Nest of Vipers Update

I’m a tardy blogger but a tireless writer. That’s what I tell myself anyway. I’ve been very productive over the last few months and a milestone has been reached. The first draft of ‘Nest of Vipers’, Book 2 Empress of Rome, has been delivered to my Aussie publishers, Random House, and I am delighted to report they have reacted with undisguised glee and effusive praise. That’s certainly a weight off. So the countdown begins. I will complete my second draft within the next few months, juggling time between other projects. This will be no where near as arduous as it might sound. All the backbreaking labour has already been done with the first draft. Doing the second draft is something akin to intensive tweaking, tinkering and polishing – at least for me. My very good friend, Dr Chris Dent, is the only person outside my agent and the publishers that I ever show my work to, and he’s delivered a truckload of suggestions. As usual, he’s on the money, so I’ll be incorporating all his insights into the final version. Thank you, Chris.

And apologies to expectant readers who are hanging out for the next instalment, hoping it will appear this year. Random House have told me that it will go out on Australian and New Zealand shelves in April 2010, which is a little later than originally planned. Sorry for the extra wait. But I promise it’ll be worth it.

In other news, the first of the non-English language editions of ‘Den of Wolves’ has appeared – to my considerable excitement…

‘Gospodarica Rima’ went on sale in Serbia last month, published by the wonderful people at Alnari. It’s a beautifully produced edition, too.

At the end of May, I thoroughly enjoyed my time as Ambassador for the 2009 Emerging Writers’ Festival at Melbourne Town Hall. It was a fantastic weekend and it’s a miracle I still had a voice left at the end of it. Here’s an amusing picture of the attention-junky Ambassador hogging the mic at one of the sessions:

On either side of me are two fantastic authors that I was delighted to befriend: Daniel Ducrou and Kathryn Heyman. Kathryn looks especially bludgeoned by my remorseless hamming

A writer I greatly admire is Steven Saylor, my email buddy, who writes glorious novels about Ancient Rome. He’s got a new book out, ‘The Triumph of Caesar’, the latest in his Roma sub Rosa series. Visit his excellent website: Steven Saylor.

Finally, for those who are considering pursuing a career in television drama, I am running an intensive weekend workshop in Sydney this August about writing and creating serial dramas (or soaps, if you prefer). I’ve run this course quite a few times in recent years and I can promise you a weekend of enlightenment and fun. Visit the website of the Australian Film, Television & Radio School for more information.

Luke @ the 2009 Emerging Writers Festival

The 2009 Emerging Writers Festival kicks off in Melbourne on Friday 22 May and runs through until Sunday 31 May. It’s a fantastic opportunity for all those taking their first tentative steps towards calling themselves “writer”. It’s a festival packed full of events, seminars and good old fashioned advice sessions where industry professionals drawn from a vast spectrum will talk about the steps they took to get a foot in the door, and what you can do to follow them.

I was greatly honoured when asked to be an Ambassador for the Festival. I will be fulfilling my role at Melbourne Town Hall on Sat 30 and Sun 31 May for the Festival’s second weekend. This is when the lion’s share of the many events are happening. Look out for me if you come along, tap me on the shoulder and say hello. Being an Ambassador means I am AVAILABLE and APPROACHABLE to talk about everything and anything connected to writing and what you might do to get your own work out there into the public eye.

The Sunday Age printed a terrific article yesterday, complete with a few words from yours truly.

See you there!

Hello Istanbul

Sometimes it can feel all TOO quiet in writing land when it seems like it’s just you, the computer screen and a tepid cup of Earl Grey to keep you motivated for weeks on end. Then a flurry of activity reminds you you’ve still got a pulse.

I was informed the other week that ‘Den of Wolves’ is to be published in Turkey later this year and I couldn’t be more delighted. The publisher is Marka, an exciting and relatively young publishing house based in Istanbul. I’m thrilled to be joining them!

When I’m not writing, I do a lot of teaching, mostly in the arts of storytelling and screenwriting. I do face to face class work at the Australian Film, Television & Radio School (AFTRS) and The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT Uni), plus I also run courses on-line for AFTRS. These on-line classes enable students to learn from home, wherever they might be. I run these on Tuesday and Thursday nights, via chatrooms. They’re fast and furious and always a lot of fun, both for me and the students.

The next on-line course I’m doing for AFTRS is an Introduction to Screenwriting for Film & Television – a ten week course running from early-June to mid-August. Information can be found here. Applications close on 19 May.

Some further excitement for me has been a commission I have received from Melbourne’s wonderful Malthouse Theatre to do an adaptation of one of my all time favourite plays, George Feydeau’s outrageous French farce, ‘A Flea in Her Ear’. It couldn’t be more different from Ancient Rome, which is probably why I’m so excited about it. A change is as good as a holiday! And this will be quite a change. I’m flying straight into this one when ‘Nest of Vipers’ is finally handed over to the editors.

So, yes. I’m busy.

Finally, Joanne Renaud and I have been having a lovely exchange of emails since she was revealed to me as the writer of the juicy toga porn article in a previous blog post comment. Joanne’s illustration work is just gorgeous – a saucy example of it is included here. For some reason she thought I’d like this one particularly. I can’t imagine why…

Visit her website here.

At the Australian Romance Readers Convention 2009

It’s not the best snap in the world, but all the same I’m very grateful to the lovely lady in the audience who took it for me with my camera. Here I am, the thorn between four powerhouse roses, at the 1st annual Australian Romance Readers Convention, which was held in Melbourne on Feb 21 & 22. And before any readers start splitting hairs, yes, I know my books ain’t strictly romantic, but I was invited to be part of the panel that was discussing ‘Sex & Suspense’, so you can see why I look so very much at home!

The session was a hoot, as you can imagine. From L to R, are:

Sandy Curtis, Bronwyn Parry, yours truly, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Dianna Love.

It was particularly nice to meet so many readers afterwards too, and I’m thrilled that so many of you are keenly looking forward to ‘Nest of Vipers’.

A million thanks to Maggie Nash for her genius at organising such a successful event, and to the lovely Paula Roe for asking me along!

In other news, a nice review appeared in Melbourne’s MCV newspaper in the last week, which delighted me, and if I’m not wrong, I think I’ve scored my first on-line reader’s review, which is something I’ve half been fearing, because these things can sometimes be rather stinging! Here it is on The Nile’s Australian website. Many thanks to reader Natalie. I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Holidays and Heroes

Happy New Year to you!

In a sure sign that my Z-grade celebrity status has lately crept stealthily towards Y or even X-grade, I’m delighted to report that my summer holiday arrangements have been declared newsworthy. This little ‘postcard’ from me appeared in Melbourne’s The Age newspaper on the same day I crippled myself for four hours on a Virgin Blue flight to Perth. I think this bodes well for a good 2009.

I’ve had a marvellously relaxing break, thanks for asking. I’ve now been away from ‘Nest of Vipers’ for a whole month and this week I am contemplating my return. If the Romans had a god to help you avoid procrastination I’d be sacrificing my entire flock to him.

One of my joys while holidaying in the West was in being reunited with a very special book. Well, very special to me, anyway. I had long thought my once-treasured copy of Charles Kingsley’s ‘The Heroes’ had been tossed out to the op shops years ago. What’s more, I thought I was the one who’d been stupid enough to toss it. But no! My mum and dad, bless them, found my long-lost copy in one of their many bookcases and made something of a ceremony out of reuniting me with it.

This book is very special to me because it is THE book that kicked me off into my love for and fascination with the stories of the ancient world. I picked it up at a school fete for a few cents when I was only eight or nine. It must have been the cover that I especially liked, I suspect. I can well remember how avidly and repeatedly I used to read it in bed at night. It contains three thrilling Greek hero sagas, made kid friendly – Theseus, Perseus and Jason. I loved them all. This edition also has some quite splendid illustrations in art-nouveau style. My copy dates from 1915. There’s an inscription inside the front cover that says it was a prize from St Matthew’s Sunday School, Boulder, in the WA Goldfields, given to young Maurice Mann by the Rector. I hope Maurice enjoyed it as much as I did.

Anyway, I thought I’d share it. I’ve attached pics of the cover and one of the illustrations.

While I was away in Perth I was pleased to get some correspondence from Via Magna, the publishers of the Spanish edition of ‘Den of Wolves’. The translation is progressing very nicely, I am informed, and the book will hit Spanish shelves in September, later this year. I can wait to see the cover.

Favourite Reader of the Week!

This is the sort of email that I love finding in my in-box:

I wasn’t book shopping at all. I have too many books I am trying to
work through at home. But twice I walked past your book, and twice was compelled to stop.

The third time I bought it and it was read in a day.  Damn you Mr Devenish, for now I am aching for the nest installment!

Congratulations on a magnificent read.  It’s deliciously Roman.

As a lover of those long forgotten periods I have been reading of Rome and Greece and Egypt since I was four. I’ve had a fascination with these countries in particular for as long as I can remember and your book felt very, very real.

Congratulations I can’t wait for more!

Warm regards

B. fitzpatrick

Many thanks, B! I’m particularly impressed by how your resolve weakened over several days… The power of a good cover!

B told me off in a follow-up email for taking the time to reply when I should have been writing ‘Nest of Vipers’. B, I’m writing as fast as I can! Fear not, the next book in the ‘Empress of Rome’ saga will appear on Australian and New Zealand bookshop shelves in September 09, with other territories to follow later. Those nine months will simply FLY by, I promise.

At my desk…

Luke Devenish's desk, December 2008

Whenever I go to the homes of writer friends I always try to steer my way towards the room they like to write in – purely to snoop. I wouldn’t dream of touching anything (fear not, friends) but I certainly have a good old LOOK. And if my writer friends are with me when I do it, then all the better, because then I get to ply them with probing questions. Back when I was a kid in the 1970s there used to be a series of magazine ads for Glomesh handbags where celebrities would spill open their bags for readers to pick over. I remember finding those ads weirdly fascinating and clearly I’ve never recovered from it. I find the rooms and shelves and desks of other writers quite absorbing and hugely illuminating. So, to atone for all my snooping sins, I’ve posted a snap here of my own desk. Welcome to the view I spend an inordinate amount of time staring at for your (eventual) reading pleasure.

Items of interest:

Two computer screens. The one on the left is the ‘writing screen’. It’s vertical so that I can fit a whole A4-equivalent page of text on it. ‘Next of Vipers’ is actually on the screen in this snap. The screen on the right is for email and Internet. The background picture is another of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s paintings – this one of some well dressed Roman ladies cavorting at the baths. Perfect.

Bust of Antinous. Sitting on the left as a paper weight for tax receipts. Found this at an antiques fair last summer and have kicked myself ever since that I didn’t also buy the bust of Mars that was on sale with it. My miserliness is a curse. Poor old Antinous. He was the “very special friend” of the Emperor Hadrian before he mysteriously drowned in the Nile. Hadrian went unhinged with grief as a consequence. A rather fascinating tale!

Note book. Sitting in front of the key board is one of several notebooks I use to plot in. I try to carry one around with me everywhere, which is why smaller notebooks are better – they fit in pockets. This way I’m prepared for when plot revelations strike, which happens quite often when I’m in the middle of the writing journey. I had a big revelation the other day about curse tablets – those wonderful bits of black magic nastiness from Ancient Rome. And I thank the gods that I had my notebook with me, because curse tablets now play quite an important part in ‘Nest of Vipers’.

Roses. From my beautiful garden, of course. I think these are Crepuscules. They’re intensely perfumed, they fill the whole room with it, but they’re not crazy about being shoved in vases, which is why they drop petals everywhere. I bet the flora-mad Emperor Elagabalus loved them too…

Chairman Mao statuette. Standing on the right side of the desk. It’s like a red China Oscar. Deeply culturally insensitive I know (I’ve also got several framed vintage Cultural Revolution posters), but I find all megalomaniacs fascinating and Mao is no exception. It’s why I like writing about them. My other half found me this in a little shop in Sydney.

Books. I cycle the books I keep on my desk quite regularly. The books on the right side are all Roman in some way. There’s a Steven Saylor there, plus a couple of Robert Harrises, to remind me of the sort of sales figures I aspire to. Three of Anthony A Barrett’s excellent books are there too, plus a Michael Grant, plus the big fat Dictionary of Greek & Roman Antiquities, which is an invaluable reference tool. In the right bottom corner of the desk, conveniently close to my mouse, is my well-thumbed copy of Tacitus. I’d be lost without him! On the left hand side are recently read novels. I try to read at least one new novel a fortnight, but it’s difficult when I’m in the middle of an intensive writing period because I never feel like leaving my own fictional world. So at the moment I’m only reading non-fiction.

One the wall behind my desk (note that I do NOT look out onto a view – walls are better for me) are a few artworks by various artists. The painting on the right of the young bloke combing his hair is my favourite. It’s called ‘Sat-dee Night’ (which needs to be said in an Aussie accent) and it’s by the Tasmanian artist Stuart MacFarlaine. The art work in the middle is a beautiful watercolour view of Rome.

Under my desk is a doggy bed! I’ve got two half-witted dogs, Tess and Audrey, who snooze under my desk all day ready to spring up at any provocation in the hope of going for a walk. They get two excursions a day, but they’re always up for more, naturally.

There. Do you feel you know me better now?

If you haven’t come to this blog via my website homepage, then check it out because Paula has uploaded the first ‘coming soon in 2009′ blurb for Nest of Vipers. She’s also put up some new links for me in the ‘Luke in the News’ page, including a READABLE pdf file for my Sun-Herald interview, plus a couple of other press articles from my long-ago soap days.

Here another little press splash about ‘Den of Wolves’ that a reader unearthed for me. This one’s from Grazia magazine. Very kind! My ego can never be stroked enough…

Den of Wolves in Grazia, 1 December 2008

Sydney Sun-Herald and opening my garden

A terrific profile piece has appeared in the Extra Books section in the Sun-Herald (Sydney) and I’m a very happy author indeed. It’s such a coveted page to land, and what author wouldn’t want it with Christmas so nice and close? I’m as humbled as I am delighted, but can only apologise that I can’t provide a link to it. The Sun-Herald don’t make their material available on line, sadly, so the best I can do is post this jpg. If you click on the pic you’ll be able to save it and then use the zoom button to actually read the article.

(Update December 9: There is now a much more readable PDF file of this article you can download on my ‘Luke in the News’ page on my website. But only if you WANT to read it, of course.)

For nine days this month I threw my garden open to the public as part of a garden festival that happens in my part of the world, here in central Victoria, Australia. We’ve been blessed with an especially magnificent Southern Hemisphere spring this year, drought aside, and the three acre garden that my other half and I tirelessly labour upon is looking splendid. I’m a passionate gardener, I truly love it – it’s the activity I do most when I’m not writing. A happy bi-product of throwing my gates open to hundreds of other green-thumbs was that I got to meet a lot of readers. Lots of them came along with copies of ‘Den of Wolves’ to sign, and quite a few more felt they simply HAD to own a copy once they’d finished admiring my roses. Luckily, I had rather a large stack of copies on my front veranda so that no one had to leave empty handed…

I’ve already posted a couple of snaps of me signing books for readers on the ‘About Luke’ page on the web-site, so here are a few snaps of my beloved big garden.

Farewell Frankfurt and hello Belgrade

I’ve been keeping away from this blog for the last few weeks, mainly because I’ve been so intensively writing ‘Nest of Vipers’, Book 2 in the ‘Empress of Rome’ saga. I had all the storylines for the three (or quite possibly four) books carefully plotted out before I even began writing the first in the series, so I always know where I’m heading, what the historical reference points are, and whom the next corpse will be. But that aside, there’s always room to surprise myself. Two of the biggest delights, from a writing point of view, have come from two new characters I never originally planned to write about. As with Iphicles, who was never in my original plans for ‘Empress of Rome’ either, they have forced themselves into my imagination.

The first is a eunuch, Lygdus, a minor historical figure who gets the very briefest of mentions by Tacitus, and yet who played a very important part in one of the more notorious murders. I can’t think why Lygdus never leapt out at me previously, but when I encountered something of a story slump (as happens to all writers) I went back to ‘The Annals of Imperial Rome’ for inspiration and there he was. He’s filled me with considerable excitement, providing a strong and emotional new story arc for Iphicles in the process.

The second new character is not mentioned in Tacitus, but is based upon a famous 1st Century gladiator called Flamma. In my blending of fiction and history he has now become pivotal in the Agrippina story. I’d always intended to explore the world of the gladiators in the second book, but I hadn’t quite decided how. Throwing Flamma in with Agrippina has given me the answer and I’m having great fun with him.

Like ‘Den of Wolves’, ‘Nest of Vipers’ explores the under-explained and overlooked in Roman history. In ‘Den of Wolves’ it was the tiny, almost incidental figures from Rome – like Plancina, Piso and Martina – who gave me so much inadvertent inspiration because of all that was NOT clear about their actions and motivations. ‘Nest of Vipers’ continues in exactly the same vein.

In other news, the 2008 Frankfurt Book Fair is over and I’m delighted that ‘Den of Wolves’ had a strong presence there alongside the multitude of bestsellers from around the globe. For those unfamiliar with it, the Frankfurt Book Fair is where all the publishers in the world converge once a year to sell each other the rights to their titles. The first sale to come from Frankfurt for ‘Den of Wolves’ is to Alnari in Serbia and Montenegro. In addition to being translated into Spanish and Russian next year, ‘Den of Wolves’ will now be published in Serbian. I couldn’t be more delighted! I can feel a visit to Belgrade coming on… Many thanks to Nerrilee Weir from Random House for sending me the snap of the ‘Den of Wolves’ lightbox at the Random stand. This writer loves seeing his name blown up BIG!

Finally, I love getting snaps from readers. Here’s a pic of reader Kim, who looks pretty pleased with herself for buying, what I gather, is her SECOND copy of ‘Den of Wolves’. Good on you, Kim!

Racing up the bestseller list – in Target!

My beloved brother Toby sent me this snap – taken in a suburban Target store this week. He swears blind on a stack of Dan Browns that he DID NOT sink to any shelf manipulation here, and that this is legit.

I’m a hit among Target shoppers! Delighted to hear it. I never shop anywhere else.