PD Martin's Blog

June 26, 2009

Just chillin’…kinda

Filed under: Fan Mail,Kiss of Death — Tags: , , , — PD Martin @ 4:52 am

This week’s been a relatively quiet one for me. Book 5 in the Sophie Anderson series, KISS OF DEATH, is currently with my Aussie publishers, Pan Macmillan. It feels a little like Sophie is away visiting – but she’ll be home soon. In fact, I’ll be getting the editorial report next Friday 3 July.

It’s always a nerve-wracking time for an author, and that first week is especially tense. Will the publisher/editor like the book? Will they identify many problems? Luckily I heard back from my editor and although there are some structural issues I need to address, they love the new book! Phew.

KISS OF DEATH release dates are:

  • Australia, 1 January 2010
  • North America, 1 August 2010
  • UK/Ireland, July 2010 (to be confirmed)

But in the meantime, North America and the UK will be publishing books three and four, so if you’re in those parts of the world there’ll be extra Sophie reading between now and 2010.

FAN MAIL was released last month in the UK and Ireland and I’m counting down the days until it’s released in North America. With only four days to go, I’m sure it’s already in some bookstores and has been sent out from online suppliers too. So maybe my American and Canadian readers are already stuck into FAN MAIL!

Despite this little lull, I haven’t been totally slack this week! I’ve been deciding what Sophie book to do next (and researching a few different topics) and I’ve been toying with a new project I started a couple of years ago and might go back to. Sorry, it’s hush-hush for the moment :)

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June 19, 2009

Getting the words onto the page

Filed under: Writing — Tags: , — PD Martin @ 4:50 am

A couple of weeks ago I was on a panel for the Emerging Writers’ Festival
(EWF) here in Melbourne.

The topic was Just write Dammit! and the brief was to discuss our
writing techniques.

The other panellists were:

  • Victoria Carless – a playwright who also works in fiction, film and feature writing.
  • Andrew Hutchinson – award-winning author of Rohypnol.
  • Tiggy Johnson – poet and short story writer.

During my 10 minutes I talked a little about my writing routine. Although I
have to fit writing in with my 2yro, compared to many other authors I’ve got it easy. I rarely stare at a blank page for more than a few minutes. I don’t
agonize over a sentence for hours. And I’m not particularly prone to
procrastination. Of course it’s still hard work, but I do have the ability to
just sit down and write. 

The panel got me thinking – why do I find it easy to get words on a page?
It’s probably partly related to my genre – crime fiction books tend to be
page-turners and I think the writing process somehow reflects this. You read it fast, we write it fast. I can also thank my 10+ years of working as a corporate writer. I’ve always written to deadlines and always had to simply sit down and write. While short corporate writing pieces are very different to a 100,000-word book, the pattern of behaviour is ingrained.

After initially feeling that my writing process should be at least a little
more torturous, I’ve now decided I’m extremely happy and grateful that it’s
not!

For more information about the EWF, please visit their website.

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June 12, 2009

New York, New York

Filed under: Research — PD Martin @ 4:46 am

CentralParkOkay, I’m officially blogging. That’s right, I’ve joined the ranks of the switched on, technically savvy communicators who blog. Of course, I don’t really have a clue what I’m doing, but here goes…

I’ve achieved some milestones since I launched this website (and last blogged) on 4 May. Like:

  • My family and I have had a lovely three-week holiday in the US
  • I’ve had another birthday (number to remain undisclosed – a girl’s gotta have some secrets, right?)
  • I’ve finished the first draft of KISS OF DEATH
  • We’ve been cleared of swine flu
  • I’ve appeared on a panel at the Emerging Writers’ Festival in Melbourne
  • And I’ve almost rid the house of the lovely family of mice that decided to house-sit for us while we were away
  • Wow…I have been busy. 

    I’ll talk about the panel at EWF next week, but for now more on the trip. The pic on the left was taken in Central Park.

    First stop, New York, New York…so good they named it twice. Spent five days there, mostly just hanging out, but I also managed to catch up with my agent and my new US editor and had a fantastic chat over lunch. Yum!

    Then it was down to some good friends in North Carolina (near Raleigh). From there, we also went to Myrtle Beach and Washington DC. My daughter loved the lazy river in the Myrtle Beach hotel (we actually all had fun in that, but it sounds much better if we were just in it for the 2yro) and I got to the Spy Museum in DC, which was really cool.

    Then it was up to Wakefield, Rhode Island to visit my best friend (who’s married to an American). It was so great to see her – best friends rock! We’ve known each other since I was four and she was five.

    Then back to NY for a couple of days and then home. We had a ball…as did the mice who house-sat for us.

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