CWD Member Interview – Marc Z Jeffrey

Most Thursdays this year we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview: Marc Z Jeffrey

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

My mother is a published author and a librarian and my father was a prominent scientist in defence and a sci-fi book nerd, so writing was something that was always going to happen – it was just a matter of when.

I have had a number of careers, through ocean science and IT and I worked in the Australian Patents, Trade Marks and Designs Offices (now known as IP Australia)… So I was pretty exposed to crazy ideas. I am sure some of these have fed into my creative works

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I write what I am interested in, usually in fictional form. I probably only started thinking about writing seriously when I heard about NanoWrimo in about 2001 and thought I’d take it on and write something of length. However, it was 2003 before I first actually took up the challenge. Before that, it had mainly been abandoned attempts plus short stories articles and articles for a staff magazine that I was editing – and usually ended up writing most of, as I got so few contributors.

Oh yeah. I edit too. Probably do way more of that. My skill is shooting down a wandering apostrophe at a hundred paces. My wife tells me I am a good copy-editor, too.

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

a) My wife, Susan J Bruce (aka Sue Jeffrey), who is an admin of CWD. Members of my writing group, Literati. Probably my day job bosses, though if they have remote access to my personal computers, I am officially worried. Anyway, in that case I hope I’ve entertained them thoroughly and taken their minds well away from digging for dirt.

b) Editors from major publishers, major movie companies. More realistically, the person who needs to dream more, to believe more and to act on their beliefs more. Other than me, that is…

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

What helps me most? Getting reminded mainly by my wife that I won’t remember much of my current office job when I retire; (I already know that).

Challenges. Finishing. Yep, probably finishing and knowing when to stop finishing and do something about publishing… But seriously, it’s not the sum total (think word count) of what I produce that matters most – (I say as I while away too many hours on silly word games) – but who I influence and what I do on the way. 

I prefer the writing process to be organic, but to be organic I need to be diligent in collecting and mulling over facts, thoughts and observations. I think faith works in a similar way.

Published books would be great but the process, not the product, is the thing of substance.

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

Stephen King’s ‘On writing’. One of the first books I ever read ‘on writing’ and it has stayed with me. It is short – good advice and to the point.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

(Am I allowed to pick someone other than my wife?) Claire Bell. Author. She has a keen sense of how things are, not just how they appear to be, and is able to bring that out in prose.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for this year? How will you achieve them?

A year. Well, it was a full year in January. I thought of it as a long time then. I told myself I would write something fresh – but I really want to knock into shape a trilogy that I started way back in 2007 (no, really) and has been waylaid too many times. Nearly half the year has gone without really starting, but who knew about COVID in January? We knew too much about bushfires back then. But the wet, cold weather has arrived – so no more excuses.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

As I write mainstream, I will borrow an analogy used by website developers when determining how to make the site easy to use; be able to access information and submit forms without problem. The analogy used is ‘baking in’ those features that make the site easy to use in the initial style templates, long before the developers get to play and ‘pretty it up’. 

Similarly, I don’t intentionally go about inserting faith blueberries into my story right before it is sent off to beta readers. That would be gauche. The flavour will be there in the mix to start with and be ‘baked’ into the finished product. The story will be faith-flavoured regardless of who is going to read or assess it.

Website: www.alignedcreative.com.au

This is my editing website, launching soon. Special introductory rates will apply for members of Christian Writers Downunder 

Work in Progress: Watch this space.

My Coach and I

by Catherine Sercombe

 

‘Last piece of assessment – complete!  Happy dance!’  



I recently posted those seven words to my Facebook status. They marked the final strides of a marathon I began three years ago, when I enrolled in Tabor Adelaide’s creating writing program. For seven words that were so easy to type, winning the right to type them took much disciplined effort, many taxing training sessions and even more unruly bouts with angst. 

We writers constantly line up at the starting blocks.  Sometimes we’re running a fast blog sprint or a 200 metre short story dash.  Some jump hurdles by writing outside their comfort zone; others embark on a cross-country exploration of history or memoir.  Long distance bravehearts pace themselves to finish that novel, or series.  Some of us are crazy enough to try a literary decathlon. One thing is certain; every race takes preparation, inspiration, dedication, commitment and the support of others. We’re more like relay runners than individual athletes.  We pick up the literary baton and run with it, producing the best text we can; our fellow writers, friends and family members urge us on from the sidelines; editing moves the text forward in an effective slipstream; publishing increases its momentum through polished presentation and aggressive marketing, just to get that all important baton to – not the finishing line, but its starting position! It’s our readers who pick up our literary batons and run with them.  Our task is to make sure they enjoy the run, making it a win-win experience for all.   

To be honest, when I signed up for this creative writing gig, I envisaged more of a fun run than a marathon.  I wanted to try tertiary study, and creative writing seemed far more appealing than … well, just about everything else I could think of. Tabor offered external study options and Christian lecturers.  My choice to enrol seemed like a no-brainer, really – until that first day in February, 2011, when I sat alone at my computer, sporting a stylish set of headphones as my new fashion accessory, poised to listen to the orientation lecture.  As I positioned the mouse on the starting blocks, ready to click ‘play’, the enormity of the task ahead exploded like the shot of a starter’s gun.  I was off and running, but did I have the wherewithal to reach the finish line?  Maybe.  Maybe not.   

What I needed was a strong, central motivating factor, a personal coach if you like, to inspire me as I ran. In literary terms, I needed a strong chiasmus, a central point of intersection to connect the beginning with the end of my study story.  As I tackled my first assessment task, a chiastic poem, the perfect Chiasm offered to become my writing coach:
 

Now that I’ve finished my study marathon, there’s no time to rest on my laurels.  A novel is already calling me to the starting blocks.  Can I get that baton ready to pass? Maybe.  Maybe not.  But my Coach and I will give it our best shot.     

Catherine Sercombe is a wife, mother of three, education business manager, tutor and creative writing student who lives in Toowoomba, Qld.  Described in Christmas Tales from the Upper Room (2012, Pantaenus Press) as ‘a creative and talented writer whose work reflects an infectious love of language’, Cathie says, ‘From A to Z, surely the best writing begins and ends in God.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1-2). That’s an epidemic worth spreading.’