inkwell.vue.390
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Kate Veitch, Trust
permalink #176 of 186: Cynthia Dyer-Bennet (peoples) Tue 31 Aug 10 18:33
permalink #176 of 186: Cynthia Dyer-Bennet (peoples) Tue 31 Aug 10 18:33
(whoops, you can't scribble using the shortcut box, but don't worry about the double post. It happens sometimes. No big deal.) I'm entranced with the post-Trust development of the lives of your characters, Kate. I'm especially interested in the three kids' stories and can imagine you doing a follow-up years from now, when Seb, Stella-Jean and Finn reach their 40s/50s and start looking back over their lives with the perspective of age. But as I say, _years_ from now. No sequels right away, I understand you're ready to move on. But where? Are you currently working on a new book? Have you got a story line you're plotting out? Some rough drafts? Anything on paper yet?
inkwell.vue.390
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Kate Veitch, Trust
permalink #177 of 186: Kate Veitch (kate-veitch) Tue 31 Aug 10 18:39
permalink #177 of 186: Kate Veitch (kate-veitch) Tue 31 Aug 10 18:39
If I could only remember where the command box is ... Apologies to Cynthia: I know you gave me those very precise lessons before we started this conversation (now almost at its conclusion, yes?) but I've ... forgotten .... (BTW - Susanna's ineptitude with things techie is quite autobiographical.) Wickett says she'd thought Finn's "direction would be more towards psychology or social work focused on abused children and teens." This thing is, Finn is interested in how THINGS work, but not people. Even his understanding of what was happening with Gabriel was quite, um, mechanical, in a way. Social interaction will never be his strong suit. I think he'll be a highly innovative engineer, though. I can see him being influenced by his cousins into later using his engineering skills in developing countries, perhaps especially to do with bridge-building (just a hunch).
inkwell.vue.390
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Kate Veitch, Trust
permalink #178 of 186: Kate Veitch (kate-veitch) Tue 31 Aug 10 18:51
permalink #178 of 186: Kate Veitch (kate-veitch) Tue 31 Aug 10 18:51
And there's Cynthia slipping in. Hi, Cynthia! Ah, The Next Book. Well, I'm a little superstitious about saying too much, or perhaps it's that it's all too easy to TALK the impetus out, rather than doing the harder work of writing it. However ... Your question makes me smile, actually, because I remember how a year ago, when I was wrestling with the arduous work of the final draft, having to cut 30,000 words, and especially how to make Gabriel creepy and real without his back story, I kept insisting to my sainted editor that my next book would be a novel in which nothing happened, certainly nothing bad. Its title would be "Fluffy the Bunny Stays Home." (Sigh ... I still feel kind of nostalgic for that book.) But no, the real Next Novel has the somewhat more allusive title of "Hidden". The main characters, only three so far, are a woman named Ruby, or perhaps Willow, who is also an artist (gotta have an artist) who works with 3D paper objects, in which tinier objects are concealed; the wealthy man she meets and marries, largely on account of a child (not hers); and the stepson who, as a young adult, becomes involved with some radical animal rights activists. The plot hinges around an action his group takes which goes disastrously wrong, and a grand staircase which a young child is terrified to walk down ... Just since you asked.
inkwell.vue.390
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Kate Veitch, Trust
permalink #179 of 186: Cynthia Dyer-Bennet (peoples) Wed 1 Sep 10 08:02
permalink #179 of 186: Cynthia Dyer-Bennet (peoples) Wed 1 Sep 10 08:02
oh. my. --> "... 3D paper objects in which tinier objects are concealed" so tantalizing! Thanks for the delicious amuse bouche, Kate. It makes me hungry the whole thing right now. However, I know we'll have to wait at least a year (or two?) before it hits the stands. In the meantime I'll definitely be on stand-by for its release. It's somewhat startling to me that we've been talking here in Inkwell for two whole weeks now. The time has really flown by. I know that we have a new guest in the wings so I wanted to thank the Inkwell hosts for having us here; it's been a real treat. I also want to thank everybody who joined us in this excellent exploration, especially our volunteer readers: wickett, ckridge, pamela, and castle. Most of all I want to thank you, Kate, for writing such wonderful stories. I look forward to your next book with eager anticipation!
I have very much enjoyed this conversation and _Trust_. Thank you, Kate and Cynthia, for this treat. I eagerly look forward to your next book, Kate. You create innovative and challenging careers for your adults and deeply real kids to cherish.
inkwell.vue.390
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Kate Veitch, Trust
permalink #181 of 186: Harmless drudge (ckridge) Wed 1 Sep 10 14:46
permalink #181 of 186: Harmless drudge (ckridge) Wed 1 Sep 10 14:46
>3D paper objects, in which tinier objects are concealed< Very like the one we have just been discussing. >an action his group takes which goes disastrously wrong, and a grand staircase which a young child is terrified to walk down, One mark of a good plot is that a brief synopsis gives one a chill. By that measure, this a good plot. One more question, if it's not too late? Why "Trust" as the title? Is it a noun, or an imperative? In either case, what is trusted?
I just assumed it was tongue-in-cheek. There was comfort, there was ease, there was predictability in the Visser household until, suddenly, there wasn't. But trust?
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Kate Veitch, Trust
permalink #183 of 186: Kate Veitch (kate-veitch) Wed 1 Sep 10 16:10
permalink #183 of 186: Kate Veitch (kate-veitch) Wed 1 Sep 10 16:10
Thank you all for those comments; I'm very pleased to tantalise and chill. This whole discussion has been both a pleasure and a revelation. You learn a lot about yourself through the process of writing a novel, and now I know something more: that through an in-depth discussion with insightful readers, you continue to learn still more. One more question? But of course, Coleman. "Why "Trust" as the title?" The working title was "Stand By Me", partly because it's such a terrific song about fear and courage and loyalty and the strength that having an ally gives you, and because privately, in my head, the "me" of the title, the person you want and need to stand by you, is your self. You have to know and trust your self all parts of your self, the less admirable aspects as well as the ones you're proud of, in order to face the moment when the night has come and the mountains crumbled to the sea. But I knew I was unlikely to keep that as the title, and indeed both publishers felt there was too much association with the film of that name, as well as the song. So Belinda Byrne, my Penguin editor, and I went through a whole bunch of other possibilities. "Before and After" was one, which we then used as the subtitles (sort of) of the first and second halves of the book. (Oh, if you look carefully at those pages, you'll see a faint b&w print of two hands clasped: this is the cover of the Aust edition, which was in pillar-box red.) It was Belinda who came up with "trust", and the moment she emailed me that word, I felt that shivery feeling of "oh yes, that's RIGHT". Instinct, again: as I said many posts ago, I'm not a very analytical person. Wickett's post above, about taking it to have been tongue-in-cheek "There was comfort, there was ease, there was predictability in the Visser household until, suddenly, there wasn't. But trust?" is not what I had in mind yet, as so often in this discussion, what she's suggested is perfectly apt, and makes me understand my own book in a slightly different way.
inkwell.vue.390
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Kate Veitch, Trust
permalink #184 of 186: Kate Veitch (kate-veitch) Wed 1 Sep 10 16:18
permalink #184 of 186: Kate Veitch (kate-veitch) Wed 1 Sep 10 16:18
Wickett, Castle, Pamela, Coleman aka ckridge, and especially my dear friend Cynthia, the Velvet Paw who afforded me this splendid opportunity and worked assiduously to bring me up to Inkwell speed, and who recruited the band of volunteer readers so wisely thank you all, so much. Thank you too to those other people who came in and joined the conversation too. It's been like holding a many-faceted crystal with which I thought I was familiar up to the light, and giving it a quarter turn, revealing aspects entirely new.
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Kate Veitch, Trust
permalink #185 of 186: Linda Castellani (castle) Wed 1 Sep 10 18:08
permalink #185 of 186: Linda Castellani (castle) Wed 1 Sep 10 18:08
It's been a delight, Kate. I'm so happy to hear about what happens to the characters of Trust in the future. You mean...you mean, they aren't *real* people? Hidden also sounds wonderful. I especially like things that are more than they seem at first glance. Hope to see you again when your next book is published!
inkwell.vue.390
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Kate Veitch, Trust
permalink #186 of 186: Harmless drudge (ckridge) Wed 1 Sep 10 19:14
permalink #186 of 186: Harmless drudge (ckridge) Wed 1 Sep 10 19:14
Thank you, Kate. I never got to talk with a novelist about one of her books before. I learned a lot.
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