The Book Post

This is not my dinkus.

Above is a picture of a rather fancy dinkus. (See, dinkus does not mean what you think it means, Urban Dictionary.) This is not my dinkus, but it is a dinkus. After some back-and-forthing with my publisher we found an excellent dinkus for my new novel. A dinkus I am happy with. The devil is in the detail, as they say, and with the kinds of books I write, I need that devil to be just right.

Posterior to the aforementioned dinkus shopping the proof pages of my new novel are due to arrive today. I am woman enough to admit I am vibrating with excitement in anticipation of their arrival. Technically, these proof pages are 'first pages', and there may be 'second pages' before any unwanted typesetting mutations are slain, typo anomalies are corrected and all is found exacting and ready to be sent to the printers for production into (shudder. sigh.) real books. As readers of The Book Post know, I get awfully excited about proof pages every single time. Proof pages mean that after thousands of hours, the novel is almost real.

Are you a writer? Do proof pages get you all hot and bothered? Do tell.

(Also, is there a plural for dinkus? I'd hate to get that wrong in casual publishing-type conversation.)

Happy proof reading,


PS Check out my post the last time I had some sexy proof pages arrive on the my doorstep - The Pleasures of the Page.

PPS Or for more on writing, and what gets some other authors going, check out my televised interviews with bestselling crime authors Michael Robotham and Kathryn Fox online at Tara In Conversation 13thSTREET VIDEO. We writers get excited about the strangest things...

'It wasn't until I started reading and found books they wouldn't let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else.'

'Without obsession, life is nothing.'

'We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody and they don’t have books, don’t f*** them... Don’t sleep with people who don’t read.'

— John Waters, author of Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste, Role Models, and Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters.

Good advice. Thank you Mr. Waters.

Happy reading,

Literary Salon 6 - It's a post-apocalyptic world...

As readers of The Book Post will know, I hold informal quarterly 'Literary Salons' ('Reviving the great tradition, only with more Nin, Vonnegut and gin', etc), and post many of the resulting essays, stories and reviews on this blog, where author's permission is possible. Each salon focuses on 2 books by different authors, sharing some common theme of interest. We discuss the works themselves, present related essays or stories, and basically get our read on. Highlights thus far have included Lee Tulloch's reading of “The Basque and Bijou” from Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin (brilliant and awkwardly steamy), Emma Tom's Eulogy for Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Heath's hilarious 'Right Angles and Hair', and Astrid Lorange's bewildering, brilliant essay, Quantum Suicide...

» Read more on 'Salon 6: It's a post-apocalyptic world...'

Sweden, once known for its wholesome blondes and Ikea furniture, is now known for the thrilling noir of crime writers like Henning Mankell, psychiatrist and professor Asa Nilsonne, and the man on every crime lover’s lips - the late Steig Larsson. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is my crime recommendation for June at Tara Moss Recommends, my new online book club at 13thSTREET.

Find out more about Steig Larsson, read an excerpt from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, read about why I recommend this book, and let us know what you think. And while you're there, don't forget to VOTE for your favourite Australian crime author. So far, Michael Robotham is in the lead. His novel Bleed For Me is my recommendation for July. There's also a chance to win signed copies of all 5 of my crime novels in the 13thSTREET Tara Moss competition.

And debuting June 25 is Tara Moss In Conversation, my one-on-one interviews with some of the finest crime writers in the world, to give you an intimate look at what makes successful thriller writers tick. (PS It's fascinating and often surprising, even for me...)

Happy reading, crime lovers,

In the interests of our voyeuristic writing desk project, 'I've Shown You Mine, Now Show Me Yours', I suppose I really ought to show you my mine. Quid pro quo, allow me to introduce my new, old writing nook, the one I have recently taken to at all hours of the night and day, perched at this Victorian writing desk, surrounded by books, antiques and Memento Mori in a remote corner of the haunted tea room I now call my writing study. The slanted writing top fits a laptop nicely, and flips open (with an impressive rasp) to a delightful storage space, though the locking key is long lost. Some of the stationary shelving divides have also gone missing over the past century, but the little alcoves fit research textbooks perfectly. My salvaged public school system desk still sits in a modern shared study on the other side of the house, opposite my husband's oft-used writing area. I use it daily for editing, work emails or blogging, as I am now. But this old-world nook (above) brings novel inspiration with its walls of peeling paint and outlook through tall trees. And yes, it does feel as sepia as it looks.

I feel some ghost tales coming on...

Happy writing,

Caroline Baum: on doing interviews in pyjamas and in hot air balloons, and why she did not kill Edward de Bono.

"I'm not sure the world needs a book from me," says Caroline Baum, arguably one of Australia's most important author interviewers and commentators.

"I'm very good at titles, though. I have lots of those just waiting to go..."

If Caroline Baum ever chose to write a book about her dealings with authors, it would make riveting reading. In her role as presenter of ABC TV’s book show Between the Lines, and Foxtel's Talking Books, and as facilitator of countless book events, she has dealt with nearly every major author who has graced these shores in recent years. In short, she has seen it all.

Here Caroline shares with me her stories of conducting interviews in hot air balloons, and in pyjamas, and how she avoided killing Edward de Bono. (When I certainly would have)...

» Read more on 'Caroline Baum: on doing interviews in pyjamas and in hot air balloons, and why she did not kill Edward de Bono'

'I'm astounded by people who take eighteen years to write something. That's how long it took that guy to write Madame Bovary, and was that ever on the bestseller list?'
- Sylvester Stallone. (as reported in The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said.)

Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert's debut novel, is considered a masterpiece. The novel was attacked for obscenity by public prosecutors, resulting in a trial in January 1857 that made the story notorious. After the acquittal on February 7, 1857, it became a 'bestseller'. Stallone, an actor, claimed to have written the original script for the successful film 'Rocky' in three days in 1975.

The Book Is Boss.

If you are writing for money or glory, stop now. The only real reason to write a novel is because you must - because the story demands it.

I wrote the above sentiment on Twitter today, and got one response as follows: ‘Nothing wrong with writing for a living people gotta eat !!!!’ Exclamation marks aside, she is quite right. I write for a living, as do thousands of other people. Not a thing wrong with it. In fact, I reckon I have the best job in the world. However, I hate to bear bad news, but writing a novel largely because you 'gotta eat' would inevitably result in being bony, if not starved. Many people make a living from writing (Including myself, albeit after 11 years and 5 novels) but it normally takes many published novels to arrive at the position of being able to live off the sales of ones novels, and the novels themselves inevitably have to be written because the story wants to be told, not because the author wants to eat.

This is not a high-brow, elitist ideological position on writing. (Least of all coming from this blogger – a writer of crime fiction, confessed fan of B-movies, ‘Monsters and Bloodsuckers’ and all kinds of non-literary fare) It is not an ideological position, but a reality of the industry. Publishing is far too unpredictable to take gambles on your life with. By all means, write that novel, dream that dream, (Personally I recommend writing, even if you never plan on getting published) but don’t quit your day job just yet.

Last year, over coffee with Kathy Charles, author of the wonderfully dark debut Hollywood Ending (to be published in the US as John Belushi is Dead later this year) we got to talking about misconceptions about authors, and in particular, misconceptions about what it means to be published. Kathy commented on how many colleagues at her day job immediately presumed she would quit once she scored her publishing deal. ‘Behind closed doors they still say it, "Well, Kathy's a writer now, wonder how long she's gonna stick around?" Uh, a while guys. I'll be here a while,” she says...

» Read more on 'The Book Is Boss'

National Youth Week - WriteIT competition.

I will be judging the National Talent Competition for writing, as part of Australian National Youth Week this year. Youth Week runs from April 10-18, and the competitions have just opened for entries. There are five categories - RockIT, WriteIT, ShootIT, SnapIT, and DesignIT, and two divisions - junior (12-17 years) and senior (18-25 years). In each category there are two chances to win – the Industry Award and People’s Choice Award.

To enter the 'WriteIT' competition you need to develop a piece of writing with a maximum of 1500 words, in line with the theme National Youth Week has chosen: ‘Look, Listen, Talk and Seek Help!’

Yes, there are writer-appropriate prizes... so get your grey matter in gear, grab your most writerly pen (or feather quill) and start jotting down ideas.

Good luck, young writers. I look forward to judging your entries. ENTER NOW. Go ahead, write it.

Happy writing,