Bronwyn Parry's done it again

Can I be a bigger fan of Bronwyn Parry?

You may recall I had a little rave on this blog back in April after reading her debut novel, As Darkness Falls. I LOVED IT!

Having just this minute finished Dark Country, I can tell you her second novel is not twice as good.
It’s not three times or even four times as good.
It’s ten times as good – or more.
More uniquely Australian characters and settings, more fabulous imagery, more thoroughly researched plots and very believable obstacles for characters – Sgt Kris Matthews and ex-con Gil Gillespie – to find their way out of.

The clever way Bronywn tied, not only the complexities of this novel together, but also her weaving of details from As Darkness Falls, left me an author-in-awe.

As an author-in-waiting, I’ve heard this advice many times: “Create characters your readers will care about. Make your readers want to cheer.”

I finally understand what it means now. Bronwyn threw her characters so many holes to get out of I was about to make pom poms!
My dilemma right now though is, while I was so inspired to write after reading her first novel, after finishing Dark Country, I find myself languishing in a big black hole echoing with the words,

“You’ll never write something that good, Jenn.”

But I figure, just like Sgt Kris and her enigmatic ex-con, Gil, I will get out of the hole, I’ll go on believing in the possibility of publication, and I will find a happy ending – even if it’s just fiction!

Do yourself a favour and check out Bronwyn’s books.

PS Love the UK cover. Now come on with book 3, Bron. I'll have those pom poms ready to cheer on your next feisty female who is....?????)


http://www.bronwynparry.com/
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Straight-jacket anyone?

I’ve never understood poker-machine addicts.

My mother was one. On the sunniest and most spectacular of days, her favourite thing was to sit inside a dark room at a machine and drip feed coins into it hour after hour (I believe they take notes now – oh dear!).

She barely stopped for food in those days – a ciggy and a Riesling usually did the trick.

Not for me! You wouldn’t find me inside on a sunny day, sitting in front of a machine and....oh dear! I guess you would.

It appears I’m addicted to writing. Worse still, I’m addicted to writing competitions. To me writing competitions are the ultimate tease. It’s just like mum used to say, “One more coin – just one more. I can’t walk away now. The next one might be the winning coin.” I now hear myself saying, “Just one more writing competition. The next one could be it. If I walk away now, I’ll never know, or worse, another person could step up and take the winnings and I’ve spent so much time feeding words into this blasted thing...blah, blah, blah."

Oh dear! I think I need help. Straight-jacket, anyone? Better still (since it's hard to type in a straight-jacket) is there a Writers’ Anonymous out there anywhere?

Hello...my name’s Jenn...and I’m a writing-comp-aholic.