the cabbage family with suspicion.
Current Music: The New Girl In Town - Brittany Snow
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January 5th, 2010
karenhealey
| 08:02 pm - Good news day.
Things You Want to Hear From Your Editor About Your Latest Manuscript:
So you seem to have written another thrilling, tense novel - with a goodly dollop of URST and very appealing characters. How extraordinarily clever of you!
Thank you, S. I think you're neat!
What else do I think is neat, could it be.... MY AUSTRALIAN/NEW ZEALAND COVER?
Wait, that wasn't very patriotic of me.
My NEW ZEALAND/AUSTRALIAN COVER!
(ETA: I should note that this might not be the final-FINAL cover.)
That's from the Allen and Unwin catalogue page for Guardian of the Dead, where you can also find out exciting things like the price as well as poke around many other fine books.
*happyclapping*
Would you like to know an Interesting Fact about the person on the cover? That isn't the protagonist! Mmmm, mysterious redheads.
Current Music: Almost There - Anika Noni Rose
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January 4th, 2010
muninx
 | 12:41 pm - 2009 - Favorite Songs
Well, it seems that all around my chosen blogging and socializing forums, people are posting year-end retrospectives, 2009 surveys and such. Well, I lead a rather dull existence, and I honestly can't think of more than 3-4 events of 2009 that really stand out in my mind. that said, I love music, and 2009 was actually a great year for me in terms of expanding my music library. Sure, all of what I found was released before 2009 (some of it decades ago), but as far as I'm concerned, it still counts. So, here are my 10 favorite songs discovered in 2009, more or less in order. In seems like it could be enlightening looking back on these at the end of 2010. And if this list actually entertains someone on my friendslist... bonus! : D
#1
Secret Chiefs 3 - The 4 (Great Ishraqi Sun)
Rock inspired by traditional middle-eastern and Indian music. Despite the fact that I've listened to it hundreds of times, this song never fails to energize me. Its so perfectly symmetrical, yet it doesn't bore me. I saw this band live in June too, whee!
#2
Coil - Fire of the Mind
This band is usually classified as industrial/avant-garde electronica, and they were personal friends of Clive Barker... Yet this song plays like a beautiful hymn or a lament. Its haunting, and I believe I actually cried the first time I heard it.
#3
Moondog - Bird's Lament
Classical/jazz composed by a blind man who lived on the streets of New York in the 50s/60s, dressed in Viking clothes, had a big white beard, and thought he was a reincarnation of Thor. This song was written for Charlie Parker, and I wish it were longer.
#4
Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue - Where the Wild Roses Grow
I'm really not a fan of Kylie Minogue, but her voice gives this song a lot of dimension, and I already adore Nick Cave. Although it has been pointed out to me that this video looks like a series of Harlequin romance covers, roffle.
#5
Tomahawk - Red Fox
A whole album of rock/metal songs incorporating traditional Native American melodies? Yes please! This makes me think of Werewolf: The Apocalypse, in a way. Apparently the man behind it was once in the same band the leader of Secret Chiefs 3 was too. Coincidence?
#6
Miles Davis - Freddie Freeloader
I'm not a jazz fan, but this song is soothing and reassuring to me. I discovered it by accident because of my dead cat Freddie the Freeloader. I knew Freddie the Freeloader was a TV character from the 40s, but had no idea there was a song with the same name.
#7
La Bottine Souriante - La Montagne du Loup
French Canadian folk. Why? Maybe its because of my ancestry, or maybe I just like songs you can really stomp your feet to. Now if only I understood the lyrics. All I know is that the title means "Mountain of the Wolf," and it has something to do with marriage? Damn babelfish.
#8
Popol Vuh - Bruder des Schattens
This one is from the soundtrack to Werner Herzog's remake of Nosferatu, and its fantastic. It has the grandiose, creepy, pseudo-religious quality that I think any good vampire-related music should have.
#9
Orbital - Illuminate
Pop/dance/electronica isn't necessarily my scene, but I love this band, and this song just makes me happy, much in the same way a cup of overly sweetened coffee does.
#10
The Legendary Pink Dots - Belladonna
Alternative, somewhat psychedelic rock. Reminds me of Pink Floyd in a way, though this band is all over the place and I can't pin them down. I don't get the lyrics, but I find the song quite beautiful anyway. Introspective, soothing, and thoughtful.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/niaha/kitty/anksadg.gif) cold
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karenhealey
| 11:32 am - This poem doesn't have a title, because some things evidently remain the same
So I teased you with the possibility of revealing some juvenilia, and because you are all very kind people who enjoy pointing and laughing at the terrible literary output of imaginative and ambitious teenagers, you GHOULS, you indicated you would like that.
Oh boy. Okay. I'm just going to get the worst of this over right away.
I can't remember when I wrote this poem. Let's say I was young. VERY young. Way too young to know any better! From the structure, I suspect I intended it to be song lyrics, and then was so carried away with my DEEP EMOTION for an IMAGINARY PERSON that it became a poem instead.
Except that it is not really a poem. It is basically some prose with line breaks! Oh, God, let's say I was about eleven, right? Let's pretend I was eleven.
My throat is closed with burning grief.
But I will sing for you, my friend
I will sing of the happiness we shared.
I will sing about our future plans that are now ashes in my mouth.
I will sing of your love that protected me through the dark nights.
And I will sing of your joy in living through the bright days.
I will sing of the way you made the confusion clear
I will sing of the way you lived your short life, as if you knew it would be short.
And when my eyes blur until I cannot see, and not even a whisper is freed from my soul, my song will die
As you did.
But death is not the end. And one day we will sing together again, my friend.
And our song will resound through the worlds with our joy.
It turns out my bed is too low to the floor to hide under.
OKAY. I will give some sort of prize to the best literary criticism of this poem. You may want to mention the notable contrast of opposed pairs (life/death, dark/light etc) or perhaps the intriguing lack of gender markers.
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January 2nd, 2010
karenhealey
| 08:50 am - JUVENILIA
When I went home, I rummaged through the suitcase of Karen-stuff that my mother put together for my 21st birthday (dear future biographers, you are going to love her so much for that) and yanked out the scrapbook full of my juvenilia, stuff I wrote from about 11 to 17.
There is fantasy! There is teen-girl-misunderstood! There is the manuscript of my first competition-winning story! There is even some, oh my gosh, POETRY.
Poll #1505937
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 62Dear readers, would you like to read some of my juvenilia?
Current Music: Out of the Moon - Goldenhorse
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January 1st, 2010
rabid_bookwyrm
 | 05:59 am
It doesn't get better, it only gets further away.
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karenhealey
| 04:17 pm - Every breath we drew was hallelujah
I rang in the new year at a farm off Christchurch in excellent company, under a cold sky full of stars and an enormous blue moon. There may have been some pig-hugging; I couldn't possibly comment.
Then I got on a plane and flew into the dawn, and now I am back in Melbourne, a city that feels increasingly like home, contemplating the year ahead. One thing stands out like that moon in the sky: My first book is being published this year, y'all.
This is a dream I have had since I first realised that books did not grow on story-trees; that real people actually wrote them, and it was not inconceivable that I be one of them. We are talking about the culmination of more than two decades worth of New Year's resolutions.
So that's going to be awesome.
Of course, since books do not grow on trees, that awesome is due to an awful lot of people, and I am immensely grateful to all of them; my agent, my editors, my publishers, my first readers, my detail-checkers and cultural consultants and family and friends and everyone who criticised or tolerated or cheered me on. Thank you for everything.
I have very little control over how well or poorly Guardian of the Dead does in reviews or sales. I can't make New Year's resolutions like "Get a starred review!" or "Become a bestseller with a movie deal and a solid gold private jet!"
But I am hereby resolved that, amongst the inevitable stress and anxiety and straining of my always limited stores of patience, I will remember how amazing an event this is, that I earned it, and that I am grateful.
I am also resolved to do other things I do have some control over. I'm going to write two books this year. I'm going to finish my dissertation. I'm going to hang those pictures that have been sitting in frames for six months.
I'm going to wish you all a beautiful, courageous, ambitious and bright new year, and a happy one too.
Current Music: Hallelujah - k.d. lang
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December 30th, 2009
karenhealey
| 11:19 pm - There are loose ends by the score
Tomorrow I am flying out of Oamaru on the last Air New Zealand flight to leave from the airport! In one of those freakishly tiny planes!
I am pretty sure that this situation is ripe for narrative drama - "tragedy struck today when the final flight out of Oamaru was eaten by a giant", that kind of thing - so I am superstitiously writing about it in here so that it can never happen.
Assuming I live out the day and make it to a new decade, I will have to write some books I guess! To that end, what is your favourite creepy fairy tale/folk tale/mythological creature?
I myself was always a bit cautious around water in the wild for fear of possible taniwha, and gorgons just creep me the heck out. SNAKES. SNAKES FOR HAIR.
Current Music: Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats
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December 29th, 2009
rabid_bookwyrm
| 06:43 am
There are better things than well-polished shoes, but not all that many.
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December 27th, 2009
karenhealey
| 05:48 pm - Mmmmm, new Minuit album.
Mmmmm, giftmas. I have had a new and unexpected pleasure this year, which is reading the fan fiction of certain friends' works in the annual Yuletide awesomeganza, and cackling, "JOSSED! JOSSED! SUPER SUPER JOSSED!" because I know how things turn out.
It's like being a showrunner, without any of the anxiety or insane working hours!
Anyhow, speaking of holiday-related writing, this year I wrote a short story for people who signed up for my Christmas Card list instead of sending them Christmas cards, and duly sent it out. At midnight New Zealand time, because that patience thing has never been one of my strong suits.
However, since December 25th is now well and truly over, everyone may now read my story. For lo, I am as generous as a post-nightmare Scrooge! It is a pleasant wee thing about fairies and food and there is a recipe at the end.
Queen of the Kitchen.
Enjoy!
The new Minuit album, by the by, is called Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death.Com. I think this is almost certainly the best album title in the history of ever.
Current Music: Yeah Yeah - Minuit
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December 25th, 2009
jawzsqyrs
| 11:06 am
Merry Newton Day!!!
May next year suck less.
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