Chopsticks, what chopsticks? Why you need to stay on good terms with your editor.

 

Picking up continuity gaps in movies is great fun – life jackets disappearing and reappearing as the Titanic goes down, swords changing from hand to hand in Lord of the Rings, eyes opening and closing on dead bodies… But what about continuity gaps in novels?

 

I have just finished the copy edits for my next book, ‘Sex, Lies and Bonsais’ – about five days work. It is as good as I can make it. No doubt when I read it again I will see mistakes I should have fixed, but for now it is the best I can do.

 

Editing is a very humbling process. In the interests of full and frank disclosure, I can now reveal that, yes, I had completely forgotten that they were eating with chopsticks at the moment when the father started banging his plate with his fork. And yes, I had also forgotten that the main character had thrown her phone into a fishpond in the chapter before she miraculously pulled it out of her pocket again.  In my previous book, ‘Liar Bird’ I had somehow managed to forget that Cassie had just chucked a hissy fit about having no television in the chapter before she started happily watching the news on TV.

 

The trouble with writing is that it doesn’t happen in real time. When it takes over a year to get from beginning to end it is very easy to forget these trivial matters of continuity. In my next book, which my agent is currently reading, I lost a dog for a good ten chapters.

 

Editing a book always reminds me of that cartoon of a pondering fifties style woman – ‘I can’t believe I forgot to have children.’ Easily done, I would say.

 

So when you read a book which hangs together, where the main character keeps the same name, she doesn’t lose her dog, she doesn’t magically change car brands and she remembers that she’s a vegetarian – you can be sure that an editor has been there before you.

 

Have you ever noticed any continuity gaps in novels?

Review – Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerrilla Knitters Institute By Maggie Groff

Mad Men, Bad Girls etc. Is the debut novel by north coast author, Maggie Groff who has previously written two bestselling works of non-fiction.  The novel is a comedy crime caper set between Byron Bay and the Gold Coast.

Freelance journalist Scout Davies works at a desk which ‘overlooks Byron’s main thoroughfare, Jonson Street, where the muse in charge of fabulous things has dropped the biggest fancy-dress party in the world.’ Given a job to investigate a dodgy American cult, The Luminous Renaissance of Illustrious Light, which has moved to the Gold Coast, Scout sets to work.

Scout’s sister Harper (her parents were fans of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’) also needs her help with an underwear cutter on the loose in her school. This unleashes a second plot strand of cyber-bullying and school politics. Scout goes on the hunt to solve these mysteries, following a number of clues and red herrings.  Adding difficulty is the fact that Scout is an insulin-dependent diabetic. Naturally this creates difficulties out in the field.

There is plenty of danger and intrigue as Scout infiltrates the cult, coming face to face with its ‘Mystic Master’ Serene Cloud, a man who, ‘in another place, in another colour (would) have made a fabulous Santa Claus.’ Also fun is Scout’s mission with the Guerrilla Knitters Institute, a group that leaves stealthy graffiti ‘yarn bombs’ around the town and her banter with her cat and side-kick, Chairman Meow. I enjoyed the Byron Bay flavour as Scout picnics at Wategos and chats with locals.

Mad Men, Bad Girls is a witty, fast moving romp. It has plenty of great lines and a very sexy love interest in the form of a local cop, Rafe, who is possibly a little too good to be true, but who cares? Neither Scout nor Rafe seem to struggle too much with the fact that Rafe is a friend of Scout’s long-term boyfriend who is currently on assignment in Afghanistan.

The plot motors along with almost all of the strands satisfactorily resolved by the end. We leave Scout in love with two men and with an ample cast of lively characters to explore in the next book, which I believe is in the pipeline.  This is light hearted crime in the mode of Kerry Greenwood. Curl up on the couch and enjoy.

This is my ninth review for the Australian Women Writers Challenge.

Writing about sex is hard – but not as hard as stand-up comedy

Well…

Monday night was the big night. After six weeks of baby steps we comedy virgins took the stage at the Byron Services Club. It was pretty packed, especially considering that it was raining torrentially. I must admit that for a while there I was hoping a flash flood might cut Byron off, or a tornado rip through the town, or at least a tree bring down a power pole leading to the event being cancelled.

But no, there we were. And there they were. Ready to be entertained.

                Learning comedy has been enlightening. A good comedian looks like they’ve just popped in to share their thoughts with you. But in fact, developing  a routine is a rigorous process from ideas to writing to rehearsal to learning to performance.

I have learnt about the importance of the premise, the illusion of spontaneity and finding a comic persona which is a reflection of your authentic self. And then, having found your authentic self, you need to lay it all bare to a room full of strangers and hope to hell they have the same sense of humour as you. Because comedy is not a monologue, it is a conversation. It is something that happens between the performer and the audience. It takes two to tango.

                Five minutes is not a long time. But it is way long enough for a lot of things to go wrong. As our esteemed leader Mandy Nolan said on the night, ‘Tonight we’re going to find out whose chutes aren’t going to open.’ Five minutes can be an eternity if you’re in free fall.

We started with a group of fifteen, but as we came closer and closer to the day, several of my classmates discovered other pressing commitments. On the big night only ten remained. In the interests of getting it over with quickly, I went up first. And what else would I talk about, but writing.

It was a fun night. What struck me was the diversity of the performances. It seems obvious, but people really are so different! There is something very warming about seeing others share their struggles in a comic way.

I don’t think I’ll be back for more, but I’m pleased that I pushed my boundaries and gave it a go. And, did my parachute open? You can be the judge because here it is…

Walking with Ants in Tasmania – Cate Kennedy’s ‘The World Beneath’

I loved Victorian writer, Cate Kennedy’s, short story collection, Dark Roots, so I was keen to read her debut novel. Cate’s short stories exhibit a wry eye for the minutiae of human flaws. This skill is deftly at play in The World Beneath which was published in 2010.

The story is told from three points of view. Rich and Sandy are an estranged mid-forties couple who met on the Franklin River Blockade in 1983.  This was the zenith of their lives – nothing has come close since. As Sandy says; ‘What do you do when you’ve experienced that? What do you do for the rest of your life?’ Mid-life meltdown here we come.

Sophie, their daughter, is an angry teenager searching for the father she has never known. Rich roared off in his Kombi when she was a baby. Brought up on tales of the blockade, Sophie is deeply cynical. Her unflinching gaze tarnishes even this hallowed moment.

Wanting to bond with Sophie, Rich induces her to go on a six day walk in Tasmania. On arrival, he is insulted to find the wilderness pre-packaged for a too-large audience. Tension builds as Rich’s desire to impress Sophie with a ‘real’ experience drives him into risky behaviour.

Kennedy gleefully skewers Sandy’s political correctness. She envies the way her friend has her baby’s placenta swaddled to him in fabric from Rajasthan; ‘a very ancient tradition.’ If only she’d thought of that. Rich’s pretensions to ‘hipness’ are also cringe-inducing.

Anyone who has bushwalked will recognise the know-it-all walker. Wondering how many days of rain the park got? Unsure whether to boil the water? Mildly interested in birds? ‘Russell was your man.’ Having bushwalked in The Labyrinth myself and experienced the amazing frenzy of the ants, I also enjoyed these scenes.

Underneath the humour is a question that will resonate with many in Rich and Sandy’s age group; what does it mean to give up your freedom by having children? Whose life has more meaning, Rich’s or Sandy’s? Rich has tripped around the world, but missed its significance. He wonders if, rather than an anchor, Sophie would have been ballast; something to steady him in life.

While there are no answers here for the mid-life crisis, there is plenty of fuel for reflection on relationships, delusion and family ties.

This is my eighth review for the Australian Women Writers Challenge.