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A picture tells 100,000 words

Kylie Fennell
When your’e writing fantasy it often involves creating worlds that don’t actually exist. I find that it’s critical to find pictures that represent or inspire the kind of places in my imagination.

Here are just a few images that tell part of my 100,000 word novel. If you want to see more images like this follow my Pinterest board.

Woman Warrior by pan.li75 used under CC BY 2.0



Moraine Lake, near Vancouver





Secret Falls, Nantahala National Forest, Highlands, North Carolina, USA found via youtube.com




Sherwood Forest – Nottingham, England, found on gloholiday.com

The Writer’s ‘Real Job’ Dilemma

Kylie Fennell

This is bad! I mean really bad.

My day job – you know the one that almost pays the bills – is so ridiculously busy at the moment that not only haven’t I got time to do any writing, I don’t have time to write a proper blog post either.

I wonder at what point you should bite the bullet and ‘write’ full time?

Actually I know the answer to that question. It starts with at least finishing the book, which brings me to my dilemma.

So yes I’d like to write my fictional work full-time, but in the meantime I need a ‘real’ job, but hang on if I have a real job, how do I find the time to write, and if I don’t get time to write and finish this darn book how can I justify writing full-time…a Catch 22 that has plagued aspiring writers through the ages.

Don’t mind me, just having a whingefest and trying to madly pad out this blog post – I keep looking at the clock – must get school lunch, uniform, bag packed, child ready for school and then go to real job!!!

Arghh…maybe I’ll have time to write next week…every aspiring writer said.

Seriously though…you need to brace yourself because that book is on it’s way, real job, school lunches or not. I promise!

The olden days – what’s the appeal?

Kylie Fennell

Ever since I can remember I have been obsessed with stories set in historical periods.

The historical period didn’t really matter – as long as it was a different time and place.

My husband would say: “Is that another ‘Olden Days’ story your reading/show your watching?”.

The main attraction for me I think was the (perceived) romanticism or days gone by, kings, queens, costumes and escapism.

In more recent years I’ve leant towards historical fiction and I’m not the only one.

Historical fiction has gained some serious traction in recent years. A few of my favourites include Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth set in the Middle Ages and Fall of Giants set in World War I; Philippa Gregory’s Respectable Trade about the slave trade and her Tudor and War of the Roses series; and Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker Prize winning Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, which told the story of Henry VIII’s adviser Thomas Cromwell.

So what is historical fiction and why is it so appealing?

Generally speaking it is set around historical events or characters, feature language and style that evokes the time period and may confront difficult, or anachronistic, social issues through the plot.

For me the best historical fiction has well-researched facts about the events and characters and these blend seamlessly with the story and fictional elements. I accept that many characters may be invented or some of the known facts may be massaged or embellished but at its core there has to be a level of authenticity.

I love the idea of getting to know another time or place that actually existed but in an engaging and entertaining way that can sometimes only be achieved via fictional elements.

It’s important that I believe the characters could have been real people who lived in that time and could within reason have acted the way portrayed in the story.

I guess the crux of it is that I like non-fiction and history, but I’m a lazy reader and want to entertained.

Judge me if you wish but the Olden Days with a bit of artistic licence is my happy place.

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Reading

Go and get happy. Read!

Kylie Fennell

Over the years I’ve gone to a few different leadership courses for work. Some stick in my mind for different reasons.

There was the one that had half the room sobbing uncontrollably within the first 30 mins of a four day course – surprisingly a good course.

The one though that I remember above all included a moment that is etched in my memory – I remember it clearly because I vehemently disagreed with the speaker.

The so called business expert and leadership coach said something along the lines of: “If you ever want to succeed in life and business, you must only feed your mind with non-fiction educational and learning materials.”

What she meant by this and I recall her actually saying was: “Watching any form of reality TV or content that is purely for entertainment purposes, is a complete waste of your time and brain, and will affect your ultimate success”.

This point was debated for some time. In the room were people including myself rapidly justifying to her why we watched reality shows and other “TV junk”. We were desperately seeking her approval.

In the room we had people who worked intensely busy jobs (including myself at the time), where it wasn’t unheard of to work 60 hour weeks. We had former journalists, emergency services workers and soldiers who had been on the frontline.

We argued that these people (us) deserved a little escapism. Time to watch something that required no thought. With no other purpose than to be entertained.

The speaker shut us down again, reinforcing her message that we were “wasting our lives”.

Now we weren’t talking about people who watch what may be considered an unhealthy amount of TV but everyday people who had a sense of fun. She was unmoved. We would “never succeed”.

So okay TV programs, especially reality TV may be a subject of huge debate, but what the speaker said next shouldn’t be – heck as far as I’m concerned she had lost the plot.

She claimed to be a leader and a success you should only read “NON-fiction” books that are designed to “feed your mind”.

Apparently fictional books don’t “feed your mind” with anything useful.

To be honest I kind of felt sorry for her at this point . If you can’t enjoy reading in any form that you wish, then your mind isn’t being fed. It is being starved!!

It doesn’t matter whether you enjoy reading Mills & Boon or Man Booker prize winning literature.

It doesn’t matter if you do prefer non-fiction or your favourite item to read is the footy magazine.

Reading should make you feel happy, contented, alive, informed, entertained even sometimes it should make you sad or even angry. The bottom line is that reading makes you “FEEL”. Having your emotional needs met DOES feed the mind.

If you don’t believe me, read this article in the New Yorker about how reading makes you happy.

The same goes for TV and film to a certain extent. You shouldn’t have to justify to anyone why you like watching a particular show or movie.

I’m going to put it out there: I love A LOT of reality TV (for varying reasons that I don’t have to justify). You may judge me but I love Goggle Box, Masterchef, My Kitchen Rules, Real Housewives of Anywhere, but I also love drama, documentaries, crime…I love stories.

Stories, imagery, people, words…they are my oxygen…I must have more information…I must feel something…yes watch what you want, but more importantly read what meets your needs and your mind will be fed.

I saw a quote once that “a library is a hospital for the mind” and that members of the jury is where I rest my case. Go forth and read and watch whatever the heck you want!

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My Top 5 Marriage Proposals from Literature

Kylie Fennell
Who doesn’t love a bit of romance between their favourite characters? It gets me thinking about my favourite marriage proposals in literature – starting with Mr Darcy of course.
 
 
1. Pride and Prejudice – Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett
Mr Darcy declares his love to Elizabeth, though it took two shots to get it right.
“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
2. Anne of the Island – Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe
Another 1 of 2 marriage proposals.
Gilbert [took] her hand in a clasp from which she could not free it. “There is something I want to say to you.”
“Oh, don’t say it,” cried Anne, pleadingly. “Don’t — PLEASE, Gilbert.”
“I must. Things can’t go on like this any longer. Anne, I love you. You know I do. I — I can’t tell you how much. Will you promise me that some day you’ll be my wife?”
“I — I can’t,” said Anne miserably. “Oh, Gilbert — you — you’ve spoiled everything.”
“Don’t you care for me at all?” Gilbert asked after a very dreadful pause, during which Anne had not dared to look up.
“Not — not in that way. I do care a great deal for you as a friend. But I don’t love you, Gilbert.”
“But can’t you give me some hope that you will — yet?”
“No, I can’t,” exclaimed Anne desperately. “I never, never can love you — in that way — Gilbert. You must never speak of this to me again.”
There was another pause — so long and so dreadful that Anne was driven at last to look up. Gilbert’s face was white to the lips. And his eyes — but Anne shuddered and looked away. There was nothing romantic about this. Must proposals be either grotesque or — horrible? Could she ever forget Gilbert’s face?
3. Jane Eyre – Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester
“Come to my side, Jane, and let us explain and understand one another.”
“I will never again come to your side: I am torn away now, and cannot return.”
“But, Jane, I summon you as my wife: it is you only I intend to marry.”
I was silent: I thought he mocked me.
“Come, Jane — come hither.”
“Your bride stands between us.”
He rose, and with a stride reached me.
“My bride is here,” he said, again drawing me to him, “because my equal is here, and my likeness. Jane, will you marry me?”
4. Gone with the Wind – Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara
“Say you’ll marry me when I come back or, before God, I won’t go. I’ll stay around here and play a guitar under your window every night and sing at the top of my voice and compromise you, so you’ll have to marry me to save your reputation.”
5. Emma – Emma Woodhouse and Mr Knightly
“I cannot make speeches, Emma,” he soon resumed; and in a tone of such sincere, decided, intelligible tenderness as was tolerably convincing.—”If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am.—You hear nothing but truth from me.—I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.—Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover.—But you understand me.—Yes, you see, you understand my feelings—and will return them if you can.
What did she say?—Just what she ought, of course. A lady always does.—She said enough to shew there need not be despair—and to invite him to say more himself. He had found her agitated and low.—Frank Churchill was a villain.— He heard her declare that she had never loved him. Frank Churchill’s character was not desperate.—She was his own Emma, by hand and word, when they returned into the house; and if he could have thought of Frank Churchill then, he might have deemed him a very good sort of fellow.
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Forget Disneyland…I’m going to the library

Kylie Fennell
The Trinity College Library in Ireland (pictured above) is considered the world’s most beautiful.

Disneyland might be the happiest place on Earth – which I tend to think it is (major fan here) – but the most magical place for me must be the library.

I remember clearly being taken to the local library as a child and being mesmerised by the endless shelves, with every single book cover beckoning me and promising new adventures.
I would agonise over my choices and wondered just how many I could take home and get through before my next visit.
The fact that these precious little items were for me to take home and have all to myself, albeit just for a few weeks, was pure magic.
When I was about 11-years-old, I took it upon myself to catalogue every book in our house (there were quite a few books) and log them in a custom-made database that I wrote myself with DOS commands and coding (major nerd alert).
I then issued library cards to my brothers and cousins and forced them to borrow books each week – of course fining them for any late returns.
Okay more than nerdy – a little obsessive – but I couldn’t help it. I loved libraries.
In high school I’d find any excuse to go to the library and run my fingers along the shelves, and I took unfathomable pleasure in mastering the Dewey Decimal system – the old school kind of drawers with little cards in it – not a computer in sight.
As an adult, I don’t get to the library nearly as much as I’d like to, but if I really need to get some work done without the distractions of home, I know my local library is the perfect sanctuary.
While many of my friends and colleagues have moved over to Kindles or Ibooks, I have still resisted on the most part. I buy Ibooks mainly for informational or educational purposes, but if there’s a book I really want to fall in love with, it has to be hard copy. One that I can admire as it sits proudly on my shelf and reminds me how much I enjoyed the adventure of reading it.
For this reason, I hope there will always be a place for the libraries and hard copy books of my childhood.
My dream one day is to have a house big enough that allows for a double story library, with one of those fancy ladders on a runner. So yes nerdy, obsessive, old fashioned – I don’t care because it’s all magical to me.
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Farewell to my first love

Kylie Fennell

A few weeks ago my heart was broken. Not just mine, but countless women around the world, particularly of my vintage, were devastated to learn that Canadian actor Jonathan Crombie had died.

News like this is tragic enough, especially when you consider Crombie was only 48, but what makes the news so significant is that he was my, and many other’s, first love.

For me Crombie was synonymous with one of the much loved characters he played – Gilbert Blythe in the Anne of Green Gables movies of the 80s.

I can’t remember whether I read the books first or saw the movies first, but I was addicted to both as a child and teenager.

Anne of Green Gables was written in 1908 and has stood the test of time. Full of life lessons, everyday adventure, romance, drama and heartbreak, it recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan girl.

Anne is mistakenly sent to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged brother and sister who had intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm in Prince Edward Island. The novel recounts how Anne makes her way with the Cuthberts, in school, and within the town, and the sequels follow her life thereafter.

Anne was intelligent, misunderstood, plucky, fiery, awkward looking, talkative and precocious at times but above all she was imaginative, loyal and passionate. I would have been the same age as Anne when I first read the book and it was as if I had found my own ‘kindred spirit’ in those pages.

To this day I’m obsessed with the idea of “radiantly lovely” cherry trees in full bloom and on my travels I’m always on the lookout for avenues of overhanging apple trees reminiscent of Anne’s “White Way of Delight”.

Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea are one of the few books I have read over and over again. So much so that the 1925 edition I read from as a child is too fragile, from overuse, for the pages to be turned.

Anne is an unmatched literary heroine but she represents only half the appeal of the books.

It’s Gilbert Blythe who really captured our hearts. Gilbert is a handsome classmate who tried to get Anne’s attention on her first day at school by pulling her hair and calling her “Carrots” (unaware of her sensitivity about her red hair). Anne reacted by refusing to have anything to do with him for the next few years. Although Gilbert repeatedly apologised, Anne rebuffed him for years.

However, Gilbert never abandoned his quest for her friendship (and eventually, love). Anne had unknowingly forgiven him when he had saved her from drowning, but had only just let her pride down when he gave up his job as teacher at the Avonlea school for her, to enable her to live at Green Gables with Marilla.

Selfless, smart, handsome, persistent and confident, Gilbert in many ways outshines the likes of Mr Darcy – and that’s saying something.

When Anne refuses his proposal, he replies: “Your friendship can’t satisfy me, Anne. I want your love”.

Gilbert Blythe you were and always will be my first love and thank you Jonathan Crombie for doing justice to L.M. Montgomery’s character.

We could all learn a little from Gilbert – pursue your dreams, persist and never settle for anything less than true love and a life of adventure. Farewell and thank you and here’s my final nod to Crombie’s Gilbert.

Anne Shirley: “I’ve made up my mind to go to my grave unwept, unhonoured and unsung.” 
Gilbert Blythe: “But not unpublished.” Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (film)

Creating As Your Purpose

Kylie Fennell
It’s taken nearly 40 years but I’ve finally figured out what I am. 
 
When I say ‘what’ I mean how to define what I do and love. I’m a Creator.
Everything I have done and got so much joy of during my life is about creating. 

Creating words, content, stories, strategies, food, businesses, ideas, events, dinner parties…it’s everything I enjoy and I’m good at. Suddenly my crazy looking life where I jump from creating one thing to the next and back again all in within 5 minutes, makes so much sense to me.
 
Sure it’s another label like being a mum or a business woman or a marketer or even a writer but Creator means so much more to me, especially after reading Seth Godin’s book ‘What to do When it’s Your Turn (and It’s Always Your turn)’.
 
I talked about Seth’s book recently in my business blog and how it inspired me to think of my marketing as creating but to the point here it speaks to my writing.
 
Seth is a marketing genius and inspirational author known for his incredibly popular blog and books such as Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable.
 
In What to do When it’s Your Turn he focuses on the concept of creating new and inspiring ideas. That creators are left with no choice but to put themselves out there in a big way. They need to embrace the fear and exhilaration that success but also possible failure can bring.
 
Creators are driven by the need to create and are utterly miserable when they don’t get to do it.
 
The most pertinent advice he gives is that you may put your blood, sweat and tears into your creation and when you’re finally ready to introduce it to the world you have almost a sense of entitlement that it must be your turn, that your hard work must be rewarded. That you’re owed something. 
 
In fact it’s entirely the opposite. The world owes us Creators nothing.  Forgiving our audience for not feeling grateful and that they owe us gives us the freedom to create for the sake of creating – for us we know no other truth.
 
We owe it to the world to put our creations out there. We’re the Creators and we owe it to the Analysts, the Fixers, the Nurturers, the Thinkers and everyone else, to create for them. It’s our job. It’s who we are. It’s our entire being. 
 
Brutal advice from Seth and scary for a writer who is still slaving away on her first novels, but I can’t help but feel he’s right.
As he says, it is always our turn to put our creations out there. To have bad ideas. To let them marinate to become good ideas. He says that ultimately the person who fails the most will win because the person who gave up at the first hurdle can never win.
The sobering truth is that there are no guarantees but while you’re still creating you are still in the game and you have to be in it to win it.
Care enough to fail. Accept that this might or might not work. And get on with it and create!And thank you Seth for sharing the ugly and beautiful truth of creating.

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And the prize goes to…first readers

Kylie Fennell
“I have homework.” My son greeted me outside his classroom yesterday. No “Hello mum”, just “I have homework”.
Sounds about right? Well, yes and no.
My son is four-years-old. He started school this week – a very big milestone for our household.
The prospect of trying to get Master Four to sit still for more than a nanosecond and focus on homework made me shudder.
Did I mention he is four?
Anyway, my horror subsided when he pointed out that his homework was to read his ‘book’.
Master Four proudly held up said book; a stapled four-page booklet with coloured in pictures and accompanying words that he had carefully traced.
The book went like this:
“I am a boy. I am a girl. I am a dog. I am a snake.”
Hey not exactly Man Booker Prize material, but it’s pretty darn cool when your son reads to you with a level of enthusiasm and pride that I immediately matched.
It reminded me of just how truly magical reading is and why I want to write.
On days like this when I’m juggling school drop-offs and pick-ups, my “day job”, updating blog posts, organising lunches and dinners, and everything else that pops up in between, the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down to write or edit.
Or more accurately, I might want to, but my brain is so fried that the words just don’t seem to come together.
On days like this, coming up with “I am a boy. I am a girl. I am a dog. I am a snake” would be something worth celebrating.
Fortunately, every day isn’t like this. There are magic moments when you realise your son is ‘reading’ for the first time.
I want more of those moments. I want to create moments of magic for others when they read my books.
So while today my fingers are so heavy with fatigue they threaten to collapse on the keyboard, tomorrow the magic will be back.
In the meantime I’ll just have to settle for:  “I am a mother. I am a wife. I am a businesswoman. AND. I am a writer.”
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Confessions of a writer – a storyteller – but not a literary expert

Kylie Fennell
I have a confession to make.
I love books. I love to read. I love to write.
I’m a writer. I’m a reader.
I dream about being a best-selling novelist.
You could say, if you can excuse the cliché, I’m passionate about writing and reading.
I’m a lot of other things as well; a mum, business owner and enthusiastic home cook.
All of the above statements are true but hardly confessions. What I really need to confess is that I’m not a ‘literary expert’…or at least not by traditional standards.
It’s strange when you consider that I have written for a living. I’m not talking about just the occasional scribble, I have written A LOT. I have worked as a journalist and communication specialist for more years than I care to admit. I also have done my fair share of creative writing.
I read everything from non-fiction and textbooks to thrillers and classics (who doesn’t like a bit of Jane Austen? And if you don’t, you and I need to sit down for an intervention led by my beloved high school English teacher Mr Gibson).
Then there are my all time favourite genres – historical fiction and fantasy. Yep, I will read just about anything.
All in all, I consider myself reasonably well-read and not-too-shabby a writer. A literary expert though? I’m afraid not.
This leads me to wonder if it is possible to be a successful novelist without being a literary expert.
Can I write a great novel without it being a literary masterpiece?
It all depends on your definition of literary masterpiece. Oxford Dictionaries describes a masterpiece as ‘a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship’. Other definitions say a literary masterpiece is a piece of work that can withstand the test of time.
The latter definition is what trips me up. ‘Withstand(ing) the test of time’ is a big call. Does it mean ’til the end of time. Does it mean ’til the next great book you read. It’s not a measure I personally use to determine whether a book is good or not. It’s not how I evaluate my own writing.
My test of a good book (and my own writing) is the following question: ‘Is it a good yarn?’ – that’s probably the old-school journalist in me.
I often hear of books being slammed by critics because they lacked literary brilliance or that they just weren’t clever enough.
Most of these people are literary experts who have honed their craft over years of study and practise. They analyse and understand literature in ways that I don’t. I applaud them but can’t be them.
I don’t, or more correctly, can’t dissect and analyse individual sentences of a book and search for evidence of literary genius. I’m not sure I have the patience, inclination or capability to do so.
Is this the wrong attitude to have? Should I re-focus my efforts on writing a literary masterpiece? Should I try to pose as a literary expert?
Over the course of my reading career I have probably dissected and analysed writing and books without even realising. But have I dug deeper in my analysis? No.
Just like I can’t pick a ‘buttery note’ in a glass of white wine, I can’t give you a true literary analysis of a book. I can tell you which wine and book I like and why. If pressed I could probably form a pretty compelling critique but it wouldn’t be an in-depth analysis.
Does that make me a literary dunce and mean my book writing career is doomed? I really hope not. I’m terrified my writing won’t pass the literary test but I can’t change my approach to reading and writing. It’s just not me.
So I may not be a literary expert but I do have my own craft and I am something…a STORYTELLER
I am dedicated to my style of reading and writing. My approach is to read and write for enjoyment.
To win my heart and mind, a novel needs to be a good-yarn. It needs to be well-written; for me this means the writing is clean, simple, direct and honest. It still needs an engaging plot and characters but it doesn’t need to be a literary masterpiece. And for the same reasons I won’t restrict my reading to literary masterpieces, I won’t set out to write one.
I don’t need to write something that changes the way people think about the world. I don’t need a Man Booker Prize; though I would really, really like one; pretty please, one day.
I want to write good yarns. I want people to enjoy what I write. I want my novels to be published. I want favourable reviews. And if the publishing gods look on my favourably, I want to be a best-selling author.
Yes, I’m aiming for the stars, but if I write how I know, I stand a chance. If I put all my efforts into trying to write a literary masterpiece, I am doomed to fail.
So I will write what I enjoy.
I may never write a literary masterpiece, but that’s okay (yes it’s okay, even for a self-proclaimed perfectionist).
I will continue to write. I have no choice. I am a slave to the words in my head; the same words that demand to come to life on a computer screen and in print.
The next step is to be brave, bare my heart and soul and share my words with the world. And share them I will. I will share my writing with anyone willing to read it. This blog is just the starting point.
So stay tuned if you are interested in my thoughts on writing, reading and my personal writing projects.
I hope you enjoy my words and don’t feel the need to analyse them…well at least not too much : )
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