In combination with Jane Routley’s interview, we are offering a free giveaway of one of her books. Just reply to Jane at her email terrycooper@netspace.net.au to go into the draw to win.
HOW TO ENTER
What is your name? * If you win, this will be the name that is announced on my blog.
What is your email address? * So I can contact you if you win.
What country do you reside in? This is an international giveaway.Jane Routley is a successful published author. She’s had a variety of careers, including Fruit Picker and Occult Librarian and lived in Germany and Denmark for a decade. Now she’s back in her beloved Melbourne and working on the railways.
Jane has published three books including the Aurealis Award winners Mage Heart and Fire Angels as well as Aramaya, and one book as Rebecca Locksley – The Three Sisters. Her short stories have been widely anthologized, appeared in Meanjin, and have been read on the ABC.Her current life ambition is to see an erupting volcano.
Jane agreed to share some of her thoughts about the writing life and some handy suggestions for aspiring writers.
Uma: When did you get bitten by the writing bug?
Jane: I started wanting to write since I could read. I can remember at age 5 standing outside the school library watching the clock dawdle round to the hour for opening time and thinking, “It’d be so great if I could make my own stories rather than waiting for other peoples.”
Uma: You've been successful in having your books published. How did you get your first break?
Jane: Yes the slush pile is a very hard road and every time my precious manuscript got rejected, I’d eat my own weight in chocolate. Networking with other writers seems to be the best way to get round it. My big break came when I was living in Frankfurt. A writer friend asked me if her agent could stay with me for the duration of the Book Fair and I made the most of the opportunity. I fed him lots of Movenpick chocolate icecream (Thank you Movenpick) and showed him my manuscript and he felt obliged to at least read it. Getting busy people to actually read your work is the biggest step.
Uma: What suggestions do you have for aspiring writers who are trying to get a break with their first book?
Jane: In most of the arts, who you know is the most important thing. Scratch their backs and they will scratch yours. Join criticism groups even if you don’t feel you need it. If you’re shy, join online criticism groups and blog groups. Of course it’s still about the work. Just keep getting it out there. The difference between a published writer and an unpublished writer is not talent but persistence.
Uma: Finding time and the inspiration to write are some of the challenges that writers face. How do you manage your time and overcome writers block?
Jane: Every time I sit down to write, a little voice in my head says “who do you think you are? You can’t write. Go and clean the kitchen.” I have an Antimuse instead of a muse, I guess. So I make a time to sit at the computer and write stuff and I’m not allowed to do anything else for one hour or two hours no matter how bored I get. The Antimuse usually gives up after the first 10 - 20 minutes of this. Also always leave yourself something to start on next time. It’s a big help.
Uma: You're publishing some e-books soon. What made you choose this medium?
Jane: It's really about control. Publishing's a miserable game for an author. Like most primary producers you are the least important person in the game Publishers tend to concentrate on marketing best sellers so nobody hears about your book, distribution networks fall over and people can’t get your book in their local shops, books go out of print very quickly unless they become best sellers.
After almost 15 years of being disappointed. I realized that I’d have to take control of some of these issues for myself. A small press was interested in doing a reprint for me and I realized that if they did e.books it would resolve the distribution problem. I’m not sure if I’ll earn anything but at least they’ll be out there for interested readers and that’s the main thing.
They’ve done me a lovely web page too. http://clandestinepress.com.au/content/jane-routley
Hate the idea of doing my own marketing though. But I’ve just been reading Mark Coke’s Smashwords Book Marketing guide which is free on Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com and I feel a bit better now.
Uma: What are your plans for the future, say the next five years?
Jane: I’m working on two new novels at the moment. A big house intrigue story in which I hope to combine fantasy with a more feminist version of Georgette Heyer (I’m not burning my bra, I’m just sick of fantasy novelists telling me nice girls don’t. (you know who you are, Stephanie Meyers) We’ve had a sexual revolution, for goodness sake. Nice girls can and do!) and a gay time travel romance. I’m tired of writing journey fantasy a la Tolkein and hoping to do something more tongue in cheek like Gail Carriger’s Soulless series. If I don’t write I get very sad so I’ll always write despite what the Antimuse.says. Otherwise I’m doing lots of editing to feed my travel bug. I hope to go somewhere where there are active volcanoes some day and watch a lava flow. Molten rock. How cool is that?
You can find out more about Jane on her website www.janeroutley.com and also http://clandestinepress.com.au/content/jane-routley (cut and paste this link in your browser).
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