Ideas and style with best-selling author Melina Marchetta
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Well known Australian author Melina Marchetta talks to Pamela Wilson in today's podcast about her new novel The Piper's Son and also discusses many aspects of her writing style.
Listen to Melina discuss:
* how the story of The Piper's Son came about and the internal struggle she overcame to write this story;
* the importance of voice in creating a true portrayal of characters;
* drawing parallels between a character's world and reality to bring authenticity to a story;
* how to 'show' the reader a character's inner turmoil instead of 'telling' them.
The Piper's Son is a tale of personal struggle and family bonds that follows the lives of Thomas Mackee and his aunt Georgie.
Tom's story picks up from Melina's best-seller Saving Francesca.
Listen to Melina's full interview, or use the index below to navigate to the sections you are keen to hear Melina discuss.
1. How is the Piper’s Son doing now that it has been out for two months? 00:00
2. Why do you think it is doing so well? Is it because it is a sequel to Saving Francesca and readers want to pick up where the story left off or because your work is now quite well-known? 01:01
3. You just mentioned that the fans of Saving Francesca , which was a young adult book, have now grown up and are in their twenties. Is that why this book is in the adult fiction genre and not the young adult category, because it has moved with the fan base? 03:11
4. How did Tom's and Georgie's stories come about? 06:05
5. I wanted to talk to you about your writing style. Firstly, I notice that when you include background information in your stories, you pepper it in in little increments instead of devoting whole chapters, or sections of chapters to it. What is the advantage of doing it this way? 09:25
6. When reading the background and personal information in this story, it also becomes clear that your characters experience a lot of inner turmoil. How can an author best show inner turmoil in a character? Is it about pace, or showing and not telling? 11:56
7. That brings me to voice. This story is written in the third person and in the present tense. Why is that and how do you know what the best voice for a story is? 15:22
The Piper's Son
By Melina Marchetta
Published by Penguin Australia March 2010
Melina's other titles are Saving Francesca, Finnikin of the Rock and On the Jellicoe Road.
If you liked this post, you might also enjoy the following articles and podcasts:
* On writing, with young adult author Julia Lawrinson
* Author Helene Young's perfect pace
* Sonya Hartnett breaks all the rules
For more information about Pamela Wilson or WriteSmart, log on to http://www.writesmart.com.au/