Author: clairevarley

more book 2 (though not as much as I’d like)

~ clairevarley ~ Leave a comment

This post is all about twos:

  • This is my second attempt at blogging more.
  • At this rate, I will have managed two blog posts this month.
  • This is twice the number I managed in the previous month.
  • This afternoon I have had two attempts at getting my Persian cardamom-pistachio butter fudge to set but have probably boiled it for too long or too little, at too high or too low a heat, and it is taking too much time to set. I will probably nevertheless eat it too quickly with a spoon from the pan because though soft, it is too delicious to waste.
  • This endeavour has been my main effort to procrastinate from working on book 2, of which I am currently convinced I am plagued by the infamous second album curse because it is Just. Not. Happening.
  • In response to aforementioned frustration at being cursed, I read this article on Brain Pickings because I thought it would make me feel better. It didn’t. I don’t know why I thought reading something Hemingway-related would leave me feeling better. Because I thought I might have missed something, I read it a second time, and finished even more certain that book 2 will turn me into a version of Salieri in this scene.
  • Here is what is happening with book 2:
    • My Brain: Ok, so this character is going to make this grand entrance and immediately steal the show.
    • What Gets Typed: Barry walked into the room and sat in the chair.
    • MB: Hmm, not exactly what I hoped for. Let’s try for improvements.
    • WGT: Barry walked slowly into the room and sat in the empty chair.
    • MB: Is it not implied that the chair is empty? Is Barry the kind of character that would sit down in an occupied chair? Is Barry a lap sitter?
    • WGT: Barry walked slowly and purposefully into the empty room and sat in the chair. Alone. Barry was all alone. Like Hemingway.
    • MB: … we’re cutting Barry.
  • Now I am going to continue my procrastination by tending to the Abgoosht I am cooking – the second Iranian dish I have made in my procrastination pursuits today.

Is this a possible sneak preview of what’s to come? Could my second book feature one or more Iranian characters? Find out more in the next or subsequent blog posts… duh duh duuuuuuuh!

book 2 (or the novel formerly known as Bogan)

~ clairevarley ~ 1 Comment

My lovely publisher suggested I blog more and I’ve not heeded this advice because I am lazy and have poor self-marketing skills. BUT seeing as I’m meant to be working on shaping my assorted notes for book two into something coherent, tonight seems like a pretty good time to have a crack at this blogging business.

As you can see from the picture below, at this stage book two consists of a range of printed A4 pages that I have arranged in the manner of ineffective dominoes across my lounge/kitchen floor/tiles. Its working name, which I have long since abandoned, is ‘Bogans, Bacon and Other Reasons for Political Outrage’. Yet to find a replacement title, I have taken to affectionately referring to it as ‘Bogan’. Enough procrastination – back to Bogan.

'Bogan' plot notes.
‘Bogan’ plot notes.

page seventeen

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Busybird Publishing – some of the nicest kids in publishing town – launched issue 11 of page seventeen last night. It includes my poem ‘Hamlet, Remus and two guys named Steve’, the last in my suite of ‘grandparent poems’ (here and here). The launch was accompanied by their regular open mic night and featured a range of gorgeous pieces from the comic to the profound. Copies of page seventeen can be ordered here. I think you should.

Australian Love Stories

~ clairevarley ~ 5 Comments

The clever people over at Inkerman & Blunt have just released their second anthology of Australian writing. Last time it was love poems (including my poem ‘beatitude’] and this time around it’s love stories. My story ‘A Greek Tragedy’ is included in the collection, which was edited by the magnificent Cate Kennedy. I truly heart Inkerman & Blunt – both anthologies are themselves love declarations to the astounding talent that is buzzing around the Australian writing community. (And I’m not just saying that because they keep publishing me. I think we can all agree that this is only because somehow my mother has secretly found out their home addresses and has been sending them baked goods in return for publication favours. Obviously.)

represent!

~ clairevarley ~ 2 Comments

So I got a literary agent. *Tosses hair calmly over shoulder and sips latte as that comment floats casually across the cafe brunch table that is this site.*

I am now proudly represented by the good people at Curtis Brown. I mean, I don’t know if they are proud to be representing me but I’m certainly proud that they are. So is my mum. And that covers pretty much everyone I know.

This is exciting. So exciting that I have given this site an ‘upgrade’ (ie changed the theme, added a couple of new pages and possibly deleted some crucial html that will come back to haunt me later). So now it looks either ‘more professional’ or ‘more uglier’… I can’t tell if I either love it or loathe it, so I’ll settle with having a site that I feel middle-of-the-road about. Which is pretty good considering every time I login it proudly informs me that I am my #1 follower…

But back to that thing about having an agent – yeah!