The Complete Ghost of Ping-Ling Pronunciation Guide

Someone at the signing (who had read the book) asked me how the names are pronounced. I must have looked quite a sight mouthing them out slowly and carefully, so to avoid putting anyone else through such a disturbing experience I have written a pronunciation guide for your reading pleasure.

Dillen - too easy. Just say it like it sounds.
Koto - the o's are long (as in "hose", not "otter", where it is short).
Tajni - a long "a" (like "pasta") and the 'j' is soft, so it sounds a bit like an "sh" sound. The "ni" on the end sounds like "knee".
Heito - the "Hei" sounds like "tie", not "hay".
Hallegat - Hall-er-gatt.
Magoda - short "a" and long "o" (rhymes with "pagoda").
Qing - if this were a genuine Chinese name I believe it would be pronounced "Ching", but it's not, so it's just pronounced like the word "ring" with a 'q' instead of an 'r'.
Shu - sounds the same as what you put on your foot.
Zhangfu - last bit rhymes with "flu". The "Zh" is pronounced like a "j" sound.
Mazu - short 'a' and long 'u', so the "ma" sounds like it would in "man" and the "zu" sounds like "zoo".
Ghan - the 'h' is silent, rhymes with "ran"

Er ... I'm pretty sure I haven't forgotten anyone. If I have, let me know.

I've Got a Big Box of Books.

Nearly 2 and a half years ago I sent this off to Scholastic. (You can read more choice details about the event here).




Today they sent this back.




In anyone's language that's a heck of a good deal.

And if you live in Australia or New Zealand, I'm reliably informed the book should be in stores in the next few days. If you don't live in Australia or New Zealand, and you have an insatiable burning overwhelming desire to own the book (bless you), it's available to order online from many places (Google should guide your path).

It's very hard to describe how this moment feels. Perhaps I'll contemplate it further over a celebratory glass of wine.

Four Weeks to Go ...

... until publication date, and I have to say I'm starting to get excited. One of my daily rituals now is googling the book and the series, and seeing if anything else has come up (I have google alerts set, but they don't seem to work for me for some reason). So far it's mostly book shops advertising it as a pre-release title, and most of these seem to be in New Zealand for some reason. It still sends my heart into a flutter when I see it there. A real book with my name on the front -- who would have thought it?

A few people have asked me if I'll be having a launch. Originally I had been planning on it, but this last month or so my enthusiasm for the idea has waned. I think it was because my publisher wasn't all that keen on the idea -- something about the current climate of doom and gloom in the book-world -- and I'm not sure I can face the task of organising the whole thing myself. Perhaps I'll change my mind and hold something in late Feb, early March when I know for sure the books will be in stores. Watch this space.

I've also been giving a bit of thought to the whole publicity thing, ie. what, if anything, I can do to give the book a bit of a lift in the book-stores. I've considered following Duncan Lay's lead and doing spruiking sessions in various places, but I'm not entirely sure it will work as well for a YA/children's book. School visits might be more appropriate, so I think in the next while I'll start prodding the publisher to think about organising a few of those. Yes -- the idea of standing up in front of more than a hundred fidgety 8 year olds and trying to say something that will grab their attention terrifies me senseless, but it's probably something I should get used to.

Perhaps I could borrow a friend's (blunted) Samurai sword and give a demonstration of my prowess with the ancient art of the blade? At least it will give them a laugh.

First Ever Review

A big thanks to Lynette from Asia Bookroom, who kindly emailed me to let me know Ghost of Ping-Ling had a 4 star review in the summer edition of Bookseller and Publisher Magazine (not to mention scanning it for me and sending it so I could actually read it). The fact that she told me it had 4 stars made it a much less nerve-wracking experience, but it still made my heart thump to read it. I have to say I'm really delighted to have this as a first review -- Rebecca Butterworth has understood the intent of the book well, and the bit about the descriptions appealing more to boys made me laugh (now I'm tempted to put a snot-flicking scene into book 2).

I hope I'm not committing any heinous copyright violations by reproducing it here...

Dillen is alone, orphaned while travelling with his father in a far-off land and raised there by a spiteful priest. Without a job or a home, it looks like Dillen will remain there forever, until a mysterious Easterner appears who wants him for an important duty: he must find Hallegat, the mana-lord -- a man from Dillen's own land -- and help him on his quest, for a great reward. To succeed, he will have to outsmart and outrun the puk-do, half-men half-pig creatures bent on Dillen's destruction. Even when Dillen finds others who will join him on his journey, the quest becomes increasingly dangerous -- as the puk-do become the least of the party's troubles. This is the first book from author Peter Cooper, a fast-paced pure adventure story packed with new dangers around every corner. The prose is well pitched to readers aged 10 years and up, and the characters are just the right mix of complicated, heroic and humerous. This is a story that future Tolkien readers will lap up, and the book leads well into the second of three parts. Cooper is an excellent storyteller for boys and girls, though the descriptions -- which are deliberately ugly, for example, of the smelly, spit-dripping puk-do -- may appeal more to boys.

(Rebecca Butterworth is a freelance writer and book reviewer living in Melbourne.)

Uba Uba Uber Alles

This came in the post yesterday.



It's a thing of a thousand names -- arc, proof, galley, uba (that last one was a new one to me) but basically it's the book in a pretty well complete form minus the cover. After so many exciting and new experiences with covers, pages and so on it was yet another one to hold the book in my hand and start to read.

And look how thick it is!



Somehow I'd imagined an 80,000 word book being about as thick as a Discworld paperback, so this is a bit of a surprise. Did I really write all that??

Starting to feel more real all the time....

(By the way, I'm hoping to be able to write some more substantial blog posts in the next little while. Time has been at a bit of a premium over the last few months but hopefully things will start to settle down soon. Hopefully.)

Cover...

Is this not the most beautiful, exciting and wonderful cover ever devised by human hand? Whether or not you agree, it is to me!



And now it's almost starting to feel real...

So Close Now I Can Smell It.

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post, and how much has happened in that time!

I've finished the submission draft of Mapmaker's Apprentice and sent it off to the publisher. After nearly a year and a half of pain and 10 drafts (one of them handwritten) I have to say I felt really happy with the final result (thank the stars). So now I'm in that nervous wait time while the editor and publisher read it.

I also finished the edits for Ghost of Ping-Ling and sent them back. Currently I have a beautiful white wad of what they call "pages" sitting on my desk. It's basically the book in its near to final layout form -- like the finished thing but minus a cover, so myself and the editor can pick out any final (hopefully minor) changes.

Speaking of the cover, a few days ago I saw the latest version. It's probably enough to say it's the cover I was dreaming of. I am utterly desperate to show it, but that probably doesn't make much sense until the final version, which hopefully won't be too far away. Watch this space!

Oh, and as a final update. The series now has a title: "Tales of the Blue Jade."

Editing

Yesterday I started the edits for the Ghost of Ping-Ling. Prior to getting the manuscript back I was a bit worried about how much work I'd have to do , but in the end it's turned out to be quite reasonable (lots of misused commas -- I still think commas are one of life's greatest mysteries). I even got to write "stet" yesterday -- in green pen. Talk about the giddy heights!

At the same time I'm finishing off editing Mapmaker's Apprentice. I have to say, writing this book has been really, really hard. For some reason it's been extremely difficult to get the finer points of the plot ironed out, and some of the characters have changed two or three times and I'm still not quite sure I'm happy with the result. I've ended up having to ask for an extra month on the deadline so I can (hopefully) get it right.

(I should mention that three of my crit partners have read the manuscript now, and all were overwhelmingly positive (two of them said they enjoyed it more than GPL). That was desperately needed encouragement, but I can still see improvements that I want to make. I hope I'm not being overly picky.)

By a stroke of luck I'm about to finish up at my current work and start a new job, and I have 3 weeks off before I do. A large part of that time will have to go into editing, but having that time takes the pressure off enormously.

Then I have to start thinking about book 3!

On a Whim...

I did a google search tonight on "Ghost of Ping-Ling". I usually get this blog, plus a very interesting account of paranormal activity at a school in Nevada (why did he choose to take up residence in that school?).

Tonight I got this. It's an entry in the National Library of Australia Catalogue. Yes, it probably seems trivial, but it made my whole evening. It's real! It really is really real¹.

If I carry on like this over an entry in the catalogue of the National Library, what's going to happen when I see a cover? How will I react when I have a *gasp* ARC in my hand? What about the real published item?

After the last few days, it's wonderful to be reminded of something so unbelievably good.

¹In a very real and tangible kind of way.

I Have Not Actually Fallen Off the Face of the Earth

Instead, I've been frantic with all sorts of other things, so the blog has taken a bit of a back-seat while I try and catch hold of my own tail. I also haven't had much to write about, other than the usual reports about book 2 turning into a slog, and the latest in my outline vs no-outline tug-of-war (currently outline is winning).

But! I have something to write about at last. It's been 10 months since I got the phone call from the publisher about the Ghost of Ping-Ling, and 5 months since I signed the contract. Since then, things have been awfully quiet, and even though I knew that would be the case, I did get the occasional worry that perhaps I'd dreamed the whole thing. But today the editor got in touch, and it looks like the editing process is set to start sometime around the end of November, with a tentative publication date in August next year, much earlier than I had expected. We also talked about possible artists for the cover design, though that's all in the earliest of stages.

So, things are slowly starting to move along. I suspect that when the editing gets started, I'll have even less time to blog, but I'll make every effort to pop in now and again and report how things are going.

Reading Other Fantasy

I mentioned in the last post that I'd been listening to author podcasts from the Sydney Writer's Festival. In the last one, the interviewer mentioned that many authors go out of their way to avoid reading other fantasy while they're writing, out of fear their work might in some way be influenced.


I must confess, I'd never heard an author author say that before, and it got me thinking. My aim this year is to read a book a month, almost all of it fantasy. So far I'm right on track, perhaps even a little ahead. I've read Garth Nix, Cindy Pon, Duncan Lay, Sean Williams, John Flanagan, Alison Goodman, and I've got a whole host of books sitting in a pile waiting for my attention. I've learned something from every one, whether it's some kind of style tip, or something about world-building, or an example of how to build tension or vividly describe a scene. I'm a firm believer that one of the most important aspects of growing as a writer is to soak in the work of the experts, to see how they do it, and emulate what you can.

The tricky thing, of course, is to do this while still maintaining your own unique style and voice, and I think that's where a lot of authors decide it's easiest not to read anything. And I know exactly what they fear. If I look back at some of my earlier drafts of GPL, I can tell you exactly what I was reading at the time. When a bumbling wizard appears on an island, talking about IME's, or Indeterminate Magical Effects, I was reading Harry Potter. When a witch appears, and insists the main evil protagonist plant a kiss on her cheek before she gives away any information, I was reading Discworld. And when Dillen makes a decision that, for all intents and purposes, appears to be a betrayal of his friends, I was reading the Hobbit - specifically the bit where Bilbo gives away the Arkenstone.

I like to think that I've gone past that, however. Surely by now I've put enough words on the paper and sprouted enough gray hairs to be able to recognise when somebody else's style is creeping into my writing. Surely.

But is it still there? What if it is, and I can't see it, and in five years time I'll look back and recognise bits of all the books I'm reading this year and cringe horribly?

And now, I'd be really interested to hear what other people think. Do you avoid reading other works while you're writing? Have you found stuff from your reading creeping into your manuscript unbidden?

Don't be shy! Fire away.

Just When It Couldn't Get Any Better...

Omnibus have changed their minds. Now they want to contract me for three books, not just one.

While I know I should be doing happy-silly dances around the office, my main emotion is one of shock. I'm sure when I come out of this stunned state I'll do many dances, but in the meantime I think I'll just sit here quietly and blink at my computer screen now and again.

Hot Off the Press.

I can't believe it's been so long since I had a chance to blog here, but I'm glad to be able to break the drought with some wonderful news.

Six months ago this week, I headed off to the post-office with a parcel tucked under my arm containing the manuscript for The Ghost of Ping-Ling. Its destination was Omnibus Books, an imprint of Scholastic Australia, which I expected to be the first of a long line of publishers/agents it would travel to.

Then followed a long wait. I counted the days off in the calendar section of my red engineering diary. One day, two days, one week, four weeks, thirteen weeks, all struck off in black ink. Finally, in early January, I got a call from Dyan Blacklock, the publisher at Omnibus. To my joyful astonishment, she told me that she loved the manuscript, but wanted me to make a few (minor) changes before she sent it further along the acquisition process. It took me just under two months to make the changes, and I ended up resending just days before James was born in early March.

Then I waited some more. This time, I found the wait even more difficult. I'd had a taste of success and, despite my valiant attempts against it, I allowed my hopes to rise. To counter this, I tried hard to plan what I would do if word came back in the negative. I even subscribed to Writer's Marketplace and started yet another list of agents and publishers for the next round of submissions.

But the list proved unnecessary. On Tuesday, Dyan emailed me with the news that all the divisions of Scholastic had given the green light. The Ghost of Ping-Ling will be published most likely towards the end of 2011.

It's quite difficult to express the range of emotions I feel as I type this. To have spent so long striving for something, working so hard while trying to keep realistic about chances of success so small they may as well be zero - then to have it actually happen, actually for real happen, just completely takes your breath away. In many ways I still can't believe it, and I'm thankful that I have it in writing so I know it's for real.

So that's the scoop! Absolutely wonderful, unbelievably good news. I'm really looking forward to blogging about the whole process as it goes along, from cover design to editing to launching and beyond.

An exciting ride awaits.

I Can't Believe, After All This Time We're Through..

At least for now.

Tomorrow morning I'll be printing out the latest draft of GPL and trotting over to my second home - the office of Australia Post. It's been a huge slog, but I'm glad I managed to get it done within two months of the publisher asking for the edits.

It wasn't just fixing up the story. It was drawing two maps, writing the synopses (albeit brief) of four more books, completing the first draft of Weight of Souls, writing the synopsis of that one too, and eating. I did remember that last bit. Somebody told me that would be important.

So here I am again, in my waiting mode. I have all sorts of goals for what I'd like to do over the next few months, but I think I'll just sit back and enjoy my beautiful and soon-to-be expanding family. And I might try and fit in some blog posts too.

Scratchings

I was asked by the publisher to supply some rough maps of the geography for GPL. I've done some rough doodles before, but never really thought about the overall layout and distances and so on.

The experience was daunting, but a lot of fun. I ended up using tech-pens and high-grade tracing paper, having experimented with everything from gouache to acrylic to plain old pencil. The map above is half of the real life A3 version, scanned then fed into MS Word and Paint. It loses a lot of sharpness in the process, so I might need to get it professionally scanned next time. I'm quite happy with how it's come out, though, given that it's a first-draft.

The next job is to do a smaller scale map of the area where GPL happens. I'm hoping to do that one with more of an Asian map feel, something that just wasn't possible with the scale of the above.

The thing I found interesting when I was drawing the map was the number of ideas that kept coming to me for further adventures. I guess once you start visualising the places, the ideas start to flow. It's definitely something I'll have to do a lot more of.

Updates...

In October I mentioned that I had sent off The Ghost of Ping-Ling to a publisher, Omnibus Books, here in Adelaide.

Last week, the publisher rang to say that she had just finished reading the manuscript, had really enjoyed it, and wanted to ask me a lot of questions about it (which she did). She then asked if I would make some changes and resubmit, so the manuscript can go to the next stage of the submission process.

This is, of course, not an offer to publish. It's quite possible (maybe even likely) that at the end of this process nothing will happen. But even if that's the case, to have been noticed in the slush-pile is a wonderful encouragement, especially as I had been fully convinced I would get nothing more than a rejection letter.

So, I now get to dust off GPL and get my teeth into some more editing. I also have to write a synopsis of the remaining four books in the series, and draw a map.

In the meantime, if anyone can tell me how to add about 10 more hours to the day, I'd be really grateful...

Ghost of Ping-Ling

A few people have asked about my wait for GPL and whether I've heard anything. I did get some news a few days ago, along the lines that I'll be waiting a bit longer before I hear anything.

At least now I know it was received! I'll keep you informed.

Seven Weeks

That's how long it's been since I posted the Ghost of Ping-Ling. Several authors whose blogs I follow have recommended that the best thing to do in this situation is forget it and get on with life, pretend you never even sent it in the first place. This is very sensible advice. I would go so far as to rank it alongside "eat lots of brussel-sprouts" and "always remember to floss".

I have tried to keep busy. I've written 35,000 words of my next project, edited a short story, drawn about eight sketches, watched ten movies, even managed to read a novel and a half. But I can't help thinking about my manuscript. Has anyone read it? Is it sitting, covered in a layer of dust, on a shelf somewhere? Is it in a brief-case on its way to a meeting? Was there some sort of horrible mail mix up, and it's currently propping up a wonky desk in a government office in Liberia?

Who knows? Wherever it is, the waiting is very tough, and this whole thing about forgetting it and getting on with life is not as easy at it seems.

I will never complain about the query system again. The query system is like having a bandaid ripped off. It's not pleasant, but at least it's fast.

The Silence of the Blog

It has been a bit quiet here lately, mainly because I've been frantically trying to edit and finish the Ghost of Ping-Ling.

It's finally done! This morning, I padded down to my local post-office and handed the manuscript to a rather bored looking man behind the counter. Then I walked out and stood blinking up at a great ball of fire in the sky. They say it's called "the Sun".

To commemorate the Great Posting, I even took some photos (OK, they're not the actual posting "event", but close enough).





Those with extremely good eyesight will pick up that it is heading to Omnibus Books, a division of Scholastic here in Oz. Likely to be its first destination of many.

How do I feel? A very strange mix of emotions. Partly relieved and glad to have passed such a milestone and to be able to get into a new project. Partly as deflated as a balloon from last Saturday's party. And partly panicky that I might have got all my pages mixed up, one of my sons might have stuck something nasty in the envelope when my back was turned, or maybe if I'd only spent a few more weeks brushing up on this and that I'd have given myself a much better chance of getting it published.

Either way, that's it. The Ghost of Ping-Ling is off to fend for himself. God speed, young Dillen, fare you well.

As I was cleaning up some of my paperwork, I realised what a monumental undertaking writing a book can be (as if I needed a reminder). This inspired me to take another photo.



This shot contains two laptops, seven drafts, two notebooks, a bunch of reference books, and some rough working notes. It doesn't contain hard copies of the hundred or so drafts and attempts I never printed. It also doesn't contain several cases of red wine.

Did someone say red wine? I'm outta here.