Interview with Cally Jackson, author of THE BIG SMOKE

Today I am so excited to have Cally Jackson on the blog to talk about her debut novel, The Big Smoke. The Big Smoke is about Caera and Seb, two Australian teens moving to the big city to attend uni. (Uni! I wish we called it that here in America!) Like any book I’m excited to feature on the blog, though, this novel is about so much more than the one sentence plot line. So pick up a copy & read it. The Big Smoke is commercially available right now from several retailers (Amazon for Kindle, Smashwords for all e-editions).

But first, perhaps you should read my interview with Cally Jackson!

First, tell us a little about The Big Smoke in 35 words or fewer.

Ceara’s desperate for love; Seb’s desperate to get laid. Two strangers, both moving from small country towns to Brisbane for uni. Will they survive life in the big smoke or crumble under the pressure?

What’s your weekly writing schedule look like?

Writing schedule, what’s that? I’m very sporadic with my writing, which is probably why it’s taken me ten years to finish this novel! I’m planning to be much more structured with my second novel, but time will tell if I actually follow through with that.

Are you a panster or a plotter? Either way, what was your pre-planning like before you really began drafting The Big Smoke?

I’m a plotter, through and through. Before I started drafting The Big Smoke (initially called Entwined, then later Tangled), I did a great deal of research on several topics that I planned to include in the book but hadn’t had personal experience with (I’d name some of them but that would give too much away!).

I then mapped out all of the major plot points and ‘interviewed’ my characters to get to know them better. Before starting each scene, I’d outline the key actions that needed to happen within it. Then, finally, I’d write the scene.

I wrote almost the entire book in sequence, from ‘once upon a time’ all the way through until ‘The End’. Only rarely did I skip around. I guess my mind works quite linearly!

If you had to pick the best lesson you learned from writing The Big Smoke, what would that lesson be?

Ooh, this is a tough question, mainly because writing The Big Smoke taught me SO MANY lessons. Okay, I think the best lesson was that other people will be able to spot issues with your work that you can’t.

When I finished the first polished version, I thought it was awesome. Award winning, even. Then I got it professionally appraised and was totally shocked by the constructive criticism I received. It took me a while to digest the feedback, but I ended up completely re-writing the book based on the advice, and I’m so glad I did. The feedback I received on the new version proved that it was worth the effort.

You’re indie publishing The Big Smoke, and you’ve talked about that decision here (“Why I’ve Decided To Go Indie”) on your blog. How did that decision to indie publish affect the editing process for your book?

It meant that I was in charge of the editing process, rather than a traditional publishing house. Many self-published books are let down by a lack of editing, and I didn’t want The Big Smoke to fall into the category. To avoid that, I had seven beta readers provide feedback on both macro and micro levels, and made a raft of changes based on their suggestions.

Once I was happy with the novel, I sought out a professional copy editor. I received quotes and sample edits from a few different editors and found one that I was really happy with. His edits helped to tighten the prose and ensured everything was as realistic and plausible as possible at the micro level. Obviously, publishing independently also meant I had bear the cost of editing myself, but there’s no doubt that it was a worthwhile investment.

Answer this question from the perspective of one of your characters: “My most irrational fear is…”

Seb: My most irrational fear is… I’ll never make anything of my life and I’ll end up back in Mildah selling tractors like my dad.

Ceara: My most irrational fear is… no one will ever fall in love with me.

Now, answer the same question from your perspective: “My most irrational fear is…”

Cally: My most irrational fear is… my characters will come to life and make me pay for what I’ve put them through!

So there it is, straight from Cally’s mouth — what it was like to write, edit, and self-publish her debut novel The Big Smoke. This is a remarkable novel, and I purchased my copy today! You should too — remember, you can get it at these online retailers for just $2.99: Amazon for Kindle, Smashwords for all e-editions.

Stay up on all things Cally Jackson and The Big Smoke by reading her blog and by following her on Twitter, finding her on GoodReads, and liking her author page on Facebook.

Review: Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams

Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams. Paula Wiseman Books. 5/1/2012

Growing up, London and Zach were as close as could be. And then Zach dies, and the family is gutted. London’s father is distant. Her mother won’t speak. The days are filled with what-ifs and whispers: Was it London’s fault?

Alone and adrift, London finds herself torn between her brother’s best friend and the handsome new boy in town as she struggles to find herself—and ultimately redemption—in this authentic and affecting novel from award-winning novelist Carol Lynch Williams. * 

Back in February, I blogged about receiving a big batch of ARCs in the mailfrom whatchYAreading? and promised to review each ARC as I read it (as close to the publication date as possible). Today, on May 1, Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams was published.

I stayed up all night to read this book (I’m kind of a middle-of-the-night reader), and I couldn’t put it down for two reasons. First, the prose style is quick — Williams puts the reader very deep in London’s head, and on occasion a single page is single sentence thought. Second, the unraveling of the plot and the emotions is slow, but intense, and I didn’t want to abandon either London or Zach in the middle of their heartbreaking story. But let’s get on the particulars, eh?

The PLOT

This is a Christian novel, but it is not a hand-comes-out-of-page-to-slap-you-in-the-face-with-Christianity Christian novel. Zach and London are the children of missionaries, and each character has a personal (read: therefore different) relationship with Jesus and God. There are several secondary characters and families in this novel who are also Christian, who are a part of the Church social circle, and collectively & individually those folks have a personal relationships with Jesus and God. This is not, however, a preachy novel. I wouldn’t classify Waiting as an evangelical novel. It’s a novel with Christians at its center, and one of them has completely lost faith & love (the mother), and one of them hides, literally, at the church (the father), and one of them can’t quite figure out how to find comfort in two dead people — Jesus & Zach (London).

The plot isn’t so much active as it is pensive, but the novel is engaging and does move forward at a good pace. London is deep inside her own head in the beginning, and so are we, and as she tries to emerge from her silent bubble, we begin to understand what’s happening around her with her family and with her friends. London is a master of burying secrets, from the reader and from herself, and as she begins to interact with the other main characters again–Taylor (her brother’s best friend) and Lauren (her best friend)–we begin to see that while she didn’t exactly lie, she left out large pieces of the truth. The reveals aren’t shocking or irritating, though, and I was never once upset or annoyed with London for being unable to tell the story straight. There was an honesty in how London was able to put the events around Zach’s death back together again.

The NARRATOR

As this novel is sunk so deep in London’s mind, I’m pretty sure I covered much of what could be said about London as a narrator in the plot section. The plot is tied inseparably to London’s mind, and the most fascinating aspects of this novel were to see how little bits of dialogue with other characters changed London’s thoughts and forced her to reconcile a new piece of the puzzle around Zach’s death. She had buried much of his death so deep — much like her mother and father — but unlike with them, we see people trying to ease London out of her silent reverie.

London’s change from the beginning of the novel to the end of the novel is honest and saddening and sweet all at once. Her realizations about those who love her and those who can’t love her anymore is both heartbreaking and heart-healing all at once, and those are emotions London feels so deeply in this novel. Being so set in her mind, Williams makes it impossible to escape the sometimes throat-closing pain and lonliness felt my London, which very slowly becomes replaced once again by a liveliness.

My FINAL THOUGHTS

A little past half way, London has this revelation: she is still alive. What this moment means in the novel is incredible, and it’s a simple revelation with serious and lasting impacts on every single person around her. How this moment acts as a contrast to Zach’s death, and his void, is a subtle but brilliant stroke of story-telling by Williams. So I put here so you’ll be sure to watch for it.

Perhaps my favorite part of this whole novel is how central each individual person is to the people who are in their lives. In a way, each individual is a little center of their own universe, and it’s unavoidable that our choices will create waves that will affect those closest to us the most and those farthest from us the least. London and Zach create very different waves, but they are like two stone thrown into a pond at a very close distance — their waves inevitably overlap and push back on one another.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

* Summary from barnesandnoble.com

What does that rating mean?

Review: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Simon Pulse, 1/3/2012

Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances, a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life—and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last….*

This is not a novel to be read without an adequate (and by adequate, I mean approximately 3 dozen) cupcakes on hand. Why? Because each chapter begins with a very delicious cupcake description, a cupcake for every possible problem life throws your way. If you don’t have access to delicious, cupcake goodness, you’ll be in agony for the rest of your reading experience.

THE PLOT

The first fifty pages of this book packs in quite the back story, and it’s one of the few books I’ve read with a prologue that is completely necessary. And let me let you in on what the synopsis doesn’t tell you (and don’t worry, it’s all right there in the prologue): Hudson’s dashed dream is Olympic-level figure skating and the big betrayal is her father cheating on her mother, which ends in divorce.

In a series of fortunate events, Hudson’s life collides with Josh’s, a high school hockey player who desperately wants her help on the ice. But instead of coaching  just  Josh, Hudson ends up teaching all the Wolves how to skate better, the linchpin in their ten-year losing streak. In return, she asks for undisturbed ice time so she can put a routine together for a skate competition that comes with the higher prize of a $50,000 college scholarship.

While bits and pieces of this plot seemed entirely convenient, I’m old enough to know that life does have a tendency to throw what one wants or needs into the mix at eerily precise moments. Of course, what one wants or needs isn’t always compatible. While reading, I found myself continuously doubting which path Hudson should take.

THE NARRATOR

Hudson is a high school girl, the local Cupcake Queen, and under the bizarre impression she can hold the aforementioned title and remain under the radar of her peers.  Her voice, as a first-person narrator, was typical of most other female first-person narratives I’ve read in YA. The action carried more of the story than her narration did.

I must admit to being continuously frustrated by Hudson’s party line: I am not selfish. Or rather, her tendency to change the subject / offer excuses when other characters made a point to mention to Hudson her increasingly selfish behavior throughout the story-arc. This isn’t to say this particular characterization is not spot-on, and there is a very good Moment of Self Realization towards the end that I enjoyed immensely because of this characterization. But still, it’s annoying and a reader should be prepared to want to smash a few of Hudson’s cupcakes in her face.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Much of this book references back to Hester Prynne, and I have no idea why. Yes, Hudson is reading The Scarlet Letter in her English class; yes, plenty of high school girls have felt condemned and ostracized by their peers. But those connections are weak, and often actually missing several larger Points of The Scarlett Letter, and doing nothing to add depth to either the plot of this novel nor to the character of Hudson. There were a few moments where the out-of-place Hester references almost made me stop reading. I feel a need to admit to that here.

The ending (the final two chapters, specifically) made the entire read worthwhile, though. Ockler leaves certain plot lines unfinished.  These plot lines represent realities that Hudson must accept, as they are, for her to make a giant leap in personal growth. I won’t spoil whether Hudson does or doesn’t understand what she’s facing at the end, but that the option is left up to the character, and not easily solved by the author, was especially meaningful.

Rating: ★ ★ ★
*Summary taken from BarnesandNoble.com
Note: this review originally posted on MHLit Society -- found here.