Meet
Australian Author Dianne (Di) Bates, BA Dip Teaching has published 120+ books for
the education and trade markets. Some of Di’s books have won national and state
literary awards; others have sold overseas. Di has received Grants and
Fellowships from the Literature Board of the Australia Council and has toured
for the National Book Council.
Di has
undertaken commissioned writing for a large number of organizations and has
worked on the editorial team of the NSW
Department of Education School Magazine. She was co-editor of a national
children’s magazine, Puffinalia
(Penguin Books) and editor of another national magazine, Little Ears.
In 2008,
Di was awarded The Lady Cutler Prize for distinguished services to children’s
Literature.
Currently
Di works as a freelance writer and manuscript assessor. She lives in Woonona,
north of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, with her prize-winning YA author husband,
Bill Condon.
Welcome
Di!
When did you realize you
wanted to become a writer?
I wrote
my first book over 30 years ago when I was living in a very isolated place (The
Diggings, Dr George Mountain, Tanja via Bega, NSW, Australia) and was looking
for activities to fill in my time. I was amazed that the manuscript was
published (by Penguin Books Australia) and thus my writing career was started.
I’ve since been published by many houses such as HarperCollins, Random House,
Allen & Unwin and so on.
What books have you
written?
I have
published 120+ books, mostly for young readers. The most recent are Nobody’s Boy (Celapene Press) which was
a 2013 Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book and Highly Commended
in the Australian Family Therapy Awards, and The Girl in the Basement (Morris Publishing Australia) which has
just been picked up by Gersh Agency in Los Angeles which is representing it as
a 6 to 8 episodes TV series, and as a US title.
Can you share a joke
from your children's book Giggle and Grin?
What do
you call two thieves? (A pair of knickers)
What are you currently
writing?
I so
loved writing The Girl in the Basement (a
cross-over novel) that I decided to have a try at writing an adult crime novel.
I’m now 55,000 words into The Freshest of
Flesh about a woman serial killer hunting down paedophiles: it is told from
the points of view of the woman and of a convicted paedophile. I am having such
fun writing it!
Describe your daily
routine...
I don’t
have a routine as such, but when I’m writing a book, I write everyday. I’m an
insomniac so sometimes I’m up half the night (today from 3 am to 8 am); in any
case I probably clock about 40 writing (and researching) hours a week. (This
includes writing-related business.)
How do you maintain
thoughts and ideas?
The
thoughts and ideas bombard me all the time. I become obsessed with what I’m
currently writing and can’t wait to get to the keyboard.
Where do you like to
write?
I prefer
to write in my office without any distractions. My husband, Bill Condon, who is
also a prize-winning Australian YA author brings me cups of tea during the day
(otherwise I forget to drink I’m so absorbed in what I’m doing.)
Who is your favorite
author?
I’d have
to say my husband, Bill Condon who won the inaugural (2010) Australian Prime
Minister’s Literary Award for YA fiction with his novel Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God; he was
short-listed again in 2012 with A
Straight Line to My Heart.
Bill
writes memorable characters that you grow to love so much that getting to The
End is almost a heart-break. His writing is soaked through with honesty and
integrity; he writes humor ever so well and his dialogue is 100% convincing.
Finally, I know just how much effort he sinks into his writing – the agony and
angst of getting ever word right and in the right place!
Name your top 5 favorite
books....
Quirky,
memorable characters are what appeals to me most when I’m reading children’s
books, and I love the use of strong, image-provoking language and
well-constructed plots; thus my favorite books are Where the Lilies Bloom (Bill and Vera Cleaver), The Naming of Tashkin Silk (Glenda Millard),
Daredevils (Bill Condon), The Dead I Know (Scott Gardner), The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)...
I know
you said five, but I’m going to cheat...
There’s also Dicey’s Song (Cynthia Voigt), Ruby Holler (Sharon Creech), A Pure Swift Cry (Siobhan Dowd), A Gathering Light (Jennifer Donnelly), Dead Time (Anne Cassidy) and The Year the Gypsies Came (Linzi Glass).
I also love humorous books by authors such as Beverley Cleary, Jacqueline
Wilson and Andy Stanton. Finally (I keep thinking of other favorite titles!) I
hugely enjoy the poetry of Elizabeth Honey, Bill Condon, Jack Prelutsky, Roger
McGough, Michael Rosen and Colin McNaughton.
And here
are my top adult reads:
Running with Scissors (Augustus Burroughs), Where the Heart is (Billie Letts) , The Treatment (Peter Kocan), Mr Vertigo (Paul Auster), The Comforts of Madness (Paul Sayer), Just Another Kid (Torey L. Hayden), Darkness Visible (William Styron), The Road (Cormack McCarthy), The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold), The Room (Emma Donaghey), True Stories (Helen Garner), Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen).
Any advice for newbie
writers?
Know the
market! By that I mean if you are open to all genres of writing keep up to date
with which publisher is publishing what. Try to predict writing trends and find
niches – and this way you will be two jumps ahead of others. The bottom line,
though, is to be “hungry” for opportunity and above all -- persist. At one time
I had 47 consecutive rejections of my work but I still believed in my talent.
Persistence, that’s what it’s all about really and to always give 100% of your
best. Workshop frequently with writers whose opinions you respect. I also think
it pays to find a good mentor, but to give as much back as you take. I have
helped so many new writers over the years, never to hear from them again.
Connect
with Di….
 |
| Di & Bill |
.png)
.png)
.png)
5 comments:
You cannot even know when it happens to you but it will ruin you, I am talking about the dibates things as it is really into you. more that I love for the helpful information and its really amazing.
The blog of the riding and the writing is present here from which you can get the best approach to your work. Just see the artistic approach and click here to get the better direction to your work. You can also find the new section of blogger here.
You should not possibly learn as soon as the item transpires to your account but it really will probably spoil people, After all this dibates factors seeing that really it is in people. far more i always appreciate with the helpful information http://www.bestcapstoneprojects.com/capstone-project-title-generator/ and definitely wonderful.
Your blog from the using and also visit this site the composing exists right here through which you'll obtain the greatest method of your projects. Simply begin to see the creative strategy as well as click the link to find the much better path for your function.
Such a wonderful post, The voice is so magnificent and now and again soup and now and again so down as per the grouping of the circumstance. This https://www.paraphrasegenerator.org/ site is helpful to gain new ideas.
Post a Comment