{"id":5335,"date":"2017-07-23T18:22:09","date_gmt":"2017-07-23T08:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/?p=5335"},"modified":"2020-09-26T23:17:52","modified_gmt":"2020-09-26T13:17:52","slug":"adventures-in-self-publishing-whats-this-book-about-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/adventures-in-self-publishing-whats-this-book-about-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Self-Publishing: What\u2019s This Book About, Anyway?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Way back in 2012, I wrote this<\/a> on Memoranda<\/em>, in response to a reader\u2019s question:<\/p>\n

\u201cShannon asked me about the new book I\u2019m working on, so I composed a long blog post on the subject, complete with jokes and a cool photograph of a turtle. But then I read over it and realised I didn\u2019t feel comfortable revealing that much detail about a writing project that\u2019s at such an early stage, it doesn\u2019t even have a title, let alone a publisher.<\/p>\n

So I deleted the post.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t a complete waste of time, because I also realised that writing that post had made me feel more confident about this new book. After I finished ‘The FitzOsbornes at War’, I flipped through my mental catalogue of Ideas For Books and decided I needed to write something that would not be the start of a series, would not be a complicated family saga, would not include scenes of heart-rending anguish, and would not require much research. This next book would be fun and easy to write!<\/p>\n

Of course, it hasn\u2019t turned out quite the way I\u2019d expected. I\u2019ve spent the past six months compiling a vast folder of notes and diagrams and photocopies, but feel I\u2019ve barely started on the research. It isn\u2019t a complicated family saga, but at the heart of the story is a mystery that requires far more complicated plotting than I\u2019ve ever before attempted. It was supposed to be a stand-alone novel, but I already have ideas for a sequel and I\u2019m not even sure the book would be best described as a \u2018novel\u2019. Plus, there\u2019s at least one scene of heart-rending anguish\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And five years on, I\u2019m still working on that book, although at least now, I know what it\u2019s about.<\/p>\n

Dr Huxley\u2019s Bequest<\/em> grew out of several ideas. One of them was sparked by my irritation at shoddy articles about health and medicine in supposedly reputable newspapers. One particular Australian journalist, who clearly had no scientific education whatsoever, specialised in what I came to think of as \u2018blueberries cure cancer\u2019 stories \u2013 that is, articles that misrepresented or ignored scientific research in favour of sensational, fact-free assertions by celebrities and self-proclaimed experts who had no medical qualifications. I have a science degree and have worked in health sciences for most of my adult life, so I could see these articles were utter rubbish, but what about other readers? People were spending lots of money on these useless \u2018cures\u2019 and sometimes putting their health at risk by following harmful advice. <\/p>\n

I was especially concerned about teenagers who dropped science subjects early in high school because they hated maths or decided science was boring or difficult. Scientific literacy is just as important in modern life as being able to read and write and interact socially. Science doesn\u2019t always have to be learned in a classroom, though. Some of my favourite reads in recent years have been popular<\/a> science<\/a> books<\/a> \u2013 books written by experts who are good at explaining complex scientific ideas in an entertaining and informative way. But those books are all aimed at adults. Where are the popular science books for teenagers, especially teenage girls?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that there are no<\/em> Australian books about science for young readers. There are thousands of colourful, interesting books for primary school students on a wide variety of science topics, from astronomy to zoology. There are science books for older students, too. There are well-written and well-designed text books used by science teachers in the classroom, but they\u2019re not intended for general reading. I\u2019ve also seen books with eye-catching titles and cartoon covers, along the lines of There\u2019s a Worm on My Eyeball!<\/a>, full of disgusting facts and clearly marketed at boys. <\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s nothing to stop girls picking up these books and some girls do<\/em> like them, but I was interested in writing something more thoughtful and philosophical, although still entertaining \u2013 a book that would appeal to teenage girls who were interested in history and stories and people, but thought science was difficult, dull and only for boys<\/a>. I decided a history of medicine, from superstition to science, might be a good way to introduce the beauty, creativity and power of scientific thinking. The book needed a framing narrative, so I came up with Rosy and Jaz, two very different thirteen-year-old girls who are thrown together one summer holiday because their parents work at the same college. A mysterious bequest sends Rosy and Jaz on a race against time to identify thirteen strange and wonderful artefacts \u2013 which turn out to tell the story of medicine, from the superstitions of ancient Egypt to the ethical dilemmas of genetic testing.<\/p>\n

Rosy and Jaz find themselves arguing with Hippocrates, Aristotle and Galen, being horrified by the Black Death, body-snatching and eighteenth-century surgical techniques, and scrutinizing modern homeopathy and the anti-vaccine movement. They uncover the secrets of the brain\u2019s anatomy in Michelangelo\u2019s Sistine Chapel paintings, and find a link between herbal medicine and Vincent Van Gogh\u2019s masterpieces. They learn how the discovery of penicillin demonstrated the benefits of having an untidy desk, why an Australian scientist thought it would be a good idea to drink dangerous bacteria, and how traditional Aboriginal remedies might save lives when modern antibiotics fail. And there’s more:<\/p>\n

What does aspirin have to do with secret agents, revolution, stolen treasures and explosions?
\nCan unicorns cure leprosy?
\nWho thought it was a good idea to use heroin as a cough medicine for children?
\nIs grapefruit evil?
\nDid a zombie discover the cure for scurvy?
\nDoes acupuncture really work?
\nDid the bumps on Ned Kelly\u2019s head predict his fate?
\nAnd how exactly did parachuting cats save a village from the plague?<\/p>\n

It’s a little bit like Sophie’s World<\/em><\/a> by Jostein Gaarder, but about the history of medical science rather than the history of philosophy. (Incidentally, whenever I said this to publishers, I got blank looks. How can you work in the publishing industry and not have heard of Sophie’s World<\/em>?! It was an international best-seller! It won awards! It was made into a film and a TV series and even a computer game! And by the way, it was the reason the narrator of the Montmaray Journals<\/em> was called ‘Sophie’.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, this is how Dr Huxley’s Bequest<\/em> starts:<\/p>\n

CHAPTER ONE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afterwards, Rosy always blamed the turtle.<\/p>\n

\u2018It wasn\u2019t the turtle\u2019s fault,\u2019 said Jaz, as the two girls sat in the courtyard beside the pond, eating salt-and-vinegar chips.<\/p>\n

\u2018You weren\u2019t there<\/em>, Jaz. You didn\u2019t see his evil expression. He knew exactly what he was doing. None of it would have happened without that turtle.\u2019<\/p>\n

The turtle in question raised his head and turned his beady yellow gaze upon them.<\/p>\n

\u2018Look,\u2019 said Rosy. \u2018He\u2019s doing it again. Malevolent, that\u2019s what I call him.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018How do you know it\u2019s a boy?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s got a beard.\u2019<\/p>\n

Jaz peered closer. \u2018I think that\u2019s a bit of lettuce stuck to its chin.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018After all that everyone here\u2019s done for him, too,\u2019 Rosy went on. \u2018Feeding him. Cleaning his stupid pond. And how did he repay us? With treachery and disloyalty and, and \u2026 dirty tricks! Just imagine the disaster that would have befallen this college if we<\/em> hadn\u2019t come to the rescue.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Well, considering there wouldn\u2019t have been<\/em> a problem if you hadn\u2019t \u2013\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Malicious,\u2019 Rosy said quickly. \u2018That\u2019s what he is. Mephistophelean.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018That is not even a word.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It is. It\u2019s from Mephistopheles. Remember, that stone demon spitting into the fountain in Science Road?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh, right,\u2019 said Jaz. \u2018Faust. The quest for knowledge.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Exactly,\u2019 said Rosy.<\/p>\n

The turtle lunged at a passing dragonfly, snapping off its wing and a couple of legs. The unfortunate insect tumbled onto the surface of the pond and the turtle gulped it down, then twisted his wrinkled, serpentine neck in the direction of the girls.<\/p>\n

\u2018He does look a bit sinister,\u2019 Jaz conceded.\"'Dr<\/p>\n

Text and illustration \u00a9 Michelle Cooper<\/p>\n

More in Adventures in Self-Publishing<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Why Self-Publish?<\/a>
\nEditing<\/a>
\nTo Tweet Or Not To Tweet<\/a>
\nDesigning a Book Cover<\/a>
\nTurning Your Manuscript Into A Book<\/a>
\nAll the Mistakes I’ve Made (so Far)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Way back in 2012, I wrote this on Memoranda, in response to a reader\u2019s question: \u201cShannon asked me about the new book I\u2019m working on, so I composed a long blog post on the subject, complete with jokes and a cool photograph of a turtle. But then I read over it and realised I didn\u2019t … Continue reading Adventures in Self-Publishing: What\u2019s This Book About, Anyway?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,6,256,20,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animals","category-books","category-dr-huxleys-bequest","category-science","category-this-writing-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5335"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6080,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5335\/revisions\/6080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}