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First
Novel Delirium
For the last few months there's been just one topic of conversation
on John Scalzi's blog:
the publication of his first novel, Old
Man's War. He's asked his readers to send
in photos of it in the wild, he's posted
and discussed every single review that's appeared, made his
blog over so it looks just like the book (how tacky
is that?), theorised
about every slight movement the book has made up and down Amazon.com's
rankings. It's been all Old Man's War, all the time.
And you know what? Good on him. Go, Scalzi! When your very first
novel is finally, finally (!) available in real shops and libraries
for actual people who don't even know you to purchase, borrow and
maybe even read (!) then damned if you aren't compelled to shout
it from the rooftops. It's a very big deal.
My first novel, Magic or Madness
will be officially released into the wild in the USA on the 17th
of March (the Australia edition comes out in September). That's
13 days away (well, okay, fourteen on account of the whole time-difference
thing). Less than two weeks! So soon!
My novel is going to be real. Not just an electronic file, or a
pile of papers, or an ARC,
but an actual finished book with a dust jacket and that fresh paper,
fresh glue smell, and it's going to find its way into the hands
of folks who don't know me! How about that?
I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm happy. My stomach's in knots. I keep
giggling at inappropriate moments. Like while watching this TV show
about parasites, Body
Snatchers (best show ever), this man was lying on the grass
beside the more than 2 metre long tapeworm that had been living
in his bowels and I thought, eww!, and then I remembered that my
novel was coming out and clapped my hands and laughed. Yay tapeworm!
Yay Magic or Madness!
The only sad thing is that I'll be here in Sydney not there in the
US when vast quantities of my novel are unloaded from huge crates
and arrayed on shelves (or, you know, the lone copy is slotted in
between Madeleine L'Engle and Ursula Le Guin, either way). So I
won't be able to go to bookshops and gaze at MY novel for sale.
This is where Scalzi's genius idea comes in: if anyone out there
happens to be in a real live bookshop that happens to stock my novel,
and happen to have their camera with them, and just happens to take
a photo of Magic or Madness
in said bookshop, well, I'd just adore it if you sent it to me.
To further heighten my already fever-pitch excitement and make it
impossible to think about anything other than Magic or Madness,
reviews have started to appear.
A friend of mine, an established novelist, who's published many
books and received many reviews, told me I should pay no attention
to reviews. Good or bad, she says it's unwise to let them affect
how you feel about yourself or your work. This is especially true
of good reviews. You must not let praise go to your head. I'm sure
she's very wise. Sadly I have not a skerrick of wisdom and I'm revelling
in the good reviews, learning them off by heart. I just got a starred
one (which even tops getting a gold koala bear stamp from your kindergarten
teacher) in School Library Journal:
Australian author Larbalestier has wrought beautiful and fearsome
magic in this novel, the first in a proposed trilogy. Reason Cansino
has spent her life with her unusual mother in the bush, moving frequently,
keeping to herself, and learning how to guard against her bizarre
grandmother, Esmeralda. When her mother goes insane and 15-year-old
Reason is sent to live with Esmeralda, she starts to question all
the stories her mother has told her. Is Mere practicing magic, which
Reason's mother insisted was not real? Why have nearly all her ancestors
died young? When Reason digs up a dead cat in the cellar and finds
the key to a locked (magic) door, she escapes her increasingly frightening
grandmother only to find herself halfway around the world in New
York City, weak, in danger, and befriended by the mysterious Jay-Tee.
Authentic teen voices from two continents reveal the fast-paced
events and the conflicts faced by youth when powerful (and predatory)
adults seek to take advantage of their ignorance. Readers will especially
identify with Reason as she struggles to accept her identity and
establish autonomy. Larbalestier's sense of place and refreshing
exploration of magic as a force for both good and evil make this
novel unusual. By turns a fantasy adventure and a thoughtful examination
of relationships, this radiant gem stands alone, but expect readers
to be impatient for the rest of the trilogy.-Melissa Moore,
Union University Library, Jackson, TN.
I plan to have a T-shirt made that says "radiant gem".
Sigh. This review will sustain me through every bad one. Hell, I'll
be remembering this review when I've got one foot in the grave,
my books are long forgotten, and I'm living on charity. "I
was a radiant gem!" I'll tell them. "A radiant gem!"
I love School Library Journal. I love Melissa Moore. I
love her library and the whole city of Jackson, Tennessee.
I don't want you to think I'm naïve though. Well, okay, I can
be naïve (when I watch Entourage I'm forever asking
Scott if men really talk that way about women) but I'm not naïve
about publishing in the USA. Having your first novel published does
not guarantee anything very much. Having a sheaf of wonderful starred
reviews doesn't either. Many highly lauded novels have sunk without
a trace. Many first novels sell poorly, rarely earning out their
advance, and boy
do I know just how small those unearned-out advances usually
are. Though a recent
survey by Tobias Buckell
(who's also soon to have his first novel published) did point to
higher advances as your career continues. That is, if you're
career continues . . .
Many first novelists never sell a second novel. This is where I'm
a teeny bit ahead of the game: I sold a trilogy. Whatever happens,
I'll have had three novels published. Cunning, eh? That is, if the
first one doesn't tank and the next two don't wind up cancelled.
But, I'm not worried, honest. My editors like the sequel and, hey,
it already has a beautiful cover design! It's got a scheduled publication
date!
Besides, I'm a radiant gem. School Library Journal said
so.
Sydney, 4 March 2005
©
2005 Justine Larbalestier
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