edwina shaw

VENY ARMANNO

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Veny Armanno

Veny Armanno

In 2002 , the year I first decided to take my writing seriously and  pursue the long-held dream, I attended lots of courses at the Queensland Writers Centre. One of the first I went to was taught by Veny Armanno. He made the world of writing sound so exciting, difficult yet rewarding, that I was inspired to apply for a Masters degree at the University of Queensland where he taught in the creative writing programme. I was lucky enough to be accepted and have him as my supervisor/advisor. It was from Veny that I learnt the importance of each sentence, the power of good strong prose. It was also from him I learned that discipline and persistence are as essential to the writing business as creativity.

I was already a fan of his work, especially Romeo of the Underworld and Firehead, where he infused laid back Queensland with a deeply sensitive Sicilian sensibility. Then he won the QLD Premier’s award for best novel for his epic The Volcano. I loved his recent release, The Dirty Beat and in a few weeks his new novel Black Mountain will be launched at Avid Reader Bookstore in West End. Time to go along and cheer!

Somehow Veny manages to keep on producing work of combined power and beauty, all while continuing to teach writing to upstarts like me.

I was honoured to have Veny launch Thrill Seekers earlier this year and am very grateful for all he’s taught me. He’s running a workshop at the QLD Writers Centre later this year, “Show Don’t ‘Tell” and I recommend that if you’re serious about improving your writing or just need a kick start, this is one workshop not to miss.

I’m looking forward to reading Black Mountain and seeing what he’s come up with this time. It looks fabulous!

Black Mountain by Venero Armanno

Black Mountain by Venero Armanno

Three cheers for Veny Armanno, one of this country’s most exciting, yet under-recognised, writers.

You’re recognised by me Veny, and by all those readers and writers whose lives you’ve touched.

Thank you.

With lots of love,

Edwina

BACK TO WORK

/ Edwina Shaw / Leave a comment

 

Bone Mandala by Steven Vella

Bone Mandala by Steven Vella

What a delight it is to send the hubby off to work and the children off to school and settle down at the computer to do some actual writing again. 

First stop this week was my Cambodian novel. I wrote the first draft in 2005, under the title “Chocolate Brown Vanilla”. Since then it’s been through a number of name changes, including “Women Are Cloth”,” When it Rains” and most recently (my favourite) “Child of Fortune”. It’s undergone some huge changes in the seven years I’ve been working on it, with some highs like getting a spot in the QWC/Hachette Manuscript development award, winning an ASA mentorship with Judith Lukin Amundsen, and recently making the Amazon shortlist: and some big pits of lows – all those rejections from publishers.

Working with Judith on the manuscript has been incredibly helpful. To have her wise and experienced eyes on the manuscript I’d read and almost written to death was the perfect cure for my jaded vision of it.

Like the best of midwives, with a few carefully chosen words she steered me back in the right direction, while letting me keep control and total ownership over the process.

Writers out there with a manuscript that you feel like spewing on every time you get it out to redraft, an editor’s input will make all the difference. I promise. This week I’m reading it aloud, to catch any awkward sentences, and looking for ways to bring more life to minor characters. It’s almost done. And then I’ll be sending it out into the world to find a good home.

Next week I’ll be tackling the much bigger job of a major rewrite of the latest novel, “Into the Fire”, set in the cane fields of far north Queensland.

I always hope that my process will become shorter, that I won’t need all those years to get a story just right. But so far, I’m about two years in on “Into The Fire”. Sigh.  With any luck, sooner rather than later, I’ll get some good editorial guidance, preferably from a publisher and save myself a few years.

The lesson here? Never give up. As  I’ve told  my students and friends many times. Persistence is the key. The only key!

Lots of love

Edwina