writing

There is a great interview with talented speculative fiction author and all-round good egg, Trent Jamieson, over at fangbooks.

Trent talks about setting stories in your home town:

We’re all here, as writers to tell the stories that are important to us, and Brisbane is very important to me. From the brown, and slightly ominous coils of the Brisbane River to the flashing transmitters atop Mt Coot-tha, and the knitting needle bunches of the Kurilpa Bridge Brisbane is full of stories (and the possibility of adventure, explosions and love).

Certainly, one of the striking features of Trent’s Death Works series is the amazing sense of place: from the awesome and ominous One Tree underworld stemming from Mount Coot-tha, to the white-shoe brigade business culture informing the management of Death, Trent draws on his hometown to create rich and fantastic realities.

You can also win copies of Trent’s terrific books. All you need to do is leave a comment ON THE FANGBOOKS BLOG by Friday afternoon 15 April explaining why you think Australia makes for an interesting setting for a book (or not!).

It has been a whirlwind year of teaching for this crime fic tragic!

So far, I have devised and conducted a full day workshop on research for crime fiction, including hands-on session with the heritage collection at the John Oxley Library. I have tutored a four-week course on creative writing at QWC, and am about to tutor a similar course for the AWM Online Learning Centre.. I am also tutoring in the Genre Fiction course at The University of Queensland.

And to top it off, last night I gave a lecture on research for crime fiction to hundreds of students at UQ!

I love working with students of creative writing – everyone has a fresh take to offer, and it is a privilege to walk alongside writers for awhile as they develop skills and confidence.

And of course, my first love is teaching crime fic research and development. I cover the historical development of the genre and its many sub- and sub-sub- and hybrid genres. I share heaps of visual, textual and personal research sources, like the Howdunit series for writers, and the websites for the Australian Federal Police, and the Queensland Police Museum. And I look at research in action, discussing character, context and conflict in excerpts from fantastic writers like Katherine Howell, Leigh Redhead, and Shamini Flint.

Book of Poisons for Writers book cover — Awesome Gruesomes!

A wise friend told me years ago that people usually find success by doing what they are passionate about – I didn’t believe her at the time, because allowing myself to pursue my dreams of crime writing seemed so impossibly unachievable.

So I encourage everyone to dedicate some time this weekend to doing what you love – you never know where it will lead!