Felicity Pulman's Blog

My Life as a Time Traveller

felicitypulman — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:11:49 +0000

This article has now been published in Write4Children, the journal of the University of Winchester, see link: www.write4children.org and click on Vol 3 Issue 2. I spent some time in Winchester while researching and writing The Janna Mysteries, and I loved my visits there, walking in Janna’s footsteps. In those times (1140s) the royal treasury was housed in the castle there, and Winchester was a hotbed of intrigue and treachery (which I explore in Book 5: Sage for Sanctuary.) I really felt like a time traveller while I was there – in fact, I often feel like a time-traveller!

Digital publishing and The Janna Mysteries

felicitypulman — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:04:16 +0000

Today I’m talking to the Society of Women Writers (Sydney) about my experience with publishing The Janna Mysteries online with CreateSpace in the USA – a LOT of information to cram in! Bottom line: so far as the Janna Mysteries are concerned, most of my book sales (on amazon) come from paperbacks rather than e-books, so I’m glad I had both options available – not always the case with digital publishers. Meantime I’m catching my breath, having only just returned from a wonderful cruise of the ‘top end’, from Broome to Darwin, exploring the coastline and rivers of the Kimberley (such beautiful scenery) plus spending time in both cities and also having a few days at Kakadu. A most memorable experience. We were supposed to swim with whale sharks at Exmouth on our way to Broome but the trip was cancelled because of bad weather – SOOOO disappointing! But a wonderful holiday nevertheless. We spent quite some time exploring the new war museum at Darwin – it’s a fabulous presentation (if somewhat out of the way.) And it’s given me quite a few ideas about game-playing possibilities at the old forts at Middle Harbour (Sydney) which is my next project after writing about Manly’s fairy penguins. And on that topic – a guy on our boat told me about the fairy penguin colony at Warrnambool that’s guarded from foxes by special maremma sheepdogs – they go after the foxes but don’t touch the penguins! Maybe we should try it in NSW? It’s amazing the people you meet and the things you find out just when you’re looking for information.

Old fortifications at Middle Harbour

felicitypulman — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:17:46 +0000

Today I joined an engineer and a rep from NPWS to meet with architectural students at UNSW to see their brilliant (computer) presentations on a variety of sites connected with the fort at Middle Harbour which is undergoing renovations. Through a variety of programmes, the students presented detailed plans of the sites as they are, along with the fort’s history and their ideas for its future use – which is where I come in with some imaginative scenarios that (hopefully) will appeal to students and invite them to interact with this amazing site in various ways. A work in progress, but very exciting (and a lot of new technology to get my head around!)

Manly’s fairy penguin colony

felicitypulman — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:15:30 +0000

Yesterday I met with the wonderful penguin protectors along with reps from NPWS and the Manly Environment Centre to talk about the book I’ve been commissioned to write on Manly’s fairy penguin colony. I am so impressed by the knowledge and care for the penguins shown by everyone associated with this project. And I am in awe of the dedication, the love and caring shown by the penguin protectors who are out every night in the breeding season to protect these cute little characters from all the hazards of life in the 21st century: everything from plastic bags and fishing hooks to unleashed dogs and power boat drivers. It is an honour and a pleasure to be involved in this project, which aims to inform, educate and entertain readers while giving them a blueprint on how to protect penguin colonies (and wildlife in general) in their own areas. At this stage I’m sucking up information and thinking about format; I’m really looking forward to writing this book.

back from beautiful Bateman’s Bay

felicitypulman — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:16:02 +0000

It’s been a while since we visited our favourite site near Bateman’s Bay – I’d forgotten how beautiful those forests are. Chilly cold, but really fun sharing it with my beautiful granddaughters, Chloe and Amy. Too cold for swimming but they were very inventive keeping themselves amused, and taking a trizillion photos of all the kangaroos that live on site. We had an interesting traipse around the old gold mining (theme park) site in Mogo – a really good insight into what life was like for those gold miners of old (tough!) and the girls were thrilled to find some gold flecks while panning.

A Ring Through Time

felicitypulman — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:35:31 +0000

It seems a long time ago that I finished writing this novel – a time-slip love story set on Norfolk Island with a flashback to the 1850s and the brutal 2nd penal settlement there. But we’re making progress! Today I sent back the revised copy edit, and I’ve also seen the really beautiful cover planned for the novel. Publication won’t be until February next year, but it’s gradually coming together, and meantime I have some clear space to start some new projects: researching penguins and (hopefully) diving back into medieval England!

Finding Treasures

felicitypulman — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 05:40:16 +0000

Trust the universe and see how it conspires to help you! I discover the truth of this over and over, most recently yesterday. For various reasons I’ve been feeling fairly flat creatively for some time. Yesterday I walked past a new Vinnies and, on impulse went in to see what I could find. I usually take a grab bag of ‘magical objects’ and assorted goodies when I visit schools as I find handling something tangible often helps students’ imagination to kick in, so I’m always on the look out for something new and interesting. My first treasure was a Domesday commemorative pot: 1086 – 1986, 900 yrs since William found out every skerrick of what he owned after conquering England in 1066. As I’ve spent about 10 years referring to the Domesday Book (a translation!) while researching and writing The Janna Mysteries, this seemed a particularly serendipitous find – and perfect for housing my pencils. Next was a pair of black shoes with stiletto heels and covered in sparkles, with very fancily-decorated tips wrought in pewter. That was something for the girls – what about a boy toy? I found a hunting horn (?) made of translucent horn with a metal (brass?) tip and ‘mouth’. The mouth has a pattern engraved on it, along with a mountain peak with a cross on top. It speaks to me, I don’t know why, but I knew I had to have it; it’s a mysterious object indeed. Finally, I found a cauldron – made in Greece with Greek figurines decorating it – perfect for spells! An added bonus was the conversation I had with the two lovely women in the shop. We exchanged book suggestions, and so I also left with two Diana Gabaldon novels – I haven’t read her books before so I’m looking forward to a new treat. Finally, today, while letterboxing precinct notices, I saw a ginormous spider web with filaments reaching to the top of a double-storey house and extending all the way to the ground – certainly big enough to trap a flying unicorn …

CBCA north

felicitypulman — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:14:21 +0000

CBC north’s first meeting of the year was so inspirational as author and playwright Wendy Blaxland described her writing journey, successfully publishing a heap of children’s books as well as writing plays for the greatly beloved Marion St. Youth Theatre founded by her parents. She finished her talk with a memorable quote from Guillaume Apollinaire: ‘He took them to the edge and said “Jump”. “We cannot,” they said. He took them to the edge and said, “Jump”. “We are afraid,” they said. He took them to the edge and pushed them – and they flew.’ Having the courage to follow your dreams … that’s what writing is all about. Great to catch up with lots of writing friends, and thanks to St Kierans for hosting the evening.

Trouble with headers + page numbers on Word?

felicitypulman — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:24:58 +0000

I discovered that it’s impossible to insert a header plus a page number on a mss in the new Word programme without deleting one or the other. Lots of cursing and hair-tearing later, I’ve now been given a tip on how to do it (thank you, Robyn!) Go to insert page number, select top (or bottom) and select the page number on the left. Type in your header, making sure to keep the cursor on the left of the page number, then tab the page number over to the right side of the page. Bingo! I don’t know why they made it so complicated on the new programme but at least you now know a way to get around it!

Congratulations to the ASA re E-Exchange in Sydney

felicitypulman — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 06:01:11 +0000

Congratulations to the team at ASA for a really interesting and well-run information day on digital publishing on Saturday. As the ‘Luddite’ of the group I came in at a very basic ‘how to’ level talking about my experience publishing the last two Janna Mysteries with CreateSpace. But I took pages of notes while listening to Steven Lewis talking about digital publishing and how to spread the word about your books; Karen Robertson talking about the difference between e-books and apps, and how she went about converting Treasure Kai to a book app, plus a heap of other information from successful blogger Kim Powell and News with Nipples (!), Anna Maguire from Digireado with an overview of digital publishing, plus a whole lot more useful info after lunch on digital rights and digital marketing plus Nerida Fearnley from LIghtning Source Australia talking about POD and e-book distribution. My brain was in meltdown by the end of it all! It’s such a rapidly changing world that authors ignore all this stuff at their peril. You can catch some of these speakers again if you check the ASA website. I just want to add my thanks for including me in this all-star line up, it was a pleasure and a privilege to be part of it. (Lunch was fantastic too!) If you missed it, there are E-exchanges taking place in other capital cities and I’m sure ASA will run something similar again here in Sydney some time.