The Drowsy Dame

http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/the-drowsy-chaperone-2/

Getting to know Annie - my latest feature article

http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/getting-to-know-annie/

The evolution of a book cover

First, our cover designer played around with the look of the title - see how the font almost seems to sway; to be pulled in by the ocean's swell, embodying the essence of the word 'sway'. Christine and her Indian ink = genius.

I know it's so five years ago, but this is the colour I chose for the cover. It's bright and upbeat and hey, my youngest daughter was born that year, so it's magic!

Ooh, colour plus title - things are getting crazy exciting around here! My name's even on there, making me enjoy the delusion of fame.

I initially suggested the silhouettes of the three main characters should feature on the cover. Then I wondered if it was a bit too 'ménage à trois' (no judgment if you're into that but my book isn't about that. Maybe the next one will be. Maybe not.)

I decided to focus on main character Saskia, and we found nice silhouettes of her on the net (which we paid for. No artists are being exploited in the making of this particular young adult novel.) 

I decided I preferred the Saskia on the left, so...

T'was done! 😀 Isn't it beautiful?!

The back cover is exquisite too! (Yet subject to change).

So there you go. I've enjoyed this process so much. Christine has been really patient with me and deserves a nice skeleton! Yep, she likes to get paid in skeletons, 'cause that's how she rolls.

Exciting!

The God of Sedgwick Hill

I've found the actor to play the role of the gorgeous Jesse Sharpe in my novel 'Sway'! I discovered Mark Coles Smith when watching the brilliant, way-too-short mini-series, 'The Gods of Wheat Street'. Like my beloved Jesse, he's an indigenous Aussie who lives in a small town, is pretty good at footy and is interested in a girl who just happens to be white. Both of them, coincidentally, have nice muscles too. (Don't blame me, the character wanted to have definition in his arms and chest).

Tristan, in 'The Gods of Wheat Street', played by Coles Smith, is, (just like his siblings and nieces), named after a god, giving him something incredible to live up to. The tenuous link here is that Jesse is one of the popular 'gods' who walks the halls of Sedgwick Hill High... Except that now he's unsure as to whether he actually likes any of his mates! His life is changing, making him second guess his choices.

Although I couldn't find the perfect actor to play Jesse's role in the future hypothetical movie of 'Sway' until I stumbled upon Tristan, he was already partially based on a boy I knew (at least on a surface level) in high school. He was good looking and popular... And he made jokes about aboriginal people - for the entertainment of the whites who'd laugh, assuring him he was 'one of the good ones'. Quiet little observant me would sit in the corner and wonder how he really felt about all of it. Did he feel terrible inside for bad-mouthing his own people, or did he really think the things he said were funny? I'd never really know. I could only speculate. That's the joy of writing fiction and he was partly my inspiration for Jesse (who decided at one point in the writing process that he wanted to be aboriginal, by the way).

So Mark Cokes Smith, if you're out there - there's your motivation for the role. I bet you'll drop everything to star in the movie of my as-yet-unpublished-but soon-to-be self-published masterpiece. You won't get paid much, if anything at all, but I'm sure you don't mind, as you're a true artiste!

Thanks for putting a face to the name of my own fictional god.