CWD Member Interview – Claire Bell

 

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: Claire Bell

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

1. I grew up in the Adelaide Hills but, like previous generations on both sides of my family, I was born in a different country (in my case, the UK).

2. I aim to live a ‘slow life’ – time to reflect, to live in the present, and to enjoy the extraordinary ordinary gifts of life. 

3. I’m hopeless at genres – identifying them and writing them. Which is ironic, as I once worked as an occupational taxonomist (i.e. assigning categories to the world of paid work).

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

I have never been able to settle to one form of writing. I have so far published a YA novel (Evernow, published in March 2022) and a crossover novel (post-secondary teens). I made up a term to describe the genre: speculative realism, meaning that it’s realism with a twist in time or space.

I also write poetry, and occasionally short fiction, creative non-fiction, and devotional articles.

I write to work out what’s going on in my head and heart, and to try to integrate it with what’s going on in the world around me.

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

I was thrilled when a friend bought a copy of my first novel, read it on his way to Manus Island, and gave it to a refugee friend there. My second novel is also currently being read by a refugee friend who is settling into Canada after 8 years of detention in Australia. He quoted a favourite line to me recently and that made me think more about those words than all my editing had.

When writing cover letters to publishers who want to know whose my work is similar to, I struggle. Not working in recognised genres leaves my work out in left field! But I think it’s a bit like Brian Caswell’s early writing (Australian YA author of Meryll of the Stones and other great books) and I would love him to read it – and see if he can recognise any similarity.

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

I worked hard to develop a writing practice, and succeeded for a few years after completing a masters degree in creative writing. But I’ve lost that habit now, and my writing tends to be just one of many activities I attempt to weave into my eclectic days. 

Having a deadline helps me to prioritise writing. After a few challenging years with ageing parents and health issues, my recent novel was only completed because Mark Worthing of Stone Table Books pressed me to have it ready for publication. Competitions, anthology and writing journal deadlines help to keep me writing with purpose.

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

I read craft books when I have a writing problem. The one that most recently helped with plotting and pacing was Dara Marks’ Inside Story: the power of the transformational arc. It’s a screenwriting guide but I think the directness of film shifted me from being overly focused on the characters’ inner lives to create more outward action.

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

Rosanne Hawke has been more influential in my writing journey than she realises. Not only her fabulous teaching, her highly enjoyable stories and her belief in me as a writer; Rosanne’s diligent writing practice has been an example and a goad. She’s like the Duracell bunny – she just keeps writing, keeps sharing her stories and herself with young readers, and keeps working to improve her skills. She’s my writing hero.

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

My goal this year is to gather stories from my relatives about my larger-than-life grandmother, Mirabel Cobbold. It’s a labour of love as I don’t expect it to be published beyond family copies. But her story needs to be preserved for future generations as she shaped much of our family identity, which is shared across four continents.

How to gather those stories is a challenge. Given that almost all my relatives are not in Australia and I’m not able to travel to them any time soon, I’m trying to work out how to have the non-writers share their memories of Grannybelle. I’m thinking of creating an informal set of questions that might prompt anecdotes, and maybe try different media so those who want to talk rather than write can do so. I’m open to suggestions on how this might be achieved…

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

To be honest, I’m not really sure how it does. I assume that the way I relate to Jesus and feed myself spiritually becomes evident in every aspect of my life.  I write largely for the mainstream – that is, I don’t often write about faith or God – so I trust that as my values and thinking are being shaped by God, it shows. Occasionally someone says something to make me think that’s happening.

I put time into writing and seeking to publish because I think God has a reason for making me passionate about the written word. I see my role as pre-evangelistic: using story to help readers envisage love, integrity, hope and the spiritual side of human existence. That’s why I write speculative realism. 

Claire Bell writes as Claire Belberg for her mainstream works of fiction and poetry. She is the author of two speculative realism novels for young adults (Evernow) and older teens (The Golden Hour). She has had shorter work published in inScribe journal, inDaily (Adelaide’s independent digital news service), and various anthologies. Claire lives in the Adelaide Hills where the abundance of native birds is a constant delight. She blogs occasionally at The Character Forge. 

Exploring Genre - Young Adult

by Cecily Anne Paterson

Want to start an argument? Ask someone in publishing to define ‘YA’. Don’t know anyone in publishing, but you’re still curious? Just enquire of Dr Google, who’ll spit you back more opinions about what YA is and what it means, than you’ll ever have time to get through.

I have an apparently controversial task ahead of me.

What is YA?

So what is YA? It’s the short-hand term for ‘Young Adult’ books and stories. As to who those ‘young adults’ are exactly, well, that’s anyone’s guess.

It’s safe enough to say that a YA book will feature a teenage protagonist who faces a challenge, learns and grows.

Here’s where it gets tricky: if the character is 12-14 years of age, some people will say it’s a ‘teen book’. They’d argue that a young adult is 14+, and I can understand their reasoning. A kid of 13 is dealing with different life issues than a young person of 16, and that young person is a different creature again in comparison to an 18 or 19-year old.

So within YA, perhaps we have three categories: teen, featuring characters aged 12-14, YA, with a character who is 14-17, and New Adult, following a protagonist who is aged 18-21.

What are YA books about?

Just like books for younger children deal with different issues according to age, you’ll find a huge variety of subject matter – and standards of what’s acceptable - within the YA genre. While you might not find sex, drug and alcohol use or swearing in a book at the younger end of the spectrum (they have to get past parents and librarians after all), you’ll almost certainly find some or all of it as you head up to the New Adult end.

You’ll find in current YA titles a tendency to feature characters from diverse backgrounds, religions and cultures. YA loves to tell tales of ‘outliers’, or the people who don’t fit in. Words like ‘searingly honest’, ‘an unflinching look at life’ and 'achingly funny' sell YA books. They can be brutally honest, sizzlingly harsh, and unbearably beautiful.

Years ago, YA books were often known as ‘coming of age’ stories. A young person can ‘come of age’ whenever they understand themselves or something in their world differently, whenever they cross a threshold or have a significant ‘first time’ experience, and whenever they move out and away from what has constituted safety in their life.

Because we’re dealing with young people, YA titles have all the feels, and lots of them.

My mother once read my (younger) YA title, Invisible, and said, “Well, there was plenty of teenage angst in it.”

“That’s the point,” I said.

The richness of working with a teenage protagonist is that they do have all that angst, and passion, and energy, and terror, and bliss, and wonder. Life is tough, and the first time you deal with it as a young person, you haven’t learned the wisdom older people use to discern truth from lies, shield yourself from unnecessary hurt, or set limits. The passion and intensity of young people is what makes them such wonderful characters.

Additionally, seeing the world through the eyes of a young person means that a YA writer can comment on society in unique ways. If Suzanne Collins had told the story of Katniss’ mother, The Hunger Games would have been an entirely different story. Instead, readers follow angry, idealistic Katniss into the dystopia of the Districts and its lavish Capitol, gaining with her a thirst for justice and peace, and a longing for change. 

It’s no coincidence that some of the best dystopian literature is found in the YA genre: it’s young people who have the passion and energy to make the world better.

Some Christian YA books I've enjoyed

I'd recommend Penny Jaye's Out of the Cages.
I'd also recommend Roseanne Hawke's books.
And Claire Zorn is a multi-award winning writer who is also a Christian.

Who reads YA?

Obviously you’d expect that teenagers would be keen to read books featuring characters of their own age, and you’d be right. But—and this has been a surprising development over the last 25 years— it’s not just young people. Adults are keen readers of YA and New Adult books.

In fact, adult readers make up 55 per cent of the YA audience, for which we have to thank Harry Potter. Before JK Rowling’s ascendency it might have been shameful to be seen reading a ‘kids’ book’ but a YA book in a grown-up’s hand is no longer notable.

Adults read YA because they still relate to the characters, because they still appreciate a challenge, and because a good, well-told story is still a good well-told story, no matter how old the protagonist is.

What about you? Do you read or write Young Adult or New Adult books? Which ones have you enjoyed reading or would recommend and why? 

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Cecily Paterson writes ‘brave-heart’ stories for girls aged 10-14, which puts her books at the very youngest end of the YA spectrum. Her novel, Charlie Franks is A-OK won the CALEB Prize in 2017. Find her at www.cecilypaterson.com