Comments on Hackpacker: Ahead of the Pack: A Profile of Anna Dusk

Many institutions limit access to their online inf...

2010-05-13T16:37:07.715+10:00

Many institutions limit access to their online information. Making this information available will be an asset to all.

Thanks, Blair. The Graphic Novel weekend went real...

2010-04-27T08:51:45.628+10:00

Thanks, Blair. The Graphic Novel weekend went really well with solid attendances and some great interest. Several creators there but also some publishing industry people.
Interesting to hear you had an early read of the ms. In the interview, Dusk said she re-drafted it substantially, removing the vernacular to please one publisher. That publisher subsequently dropped the novel. I think the vernacular is one of the more exciting things about the book and editing it would be difficult if you wanted to keep that strength. But also Sentimental Bloke wasn't to everyone's taste.
Understand your points on consistency though I reckon yer language changes depending on who you're speaking to. I've been wrestling with you/ya in my own manuscript and I use it inconsistently but correctly in different contexts. It's probably for the commissioning editor to judge though...

Nice work at the Drawing Out, Drawing In sessions ...

2010-04-26T00:33:37.605+10:00

Nice work at the Drawing Out, Drawing In sessions yesterday. I was very impressed.

I read an earlier version of this novel when it was with another publisher and I've got to say I hated it with a passion, largely thanks to the 'kooky spellings', which annoyed the hell out of me. It's one thing to represent the vernacular but there was no rhyme or reason to the way it was implemented, and it was utterly inconsistent. On one page a word would appear with an unconventional spelling and on the next page it would be conventional. Maybe it's been improved since I saw it a couple of years ago, but I'll still be steering well clear of the published version.