Comments for Justine Larbalestier

Comment on FAQ by Justine

Justine — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 21:56:59 +0000

Thank you so much, Whitney. Lovely to know folks are still rereading Liar.

No idea are original. It’s all about how you write them. Keep writing!

I didn’t get any of my formal education in the USA. So my answer wouldn’t really mean much to you. But I have a PhD in what was basically in Semiotics.

Comment on FAQ by Whitney Holloway

Whitney Holloway — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 07:29:45 +0000

Hi Justine! I just want to let you know that your novel is still being read, shared, and loved by people. I just finished it for the third time and it still makes my head spin! I wish I could be half the author you are but I feel like almost none of my ideas are original; and the one that are, no one will like them. Where/what did you go to school for?

Comment on The Faddishness of Publishing by Loose-leaf Links #41 | Earl Grey Editing

Loose-leaf Links #41 | Earl Grey Editing — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 22:01:19 +0000

[…] Justine Larbalestier muses on the faddishness of publishing. […]

Comment on The Faddishness of Publishing by Justine

Justine — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 17:59:06 +0000

Ha!

Comment on The Faddishness of Publishing by Justine

Justine — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 17:58:43 +0000

Yeah, nah. Self-publishing works wonderfully for many writers. But most of the successful ones a) write quickly and b) have the organisational skills you need to essentially do all the work of a publisher. I write slowly and have no organisational skills.

Also it’s a fallacy that this faddishness does not effect self-published authors. What happens instead is that the decision to kill a series because it’s not selling is made by the author, not the publisher, because when you self-publish you *are* the publisher.

No matter whether you publish yourself or work with a traditional publisher you have to deal with a changing marketplace.

Comment on The Faddishness of Publishing by gabby

gabby — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 16:14:01 +0000

Do you ever think of self publishing? I find that “dead” genres that publishers won’t touch actually sell quite well if you keep all the profits for yourself. 🙂 (You can sell for pretty cheap ($2.99 and still make very good profits because of so many sales.

Even if editors are tired of reading the same thing, the readers of that genre/niche are just as hungry as ever.

Comment on Bye, Bye Twitter (For a bit) by Justine

Justine — Wed, 31 May 2017 20:16:42 +0000

Yes, to all of this. Twitter amplifies all the horror. 🙁

Instagram, for me, is pure pleasure. Especially as mine is private and I only let people I know and trust follow me. It feels safe.

I do miss Twitter because of all the lovely folks I’ve met there and all the wonderful conversations. But damn am I getting some work done this week! I’ll be back for sure but in a more controlled way.

Thanks for this, Sarah. xox

Comment on Bye, Bye Twitter (For a bit) by Sarah Ayoub

Sarah Ayoub — Wed, 31 May 2017 00:13:27 +0000

I find that most social media gives me general feelings of anxiety and actually amplifies my depression. It’s very hard to see the hate in the world when you just want to see the good in everyone and want everyone to live their best life. I don’t use Twitter all that much, but when I do, I am confronted with terror attacks, politicians who are so out of touch with reality, news of that egotistical, whiney, clueless Hater in Chief, the practical eradication of Christians in the Middle-East (something I am very passionate about because of my own family history); Islamophobia in the west (“Yassmin, who identifies first and foremost as a Muslim” was the second sentence in an explosive article on Yassmin A, as though being Muslim is her crime), sexism and God knows what else. But I have also e-met some lovely people, discovered writers who speak up about important things, and seen news that wouldn’t make it into the mainstream media. That said, I can understand the impact it has on your work, as it can be v distracting. I don’t have a personal FB, just an author page that I hardly use, and I use Instagram for the indulgent (read:superficial) things in my life, like clothes and handbags; but Twitter especially has a big impact on my feelings and output. I took notifications off my phone recently, and it helped. Sending you the most positive vibes, and all the wordsmith mojo so you can get this next book out of your head and into our hands!

Comment on Bye, Bye Twitter (For a bit) by Justine

Justine — Tue, 30 May 2017 21:25:34 +0000

Thank you so much. Knowing you want to read it is all the writing mojo I need.

Comment on Bye, Bye Twitter (For a bit) by Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

Jeann @ Happy Indulgence — Tue, 30 May 2017 21:13:48 +0000

Yes, Twitter can be an anxiety causing deep dark hole sometimes so it’s definitely healthy to take a break! Sending you all the writing mojo (mainly so I can read it)!

Comment on The Faddishness of Publishing by Robyn

Robyn — Tue, 30 May 2017 17:40:33 +0000

Oh thank god, I don’t want to have to write a trilogy.

Comment on Bye, Bye Twitter (For a bit) by Justine

Justine — Tue, 30 May 2017 17:18:03 +0000

Aww, thank you, Tanita, for your support in my battle against myself.

I love your soap opera analogy. If only the evil Timmy would stay down the damn well.

Comment on Bye, Bye Twitter (For a bit) by tanita

tanita — Tue, 30 May 2017 16:44:04 +0000

Ah, my friend – good luck. I normally take Twitter Sabbaths every weekend, but coming back to it lately, when I have enjoyed some time not looking at it at all, has been revealing. And yet: like you, I do feel like it’s the ONLY social media that has ever truly worked for me – my experience with MySpace and FB are similar! – but the good news is that I’ve found that I can pop in/out and (mostly) still feel a part of the crew. It’s like watching soaps; you can go away for a year, and Luke & Laura are still feuding, Bo & Hope have died/resurrected mysteriously, and it’s all still going on. ☺

Comment on Bye, Bye Twitter (For a bit) by Justine

Justine — Tue, 30 May 2017 15:47:04 +0000

Thank you so much!

Yeah, I don’t think the problem is Twitter so much as my inability to look away from that laser pointer. Well put.

Comment on Bye, Bye Twitter (For a bit) by Carl R

Carl R — Tue, 30 May 2017 14:16:01 +0000

Very sensible. Good luck with your current novel, and the 9 to follow. I eagerly await all of them, and should spend less time on Twitter and more time reading good books. I am not a cat and can ignore the laser pointer of Twitter. Or so I like to think.

Comment on FAQ by Justine

Justine — Sun, 14 May 2017 14:57:39 +0000

Thank you so much. Readers wanting a sequel is the best compliment there is. I’m not ruling it out but I do worry that most readers won’t like where a sequel would go.

As for movies, so far the movie rights haven’t sold. Fingers crossed!

Comment on FAQ by Stan

Stan — Sat, 13 May 2017 19:47:53 +0000

I finally finished My Sister Rosa and I need more. Are you ever planning on making a sequal? Maybe a movie adaptation?

Comment on On Writing a Good, Kind, Nice, Empathetic Main Character by Justine

Justine — Wed, 03 May 2017 21:13:35 +0000

Heh. So you say, Lauren, so you say.

I’ve had this response from quite a few people and I get it. I am a huge Patricia Highsmith fan after all. Psychopaths fascinate me. And, yeah, Rosa was a lot of fun to write. Too much fun, I fear.

Comment on On Writing a Good, Kind, Nice, Empathetic Main Character by Lauren McLaughlin

Lauren McLaughlin — Wed, 03 May 2017 10:10:14 +0000

Thanks for sharing this one. I often find myself preferring not-so-nice characters in the books I read. Not because I’d want to be like them or have them as friends, but because it’s fun to imagine what it would be like to be so different. It’s one of the reasons I love crime fiction so much too. It’s fun to root for someone getting away with it. I confess, I found Rosa compelling and fascinating. Very glad she’s not my sister, but so much fun to read about.

Comment on The Problem with “Boy Books” by Mike

Mike — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 20:02:35 +0000

I have a student who discovered Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series. He told me this morning that some other guys were asking him why he was reading a “girl’s” book (judging the book by its cover). We talked briefly about how it’s not a “girl’s” book, it’s just a book with a badass girl character, and what an awesome character she is. He has no idea just how awesome because he’s only 2 books into the series. I can’t wait to see what he thinks after reading the next 3 books.

Comment on The Problem with “Boy Books” by Jamie Marchant

Jamie Marchant — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:49:48 +0000

I really liked this post. It inspired me to write one of my own about reading to my son, who’s turned out to be a fantastic young man if I do say so myself. http://jamie-marchant.blogspot.com/2017/02/boy-books-and-empathy.html

Comment on Edgar Award Nomination and My Sister Rosa Extras by Justine

Justine — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 02:40:57 +0000

Thank you!

Comment on Edgar Award Nomination and My Sister Rosa Extras by Priya Sridhar

Priya Sridhar — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 00:17:10 +0000

Congratulations! You deserve it!

Comment on Religion in My Sister Rosa by Justine

Justine — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 22:19:21 +0000

I suspect that there are many progressive religious people who just don’t talk about their faith around us secular folks. I tend to ask my friends about their religious beliefs if it doesn’t come up naturally because, as mentioned above, religion fascinates me.

Thank you. Hope you like the book!

Comment on Religion in My Sister Rosa by Andrea Blythe

Andrea Blythe — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 14:41:52 +0000

This is fascinating, both about the religion of the character and about the swearing (I swear enough that I’d probably be blind to it too in my writing).

I haven’t met many progressive Christians. My main experience with Christianity was going to church on the weekend with my Mormon grandmother when I visit her in Alaska and in high school when I was joining a friend at her evangelical youth groups (they were definitely on the conservative side).

This post really makes me want to read the book all the more.