Thanks Jacinta for your interesting thoughts on the writing process.

As part of the free Summer Read events across Victoria, Jacinta will be appearing at:

Warrnambool Library, 25 Liebig Street Warrnambool on Friday 13 February 2009, 6.30 – 7.30 pm
For more information phone Warrnambool Library 5559 4990 or book online at
http://summerread22.eventbrite.com

Gisborne Library, Hamilton Street Gisborne on Thursday 19 February 2009, 7.00 – 8.30 pm
For more information phone Gisborne Library 5428 3962 or book online at http://summerread27.eventbrite.com

Vote for Dissection or SMS DISSECTION to 13 46 88

Arnold Zable has been reading my mind. In his post, ‘Getting back to the source’, he writes about being by the foreshore on a summer’s evening, alert to the lights on the bay and ‘the countless conversations that rise like a collective whisper from the edge of the city.’ (Beautifully put, Arnold.) He is curious about people; what they say and why they are alone. During the writing of Dissection I spent a fair bit of time down at the St Kilda/Elwood foreshore. I didn’t listen to people’s conversation so much as watch people as they walked by, especially those who walked alone. I was looking for a sense of unhappiness and isolation (those of you who have read Dissection will know why) and while the foreshore is often a festive place, it can also be dreary and windswept and abandoned, especially in winter. I found that the beach and the bay started to creep into my writing and, eventually, to become integral to the novel. The appearance of the water – whether glassy and sparkling or grey and wild – affected my mood, and I took note of the feeling I had when I looked to the horizon; a feeling of expansion and possibility, as if you could simply climb aboard one of those hulking cargo ships and sail off to a new life. (Not that my current life is in any way unsatisfactory, but you know what I mean: sometimes you get that hankering to leave all responsibility behind.) I found that the foreshore began to represent something important to my main character in Dissection – a sense of reprieve, a temporary escape from her self-criticism and guilt. When at the foreshore, instead of looking inwards and despairing, Anna McBride looks out to sea and feels the faintest stirrings of hope. I set the ending of Dissection at Elwood beach, where Anna goes one summer evening with her two sons. It seemed right to end the novel at the place from which she had derived some comfort during the most difficult time of her life.

I also discovered while I was writing Dissection that water is an important and widely-used symbol in literature. (As a reader, I was already vaguely aware of this, but it’s different when you have to think about the symbolism, intentional or otherwise, of your own work.) I can’t give you an exhaustive list of what water symbolises but I think it mainly involves life and rebirth. (If any of you plunged into a pool or the ocean on one of those 44 degree days recently, you will understand the idea of water as rebirth!) Carl Jung saw water as part of the female archetype and also representative of the unconscious. (See his book, Memories, Dreams and Reflections.) Certainly there’s a lot of literary criticism around that takes the view that the Modernist writers (like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf) used descriptions of water in their work to suggest the feminine. Once I read a little of this I was pleased I had started to write about the foreshore, as it seemed I had accidentally hit on something that was very relevant to my character’s psychology. Above all, I wanted Dissection to be a novel about a woman’s inner life, so the idea of water representing something intrinsically female was important to me.

If you like books that deal with the imagery of water then I can suggest two magnificent novels: The Sea by John Banville and Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. Both of these superbly written works use the imagery of water to tell of loss, death and abandonment.

Several of my fellow bloggers have mentioned some of the difficulties of writing. Can I preface what I am going to say with the observation that writing is difficult, but I think there are many other jobs that are more difficult and perhaps less rewarding. I’m not talking about financial rewards here, but rather the realisation that, despite all the predictions to the contrary, books still really matter to people.

I would like to be able to tell you that writing Dissection was a breeze, but that wouldn’t be true. I would like to pretend that I knocked it off at night, after a full day in the clinic, and that it was finished in a year. But that’s not true either and, since it seems I’m in the mood to make a full confession, I can also tell you that there were several times when I was close to giving up on it and returning to full-time general practice instead. So what’s my point here? I guess it’s this: that for reasons of bravado or for living up to some ‘creative’ stereotype, I’d like to say that writing a novel was easy and the words and ideas just flowed naturally, but the reality is that it was slow and hard and often demoralising. (I think the subject matter of my novel didn’t help in this regard: those of you who have read it will know it’s fairly heavy stuff). But that’s the end of the bad news. The good news is that, through this sometimes grinding process, I learnt something valuable: you need to trust your instincts but, more importantly, you need to persist. It’s blindingly self-evident really, but as a first-time novelist with no claim to fame, you are the only person on the planet who is really going to care (and I’m talking here about that deep personal level to do with self-identity and life goals) whether your novel ever gets finished, let alone published. Of course you can be blessed, like I was, with a supportive mentor, great colleagues and a wonderful spouse but even they are unlikely to be shattered if you set your unfinished novel aside for a year or two. So, as Carolyn Landon has already pointed out, persistence is key. Rework until you’re satisfied. If you really can’t face it, then put it away for a while but come back to it with renewed energy and determination. Keep going until you know it’s finished. As I said, it seems self-evident, but it’s all a bit like childbirth: people can tell you it’s going to be painful and exhausting and totally worthwhile in the end, but you can’t really understand until you’ve actually done it.

I’ve already alluded to the subject matter of Dissection. I’ve been asked a few times if the novel is autobiographical. It’s not, though I have brought to it my experience of being a GP. I need to quickly add that I’ve filtered out all the positives (and there are many) and only included the negatives – the worries and insecurities and frustrations. So please don’t think all GPs feel as embattled as Anna McBride does!

While writing Dissection, I thought a bit about the connections between medicine and writing. They may not seem immediately apparent but I do think they exist. Arnold Zable has already talked about the need for writers to be attentive listeners. GPs also do a good deal of listening to their patients. You might think that listening to a patient talk about their sore foot is not really the stuff of great literature. But there’s another kind of listening that occurs at the level of the psyche and tells you something more than the words the patients says – that, I think, is something writers do as well.

Listening also ties in with observation, a skill that both writers and doctors value. Doctors closely observe body language, mannerisms and physical characteristics to aid with diagnosis. Writers do it to flesh out characters, to make them real.

There’s also a sense of responsibility that comes with both writing and doctoring, though you’d have to say that, perhaps with the exception of the fatwah against Salman Rushdie, the consequences are usually greater for doctors if something goes wrong or offends in some way. Nevertheless, as a writer, I think there’s a responsibility to readers to make the book as good and as truthful (and I don’t mean factual here) as you can.

Jacinta Halloran is next Summer Read author blogging from 10 – 14 February.

Jacinta Halloran lives in Melbourne where she works as a GP. She has written on medical sciences for The Sunday Age. In 2007 Dissection was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for an Unpublished Manuscript.

Her book Dissection is one of the books on the Summer Read shortlist.

Dissection tells the story of Doctor Anna McBride who is being sued for medical negligence over a delayed diagnosis. As day-to-day work becomes increasingly difficult she starts to scrutinise her every action and question her worth. Pressures mount as the date for mediation draws nearer and Anna, crumbling under the weight of disaster, senses someone else’s cries – someone wishing her harm.

As part of the free Summer Read events across Victoria, Jacinta will be appearing at:

Warrnambool Library, 25 Liebig Street Warrnambool on Friday 13 February 2009, 6.30 – 7.30 pm
For more information phone Warrnambool Library 5559 4990 or book online at
http://summerread22.eventbrite.com

Gisborne Library, Hamilton Street Gisborne on Thursday 19 February 2009, 7.00 – 8.30 pm
For more information phone Gisborne Library 5428 3962 or book online at http://summerread27.eventbrite.com

What Jacinta says about summer reading

“Just because you’re hot/sweaty/dehydrated doesn’t mean you can’t read well. In fact, what better remedy for sunburn than a day in bed with copious fluids and a good book? Anything by JM Coetzee will stand you in good stead. The silky prose of Alice Munro will be balm to your blisters. Rifle through the bookcase in the rented beach house and you might even find a Patrick White or two to sink your teeth into. Better than the barbecued chop you’ll be having for dinner.”

Thanks Margo for your many lovely hints on writing. Alan Garner’s Strandloper has been added to my list.

As part of the free Summer Read events across Victoria, a panel of three Dreaming Again authors will join Dreaming Again editor Jack Dann at:
Nunawading Library, 379 Whitehorse Road Nunawading on Wednesday 18 February, 2009 7.00 – 8.30 pm
For more information phone Nunawading Library 9873 5638 or book online at http://summerread37.eventbrite.com

Vote for Dreaming Again or SMS DREAMING to 13 46 88

Wow - one of the Summer Read books, Addition, is has been featured in the Unshelved Book Club…

The full review is here.

Thanks Carolyn for your thoughts on books having a life of their own because books have readers and that readers bring their own lives to the books they read.

As part of the free Summer Read events across Victoria, Carolyn will be appearing at:

Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, Cnr Ballarto Rd and Botanic Drive Cranbourne on Wednesday 4 February 2009, 10.30 – 11.30 am.
Author event to be followed by wander around the Australian Garden (limit 50 people)
For more information phone Cranbourne Library 5990 0150 or book online at http://summerread9.eventbrite.com

Grampians Road Halls Gap (behind Brambuk Cultural Centre) on Saturday 14 February, 2009 from 1.00 pm BYO picnic and chair (Author appearing at 2.30pm). Children’s activities provided and light refreshments provided at the event conclusion.
For more information and phone Horsham Library 5382 5707 or book online at http://summerread38.eventbrite.com

Vote for Cups with no Handles or SMS CUPS to 13 46 88

Carolyn Landon is next Summer Read author blogging from 31 January to 4 February.

Carolyn Landon was born in the US and came to Australia in 1968. She taught in the Victorian State School System, and has recently completed an MA in Biography and Life. Carolyn is currently working on the life of Aboriginal artist Eileen Harrison.

Her book Cups with no Handles is one of the books on the Summer Read shortlist.

Cups with no Handles tells the true story of Bette Boyanton; a woman who struggled to overcome the disadvantages of poverty, lack of education, inequality and poor health, to become an inspiring feminist and environmental activist. This memoir gives us an understanding of social and feminist history in the twentieth century, and what gives a life value.

As part of the free Summer Read events across Victoria, Carolyn will be appearing at:

Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, Cnr Ballarto Rd and Botanic Drive Cranbourne on Wednesday 4 February 2009, 10.30 – 11.30 am.
Author event to be followed by wander around the Australian Garden (limit 50 people)
For more information phone Cranbourne Library 5990 0150 or book online at http://summerread9.eventbrite.com

Grampians Road Halls Gap (behind Brambuk Cultural Centre) on Saturday 14 February, 2009 from 1.00 pm BYO picnic and chair (Author appearing at 2.30pm). Children’s activities provided and light refreshments provided at the event conclusion.
For more information and phone Horsham Library 5382 5707 or book online at http://summerread38.eventbrite.com

What Carolyn says about summer reading

“The words ‘summer reading’ immediately send my mind to the beach at Torquay from Jan Juk to Zeally Bay where we lie on the warm sand every January year in and year out and read books. We only put our books down when we get too hot and have to run into the surf or swim around the buoys at Cosy Corner to cool off. One summer I had both Charles Waterstreets’ memoirs – Precious Bodily Fluids and Repeating Leaving – with me, and a woman reading near me noticed. She told me she knew Waterstreet and what a wonderful man he was and how glad she was people were reading his clever books. “That’s the great thing about Australia,” I said. “Someone always knows someone and you never feel like a stranger. I love these books and will cherish them.”  They now stand together on my bookshelf with sand in their pages and they smell like summer reading.”

Thanks Arnold for your thoughts on the challenges writers face when chosing to write as a vocation.

As part of the free Summer Read events across Victoria, Arnold will be appearing at:

Brunswick Library, Cnr Sydney Road and Dawson Street Brunswick on Wednesday 18 February, 6.30 – 8.00 pm
Author talk and readings recount a wonderful story full of myth and mystery, accompanied by acclaimed singer Anthea Sidiropoulos.

For more information phone Brunswick Library 9389 8600 or book online at http://summerread16.eventbrite.com

Warragul Library, 75 Victoria Street Warragul on Thursday 19 February 2009, 6.30 – 8.00 pm
Author talk and readings recount a wonderful story full of myth and mystery, accompanied by acclaimed singer Anthea Sidiropoulos

For more information phone Warragul Library 5622 2848 or 5622 2849 book online http://summerread34.eventbrite.com

Vote for Sea of Many Returns or SMS SEA to 13 46 88

Arnold Zable is next Summer Read author blogging from 27 - 30 January.

Arnold Zable is a highly acclaimed novelist, storyteller, and educator, whose books include Jewels and Ashes, The FigTree, Café Scheherazade and Scraps of Heaven. He was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and lives in Melbourne.

His book Sea of Many Returns is one of the books on the Summer Read shortlist.

Sea of Many Returns tells the story Xanthe who is translating her grandfather’s memoir; his story of leaving Ithaca as a young man and migrating to Australia, encountering race riots in Karlgoorlie and travelling to Melbourne. Absorbed, she slowly begins to understand her Ithacan father’s dark moods; the ache for the sea and the hum of the Ionian winds.

As part of the free Summer Read events across Victoria, Arnold will be appearing at:

• Brunswick Library, Cnr Sydney Road and Dawson Street Brunswick on Wednesday 18 February, 6.30 – 8.00 pm
• Author talk and readings recount a wonderful story full of myth and mystery, accompanied by acclaimed singer Anthea Sidiropoulos.
• For more information phone Brunswick Library 9389 8600 or book online at http://summerread16.eventbrite.com

• Warragul Library, 75 Victoria Street Warragul on Thursday 19 February 2009, 6.30 – 8.00 pm
  Author talk and readings recount a wonderful story full of myth and mystery, accompanied by acclaimed singer Anthea Sidiropoulos
• For more information phone Warragul Library 5622 2848 or 5622 2849 book online http://summerread34.eventbrite.com

What Arnold says about summer reading

“For years, summer was travel time. I usually had with me a book set in the country I was travelling in. I read at railways stations, on roadsides, on ferries and trains, in tents and hotel rooms, in workers’ quarters and backpackers’ hostels. There were times when passages mirrored the passing landscape. I approached Venice by sea with Thomas Mann’s ‘Death in Venice’, depicting the same approach via the Adriatic. In China, I travelled with the Tang dynasty poets whose poems reflected upon the joys and travails of journeying. While hitch hiking in the USA, Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ was the ideal companion.  The works of Lawrence Durrell and Greek poets George Seferis and Odysseus Elytis, were memorable company when travelling on the Ionian and Aegean. From these authors, among many others, I learnt much about the craft of writing about place and journeys.”