Interview: Steph Bowe, Author of Girl Meets Boy

Guest Post by Wordsmith Lane Intern Megan Burke

I’ve known Steph Bowe virtually (isn’t that how all friendships are done these days?) for just under two years and in that time I’ve watched her emerge from an unknown blogger to an internationally published author (well, soon-to-be internationally

published author!).

The sixteen-year-old’s blog, Hey, Teenager, gets enviable thousands of hits and had thousands of loyal followers, and her much anticipated debut novel, Girl Saves Boy, is being published in Text later this year.

She is keeping herself busy with publicity; upcoming appearances at writer’s festivals (including Melbourne and Brisbane) and working on her second novel.

Needless to say, Steph has certainly made a stamp on the industry and judging from the quality of her posts (and other articles in place such as The Age newspaper in Melbourne) and the hype of her debut novel, Girl Saves Boy, it’s clear that she will be around for years to come.

Tell us (in a nutshell) about your wordsmith career path so far.

I am having my debut YA novel, Girl Saves Boy, published in Australia by Text Publishing at the end of this month, and it’s also sold in the US, and will be translated into Dutch, Spanish and Catalan. I’ve written for The Age, and I’m hard at work on book two.

You’ve gone from blogging at Hey, Teenager to being a contracted author – how has your life changed?

My day-to-day life hasn’t changed much at all – I’ve just got more responsibilities. But I’ve done some public speaking as an author, and I’ve got a few festivals coming up, so that will be quite new to me.

Since finishing Girl Saves Boy – and in the process scoring a two-book deal – what is your second novel about?

I can’t tell you about it! I’ll jinx it!

You’ve also been writing some articles for The Age. Is this something you’d like to pursue further?

I’d love to pursue this further. I really enjoying writing articles (as you can probably tell from my blog!).

As well as working on your novel, you are home schooled – what is a typical day in the life of Steph Bowe? Do you feel like you’re missing out on a ‘normal’ schooling experience?

I get up in the morning and do schoolwork, go out and do something in the afternoon, write at night. I definitely am missing out on a normal schooling experience, but if I did go to school I wouldn’t also be able to manage a writing career. And don’t kids who go to school feel like they’re missing out on a ‘Steph Bowe’ schooling experience? I mean, they must miss a lot of Dr. Phil.

Most writers find that, at least initially, it’s very hard to get your writing read by a large audience. Do you think having a large audience base for your blog will make it easier to get exposure for Girl Saves Boy (and any follow ups)?

I think the audience on my blog means I can communicate directly with my potential readers, so it will be easier to get the book exposed to more people.

How did the idea for Hey, Teenager come about? Why do you think it’s taken off as well as it has?

There wasn’t really a specific idea – I wanted to talk about reading and writing, because I didn’t have many friends who shared my interest in it, so I started up a blog. I’ve no idea why it’s become popular – I think if I had set out to make a platform to sell books, it wouldn’t have worked out. I just blogged for the fun of it.

What are your plans after you finish high school? Do you think a creative writing/journalism degree would be relevant to you, considering you’re already a published, successful wordsmith?

It would absolutely be relevant to me – I don’t have much technical knowledge of writing, definitely none of journalism, so a degree in creative writing or journalism would be very helpful, and there’d be so much I could learn from that. But I don’t know whether I want to do writing as a day-job as well. I don’t have any definite plans at the moment.

You were extremely fortunate in that querying two agents and an entrance in a competition wheedled three offers of representation – almost unheard of in the publishing industry. What makes you so unique, so special? What is the key to your successes (especially at such a young age)?

I think it was a combination of putting myself out there (you can’t get a book deal if you never submit your work!), and exceptionally good timing and luck. There’s no special key, and I’m not particularly unique – I did the same thing, and I was on the same level as every other writer. It would be great if there were some secret to getting published, but there really truly isn’t.

What do you believe are key factors into breaking into the YA book industry?

Write write write, be passionate about the genre and the industry and be yourself. Hopefully yourself is someone who a publisher would like to work with.

What was the process of getting your manuscript from your computer to a physical book? Did everything meet your expectations? What were they? How did it differ?

After several rounds of edits, a typesetter typeset the book for the bound proof. So basically it went from a Word doc to a properly formatted PDF then off to the printers and into a book. The editing process and everything after it was what I expected, though very intensive!

Are we allowed to have a sneak peak at your goals list?

Oh, gosh. I don’t have a goals list. Should I have one? I’m just going to do my best to promote this book, write the next one, and finish high school. Just taking it one step at a time at the moment.

Ten In The Hot Seat:
Describe yourself in one word: curious
Biggest accomplishment to date: getting a book published! (of course)
You wish you wrote: every great book I read
Can’t leave home without: sunglasses
One thing you are currently writing: book two
First thing you wrote: I cannot remember
Addicted to reading: YA
Top spot on your goals list: there isn’t one
If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: the third-person narrator, seeing everything
The best thing about being a wordsmith: getting to work in your pyjamas

Blogger’s Desk: Some exciting Wordsmith Lane News

It’s been a while since I penned notes from my desk. And I really ought to keep this quiet until next week at least, but I tend to get very excited about these sorts of things, and alas, here I am sharing the latest in Wordsmith Lane News.

• We’ll be moving as of the next week or so, domain and all. I’ve kept www.sarahayoub.com under private hosting, and thanks to the lovely Steve Mellor, it has been tweaked to my satisfaction. And my satisfaction is this very theme. However, the new site will have some advertising, to help me branch out a little more with writer’s centres and events etc, and come 2011, we might have a Wordsmith Weekly newsletter going out to the peeps who want to subscribe to our writerly (and style, smarts and savoir-faire) ways. Over the course of the next two weeks, www.wordsmithlane.com will be transferring over to the new site too.
• In 2011, Wordsmith Lane will play host to ‘Wordsmith Workshops’: A series of workshops for writers who want to be a part of a group that workshops their work under some instruction from a professional. Since freelance journalism is more my forte, this is where we will be starting. At the moment, I’m looking at four hour workshops that cover pitching, research, invoicing, ideas, etc for around $200, with students getting a 20% discount. I’ve run a few workshops and presentations myself over the past two years, and I am really glad to be branching out on my own, firstly in Sydney and Melbourne, and Brisbane later on. We’ll also have some amazing guests on board as well, so you won’t only be learning from me. Stay tuned as we sort out the finer details (costs, locations, topics and speakers), and, so that I may know how many I am dealing with and budget accordingly, please express your interests to my intern Megan at intern[@]wordsmithlane.com – and include your state of residence. Ta Ta!
• And finally, after some consideration, I will be pulling down the post on writer-editor relationships from earlier this week. In due time, I will replace it with some non-specific advice on how to deal with a situation should it ever come your way. I really wanted to be honest with you about my experiences, because otherwise, you might never know how things go down, but in the interest of life, work and drama, I figure it’s best to shut it down, and move on…

Wordsmith Spotlight: Readings & Happenings from around the wordsmith beat

Compiled by Wordsmith Lane Intern Megan Burke (Blogger at Literary Life).

• Erica Bartle at GWAS always offers a great glimpse into the world of the glossies (which Wordsmith Lane reader comments and emails indicate is an area that many of you would like to venture into), and this week, she’s re-published (from Media Week) a great interview with Marie-Claire editor Jackie Frank, who has been at th helm of the magazine since it launched n 1995. Tuck into what it’s been like working at the same title since launch (while keeping it fresh for yourself and your readers) then go out and buy the commemorative 15th Birthday issue. Wordsmiths who have only started to read it in recent years will enjoy glimpses of what life was like in 1995, in addition to all the great material.
• The Australian Book Review Fellowship is awarding a $5000 fellowship grant worth $5000 awarded to an established Australian writer, for a substantial article with literary/cultural themes. Seems like very promising stuff.
• Asialink Writing Residency Program: Opportunity for Australian writers of various genres to live and work for an extended period in Asia. Grants of up to $12,000 available.
• Glenn Martin is launching his book The Ten Thousand Things at Gleebooks. RSVP: Gleebooks on (02) 9660 2333.
• Inventing the Tradition, The 7th Australian Poetry Festival, is a three day festival run by the Poets Union, designed to be challenging and, above all, entertaining and stimulating. The Judith Wright Memorial Lecture, as part of the festival, will be delivered by Chris Wallace-Crabbe.
• Melbournians take note: The Wheeler Centre is having an open day on Sunday 8 August. “Come to chat about what our resident do, their plans for the future and what kind of programs, workshops and services they offer. Melbourne Writers Festival will have a box office selling tickets to this year’s events, while the Victorian Writers’ Centre gives you the chance to meet their new director, Roderick Poole, as he launches Distance by Kingsley McGlew. SPUNC introduces three of their member presses – Kill Your Darlings, Extempore and Aduki – and our mainstage will showcase other Wheeler Centre resident organisations with readings, book launches and talks.”
• Also at The Wheeler Centre, this Friday there is a free talk: God-bothering, an Australian literary review discussion. To coincide with the release of two major new histories of Christianity in Australia, the panel picks apart how secular Australia writes about and talks about God.
• Global Access Partners is seeking a business journalist, for the soon to be launched First 5000. Tasks include blogging; providing editorial assistance to guest bloggers; pitching, researching and writing feature articles. For more information contact Sally Rose by email or phone (02) 8303 2430.
• The Australian Poetry Centre Omnibus is coming to town! The Omnibus, a mobile poetry library, is an exciting new project of the Australian Poetry Centre. The Omnibus will be partnering with regional Victorian festivals and writing groups. Communities interested in seeing Australian poetry in their community should contact Andy Jackson or on 9094 7826.
• National Playwrighting Competition. Closing: 13 August. The St Martin’s National Playwriting Competition predicts Australia’s brightest new writing talent and is open to 13- to 30-year-old playwrights across Australia.
• Creative Writing Competition 2010. Closing: 20 August. The Mental Health Week Creative Writing Competition invites students to write an essay, short story, poem or play on mental health and wellbeing, or what mental health means to them. It is open to all Victorian students in years 5–12. Winners are selected from three levels: Upper Primary Years 5–6; Lower Secondary Years 7–9; and Upper Secondary Year 10–12.
• The New South Wales Writers’ Centre is looking for book reviews of contemporary books and writing guides. However, you have to be a member of the writer’s centre and no more than 150 words.
• Fantasy author Kate Forsyth is running a writing workshop on fantasy writing, this Sunday 8 August at the NSW Writers’ Centre.
• The Blog Stylist reviews e-book, Let’s Give Them Something To Blog About – inspiration for bloggers!
• Upcoming festivals:

Hepburn Shire’s Words in Winter Celebrations in Clunes, Daylesford, Creswick and Trentham. 6–28 August.
Byron Bay Writers Festival. 6–8 August.
Warm Winter Words. 16 August.
Melbourne Writers Festival. 27 August – September 5.
Ballarat Writers Festival. 3–4 September.
Australian Poetry Festival. 3–5 September.
Overload Poetry Festival. 10–19 September.

Magic in a Stick

An open letter to the Burt’s Bees Herbal Blemish Stick,

I don’t know if you’ve read many wordsmithlane posts before. I am going to assume you have not, because I am realistic enough to know that this is a rather small Aussie writer’s blog, nothing at all like Primped, or Girl With a Satchel or Sassi Sam’s or Mama Mia’s.

And based on this assumption, I will also assume that you didn’t already know that I love the brand that spurned you. Have loved said brand’s products for a while. Since I discovered them lurking in the sneaky impulse-shopping stands at Myer, in fact. And more so after I tried them, and loved the fact that they came in old-school style packaging and were patented from natural ingredients that I actually put in my mouth, and therefore would not think twice about putting them in my hair or on my skin (you know, things like milk and pomegranates and lemon). Plus, they smell good, and seeing as I hardly wear perfume (unless it’s Garden of Good & Eva, or Gucci Rush 1 & 2, or Marc Jacobs Daisy or Vera Wang Princess – and that is all), this suits me just fine. I like my scent to come from my products.

Oooh I stray from the point. I am writing this to tell you that I love you even more now because of your magic wand. And I didn’t even have to buy it from Mr Ollivander in Diagon Alley. Which means I didn’t even have to look in Diagon Alley, where I probably would have gotten lost after buying too many owls and potions to cure things like writer’s block and procrastination.

That’s because your magic wand was easy to find, because your stuff is stocked in David Jones too, and some places online too. And boy oh boy, does that perfect wand that makes things disppear. Ugly things like blemishes and pimples that turn up out of nowhere to wreak havoc on the skin that I am channeling all my energy into sorting out in the wake of my impending nuptials in December. (Although perhaps my constant consumption of marshmallows and macarons makes this slightly difficult).

Aaanywwaayyy, thanks so much for rocking my world and making my pimples disappear. I love the fact that you are effective, straight to the point, and paraben and phthalate free. And you’re made of things like tea tree oil, and willowbark, to dislodge the crap in the pores that makes such blemishes possible. And, probably to my tabouli-making mothers’ joy, you also include parsley (and yes, calendula) to purify and reduce inflammation, and lemon to stimulate surface cell renewal.

Ofcourse, I didn’t know any of this when I started using you. I realised it all later when I came to toss out the packaging in the garbage, and I realised that you really do work wonders for a reason. There’s a whole Burt’s Bees system behind you, and that’s another reason why I love the brand. But I love you more, for finally being the one thing that works on my problem-prone skin.

So thanks for everything. Thanks so much for coming in a convenient stick the size of lipgloss, but that looks pretty ugly so I don’t mistaken it for my pretty lipgloss (which is something I am prone to do). And thanks so much for being herbal, even if you contain a little bit of alcohol for drying out those nasty buggers. And thanks for only costing $19.95. Although, because you prove your worth, I’d probably pay $200 for you.

So keep on rocking your magic Burt’s Bees Herbal Blemish Stick, and I am sure that one day, I will build up a good skin Dumbledore’s Army for you, so that we can all band together and damn the Lord Voldermort of Facial Blemishes into our pasts forever!

A tale from the book of Benefit, about the Garden of Good & Eva

A tale from the book of Benefit, Chapter One, Verse Sarah-was-bored-and-decided-to-do-a-beauty-write-up-worthy-of-her-supposed-wordsmithness (and then decided to lose all ounces of credibility by saying something like wordsmithness). I do hope you enjoy though!

In the beginning, the fragrance lords had distinguished between the heavens and the earth. The heavens were a place of scent: delicious, satisfying, and often costly. The lords had created beautiful bottles of expensive perfumes, given them fabulous names, and mastered smells as far and varied as the world that they had created. But the scents they had created were all the same in spirit and mission, and far too indifferent from their users, and this had separated the fragrance of the heavens from the abyss of the earth, where the people had thirsted for something that spoke to their uniqueness in spirit, taste, style and person.

One day, one of the lords, who was named Benefit, asked for light, and the light was good: a bulb atop a head that decided, let’s do something different for a change. And Benefit said, let’s call this the idea.

On the next day, Benefit decided to separate the idea from his other ideas, and he created a shape: of a beautiful gold bottle decorated with a robust collection of bright colours galore, and he saw that the shape was good. This bottle, he thought, would house the beautiful scent that was NOT going to be indifferent to its user. The gold bottle alone, decorated in a beautiful lime green paper and polished off with bright pink flowers and a wicked font, would see to that. But nevertheless, Benefit kept going.

On the third day, Benefit said “Let the earth put forth plants and fruits from which I can extract the most delicious scents, to create a garden so perfect and grand, that every lady who henceforth roamed the earth would want to bask in its glory”. And so many beautiful plants of the Earth sprung forth for him, and he saw that they were good.

The fourth day was one of great satisfaction for Benefit, because he knew that he had, at his selection a number of fruits and plants that would make for the ultimate scent of the Earth. He selected and extracted notes of citrus, pear and watermelon; muddled them with rose, jasmine, violet leaves and freesia, and mixed them up with the essentials of the woods: sandalwood, musk and cedar. And he saw (and smelt) that his concoction was good.

As his beautiful earthly scent came together, Benefit knew that it was time to adjust to the notion that he would have to free her, into the earth from which she sprang, to lavish her beauty on the lives of his earthly beings. The ones who wanted to be different, and stand out from the crowd. And so the fifth day came, and Benefit said “I shall build for her a home in which she may reside, a townhouse of splendor on Crescent Row, where she may enjoy the company of her sisters in frangrance-kind*. Her home shall be built of solid stone, guarded with black iron fences, offering a peek into the outside world with a grand balcony accessed by green french doors. And it shall be bathed in that good light which spurred my creation, with large windows that will overlook a lush garden, to remind her of the dust from which she was brought”. And so the image of the townhouse was painted on cardboard boxes, and the scent was filled in the gold bottle decorated with green paper and pink flowers, and the bottle was placed delicately into the cardboard box that would house her. And Benefit saw what he had created, and he knew that it was good.

Thus the masterpiece was finished, and on the sixth day, Benefit bid her farewell, and she went to live with her five sisters in her new home on Crescent Row. But before she left, Benefit stamped his fee of $59 upon her. And he said that she was to be available for the use and enjoyment of the earthly people only from August 14th. And he saw, that in her luxury, difference and summery beauty, that she was good.

Content and rather spent, Benefit rested. And this was the seventh day. He had created a scent so deliciously fruity, that he retreated back into the heavens to relax until his next concoction. He had given the earthly women the likes of Porefessional, and PosieTint, and Hello Flawless. And he had scattered brow bars and make-up stores and pretty rooms across the lands, so that all those who inhabited them may too feel the glory of a beautiful masterpiece.

And so the earthlings roamed the lands surrounding Crescent Row. And though they had many a choice from the thousands of heavenly fragrances on offer, they were far too tempted, and as they came upon the little lane, they were rightly enamored by Masterpiece, the ultimate bottle of good and evil. Good because she was so luscious and lovely, and evil, because the want of her crisp and summery scent could render one simply mad!

Thousands of years beforehand, Benefit had heard the tale of God and Adam and Eve. And the serpent. The most wicked of all the damned. The one from whom all nastiness sprang, the one who lustfully roamed the world seeking the ruin of souls. The cursed one.

Benefit knew he was in a different position to God, who had reason to ban the tree of knowledge of good and evil from the garden (like eating bread that you had worked for, and pain in childbirth, and shame and gluttony and envy and other nasty things). So Benefit, saddened by the wrongs that were done to God, decided to free himself the pain. He had, after all, counted on the lust that could befall his earthly friends when they were tempted by the likes of his masterpieces. 

And so instead, he made it a MUST to enjoy the scent of Masterpiece, and so he banished the evil from her name, baptising her instead ‘Garden of Good & Eva’, knowing all too well that she was far too perfect a summer scent (and one that would serve the earthlings well, unlike the forbidden tree) to be banned from the fragrance collections of mankind.

And so, on the 14th August, when Eva’s journey from the Benefit lab to the shopfronts of Crescent Row is complete, you may also bask in the glory of her summery perfection. And maybe in the process, you too, would become a scent so irresistible, and a fruit so definitely ripe for the pickings of man**.

* Garden of Good & Eva’s sisters in frangrance-kind are: Laugh With Me Lee Lee, Something About Sofia, My Place or Yours Gina, Lookin’ to Rock Rita and  So Hooked on Carmella. All are $59 and you can catch a review of the newer fragrances (rather than a long story) over at Sassi Sam.

** And I mean this in a metaphorical sense. Please, do not go out and fall for every trick in the male book. Hard to get works wonders, you know. And I am sure ‘In the Garden of Eva’ will give you the power to see it through.

Life Snapshots:Magazine Moments, Uber Cool Nails & Hunter Valley Escapades

Wordsmith Weekly is not going to be too big this week. Just a bit of wordsmith news and a few points (and a few pretty pictures) about what rocked my socks this weekend, which I spent in a blur of wine and cheese tasting in the Hunter Valley to celebrate my best mate Danielle’s 25th Birthday (I almost wrote 21st there lol, she would have been pleased).

• I-DSubscribe, Australia Post, Camp Quality, Publishers Australia, Mumbrella and the gorgeous Erica Bartle of Girl with a Satchel are the key supporters of The Maggies, the national poll to celebrate the best magazine covers of the last year. Voting opens in September, so start looking through your glossy piles and give your fave cover the recognition that it deserves here.
• Dreary winter is one month shy of leaving us for good, but if you want to brighten up your days a little earlier, look no further than Face of Australia’s Brights nail polish range. I’m currently wearing the fluro orange shade called Last Call (Fiance, who usually mocks my style preferences, deemed it ‘sexy’) but I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the coral-red shade they like to call Sold Out (probably because it will be). Right now, I am working up the guts to wear Flipside, which is the lime green colour you see here in my pic. For those a little more conservative where nail colour is concerned, Face of Australia also does a Colour Pro range, which is chock-full of reds and pinks and other normal colours. But who wants to be normal?
• I’m having a magazine moment, and I want to buy everything now that September issues are hitting the stands. Vogue Australia has a rocking 50′s cover (those that know me well know that I would have loved to live in either the 20s, or late 40′s and 50′s), and Harper’s Bazaar has a major fashion issue happening, but my first buy of the week goes to Madison, which sports a piece on fake luxury items and another on whether you can succeed in your career if you’re too nice (speaks to me that one) in a chunky book size that will be worth my bucks.
• My Mad Hatter’s Kitchen Party is going to be a little more exciting now that my best friends (Danielle and Gloria) have bought me an exciting Alice in Wonderland tea pot to add to my tea pot collection. This one has the quote: “This is the most curious tea party I have ever been to” said Alice on it.
• Stay tuned to Wordsmith Lane this week for wordsmith news from around the writer’s beat and the world wide web, a new post for wordsmith textbook, as well as a beauty post that flexed my creative writing muscles. Plus more. In the mean time, I will leave you with a few shots from the Hunter Valley’s storybook gardens. Wordsmith Fun!