Despite my marketing degree, I always try to tell the truth.
So when I tell you that for a fleeting moment, The Deep Enders held top spot on Amazon then it’s absolutely true … but I also feel it’s necessary to add that it was just one day … maybe half a day.
And I’m okay with that.
And when I say that my book went great and is a bestseller in Australia … it’s totally true! But you also have to understand that there’s ‘bestsellers’ (ie. any fiction that sells over 5000 copies in Oz) and then there’s Harry Potter … and The Hunger Games … and The Maze Runner … and pretty much anything from Matthew Reilly. Those are genuine buy-a-new-car bestsellers.
And when I tell you that a film producer recently optioned the book for a potential TV series, yes that is also true! But then I feel it’s necessary to add that it took George Miller something like 20 years to get funding to make Mad Max: Fury Road … so I suspect it might be a looooong and winding road to get The Deep Enders onto screens.
And I’m okay with that too.
Writing is something you do because you have to, not for accolades or financial reward. I wrote The Deep Enders because the story nagged at me for years … the fact that most Aussies didn’t know about this incredible chapter of our history … the fact that the slavery of Indigenous pearl divers had been white-washed from schoolbooks … the fact that there were so few positive dads represented in YA fiction … the fact that most Indigenous heroes ended up dying in Australian novels.
These thoughts bothered me long enough that eventually I stopped waiting for someone else to write it, and I sat down and did it myself. Oh how I wish I could write beautifully like Tim Winton, or capture an emotion on the page like Claire Zorn. I’d love to know how Matthew Reilly keeps up such a dizzying pace and how Peter FitzSimons makes history so compelling! Sadly, I can’t do it like them … so I just wrote a story about three kids I love. And somewhere along the line, lots of other people started to love them as well.
And I’m really okay with that 🙂
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Hello Mr. Reardon!
As an aspiring author myself, I would like to ask you a question on the matter.
As I have observed in HowToCookThat videos, your family is Christian, correct?
What do you think about a Christian author using curse words in his/her work? — To either emphasize a character’s morality, or emphasize a situation.
So far, I haven’t used any in my work, but I had been thinking about it. Some advice on the matter would be very much appreciated.
Thank you so much! Am looking forward to a response.
God bless,
Shara
Hi Sarah, sorry that it took a while to get back to you. I very rarely check website messages 🙂 Yes, it’s an interesting question. I think one of the biggest factors is to consider your audience and what is appropriate for them & also the era in which it is set. For instance my novel was set in 1942, where strong language was used far less frequently than today. I also think that, generally in life and certainly in books, most swearing is unnecessary. I just read a terrific book ‘Under a Scarlet Sky’ set in Italy during WWII and it barely had any language throughout. It was actually refreshing.
From memory, in my book, I think I used phrases along the lines of: Finch cursed under his breath … or Banjo gave them a mouthful. Personally I think that’s about all that’s needed … readers can fill in the blanks 🙂 Good luck with your writing Sarah. PS. what’s your book about?