tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46292278469837661842012-01-30T11:39:32.753+11:00Ferrets are the new vampires.Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.comBlogger2721100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-43411735346829288582012-01-30T11:39:00.000+11:002012-01-30T11:39:32.768+11:00

Photo credit An epiphany on the writing road. A few days ago, I developed a new idea for a book. Nah, not one book, this could be a whole series! It was such an insanely good idea I couldn't tell anyone because I couldn't believe nobody had done the same idea before. The reward centre of my brain was making me HIGH I tell you. I was so jazzed my brain felt like jumping out of my skull and

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-37970921289794494522012-01-22T17:01:00.002+11:002012-01-22T17:04:11.022+11:00

Literally. It shows up maybe three times in a whole novel, so I shouldn't slam it. Especially with 'and' and 'the' and 'said' sucking so much oxygen. When I hear or read 'literally'. It pushes me out of the story and has me rolling my eyes. If this were a novel, I'd be writing, 'I literally rolled my eyes' or something. If I had my way, I'd make 2012 The Year We Stamp Out Literally. Because

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-62411025871043256562012-01-11T19:24:00.000+11:002012-01-11T19:24:03.330+11:00

Oi! Stop giggling up the back. And down the front. And you lot on the middle benches. I really do love The Bold and The Beautiful. It's cracktastically good. Photo Credit Before you get all judgy on me, let me say that the show's been going for 20 years. Is your show still going after 20 years? Ha! (Be quiet Stephen Moffat). The same 'gang of four' have been at the helm since the start.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-710703689381504722012-01-08T10:15:00.000+11:002012-01-08T10:15:35.508+11:00

The romance writing community is a giving community. Join a romance writer's organisation in your country and I bet in the first newsletter you receive will be trade help and craft suggestions to help you make your writing better. When you join a romance writing organisation, you'll find out about competitions that can provide fabulous feedback about where you are on the writing road and you can

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-45756629382863099912012-01-01T11:08:00.001+11:002012-01-01T11:09:24.741+11:00

Happy New 2012, hope your resolutions are holding firm! In my effort to provide more practical "yes do this" advice, instead of "oh please, not that", I offer this help on the overuse of words. Overused words are exactly like a cute colour combination. They work in small amounts, like blue and green together on my scissors. (I am a sucker for stationery). If not watched, that cute word can

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-49897863435879806922011-12-30T09:46:00.001+11:002011-12-30T11:08:50.809+11:00

Photo credit. It has been an incredibly tough year for writers, publishers, agents, readers, booksellers, librarians . . . the economy is whacking us all over the world. I guess that's why they call it a Global Financial Crisis. Despite the gloom, 2011 contained plenty of fabulous highlights for me. My second novel in the Ondine series hit the shelves only 10 months after the first. The

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-206863969106607792011-12-29T11:14:00.001+11:002011-12-29T11:21:14.359+11:00

Because seriously? I love you guys. Wherever you are in the world. Readers from USA (howdy), Australia (g'day) and UK (innit) are featuring strongly in my blogger stats. But I'm also delighted to receive visitors from Germany (gutentag), Russia (privyet) China (ni-how) France (bonjour) Italy (buongiorno) Malaysia (selamat pagi), Slovakia (dobre rano) and Uruguay (ciao). Wherever you are in the

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-15069321740385428912011-12-27T09:42:00.004+11:002011-12-27T10:28:03.226+11:00

Here's the latest short and sweet trailer for the Ondine series. As a writer trying to pimp share the news of my books, I can't expect more than 30 seconds of your time. Doesn't say much for the world's collective attention span! It does says bucketloads for how busy people are. Book trailers need to capture the essence of the book in as few frames as possible. 1. What's the book's central

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-10445752868797537622011-12-24T16:11:00.000+11:002011-12-24T16:11:53.970+11:00

... which only began last year, but I'm going to keep it going. I am so lucky that my family loooooves giving books for all occasions. Birthdays, Christmas and even Easter. One year at high school, instead of chocolate, my dad got me Judy Blume's Forever. Made me the most popular girl in school for about 3 weeks as that book got borrowed and borrowed and borrowed and badly dog-eared. Lately, a

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-11387216245427057562011-12-20T17:16:00.017+11:002011-12-29T11:32:27.734+11:00

photo credit Before you head off on the "indie path" read this blog post first. When your head stops spinning, feel free to answer these questions: 1) Are you trying your absolute hardest to be the best writer you can be? 2) Are you submitting to agents? 3) Are you getting a metric crap-ton of rejections? 4) Are you attending workshops to make your writing the best it can be? 5 - 10) Have

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-32550434325989956002011-12-15T14:20:00.003+11:002011-12-31T17:15:25.275+11:00

If you're tired of my unwarranted writing advice, then this post is for you. Unwarranted travel advice! Australia has long been viewed by the outside world as a lush Eden graced with golden beaches, blue skies and healthy lands. That's why so many people flock to this warm island of perennial sunshine. Rarely does a tourist think of the things that lurk around every corner, under every rock

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-6661188836110234302011-12-12T12:02:00.000+11:002011-12-12T12:02:25.918+11:00

It puts the lotion on the skin . . .  Every full moon some 'prat' in a white coat releases 'research' that 'absolutely proves' romance novels are 'the devils work' and I 'laugh them off' until I run out of 'sarcastic quote marks'. 2011 had its share of such eye rolling moments but I refuse to link to them because I can't be bothered I won't give them any more oxygen. In real life, as in

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-9501507112036617192011-12-09T13:50:00.000+11:002011-12-09T13:50:12.607+11:00

I think this is photoshopped. Just a hunch. Some rules of publishing are pretty flexible. But every now and then I see a writer breaking a serious rule and all I can think is they're shooting themselves in the foot. Do not make your rejections public before you are published. I know it hurts. I know you've worked so darn hard on the book and revisions and edits. You've possibly been working

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-27606968294603245682011-12-06T12:57:00.000+11:002011-12-06T12:57:00.464+11:00

I'm revising the Ondine trequel and despite the silliness of rendering the synopsis into four panels of fuzzy felt, the proper written synopsis is really helping me. My real synopsis ended up being 1,100 words long. I set it into neat paragraphs summing up each main emotional turning point, or each plot turning point. Conflict, Goal, Motivation etc. I'm using that synopsis as my guide track for

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-67369502109223638602011-12-01T10:58:00.000+11:002011-12-01T10:58:37.435+11:00

The super tricky thing about writing a synopsis is the author has to show how the story ends. My instinct is to say, 'You have to read it to find out how it ends.' I think I've found a way to do both: Act One: Ondine lives in the Eastern European country of Brugel. She works at her family pub. Her pet ferret, Shambles, begins talking with a Scottish accent. Act Two: Shambles is no ordinary

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-25946945001684240682011-11-29T11:16:00.000+11:002011-11-29T11:16:52.003+11:00

Yesterday a publishing story made me groan with jealousy. Pippa Middleton is getting a £500,000-ish advance to write a book. Being an emotional person at the best of times, I couldn't help feel jealous. Why isn't this me getting a huge advance? Oh that's right, because I'm not famous and my sister won't be Queen of England (and the rest of the Commonwealth) one day. I fed the jealousy for a

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-27117912700954859252011-11-25T07:46:00.000+11:002011-11-25T07:46:24.031+11:00

In other words, despite my vast experience, a writer truly cannot do it all on her own. Or his own. Sure, I need solitude to get the drafts done, but if I operated in a vacuum when it came to editing, I'd be making a mess, not creating a world. This week, my fabulous agent Lucy at PFD UK requested I send her a synopsis for a manuscript I'm working on. I can't say too much, but it rhymes with

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-28656985268164890902011-11-21T12:17:00.001+11:002011-11-21T12:19:29.455+11:00

Writers! Is your pace off? Is your manuscript sagging in the middle? Then you need F-A-D! Picture credit This all new and improved formula will guarantee the pace pics up, the story keeps moving and your middle stops sagging. How does F-A-D help? It's a secret scientific writing recipe for Feeling, Action, Dialogue. All you do is make sure every scene has Feeling, Action, Dialogue, and the

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-31649728103647879742011-11-07T14:22:00.000+11:002011-11-07T14:22:10.839+11:00

Cover art not inspired by the movie  My Fair Lady at all. I'm mad at work on the Ondine trequel. But you knew that. What you didn't know is that in Brugel, they put all that excess winter snow to very good use in Savo Plaza. (It's not called Savo Square because it's a hexagon). They build a huge maze with snow walls in late February and it brings the tourists in from near and far. Coming

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-56652179243001613272011-10-30T10:59:00.001+11:002011-10-30T11:01:59.836+11:00

Every now and then I read some advice that is so good and simple and contrary to what I originally thought I have to stop and take a breath. I've been saying - on the tweetie during writer chats and on here - that an author in the early stages of their career should build their brand. Or words to that affect. My 'brand' for want of a better word, is YA romantic comedy with lashings of weird. I

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-37405318792868718682011-10-26T09:43:00.000+11:002011-10-26T09:43:30.770+11:00

This is so much fun. I've joined a band of kindred spirits at readitandlaugh.com. We're authors from all over the world who write funny books for teens. There is so much doom and gloom in the world. Some days I look at the newspaper and can't stand it. It's an especially awful time to be a dictator right now . . . We're not denying the need for heavy, dark, disturbing or even outright

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-30653927089448077772011-10-21T09:42:00.006+11:002011-10-22T08:00:35.267+11:00

c Matt Groening I'm human. I make mistakes. I try to learn from them, I try to pass on that learnin' so you can benefit and save yourself making them too. I regularly join in the #YALitChat thread on twitter. It's where writers and agents and editors come together to discuss topics pertinent to publishing (with a focus on Young Adult, since you asked) Yesterday's chat included heaps of

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-69472856965990894462011-10-19T09:04:00.001+11:002011-10-19T09:09:54.199+11:00

Is your novel a virtual tank without a roof? Let me explain. No. From Cracked.com Because I'm all for attribution. Let me show you. On the right is a proper tank made for the US Army. Below is an almost identical tank, made in Soviet days, but this one doesn't have a roof. From Cracked.com As Xavier Jackson at Cracked.com outlined recently: When you attempt to copy something that's

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-15837932483402208472011-10-18T11:26:00.002+11:002011-10-18T11:39:19.771+11:00

I love going to my writers' group meetings. We get chocolates for achievements (ie, revising, get a chocolate. Written any words at all on your WIP? Get a chocolate. Submitted something to an agent or editor? Get a chocolate) We also critique chapters for those brave enough to bring them in. And when the chapters are good - and boy, was this chapter really good - we start brainstorming to the

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-20650624274017625292011-10-13T09:52:00.001+11:002011-10-13T09:53:09.476+11:00

Livu Square in Riga, Latvia Too much fun. In Brugel, at the end of January and start of February, they have a winter festival called 'Martisor' which literally means, 'March better get here soon, I can't feel my feet any more.' It lasts for 10 days. The locals call it 'Fat Week' because firstly, it lasts much longer than an ordinary week and secondly because everyone eats like pigs.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-84895446611342789522011-10-10T12:46:00.002+11:002011-10-10T12:53:56.502+11:00

Dialogue brings characters to life. Sometimes my characters talk so fast I race to keep up with them.  Which leads to loads of mistakes my beta readers and crit partners point out for me. Like a convert to pyramid selling schemes, allow me to evangelise my newly-gained wisdom and bring you into the fold on the wonderful world of Punctuation and dialogue tags. Commas: Before or after 'he said'

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-64052756749574965122011-10-08T09:19:00.002+11:002011-10-08T09:26:49.442+11:00

I can't help it if all my friends LOVE my book. Things I'm learning on Twitter by lurking eavesdropping. Indie does not mean your publisher is a small press or even a really large independently-owned press that hasn't yet been gobbled up by one of the "Big 6" (ie, my publisher, Egmont). It means that you've done everything independently like the little red hen who did it all by herself. In

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-28409088128584867132011-10-07T19:41:00.002+11:002011-10-07T19:44:20.021+11:00

I took the day off today. It felt weird!!! Yesterday I finished my latest round of revisions for The Girl & The Ghost for my agent Lucy at PFD. She's read it before and sent me her thoughts back on September 15. It's taken me a good 3 weeks to get it all done. Each day I got up, got revising, added new scenes and cut out the waffle. Oh, lordy, I could waffle for Australia! Now my mind is mush.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-88849227122095246902011-10-03T20:11:00.000+11:002011-10-03T20:11:10.300+11:00

Is there a reason why your character is behaving the way she is? Is she all wound up about a guy, but won't talk to him? Could your gal and her guy find happiness if everyone else left them alone? The phone stopped ringing/the house didn't burn down right before she was about to say 'I love you'? COULD IT ALL BE RESOLVED IF THEY SAT DOWN AND HAD A CHAT? My apologies for screaming. I am

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-78079661917878087612011-09-28T10:06:00.001+10:002011-09-28T14:45:41.450+10:00

The short answer is, you don't. Not directly anyway. What you're really doing is selling yourself. Whether you like it or not, you, the writer, are a product. If people like the product, they *may* be interested in your book. Selling books on twitter is really all about selling yourself. To do that, you need to build a social platform. This takes time. This author caper is a long term

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-40145205361958227692011-09-27T08:24:00.003+10:002011-09-27T08:32:29.810+10:00

I'm lying already. As if I could keep a rant short. Remember my earlier post where I cringed about authors trying to take shortcuts and tweet-pitch to publishers and agents? Today's rant post is about authors taking more shortcuts, by tweeting directly 'at' others. The tweets are more or less the same: "@ebonymckenna Read my book is.gd.shortlink " and that's it. Other tweets don't even say

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-30773822019970027802011-09-26T08:42:00.002+10:002011-09-26T08:47:07.719+10:00

Stolen from this blog but dunno where they got it from so really, is there any point in attributing  these pics wot I blatantly steal? I have the most interesting chats with people. A lot of them are librarians, and I love a chat with a librarian. During one such chat, the phrase, 'Because you don't want to be pigeon-holed', came up. But . . . it's one of those perspective things. Whether you

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-2529864551028659652011-09-23T20:57:00.001+10:002011-09-23T20:58:37.327+10:00

Image gratuitously stolen from here The whole Google + thing. I'm sure I'll have to jump in at some point, but right now I'm not sure if I have time. A few posts back, I talked about making time for writing. There are so many time slurps in my life I don't think I can fit any more in and still call myself a writer. Today, I finished revising 1916ish yet again. This time to correct the French

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-52591324625755211622011-09-19T14:34:00.000+10:002011-09-19T14:34:12.795+10:00

Yeah, it is all about me. I pour myself into my books. I want people to like them. It's a given that I can't please everyone, but I can't help trying. Last week my agent Lucy sent me a lovely email about The Girl & The Ghost. She said she cried at the end (this is fabulous!) BUT, she also took a few paragraphs to mention the parts of the book that didn't work for her . . . I paid attention

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-52209784102449149352011-09-14T18:15:00.000+10:002011-09-14T18:15:25.341+10:00

Awesome! . . . and it was wonderful. My emotions are a result of reading this book: Lottie Biggs is (Not) Mad by Hayley Long. It's a teen comedy with footnotes! Ahhhh, an author after my own heart. The laughs at the beginning of the novel are in stark contrast to the deep hole the main character Lottie finds herself in later on. Within the first few pages I was laughing out loud. Especially

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-30388069020411013522011-09-11T11:39:00.003+10:002011-09-12T09:48:39.104+10:00

Holes everywhere! Last night I watched Limitless on Blu-ray with friends. With movies, I generally go in with low expectations and try not to be too critical. I tend to enjoy them more that way. I found myself really enjoying the movie. Even though it started with voice over - which I usually despise because it's telling the viewer what they can already see. The editing was really good,

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-24333968358756314372011-09-07T14:40:00.004+10:002011-09-07T19:59:44.992+10:00

Winter in Brugel is very cold I'm up to my eyebrows in the Ondine trequel and . . . I'M LOVING IT! Surely I shouldn't be having so much fun? Yes, it's hard work, but it's so thoroughly enjoyable. I am so in love with Ondine and Hamish I never want to let them go. The biggest plus - I'd written 35,000 words, then had the best part of a year without looking at it. Now the story feels fresh,

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-29201623700480922702011-09-05T10:02:00.001+10:002011-09-05T10:04:09.541+10:00

l-r Carole Wilkinson, Kate Constable, Leanne Hall and me (with the talking stick). Coming down from the high of the Ballarat Writers' & Illustrators' Festival on the weekend. The festival was dedicated to all aspects of children's and YA writing and illustrating. Mega kudos to Ballarat Writers Inc for organising such a brilliant event. Also, thanks to the staff at Alexandria on Lydiard,

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-10293124900709282042011-09-02T12:37:00.003+10:002011-09-02T12:43:08.231+10:00

Busy weekend ahead in Beautiful Ballarat. Tonight I'll be dining with the cream of Australian Children's and Young Adult writers, publishers and illustrators at a festival dinner. Tomorrow, at 2.15 - 3pm, I'll be on the 'Out of This World' panel with fab YA authors Kate Constable, Leanne Hall and Carole Wilkinson. The festival - at Alexandria on Lydiard - (30 Lydiard Street) is a packed day of

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-62890520400197667012011-09-01T00:00:00.000+10:002011-09-01T20:14:23.134+10:00

Not you again! Mine's a cackling banshee, by the way. When I'm writing stories and working hard, she is kind to me. But I cannot trust her. Not when she's quiet and pretty and angelic. Because all the while she sits by the fire and stokes the flames, looking at me with expectation. 'What have you brought me?' 'Nothing my muse. I have no stories for you today.' 'But I am HONGRAY!!!!!! Feed

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-75050258535132739302011-08-30T13:55:00.004+10:002011-08-30T13:55:52.150+10:00

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-84010012350948280332011-08-29T08:00:00.003+10:002011-08-29T08:00:04.428+10:00

wibbly wobbly timey wimey There are 365 days in the year. That's plenty of days per year to write a novel or two, yeah? Course it is. Clearly, nobody's going to be able to write every single day. So maybe five days a week, just like a regular job? Sure! If I take the weekends off, that still leaves me 252 days a year to write. No problem I also find it hard to write during the school

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-37577669838780883102011-08-27T09:51:00.001+10:002011-08-27T09:52:55.272+10:00

Arbitrary picture of David Tennant There are times I confess to being scared, nervous, hesitant or even depressed. This is normal. Emotions happen to the best of people. Most writers are introverts. They work in isolation in their effort to connect with the world. (I love the irony of that) I'm not introverted, yet I love serenity and work really well on my own. Years ago, I was a

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-72711205744566806652011-08-25T10:32:00.004+10:002011-08-27T09:10:04.749+10:00

Strong women are awesome This was from a moment at the RWAustralia Conference in Melbourne two weekends ago. Bob Mayer, NYT bestseller and former special forces . . . something or other (he carried guns, I'm a bit scared of him) had a brilliant line. The difference between an aggressive writer and an obnoxious writer is the obnoxious writer has a bad book and the aggressive writer has a

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-80240779512585456142011-08-23T09:23:00.000+10:002011-08-23T09:23:59.138+10:00

Yeah baby! Sorry for my absence in the blog posts. I'm almost at the finish line with The Girl & The Ghost. Must say, my agent has been incredibly patient waiting for this one. I'm an impatient girl too. In the past I would have dashed it off and hoped for the best. But after years of rejections and slowly getting better . . . even I know I can't give over the manuscript until I nail the

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-42024672598106040692011-08-18T09:41:00.002+10:002011-08-18T09:43:57.520+10:00

You know the feeling. There's someone being utterly clueless and you want to reach out and help . . . But are they beyond help? Stolen from this page because I'm too lazy  to make my own graphics. I also love irony. This week I saw a writer send out 15 or so 'please publish me' tweets in the space of twenty minutes, scattergunned to any publisher or agent with a tweet handle. It looked

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-78706717951827250612011-08-16T12:29:00.002+10:002011-08-16T12:32:34.094+10:00

Fillers can be good, or they can make things messy My creative brain has returned and I'm revising The Girl & The Ghost with gusto. What have I discovered? I seem to like using the word 'just' far too much. And 'seem' as well. It's not a huge problem, but it's making me smile every time I take out a 'seem' or a 'seemed' and make the words work harder. Seem is a filler word. As is just.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-39277612338342108902011-08-14T17:44:00.002+10:002011-08-14T17:47:44.652+10:00

Overwhelming gratitude time! My book won an RWA national award for being beautiful. Which makes me a stage mum, right? Ondine: The Autumn Palace won favourite paranormal cover, and was also "Voted overall favourite 20 Years of Romance Covers". The finalists were chosen from 20 years of romance novel covers, from Australian authors published all over the world. I was jumping out of my skin

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-20495418733432311732011-08-01T10:32:00.003+10:002011-08-25T17:38:14.594+10:00

Those Victorians knew how to win the crowd! When writing a scene, pick the character with the most to lose and write it from their Point of View (POV). It's advice a writer gave me, which I'm now giving you. But what if you're a complete novice to this whole POV thing anyway? TV shows are multiple POV. You can see all characters and guess what they're thinking (from their body language,

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-44660520599594377122011-07-29T11:02:00.001+10:002011-07-29T11:04:54.217+10:00

But it's not really the end! It's the end of THIS stage of writing - the first draft of The Girl & The Ghost. The revisions cave.  Completely different to the writing cave. Now I'm revising, so I feel like I'm starting all over again. Except most of the words are there, in mostly the right order, so this part should be easy, no? I want it to take me a few weeks, but I have a feeling it will

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-35144594393189117632011-07-26T09:09:00.000+10:002011-07-26T09:09:07.241+10:00

ooooh, so exciting! The cover for Ondine: The Autumn Palace is in RWAustralia's final 15 of the best covers of the past 20 years! I'm up against some insane competition - and some absolutely marvellous writers. Lucky for me it's not actually a writing contest but a pure 'judge a book by the cover' comp. As part of RWA's 20th anniversary celebrations, authors were invited to submit their

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-27146408716251361262011-07-22T13:13:00.002+10:002011-07-22T13:16:58.935+10:00

Writing a novel can take as little as two weeks or as long as a year - or ten. Here is my quick and dirty checklist about whether you're wasting your time. You write a 50,000 word novel: A) in a few weeks (nano etc or a massive caffeine / cold&flu tablet hit) Not a waste of time - you've proven to yourself you can write novel length manuscripts. You must edit it of course - which will take

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-39640406406967127742011-07-19T12:12:00.001+10:002011-07-19T12:17:07.852+10:00

Glastonbury Mud Writing takes a lot of time. That's the epiphany I had today during the #WritersRoad chat on twitter. There are no shortcuts. You have to spend an enormous amount of time writing, revising, editing, leaving for a bit, coming back to it, revising again. Because you want each piece of work to be a showcase. Don't send them a query where you admit the work 'needs editing'. This

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-37837557514271035762011-07-13T10:26:00.002+10:002011-07-13T10:31:28.453+10:00

I read a post today about the dearth of epic endings in novels by Aimee Salter and she set things off in my brain. Go read it, then come back. Now you're back, I'd like to add something. Endings are even more important to get right, now that so many people are reading ebooks. Why? Because unlike a paperback, you can't always 'feel' when a book is coming to a close. With a paperback or

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-18625870810095217782011-07-02T12:42:00.002+10:002011-07-02T12:56:07.371+10:00

so, so, soooooo many books How much do you think a book is 'worth'? When I see tweets from authors telling me how great their $0.99 e-book is, I can't help wondering if it will be worth it. Not the money (what's a dollar?) but whether it's worth my time. The $2.99 books as well. They make me grimace. Sure, $3 is a cup of coffee. It's disposable income. It takes the thought out of the

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-1148243917119904292011-07-01T11:50:00.003+10:002011-07-01T11:56:10.345+10:00

Oh dear, I really shouldn't comment on this but I can't resist. It's those emails that have gone viral - from the mother-in-law to her prospective new daughter-in-law. It's positively hilarious and also terribly sad. I thought manners were all about making other people feel comfortable. But apparently, in this case, flower breeder Carolyn Bourne uses manners to put people in their place.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-19173553698895421682011-06-27T13:26:00.000+10:002011-06-27T13:26:57.014+10:00

We're very lucky to have a spare room for when friends come over (and perhaps get overly refreshed and need to sleep it off. Hi Mum!) When Mum stayed, she asked for some light reading and I gave her Sarah and Candy's fun and informative book, Beyond Heaving Bosoms. She'd already read my books, good mother! But she didn't want to start a new novel as that would keep her up all night. Bosoms is

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-3698292612210886752011-06-21T10:20:00.001+10:002011-06-21T10:23:27.033+10:00

I'm talking figuratively here, not literally. Wot, you thought I was fit? bwahahahaha I digress. Writing a book is like a marathon. You don't simply wake up one morning and decide to run 42 kilometres. Well, you could, but you'd probably die trying. Or at least end up with a horrible mess. You wake up and have the want. The urge. The need. And then you train. And train, and train, and train. Up

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-50480793836770583772011-06-18T12:21:00.000+10:002011-06-18T12:21:29.533+10:00

When is a kindle ebook not an ebook? When it blocks my supporters in the USA from being able to buy it. A couple months ago, I was so excited that my publishers Egmont UK made my books available as kindle editions. Then I discovered the nasty bit of computer programming called geographic blocking. This gave me sad face syndrome. I could see the title on Amazon UK, but not the price. And I

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-33963342453077316152011-06-17T12:41:00.002+10:002011-06-17T12:45:08.029+10:00

I need to share something I've been keeping secret for a very long time. I have mild super powers. I can get the lids off jars. Behold!

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-89128438297138551032011-06-17T09:55:00.000+10:002011-06-17T09:55:34.914+10:00

Lisa Gail Green tagged me, the wench! 1.Do you think you're hot? Pfffft! Maybe when I was at Uni, and my hair was thick and shiny. But I didn't realise it at the time because I was so insecure. Looking back - wow, I was gorgeous. And so thin! 2. Upload a picture or wallpaper you're using at the moment. I've been getting a lot of love and support from friends this week. This pic captures that

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-36704971224472670712011-06-17T09:35:00.000+10:002011-06-17T09:35:06.172+10:00

A short title for a long reflection. I have made loads and loads and loads of mistakes in my life. But one thing I think I'm good at is recognising when I can't fix things by myself and I put my hand up and ask for help. But I haven't always, which is another mistake. I was usually pretty good at helping everyone else except me. When I was a journalist, I went on the charge for any number of

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-26777007284260328992011-06-15T10:44:00.000+10:002011-06-15T10:44:53.874+10:00

You've seen the Pixar movie UP yeah? Where the dogs are half way through a sentence and they suddenly yell "Squirrel!" and get all distracted. Richard Armitage is my squirrel. You're all very welcome.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-53124589358009516432011-06-10T09:33:00.001+10:002011-06-11T10:19:25.097+10:00

'Scuse me while I jump around all giddy again. I seem to be doing it a bit lately. Ondine just earned a huge compliment from Alexandra at Chicklish and I have to share it. The Autumn Palace is the second in this series but the back-story of the first novel is so seamlessly woven in that it’s easy to pick up.  As a writer, that review is pure gold. Let me tell you, it was not seamless to write.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-35079180380708377702011-06-08T12:06:00.004+10:002011-06-08T12:09:14.759+10:00

Can ferrets really talk? I met some who can, you just have to listen.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-64004719588461825212011-06-07T09:12:00.000+10:002011-06-07T09:12:24.083+10:00

I like a good laugh. I've never counted how many times a day I laugh, but it would probably be over 20. Could be as much as 100 if I'm reading something fun or playing with The Dude or just having a regular conversation with my husband. I love finding the ridiculous in the mundane. Husband: You'd think with the new Smurf movie, they might have updated it and put in a few more girl Smurfs. Me:

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-28654935064976752762011-06-06T10:22:00.001+10:002011-06-06T10:31:18.050+10:00

Sure, Wall St Journal, sometimes I walk into the YA section of a bookstore and it feels like the 'Twilight' zone. Sure, the covers can all look dark. Sure I could judge a book by its cover - and judge all books to be the same - and then write an article to bolster my tunnel-visioned view of the world. Or, I could take a few steps to the next aisle and find loads more on offer. Some of them even

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-79926365791840848332011-06-04T20:43:00.000+10:002011-06-04T20:43:44.701+10:00

The twittersphere is happily joining in the stone throwing towards fossilised author and Man Booker winner VS Naipaul - who said all those stupid things about no woman writer being his equal, Jane Austen writing sentimental, feminine tosh and every other woman in the world is an idiot. Or something. Do I really need to link to it? Oh, ok, I'll link to Diana Athill's classy rebuttal instead. My

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-46264979637733169122011-06-02T10:28:00.000+10:002011-06-02T10:28:57.240+10:00

This rant post is in direct reaction to this article from Utah, USA, which claimed romance novels were just as addictive as pron. The article has spawned a #romancekills tweet meme and general derision for being unbalanced and altogether silly. Here were the salient points. Break the Addiction Commit to stop reading romance books Commit to working on your relationship, if you're in one Find a

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-15223883796768845852011-05-31T12:54:00.000+10:002011-05-31T12:54:50.930+10:00

Why yes, yes they are. And it's a darned good formula too. Here's what it is: Step one: The novelists opens a word file. Step two: She cracks open her ribcage. Step three: She pours her heart out. That my friends, is how it's done. Each and every time. There is no other way. You can scoff all you like, but just you try writing one without pouring your heart out. It cannot be done. You

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-3550692174382387872011-05-17T10:21:00.002+10:002011-05-17T16:07:46.184+10:00

When reading, I'll reach a turning point in the novel and have one of three thoughts. 1: "I totally saw that coming."2: "That makes no sense/ is stupid"3: "I'm really hungry." I tease. It's actually: 3: "I totally did not expect that. But I love it!" As a writer, you want to have loads of point 3s and hardly any 1s and definitely zero count on the number 2s.  You'll have lots of 1 moments if the

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-55251966312101998062011-05-14T14:47:00.000+10:002011-05-14T14:47:05.521+10:00

How brilliant/crazy/wonderful/bizarre is the Eurovision Song Contest? It's a rhetorical question, but the answer is always, 'very'. Those of you who've read my Ondine books know they're set in the fictional Duchy of Brugel, somewhere in Eastern Europe. Brugel is at the crossroads of Old Europe, New Europe and 'Not in Europe but in Eurovision'. Brugel has never managed to win the Eurovision Song

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-54163710286562816542011-05-14T11:16:00.002+10:002011-05-14T11:16:45.569+10:00

I was going to post a bit about how sad I'd been this last week, then Blogger was down, and now I'm feeling much, much better. Thanks for the fail, you saved me making a desperate arse of myself.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-4732425447170050962011-05-06T20:09:00.006+10:002011-05-07T10:26:40.048+10:00

Isn't that a horrible subject heading? Unfortunately, some writers are delusional enough to think their 50,344 words of a 'fiction novel' (not counting the 'the's ) should be treated with exactly the same reverence and sales as HP and The Sorcerer's/Philospher's Stone. From a reader's perspective, here are just some of the reasons why your book is not on the same level as JKs. 1 The covers are,

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-38757318424389211282011-05-04T13:54:00.000+10:002011-05-04T13:54:55.035+10:00

I'm not going to tell you how you should react to the death of Osama Bin Laden. Why? Because your feelings are none of my business. The hunt for bin Laden had its ups and downs and there were times when I read he was on dialysis for a kidney problem. Right, if he's hiding out in some cave in Afghanistan, just follow the really, really long extension lead. But all jokes aside, I hereby give you

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-509397425986192222011-05-03T14:05:00.001+10:002011-05-03T14:05:36.389+10:00

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-81613800583234979522011-04-26T10:12:00.001+10:002011-04-26T10:14:18.426+10:00

There are far too many cases of authors getting bad reviews, and the author not taking it very well. I'm not going to link to them here, because I do feel for the authors. I mean, here's a book you've poured your heart and soul into, and some reader doesn't like it. I mean, how dare they not like it? But that's just it. An author really can't please everyone. And no matter what, even though

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-37203784484310521502011-04-21T13:14:00.001+10:002011-04-21T13:15:04.530+10:00

I read my first manga comic this week, it's a translation of Annie West's novel The Sheik's Ransomed Bride and it's great fun. Plus, a lightbulb went off while I read it. Each page is a distillation of the essential narrative, internal conflicts and developing romance. There is no room to get sidetracked, no extraneous narrative, no long scenes of a character lost in her thoughts. *cough*

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-60401960877151098712011-04-18T14:12:00.000+10:002011-04-18T14:12:50.397+10:00

Last year, I volunteered to judge a couple of writing competitions with the Romance Writers of Australia. It was a combination of good fun and hard work. Some entries were so exciting I wanted more. Others were soooooo hard to get through. And then I had to think of constructive things to say afterwards that would not break their spirit. Reading so many entries in a row highlighted mistakes that

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-36794288926678172272011-04-15T18:22:00.000+10:002011-04-15T18:22:15.529+10:00

I'm not sure whether I'm very good at dispensing advice, but here is something that has worked for me, therefore it might work for you. If you're a writer, you have to write lots of books. I began writing . . . yikes it's probably 15 years ago now. I wrote a 120,000 words space opera which was going to ROCK THE WORLD and be turned into a movie and launch loads of toys and merch. And make me a

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-9393135967958383992011-04-12T18:11:00.000+10:002011-04-12T18:11:55.284+10:00

I love joining the #writersroad chats on twitter. They're now on Monday evenings 6pm ish USA East coast? time, or Tuesday 11am, Melbourne Australia time. Today's topic was all about making your query work really hard. Targeting your query to a specific agent or editor first. They scream when they get an email saying 'dear agent' because it makes them feel like you don't care, and makes you look

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-8082941258562119432011-04-10T11:57:00.001+10:002011-04-10T12:21:06.015+10:00

This morning I belted out a heartfelt rendition of Don't Cry for Me Argentina in the shower and then I danced around the house. But I still haven't calmed down, because both Ondine novels are available from Amazon and Amazon UK for the kindle!!!!! If that's not cause to scream and bounce around, I don't know what is. There are some subtle differences between the paper versions and the

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-82748550159027427942011-04-09T09:07:00.001+10:002011-04-09T09:07:57.057+10:00

Honestly, I really should blog more. But then I'd spend less time on the novels, so the blogging itself would take precedence. At which point you'd ask, 'Ebony, you give us all this advice about writing, but where's yer gorram next book?' So please amuse yourselves with this fetching commemorative plate of 'TVs Craig Ferguson' with his ferrets. Craig Ferguson, Scottish by birth, American on

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-80838616396612161472011-04-01T19:07:00.000+11:002011-04-01T19:07:04.085+11:00

I can't believe it, Brugel has banned the keeping of all ferrets, as of today! And they're also really cross with me and I'm just sick with worry. Through my agent I received a letter from the Brugel High Commission stating they were aghast at my depiction of their country and as a result they would ban all ferrets. Here's what the letter said: Dear Ms McKenna, the people of Brugel, have

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-31269612984438015022011-03-31T12:54:00.000+11:002011-03-31T12:54:08.370+11:00

I finally worked out how to create pages, even though they've probably been available for a few years now! Anyhoodle, I'm going to update my walk through the valley of War and Peace over on the page aptly called, War and Peace.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-32048144823095861032011-03-29T16:18:00.001+11:002011-03-29T10:19:50.570+11:00

An old post I dredged up from December 2007. I think it's as relevant now as it was then. ***** There are many times in an unpublished writer's life when they will question whether to go on. This has happened to me more times than I can count. But every time I think of throwing my hands up in the air and saying "I give up!" I remind myself of this nifty little equation and manage to keep going.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-66106834188929718772011-03-25T13:32:00.001+11:002011-03-25T13:33:42.683+11:00

Somebody at Woolworths been reading Ondine? I found this in the lolly aisle today and laughed out loud because it's a pretty close match to a scene in the book. Ondine: The Autumn Palace, footnote 89 (page 288) ‘Keeping Stump’ is an old Brugel idiom about staying quiet and being clever, and your deepest desires will come to you. It refers to the classic Brugel fable of The Fox In Disguise, who

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-53801586917368410262011-03-22T10:10:00.000+11:002011-03-22T10:10:30.543+11:00

Until now, I'd written all my novels in third person. Like this: "Dread cloaked Ondine the further she walked into the darkening forest." I've also been fond of writing in past tense, as all my stories have already happened. It made perfect sense at the time. But it doesn't always work that way and now I fell like I'm starting from scratch. Some of my favourite phrases are 'keep going' but

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-56620469267027141172011-03-16T11:01:00.000+11:002011-03-16T11:01:09.722+11:00

we've only known each other for two and a half months . . . and I'm trying not to be judgemental and all. . . but you suck! Seriously, what's with the financial meltdowns and the earthquakes, snowstorms, floods, cyclones and tsunamis? Come on! What, are you all jealous about 2012 getting all the attention? Sure, they made a movie about next year but it wasn't that good. A disaster movie where

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-18644372830805995022011-03-15T09:24:00.003+11:002011-03-15T13:25:52.313+11:00

I am reeling at the devastation in Japan. Earthquake, tsunami, nuclear power station problems. A volcano in the south erupted again (Japan has a few of them too). Now the survivors are freezing cold and have no clean water or food. Aid agencies of all descriptions and denominations are hustling to help hundreds of thousands of people. If you feel able to help in some way, join the Authors

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-50217747951158553112011-03-13T17:43:00.000+11:002011-03-13T17:43:23.201+11:00

I don't know how those other authors do it. Behave, I mean. How do they read glowing reviews and not run out onto the street and scream 'I got five stars!' ? Seriously? How do they contain themselves? The pixel equivalent of the street scream is the excited tweet, facebook update, blog post, bulk email etc of pure happy joy-joy. Full of typos (because I've written it so quickly) and full of

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-60147040200877797812011-03-08T20:26:00.001+11:002011-03-08T20:28:29.244+11:00

I was reading Lynn Price's blog and her latest post had my left eye twitching in sympathy. Here are some great ways to make an editor's or agent's head explode. Casually run a proposal by them - informally of course. No formal query process for you because you're special and you're bound to get special treatment if you ask for it. Make them sign an affidavit swearing them to secrecy because

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-25137099534377235262011-03-07T08:50:00.001+11:002011-03-31T12:56:13.042+11:00

By default, you understand. I lay awake last night wondering what to do. Do I delete the earlier post and say nothing? No, that's not right. It would compound the lie because I had not corrected it. Turns out, I don't think Ondine is on a reading list after all. Which is a crushing blow to the ego, but also leaves me feeling silly. OK, feeling silly is my default setting anyway but I do need

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-50953771473517248122011-03-02T13:20:00.000+11:002011-03-02T13:20:38.049+11:00

Ondine The Autumn Palace is now available in all good bookstores across Australia and New Zealand. I celebrated the only way I knew how. I put all my copies on the bed and rolled around in them. Isn't that what all authors do????

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-59513258623923130412011-02-26T13:37:00.000+11:002011-02-26T13:37:52.443+11:00

Insanely good news. Friends of ours in the UK were chatting to friends of theirs and somehow my name came up (LOL!) and the friends of friends had heard of me BECAUSE ONDINE IS ON THEIR HIGH SCHOOL READING LIST! Woah! Sorry for the screaming there, but news like this is enough to make me incoherent with glee. Which is bizarre for a writer, I'm supposed to be good with words 'n' stuff. LOL!

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-29033785581862881912011-02-24T10:39:00.000+11:002011-02-24T10:39:49.275+11:00

After however many decades of writing, I have come to the conclusion I work so much better with a deadline. It's not that I sit here in my pyjamas and play Bejewelled Blitz all day. Seriously, I don't. I get up, I help my son get ready for school, I sit down at the computer and write. I do write just about every day. Then I also do accounts and invoices and clean the house and scrub the toilet.

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-89071015330629652702011-02-19T21:02:00.000+11:002011-02-19T21:02:10.568+11:00

Or something like that. Screaming headlines sell more newspapers - which, last time I checked, are also under a bit of strain from their readership moving on to the interwebs. Big news in the book trade this week or what? In the USA, Borders is closing stores faster than your dad can say, 'You are NOT going out looking like that.' In the UK, Borders doesn't exist any more, and the book market

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-56814710323805008352011-02-17T15:12:00.001+11:002011-02-22T11:22:55.112+11:00

I love twitter, it's a great way to connect with people for fast chats. I love joining in the #yalitchat and #writersroad threads. They community there is awesome. But the problem with Twitter is it's hard to explain yourself in any detail. Today on the #yalitchat thread we were talking about pop culture references in novels. Somehow the topic morphed to taking things out of books, censorship

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-54499573540143836742011-02-14T12:07:00.001+11:002011-02-15T10:53:47.955+11:00

Oh man, I have a stationery habit and it's a wee bit out of control. (note to husband, I promise it's not. I'm just beating up the story to make it more interesting). Today I saw the cutest things. Metallic purple, silver and blue paperclips. I actually need paperclips and would have made do with plain old steel if they'd had them. But come on, purple? It's too good. Next, heart shaped sticky

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629227846983766184.post-65774905358692435072011-02-08T10:32:00.001+11:002011-02-08T20:04:57.191+11:00

I had way too much fun with the #badmashup competition. And I see plenty of you did as well. It's such fun to be a little bit warped. Choosing winners was hard and I thank each and every one of you for taking the time, making me laugh, and making me worry about your state of mental health. Being snowed in is no excuse for wanting to kill every character from Twilight. No wait - To the winners

Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.com6