Natasha Judd

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a message on the book-swapping website Bookcrossing.com, saying that I was going to start a bookring to celebrate the launch of Lessons to Learn.  The response has been incredible, with over 40 people signing up to join the ring from places as far apart as Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Tasmania in Australia. 

As it might take each ring participant up to a month to read the book and pass it on, I’ve decided to set up a separate ring for New Zealand and Australian Bookcrossers. 

If you’re a Bookcrossing.com member (it’s free to join) and are interested in joining either bookring, please send me a message through the Bookcrossing site. 

Alternatively, you can following the travels of Lessons to Learn at the links below:

• Europe/North America bookring
• New Zealand/Australia bookring

This week is passing by in a blur, and it’s difficult to keep up with the blogging. It’s now Saturday afternoon, and this entry is about Wednesday morning: the morning after the book launch, when I was interviewed for Radio New Zealand.

You might expect that, compared to speaking to rows and rows of people at the launch, it might be easier for me to speak into a microphone in a room that was empty (apart from me and my husband Matt, sitting on the other side of the table, wearing a second pair of headphones). But in truth, despite all the Radio New Zealand staff being absolutely fantastic, it was still a kind of scary experience.

Embarrassing too. There were some issues organising a link up between the Auckland studios and Wellington, where the interviewer, Lynn Freeman, is based. So we were sitting there with the headphones on, and there was just buzzing on the line, and Matt asks me if Lynn will have read my book, and I say something like, “Yeah, I think so. I’m pretty sure that Chris sent her a copy.” A minute or so later, Lynn’s on the line, and she’s lovely and friendly, and one of the first things she does is reassure me that she has read the book. Not sure whether she’d heard me or not, but the microphones were probably already on… and either way, embarrassing!

Most of the interviews I’ve done so far have been about the writing process: about studying at the IIML, about things I’ve written before this, about how I turned the short story into a novel. Lynn asked those things too, but there were also a lot of questions about the book itself – the themes and the characters, such as the father and Greg. I guess I should’ve been expecting this (after all, the characters are hopefully more interesting than me talking about how I write). Oh well, something to think about for next time. I read the ‘Lean on Me’ section again - I’d practised that and also read it at the launch the night before, so hopefully that bit sounded okay.

I’ve been told that the piece will be on sometime tomorrow (Sunday) between 2 and 3pm. For those of you in New Zealand who want to listen, there’s a list of Radio New Zealand frequencies here. For those overseas or those not by a radio tomorrow, the audio will be available for download for a month from the Arts on Sunday section of the Radio New Zealand website.

Ladies and gentlemen, Lessons to Learn has been launched.

The big event took place on Tuesday night, at the Takapuna Library.  Strangely enough, it raised similar concerns to a previous big event, our September wedding last year.  Did everyone get their invitations?  Would they like the food?  What should I wear?  Do I need a hair cut?  What do I say in my speech?  What will others say in their speeches? 

No wonder that, at about 5pm, as we drove along the motorway to Takapuna, I noticed my hands were shaking.

The staff and friends of Takapuna library had already set up the lectern and seats by the time I got there, and in the too-short moments before everyone else arrived, I practised standing behind it, posing while Matt took photos, sipping on water, convinced that I was going to lose my voice.

Then suddenly, there were people everywhere.  Grandparents; aunts and uncles and cousins; teachers from primary, intermediate, high school; friends; friends’ parents; the text and cover designers, even the girl who’s picture is on the cover herself.  And keeping in the theme of rather-like-a-wedding, there was also a chocolate cake with white chocolate icing in the shape of a book.  I’m told that the cake was delicious; I’m told that all the food was delicious.  I was too nervous to eat a thing.

I signed a few early-purchased copies, in a totally undignified manner, kneeling on the floor.  Then speeches, where Helen Woodhouse from Takapuna Library, and my publisher, Christine Cole Catley and Dame Catherine Tizard all said lovely things about the book.  Then my turn, which I think was also okay.  The audience laughed a few times as I read out the section where Charlotte teaches “10 very great English songs” to her students.  My hands were still shaking a little bit, but it felt like everyone was on side.

I have many lessons to learn.  However, I don’t seem to be a quick learner.  I was intending to find a place to sit and sign the rest of the copies, but instead a line formed as I rested on the piano, and I must’ve signed about 20 books there, with my signature getting progressively more illegible.  And only when I got to the last couple did I remember that my grandfather had advised me to sign with black pen rather than blue. 

Afterwards there were more photos, hugs, farewells, dinner with friends at a local restaurant.  It all passed in a blur, really.  As clichéd as it sounds, I’ve always wanted to be a novelist – and there I was, launching a novel.  Still seems like a dream in a way, but I’ve got a carton of books downstairs which proves that it must be a dream come true.

All in all, an amazing experience: thanks to the organisers, thanks to those who emailed and phoned with messages of support, and thanks ever so much to everyone who came and bought a copy of the book.  Hopefully we’ll be able to do it again sometime, but I have many, many more words to write before then.

Continued from Part III

16. What do you do to celebrate when you finish a draft?

After I finished my last draft of Lessons to Learn, I got married and headed off to Europe for two months. However most of the time, the celebrations are a little more low-key: perhaps a trip to a café for a hot chocolate with a new book or magazine. It’s a chance to print off a complete copy of the work-in-progress, then shut down the file, and leave things be for a couple of days, a week, a month, before I start editing it again.

17. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once?

So far, I’ve only been able to deal with one novel-sized project at a time. But I’m also usually working on other mini-writing projects, whether it’s short stories, articles, poems, blog entries, letters, and so on.

18. Do your books grow or shrink in revision?

Lessons to Learn and the current work-in-progress both started out as short stories, so they’ve definitely grown from that format!

A couple of years ago, I would’ve said that I was a short story person; that all my ideas for stories arrived in an under 3,000 word format. Now, I do think about an idea in terms of a novel-length plot and complexities, but even so, my books still tend to grow in revision.

For me, the first draft of a novel is about getting the bones of the story down. It’s about working out how I’m going to get to that end point which I have in my head. Revising is about expanding the story around that, so the word count definitely goes up during the editing process.

19. Do you have any writing or critique partners?

Not at the moment. I know I’m going to need people to critique this draft when I’m done, but right now I have to just write it.

20. Do you prefer drafting or revising?

Let’s see. I enjoy the freedom of drafting; the feeling that when I sit down and write that I could take the story anywhere. However, it’s hard work to get the words flowing sometimes, and the finished product always seems so far away.

When I’m revising, I’ve got the full story there in front of me and I’m working to make it better. It can be tedious at times, going through chapter by chapter with the red pen (or the red track changes function on Microsoft Word), but at the same time I like having the opportunity to say ‘what if?’ What if I remove this character? What if she said something different here? What if I took out this paragraph or removed this sentence? Would the meaning still be there?

When I’m drafting, I say I prefer revising. When I’m revising, I say I prefer drafting. Actually, that sounds like I don’t enjoy writing at all, which isn’t true. I’ve loved to write since I learnt I could write, and it’s something I want to continue doing for a very long time.

Any other questions?

• 20 writing questions: Part I
• 20 writing questions: Part II
• 20 writing questions: Part III

If anyone has a question which I haven’t covered here, please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll try and answer it as soon as possible.

After an hour on the crowded tube, another getting through security at Heathrow, 22 hours in the air, half an hour looking for gate E20 at Singapore, 15 very long minutes waiting on the tarmac, I arrived back in Auckland at 8pm last night.

My parents were waiting at the airport, embarrassing and supportive as ever, with helium welcome home balloons and ribbons; flowers and signs that said “Lessons to Learn: Available in All Good Bookstores Now” (apparently it should be in bookstores now, though none of us have yet seen a copy on the shelves). It was late at night. Hopefully not too many people noticed.

Waiting at home, there was an article about the launch of Lessons to Learn in our local newspaper, the Western Leader. There’s the picture that Matt took of me in the back streets of Wimbledon, on page 4, surrounded by stories about a young cyclist, a 100 year old woman, and a call to change the booster seat law. Online, I found that the interview I had last Thursday morning had become a press release. I checked my email in Singapore, and discovered that next Wednesday morning an interview has been organised with Lynn Freeman for the Radio New Zealand Arts on Sunday show.

Today, across the road and next to where I used to catch the bus to primary school, they demolished an old shed. Wood and corrugated iron were pulled off bit by bit, until it collapsed. The neighbours stood around on the grass at watched, took photos, ate sausages in bread. Mum brought along a copy of Lessons to Learn and took orders. I practised talking about it.

What it’s about, when I wrote it, is it me on the cover (yes: on the back; no: on the front). I feel that I’m going to be talking about it an awful lot in the week to come.

About a month ago I promised myself that, if I got the work-in-progress to 10,000 words by the 8th of June, I could have new books for the flight home. New books are even better motivation than M&Ms so, in the weekend, I kept pressing that word-count button until I reached 9,998 words, 9,999, 10,000.

But which books? I went into Waterstone’s at lunchtime yesterday, and didn’t know what to choose. All I could see were shelves and shelves full of the final product; each one the result of typing and deleting, research, sending off manuscripts, crossing fingers, coming up with a blurb and so on.

So, which books? I’m looking for your recommendations. What have been your books of the year? What have been the books you’ve escaped in? That have made the time fly by just that little bit faster? They don’t have to have been published this year of course. I think my choice of 2007 so far has to be Extremely Loud and Incredibly Closeby Jonathan Safran Foer.

Since we arrived here in London, I’ve also fallen in love with British historical novels. Matt and I visited Hampton Court Palace over the Spring Holiday long weekend. It rained, so the hedge maze wasn’t much fun. But as I wandered through the rooms once occupied by kings and their courts, I wanted to fill them with stories. I’ve read almost everything by Philippa Gregory, but if anyone’s got any other historical novelist suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

Other genres (including “no genre” or “difficult to classify, really”) also welcome.

So, it’s the first of June, and there’s only 12 days and a very long flight separating me and the launch of Lessons to Learn. Takapuna Library has details about the launch up on their website now, so it must really be happening!

It’s been a busy week, with a lot of firsts. I did my first two interviews about Lessons to Learn: one over email, the other by phone at 7 o’clock yesterday morning. Being a writer rather than a speaker, it’s probably not surprising I found it a lot easier to coherently answer the written questions. And indeed, later I had to send an email to the person who called me, once I’d got to work and remembered all the things that I’d forgotten to say on the phone. It’s strange to be asked how I feel about Lessons to Learn being published: excited, overwhelmed, impatient and quite terrified all at once.

I also signed my first book this morning, before packaging it up for a friend in Italy (you know who you are!). Normally, I can’t bring myself to write on books, but it seems to be less sacrilegious when my name’s on the front cover. I still haven’t finalised a good “Natasha Judd” signature, and when I’m not thinking about it, I’ll still start the “L” of “Leitch” and then try and convert it into a “J” and fudge the rest from there.

I opened a new bank account, and my occupation was listed as writer - that’s definitely a first!

And on the subject of firsts, congratulations to all the finalists of the Montana NZ book awards, with particular YAYs to my IIML classmates, Michele Amas and Airini Beautrais who are finalists in the First Book - Poetry category.  I can’t wait to pick up copies of both their collections once I’m back in New Zealand.  Not long now!

Firstly, a huge thank you to Tom Chalmers from Legend Press for plugging this site and Lessons to Learn on their Myspace blog. And ah, yes, I have a Myspace page. It’s not particularly decorative or indeed informative at this stage, but it does star the beautiful Lessons to Learn cover as an all-purpose profile image.

* Secondly, I miss L&P.

Continued from Part II

11. What do you do when you get writer’s block?

To tell the truth, on most occasions when I get writer’s block, I just don’t write. I guess that’s a luxury of still considering writing as something I love to do rather than something I need to do to bring in an income.

However, if there’s something that I need to get written for a deadline, I’ll try to break it down into smaller chunks and set myself rewards for meeting each one. For example, if I write 50 words then I can have one M&M. I will write lots of words for M&Ms.

12. What size increments do you write in (either in terms of word-count, or as a percentage of the book as a whole)?

At the moment, I’m lucky if I get any writing done on a weekday. When I do, it’s usually to insert a particular idea or piece of research into the manuscript – so I write as many words as I need to get it in there.

If it’s a Saturday or Sunday where I’ve got a full day to write, I try to write in sessions of at least 500 words at a time. Sometimes that’s a struggle, sometimes I can easily write 2000 words or more without stopping.

13. How many different drafts did you write for your last project?

I remember throwing away a whole vacuum cleaner box full of Lessons to Learn print-outs when we left Wellington. That’s a lot of red pen covered drafts.

14. Have you ever changed a character’s name midway through a draft?

Yes, Charlotte in Lessons to Learn only became Charlotte half-way through the first draft of the novel. By that stage she’d assumed her own identity and character, and was ready for a new name.

And I’ve changed names in other stories when I’ve realised that I’ve done things like given every character who appears in the scene a name that starts with “T”.

15. Do you let anyone read your book while you’re working on it, or do you wait until you’ve completed a draft before letting someone else see it?

I wrote the first few drafts of Lessons to Learn as part of an MA in Creative Writing, so my supervisor read it regularly, and there were two workshops during that year where my classmates gave feedback on the work-in-progress.

Mum and Dad have always been incredibly supportive of my writing, so they tend to get chapter-by-chapter updates as I write. Over the years, it seems they’ve come to know my ‘writing voice’ almost as well as I do, and can usually tell me when something doesn’t sound quite right.

I also get my husband, Matt, to read short pieces now and then. Because he’s the one I bounce my ideas off on a day-to-day basis, he has a pretty good understanding of my characters and plot and tends to know whether a certain scene fits with the overall story.

Any other questions?

• 20 writing questions: Part I
• 20 writing questions: Part II
• 20 writing questions: Part IV

It’s an early morning after a late night. I feel like I haven’t much slept at all. I’ll write this, and then I’ll need to make myself some coffee. I only really drink coffee when I’m tired.

It was a wonderful bookish night, which started at the Legend Press launch of Heading South, by Luke Bitmead and Catherine Roberts.

Although they wrote the book the book together, Luke and Catherine never actually met face-to-face. They met online, and worked on the novel over the phone and internet, before Luke passed away last year. So last night was an emotional occasion, but also a wonderful tribute to Luke and his writing. There were speeches and platters of finger food, piles of books and a fantastic reading from Catherine.

And now I’ve got a shiny new copy of Heading South, sitting next to my computer and I can’t wait to read it… but if I’m going to be productive at all today, I should instead head into the kitchen and start making some coffee.

Continued from Part I

6. How do you come up with the perfect names for your characters?

It’s usually a process of trial and error. I give a character a name, and then use it for a few paragraphs to see if it sounds right. Sometimes a character name just comes to me, as if the character already knows the name that he or she should have. Sometimes it’s a matter of trawling through baby-name databases on the internet, trying to find something that’s suitable.

Sometimes, character names – and place names too – make into the story because they have special significance to me. For example, the Matt who appears on page 68 of Lessons to Learn and tries to copy Charlotte’s homework, is named after my husband, even though they share no defining characteristics. And on page 10, the Waiteata School that Jack mentions is named after Waiteata Road, the address of my writing workshop when I was writing the novel.

7. When you’re writing, do you ever imagine your book as a television show or movie?

I could give two answers here: no and yes. No, because I don’t see my books as actual televisions shows, with title sequences and end credits and actors playing the characters.

But yes, because as I write, I do picture my characters themselves acting out the scenes. I can see what they look like, what their environment is like. Sometimes this awareness translates to the page, sometimes it doesn’t. After reading an early draft of Lessons to Learn, someone asked me, “but what does Charlotte wear?” I knew what she wore, but I guess I hadn’t put that into words. In some ways, I’d rather my readers come up with that kind of descriptive detail for themselves; for them to have, in this case, their own Charlotte.

8. Have you ever had a character insist on doing something you really didn’t want him/her to do?

There have been times when I’ve been writing the story, the characters have been progressing well, and suddenly they’re in a situation which I don’t really want to write about: it’s dangerous, or awkward, embarrassing, frightening, they’re going to get hurt, they’re going to say something that I really don’t believe in.

But if the characters are going to have their own lives, independent of mine, I’ve got to take a deep breath and just write them through it. I’ve found that if I try and back out, the story tends to suffer for it.

9. Do you know how a book is going to end when you start it?

For the two novels I’ve worked on so far, I’ve had a good idea of what’s going to happen at the end, or at least the final decision that the character’s going to have to make – even if I’m not 100% sure about how they’re going to get to that point.

I find that short stories work on more of a find-out-as-I-write sort of process. Usually, I start with characters in a certain situation, and what’s going to happen to them in the end only becomes apparent as I write their story.

10. Where do you write?

I don’t really have a proper writing space here in London. For the most part, I write on a laptop on the dining room table, in-between my diary, 2 for 1 promotional vouchers, Christmas themed tablemats, candles, dice, burnt backup CDs and coffee mugs. Occasionally I take the laptop into the kitchen, or into the bedroom, but that’s about as adventurous as it gets at the moment.

Any other questions?

• 20 writing questions: Part I
• 20 writing questions: Part III
• 20 writing questions: Part IV

While doing a bit of lunchtime title-Googling, I discovered that Lessons to Learn is already on the virtual shelves of Time Out Bookshop and Madras Café Books. Wasn’t expecting that just yet, but wow! There it is on a page of its own, with a cover image and half of the blurb. It’s $28 dollars (NZ), and I guess it can be ordered through their online forms. Neither store gives their prices for posting overseas, but they do seem to allow you to request the postage cost before placing an order.

Of course, this makes me wonder if Lessons to Learn is on the real-world shelves of those two bookstores. If anyone reading this blog is in Auckland or Christchurch, and just happens to visit Time Out Bookshop or Madras Cafe books over the next couple of weeks, I’d be much obliged if you could let me know. Of course, if you wanted to get out your digital camera in the shop, and send me a picture of Lessons to Learn on the shelves, I wouldn’t object to that either!

I’ve been a member of the bookswapping website, Bookcrossing.com for the past three and a half years. Over that time, it’s introduced me to a whole lot of wonderful new books and authors which I may have not otherwise discovered.

It’s also fantastic community, with a lot of interesting and generous members who I’ve met on the forums, via PM or in person.

As a small way of saying thanks and to celebrate the fact that I now have a book of my own that can be put in an envelope and sent around the world, one of my author copies of Lessons to Learn will become an international booking, shipping to the first participant on the day of the launch, June 12, 2007.

If you’re already a bookcrosser, feel free to PM me with your username, location and shipping preferences.  And of course, if you’re not yet a member, you can still sign up and join in.

One month till launch day!

On Friday night, like every night last week, I came home from work hoping that Lessons to Learn had arrived. But there was nothing in our mail-flap. And, once I’d opened the door slowly, there was nothing on the foot of the stairs. But that was okay on Friday. We were having friends around for dinner that night, and I had washing to put away.

Half an hour later, I had a bag of rubbish to transfer to our outside bin. As I went to unlock the front door again, I somehow noticed a white Handi Packaging envelope which the postman had left behind a pot on our front steps. We’ve been meaning to put a plant in that pot, but it’s probably a good thing we haven’t got around to it yet. Because - white plastic envelope, my address on the front, Cape Catley’s address on the back, $5 worth of stamps and an airmail sticker - there it was.

And then the anticipation. I couldn’t just open it there by myself. I had to wait for Matt, my husband, to come home from work, so he could share in the excitement (okay, and also so he could get out the camera and document the excitement). He took a very long time to come home – or perhaps only twenty minutes – but it felt like a long time.

I’ve always loved getting mail, and this was definitely one of the highlights of my mail opening career. I remember the anticipation, excitement and slight terror that accompanied the arrival of my School Certificate results after a summer of waiting. This package invoked rather similar feelings.  I reached my hand inside, and out came a with compliments slip, some bubble wrap, and a book.

It’s here, and the Lessons to Learn which was an idea, a short story, a set of poems, a pile of papers, has indeed become a book. And how pretty it is, with a shiny cover, and thick white pages, and beautifully laid out text. Everyone who’s worked on the publication has just done a fantastic job.

Two days later, and I still can’t get over it. Matt’s tried it out on our bookshelf to see how it looks there. He’s taken to reading it on trams and trains – which is most embarrassing when I’m sitting next to him. What if someone recognises me from the back cover photo? Truth is, no one’s probably paying any attention whatsoever. But it’s here, it’s here, it’s here, and how exciting is that.

It’s a long weekend here in the UK. More time for writing. More time to procrastinate by filling in online surveys while watching Doctor Who. Historical novelist, Faye L. Booth, tagged me yesterday to fill in twenty writing-related questions. Here’s my answers to the first five of them.

1. Do you outline?

When I’m writing a novel, yes. When I wrote Lessons to Learn, I had a page of bullet points, covering the things that I wanted to happen before the end. For the current project, I’ve got a Word file saved on my desktop with a few notes on what occurs on each day of the story. As I write, the future is changing slightly, and I’m updating the file.

2. Do you write straight through a book, or do you sometimes tackle the scenes out of order?

Straight through for the most part. I feel that, as I write the first draft, I’m getting to know the characters – who they are, how they think. I can’t write a section about their later life if I don’t know how they get there. Even though Lessons to Learn moves backwards and forwards in time, I wrote the first draft chronologically: all the New Zealand sections then all the Korean ones.

3. Do you prefer writing with a pen or using a computer?

I wish I could say pen here. It sounds much more writerish. However, I’ve always been a computer geek, and to me, typing my work just makes more sense. I find that I write faster on the computer, that the words flow better and that things like track changes and comments make the editing process a whole lot easier.

That said, on the rare occasions I write poetry, its almost always drafted in my notebook before being transferred to my computer.

4. Do you prefer writing in first person or third?

My preference is always been for first person, and for revealing a character through their narrative voice. However, I’d like to experiment with writing more third person pieces in the future. Sometimes it’d be nice to be able to give a wider perspective on the events of the story.

5. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, do you create a playlist, listen randomly, or pick a single song that fits the book?

I prefer quiet when I start writing. No TV, no music, everyone else asleep. However, once I’ve been writing for a while I tend to tune out everything that’s happening around me – so if there is music playing then, I probably wouldn’t notice it anyway.

Any other questions?

• 20 writing questions: Part II
• 20 writing questions: Part III
• 20 writing questions: Part IV