Where Spirits Dwell, coming soon!
Where Spirits Dwell, Australian cover
Hello, am so excited to announce that my second book, Where Spirits Dwell, is on its way to the printer. Writing it has a been a trying and thrilling experience, in equal measure, but I hope the end result will make it all worthwhile.
Here is the link to more information on my publisher’s website:
http://www.hachette.com.au/books/9780733624988/
Am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
“A lot of the scares were taken from real life”
In that dreamy post-delivery-of-manuscript phase (yes, Where Spirits Dwell is with my eternally patient publisher, on its way to a September release!) I found time to enjoy an interview, from The Los Angeles Times, with Australian film-maker James Wan and actor-screenwriter, Leigh Whannell. The pair, whose debut feature Saw was a massive hit seven years ago (not that I’ve seen it, I’m way too much of a wimp), are back with a haunted house film, Insidious, starring Rose Byrne. Now this one I am keen to see (though feeling no less wimpy about it) when it opens here on May 12.
Whannell reveals that one key scene featuring Rose Byrne seeing “an unwanted guest” in her bedroom was taken from a real-life story a friend told him. Another scene is inspired by an experience Wan’s grandmother had. “We think those kind of “real life stories” are so much more scary than anything we could cook up,” said Whannell. “And so we took that as the inspiration and that became our springboard into other scenarios.”
I so agree with them: true stories are infinitely scarier. Actually, I think my exact words (in my head) were: “Boys, have I got some stories for you.” It’s timely that I stumbled upon this interview as I’ve been preoccupied with thoughts of how extraordinary my Where Spirits Dwell interviewees’ experiences are, and how a few of them—one in particular, I wonder if you’ll agree with me—would make amazing movies, in the hands of the right film-makers.
As Whannell and Wan hint, truth is stranger than fiction. I know that much is true. You can read the full interview here: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/03/30/insidious-filmmakers-on-their-haunted-house-update-a-lot-of-the-scares-were-taken-from-real-life/
It’s been a while …
Ravello, Italy, the setting for a story in WHERE SPIRITS DWELL
But I have a good excuse for neglecting my blog, I think … I’ve been finishing the sequel to Spirit Sisters and yes, I confess, there have been a few less than productive moments in there too, though I like to think it all contributes to the general melting pot of, um, creativity … Googling the music on the Corona TV ads (“A Journey,” by Taylor Steele and “Run River” by Jon Swift); fantasising about million dollar haciendas on the Uruguayan coast; watching Modern Family and The Biggest Loser and reading non-paranormal literature. I loved loved loved Mr Rosenblum’s List, by Natasha Solomon and Dark Matter by Michelle Paver—actually, that is paranormal, but fiction, which is still an indulgence in these last stages of writing.
Aside from that, I waded through seventy thousand freecycle messages and procrastinated about putting my own clutter up for collection (I’ll get there). And then there were the endless stream of offers from “deal of the day” websites, few of which I can resist. My latest acquisition is a brilliant bed-sanitising deal. Who knew that there existed people with special UV-machines who’ll come and zap our beds clean? All they had to do was bang on a bit about bed bugs and their revolting emissions and I was sold.
Somehow, despite all of the above, Where Spirits Dwell is now in the very final stages of submission to my publishers. I’ve been haunted by stories set in my hometown of Sydney to far flung places, like Normanton in Far North Queensland, to Ravello, on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, where a scandalous literary personage made a surprise post-mortem appearance in an interviewee’s tale. To know more, you’ll have to wait for Where Spirits Dwell, out in Australia in September. I hope you’ll love it.
Of distractions and deadlines
I’ve been distracted. Last post was Halloween and here we are, on the last day of November … it floors me how fast this year has zipped by. Christmas is around the corner and the deadline for Where Spirits Dwell is looming in a couple of months. That may mean fewer posts for a while.
I’m very happy to say that my lovely friend, author Wendy J. Dunn, has organised a writers retreat in January, and I can’t wait to carve out the time and head space I need to complete this task. Wish me luck!
Halloween is here
A family "like" the one Amy saw?
I’ve never been one to celebrate or even acknowledge Halloween, unlike my fellow author, the lovely Tara Moss, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing recently. For Tara, it is one of the key dates on the calendar. That’s not me, but I’d still like to honour the occasion, so I’m sharing one of my favourite ghost stories from Spirit Sisters. It’s called The Family, download it as a pdf at the link below.
Enjoy the chills! And happy Halloween.
