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Please check out my website:

www.becknicholas.com

It has lots of news about my sci-fi and contemporary YA books as well as a brand new quiz.

Hope to see you there!!

Being brave

Like any wimpy, neurotic, human, writer I have nerves sending my work out. To CPs, betas, agents, editors and one day the big bad world. Nerves that sometimes make me stop and delay and overthink and all that good stuff. Like anyone putting themselves out there I guess.

Even more is the nerves and fear in putting words down. None of these characters ARE me but I have to bleed to make them real.

But this morning I had a lesson in being brave. From my Rockstar. All of 8 years old, with 2 hearing aids (1st in May, 2nd in Nov so she's still getting used to having a hearing loss) walked into a Musical theatre camp where she was among the youngest and knew no one else. Three hundred kids. She kissed me, smiled and didn't look back.

See, she loves music and despite not having a voice that means a solo or anything she thinks it's worth putting herself out there.

So today I'm going to be brave.
Like her.
(And maybe worry about her a little).


And my characters will be brave, or scared or whatever but they will BE IT COMPLETELY.

Are you brave? Do you think you need to be to write or whatever it is you like to do?

General craziness

Hello there crazy time of year!
Busy here with usual Chrissy stuff as well as end of school year and my littlest Princess's Christmas Eve birthday.
And with RENOVATIONS.

Yes, I felt it needed all caps. We're about a month in and the builders have been great and it's going to be great but... the kiddos are on hols and we're cramped. We've lost our backyard and it's too hot to move and writing is a struggle with three underfoot.

Wouldn't you know it that my brain is firing with dialogue and scenes and ideas for linked stories?

My problem is sneaking time to write.
Without endless questions and water help and requests for food. And more food.
What about you? Relaxing times?

Running

I'm no athlete - although I love sport. I came last in EVERY SINGLE running race I had to participate in through school. Every one.

But a few years ago I decided to do the Couch to 5k running program. Mainly because I bet hubby a camera on completing it. He knew my athletic prowess and thought himself safe... or he hoped to encourage me. Either way I was determined to SHOW HIM.

And I did.

And then I did a 7.5 km run raising money for cancer.

And now I run 4 times a week. I'm still not fast. I suspect my knees turn in and my feet kick out. It's not pretty, but I feel good after. As long as I get through and get into a rhythm I can run for an hour now.

This week I retired the shoes I bought when I decided I'd run. Thanks to my handy app I know they've done 1000km. It's almost impossible to believe but it shows a little at a time adds up.

Now I need to apply that to finishing the work in progress.
=)

On being a fan

Not me this time... or not exactly.
After 'seeing'/reading some of this author on twitter I was inspired to buy a certain little rockstar in my life Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger.

 
 Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She’s a Telepath—someone who hears the thoughts of everyone around her. It’s a talent she’s never known how to explain.

Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere and also reads minds. She discovers there’s a place she does belong, and that staying with her family will place her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different from anything she has ever known.
Sophie has new rules to learn and new skills to master, and not everyone is thrilled that she has come “home.” There are secrets buried deep in Sophie’s memory—secrets about who she really is and why she was hidden among humans—that other people desperately want. Would even kill for.In this page-turning debut, Shannon Messenger creates a riveting story where one girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world, before the wrong person finds the answer first.

And she LOVED it. She's only just 8 and read in in a devouring rush of intense obsession I've only ever seen her have with music before (she is, after all, going to be a rockstar... or audiologist... or author when she grows up) and one other author.

She copied the title to put up on her wall and she drew picture after picture. And she's saving for the sequel.

This is her fan art.... fan art! I can hardly believe it of her. I promised I'd post it for Shannon's contest and she just hoped one of her fave authors might see it!

This is Sophie how Rockstar sees her.

 

 

I'm so glad she feels this way about books. I hope to make people feel this way about mine!!

=)

Conference awesomeness

On the weekend I was lucky enough to go to the Romance Writers of Australia Conference. This year it was in Fremantle and they put on some wild wind and rain the first day but it gradually warmed up. I roomed with fab rural author Rachael Johns(see pic left) and had to take my little rockstar's netball beanie kid as she had a big netball final while I was away (right).

As a bit of an introvert (I'm used to my fictional worlds) I found the buzz of so many writers at once inspiring and exhausting - in a good way.

It was great to talk writing for a WHOLE WEEKEND. There were so many inspiring workshops and talks over the weekend and I scribbled so many notes I think it will take me weeks to go back through.

The social events were just as fun and I went for 'nice' on the Nautical or nice cocktail party on the Friday night. What could be nicer than a block of choc? And I got to wear purple hair!

 The awards gala was fabulous and included a choc fountain - sigh...

There were so many highlights but for me it was a late night chat (there were a few of those!!) where I was talking about one of my stories and the room of writers gave me bucket loads of encouragement. terms like 'awesome conflict' and 'I can't wait to read it' are things I'll treasure as I get stuck back in.

The organisers did an amazing job and I thanks them with virtual hugs and chocolate!!

Have you been to any conferences recently?

i don't even like this song

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.





This Week's Topic:

What song would you love to see a book based on?

Now for this one I’m going to blame my little Rockstar. She’s learning guitar and has an eclectic mix in her repertoire. From Holiday by Greenday and Back in Black by ACDC to So What by Pink and Day Tripper by the Beatles. Her fave singer is Taylor Swift and she plays songs she knows and the album CONSTANTLY.

 One keeps making me see a scene and it’s called The Last Time and it opens:

Found myself at your door,
Just like all those times before,
I'm not sure how I got there,
All roads they lead me here.

I imagine you are home,
In your room, all alone,
And you open your eyes into mine,
And everything feels better,

Right before your eyes,
I'm breaking, no past
No reasons why,
Just you and me.

This is the last time I'm asking you this,
Put my name at the top of your list,
This is the last time I'm asking you why,
You break my heart in the blink of an eye.

Just makes me ask all kinds of questions in my head. I do like to write about the pain/fear of people leaving so maybe that explains it. I wonder what he did before and what has happened to make him come back. The risk of letting someone who’s left in again… it’s a biggie!

What about you??