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| Children’s Author Richard Newsome |
Richard Newsome‘s The Emerald Casket is about to be unleashed on America. It is the follow-up to his highly-acclaimed middle-grade novel, The Billionaire’s Curse. Here, Richard takes us inside his writing space, his love of Doonesbury and the tools he uses to wrassle his stories into shape.
Where did you write your latest book? How important to you is the space that you write in?
I tend to write all over the place. Mostly it’s at my desk (see picture), which is in a cool space downstairs at home. It overlooks the front yard, so between paragraphs I can study the full extent of our weed problem. When I get bored, or the cat chases me away (see picture…) I’ll give the kitchen table a try, or the back deck, and when things are really desperate, I shoot out to the library at the University of Queensland and try to reproduce the productive efforts of my student days.
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| Richard Newsome’s Writing Space |
Do you transform your space in any way for each book? Do you ‘get into character’ at all?
Absolutely not. The majority of the time is spent staring off into middle distance, trying to get the voice right in my head. Having unnecessary stuff around me would be a distraction.
How has the place that you write evolved or changed since you first began writing novels?
Not much at all. I think I spent too long in corporate work spaces to see desks as anything other than just functionary surfaces. Some of my best work is done on foot. A walk down to the park with a notebook and pencil is more likely to produce a breakthrough than face-time at the desk.
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| The Emerald Casket by Richard Newsome |
Do you keep regular writing hours? What are they? If not, when do you write?
I try to keep regular work hours but I’m yet to master the turn it on like a tap writing ability of some. I have the time between school drop off and school pickup to get the bulk of the writing done. Once the youngest member of the family is in the house, all hope of work is abandoned.
Do you have a morning ritual? Roald Dahl was said to sharpen pencils. What settles your mind for writing?
Coffee. Check Doonesbury online. Pick up lucky pencil, and go for it.
For other recent sneak peeks into Writers’ Spaces, be sure to check out the blogs of authors Gabrielle Wang and Christopher Cheng.
Next up in The Writer’s Studio, Katherine Battersby, author / illustrator of the soon-to-be-infamous Squish Rabbit (Viking US and UQP Aus, August 2011).
www.tristanbancks.com
