Hello! And welcome to those of you who are new to our conversations over a cuppa.
Please make yourself comfy and grab a cup of something you enjoy.
Today I’ve gone for a quick Twinings English Breakfast Tea, lightly brewed from a tea-bag with ten quick dunks before removing it from the water so that it doesn’t get too bitter. See - I don’t use the pot every time (although I do have a very nice Scottish Breakfast that I could have brewed instead… hmmm…)
What are you having?
With February almost over, and me with very little to show for it, I thought I’d stick to a quick update and some tips. I know I’ve written about imposter syndrome before, but it never hurts to revisit this old chestnut. And I know a few people are feeling it at the moment – me included.
What can I say? the Notables list – books longlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards – was announced on Tuesday, and what a fabulous collection of books, yet again, to stir our imaginations.
Some favourites that I have read in the last little while include:
Older Readers
Kate Forsyth’s Long-Lost Fairy Tales by Kate Forsyth, illustrated by Lorena Carrington (New Dawn Publishing)
Younger Readers
The Kindness Project by Deborah Abela (Penguin Random House Australia)
The Midwatch by Judith Rossell (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
Early Childhood
Happy All Over by Emma Quay (ABC Books)
Eve Pownall Award
Sensational Australian Animals by Stephanie Owen Reeder, illustrated by Cher Hart (CSIRO Publishing)
Flora: Australia’s Most Curious Plants by Tania McCartney (NLA Publishing)
And it was so good to see other books by people I know on there as well.
Congratulations to ALL the Notables authors, illustrators and publishers. A fantastic achievement.
Of course, there are always a few missing that I would have liked to have seen up there, such as All the Beautiful Things by Katrina Nannestad, Hazel’s Treehouse by Zanni Louise and Judy Watson, and – I won’t lie – my own little Millie books.
Still, with 680 entries to read and judge (!!!), I’m sure there are many fine books that just haven’t made the cut.
I wasn’t really expecting Millie to get noticed, but I won’t pretend that I’m not disappointed to have flown under the radar again. One lives in vague hope. Especially when you get such good reviews and loads of letters from young readers and their parents.
C’est la vie.
What’s more important to me is that I loved writing about Millie and all the different iterations her stories took as they morphed into the two gorgeous little books that they are. I worked with an amazing, insightful editor, and watched Nicky Johnston bring my little fluffy white puppy to life with the most wonderful, magical illustrations, and then saw it all pulled together by a fabulous book designer. I truly felt this was our creation. Together. And I am proud of what we achieved. Fancy sticker or not.
Nonetheless, I couldn’t be happier for all the people I count as friends who have that new sticker to pop on their books, and I’ve got my fingers crossed for them in the countdown to BOTYA. We can all be proud of what we do.
Meanwhile, I’ve been sauntering my way through Wintering by Katherine May, slowly, enjoying the beautiful and lyrical writing, the insights, and the opportunity to reflect. Despite it being summer here, and hotter and more humid than I like, there is a lot that I can relate to, given that I have been forced to slow down with some health issues of my own that have made my walking and thinking time that little bit more challenging and concentrating to sit down and write for extended periods almost non-existent.
My most recent read for fun has been Nettle by Bex Hogan, recommended to me by a bookseller as a romantasy for (younger) YA, with some delightful descriptions, believable and unique worldbuilding, and interesting characterisations. I definitely enjoyed my sojourn in the land of the Fae, and the ending was not quite what I was expecting, but was very satisfying.
I’m looking for something for a similar age group but perhaps a little more gothic, if anyone has some good suggestions… If you can think of anything please let me know in the comments below.
In other media, I’ve recently been getting my medieval fix by rewatching the Robin Hood series with Jonas Armstrong as the main character (um, Robin of Locksley), the fabulous Keith Allen as the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham, and Richard Armstrong as the broody Guy Gisborne. Not entirely authentic but gives a nicely historic feel. I’ve also watched My Lady Jane, with a (possibly) more authentic renaissance feel and some brilliant characterisations for one of those reimagined histories. Highly recommended.
Other than that, I’ve been deep in the South Pennines with Ellis, and I’m starting to think if I watch any more British murder mysteries, I’ll have to start writing them, too!
Oh, and I did enjoy David Tennant’s opening to the BAFTAs but I didn’t watch the whole thing!
As I have already hinted – or perhaps stated outright – I’ve been finding it hard to concentrate on my own writing, partly because thinking when you are feeling distinctly uncomfortable and unwell is tricky, and having to get up and walk around regularly breaks the flow. Also, anxiety is very good at throwing a bucket of icy water on creativity. So far there is no clear cause for my symptoms, which are, thankfully, at least under some control with the meds prescribed by my doctor, but not knowing what is going on and wondering if it is something serious takes up quite a lot of emotional brain space.
As such, my own medieval-style-world romantasy has ground to a halt and I haven’t even given any thought to any more illustrations for the Trouble reboot -- which I’m seriously considering giving up on. I just don’t think I have the skill to do the illustrations, and I certainly don’t seem to have the time ☹
Meanwhile, I still haven’t gone on a search for a home for Ravenchild, deemed ‘too fantasy’ for Scholastic, and I’m still waiting to hear back from them on Unremarkable, which I fear will suffer the same fate.
In the doldrums, I’m looking for a fair wind to fill my sails and get me back on course.
for Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
I thought I’d write about this because I’m currently succumbing to imposter syndrome – not just the they’ll find me out stage, but the they’ve found me out stage.
This is not so much about the aforementioned Notables — as I said, I wasn’t really expecting to be noted — but the fact that I can’t get into writing at the moment, things I have written have fallen by the wayside, and as an author I suddenly don’t seem to have a presence, not having had the mental wherewithal to do any real self-promotion recently.
All writers are prone to imposter syndrome – that fear that you’re actually a fraud and any minute now your cover will be blown and everyone will see you for what you are – and all of us are both right and wrong.
Right because everyone’s public face is different to the person they are inside, possibly especially for writers who tend to be introverts (on the whole, speaking generally from my own observations, and probably discounted immediately by statistics), and wrong because if we write we are writers!
I’m going through the whole, I’ve done my dash thing. But I’m not happy with myself for stooping to this level. So, I went in search of an antidote. This is, in short, what I found, in 10 quick (I promise) tips:
One: you are not alone!
Even Maya Angelou once said,
"Each time I write a book, every time I face that yellow pad, the challenge is so great. I have written eleven books, but each time I think, 'Uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody and they’re going to find me out.'"
Two: call it how it is
Do you write? Then you are a writer. Published or unpublished. Recognised or anonymous. Emerging or established (never aspiring – because you DO write, yes?).
Three: check your journey
Unless you have never written a thing, even in primary school, you have a body of work (whether published or not). Go back, look at how far you have come.
Four: choose your next step
Feel proud of what you have achieved, how your writing has improved, and, if you have words in print, that you have words in print.
Next, think about what you need to work on. This could be a skill (eg learn to write better plot twists or character arcs), an attitude (eg bum-on-seat-be-present-get-the-work-done-regardless attitude), or a change in direction (eg my middle grades do better than my junior fiction so forget those little kids’ things and stick to what works).
Five: give yourself permission to suck
Just write, anyway. You can work on it later, but a blank page is a blank page.
Six: find the positives
Go over good feedback and reviews or correspondence from readers to remind yourself that you don’t suck.
Seven: find your people
Chat with other writers to get some perspective, immerse yourself in community, and, believe it or not, offer to help others. It’s amazing how you find your mojo when needed.
Eight: set some goals
Make them big. What do you want to achieve? Could be anything from finishing your current draft to winning a major prize. Now list the steps you have to take – committing to writing x hundred words a day or for x hours (where x can be 200 words or 2000, fifteen minutes or four hours), or researching the stories written by prize-winners in the past and working out what made them winners.
Nine: get inspired
Don’t just read your favourite authors, listen to them, read articles about how they work (or where they work) – find out what works for them*.
*NB: Do not hassle them. If they run courses or write newsletters, join up, but don’t take liberties with other writers’ time or generosity.
Ten: just do it
Because you want to.
And because I want to is why I am still here and going to be here for the foreseeable future. Doing what I love – making stories.
So… I’m going to get that bum of mine on the seat and if I have to write in short increments then I’m going to write in short increments. Daemon (newly spawned working title for my up to this point untitled romantasy) is go.
What do you do when imposter syndrome raises its head? Pop your suggestions in the comments.
And that’s me for today.
‘til next time,
We writers hey, our own worst enemy. It will pass I say to myself, just keep writing. I have a medieval manuscript I have been adding to for a couple of years, I adore it but doubt it will ever see the light of day. Yet I still go back to it... You have successes, Cate, and I am sure you will have many more. G. 📚
Great tips Cate. They reverberate. I’m sorry you’ve been under the weather Cate. May the wind fill your sails again soon. I often toy with the idea of writing cosy murder mysteries too. I’ve been rewatching ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ and slowly working my way through ‘The Creative Act:A Way of Being’ by Rick Ruben, taking notes as I go.