Marisa Wikramanayake

writer, journalist & editor ~ I help you tell stories.

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  • Home
  • Blog
  • Services
  • Journalism work
  • Editorial work
  • Events
  • Free resources
    • Perth & WA Literary Calendar
    • Women who review
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  • MEAA FAQs

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  • A phone with messags on its screen sits on a desk in front of a lit up keyboard

    Livestream: #writewithme on 27 Jan 2021

    January 27, 2021 / No Comments

    I am writing today for two hours and you can join me via a livestream and work on your project or assignment or anything else alongside me. Read the #crimefiction novel I am writing here: http://www.patreon.com/marisa Watch more livestreams here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ12wceasUG4MqP0yxboK6jcdt7fPG2xo Find out more about what I do here: http://www.marisa.com.au Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/marisa.wikramanayake Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mwikramanayake Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marisa.com.au Powered by Restream https://restream.io/ & OBS.

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  • The Romance of Structure – Continuum Panel

    June 10, 2018 / No Comments

    Come see me chat about structure issues when writing romance fiction with Jane Routley, Freya Marske, Carolyn Denman, and Thalia Kalkipsakis. This is the third Continuum panel that I will be on and I will be also around on the day to chat to people. Tickets can be bought per panel session or per day for the Continuum Convention so please check their website for details on pricing.

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  • KSP cat by Ashleigh Hardcastle via KSP Writers Centre
    Blog,  Writing

    I hit 10,000 words!

    June 4, 2018 / No Comments

    I suppose I gave it away in the title but oh my God! 10,000 words! Here’s what happened on each day. Day 5 was the Friday. Nothing got done on Friday. I was really exhausted. My sleeping patterns were out of whack and I was trying to fix my ear issue. I thought I could go out to meet my union colleagues and friends for drinks and come back and write. The drinks part happened and was fun but the writing part did not happen. So I had zero words for Friday. I had about four to five thousand words at this point to write in order to hit 10,000…

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    Why journalists risk their lives

    October 14, 2019
    Latest piece of research for the foundation fellowship: the book titled Police in Sri Lanka by Frank de Silva

    Foundation Fellowship update: a bit about Gin and Tonic

    January 12, 2018

    Where you will find me in October 2018

    October 11, 2018
  • Katherine Susannah Pritchard and her typewriter (c) Marisa Wikramanayake
    Blog,  Writing

    Day 4: Freedom to write, freedom for writers

    June 1, 2018 / No Comments

    Day 4 already. Well, nothing was going to happen on Day 1 given how tired and jetlagged I was. Today, most of the day was pretty boring. I had not slept well the night before. So the day was full of waking, sleeping, doing things I needed to do like eat and so on. I thought about the book a lot. And then I did my makeup, changed, called an Uber and went to see my friend Vicki Laurie interview Peter Greste at the WA State Library. So three things happened today on Day 4: Peter Greste pleasantly surprised me. I was very happy about that. Thank you Peter Greste.…

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    MEAA news for February 2019

    February 28, 2019

    Gin & Tonic update #2: I was so wrong! AKA #maricantmath

    February 7, 2019
    Latest piece of research for the foundation fellowship: the book titled Police in Sri Lanka by Frank de Silva

    Foundation Fellowship update: a bit about Gin and Tonic

    January 12, 2018
  • KSP cat by Ashleigh Hardcastle via KSP Writers Centre
    Blog,  Writing

    Day 2: A cat is here!

    May 30, 2018 / No Comments

    Day 2 and I woke up joyful today. Joyful because it was such a wonderful thought that I could write and everyone was going to be mindful of that. That no one would disturb me, no one would interrupt me, no one would think to themselves “She is free – let’s get a hold of her.” Also annoyance because my article was overdue and I needed to get it done so I knuckled down to do that while battling my ear going strange again. I made a mental note to see my doctor as soon as I get back to Melbourne. I figured out the A/C and I had a…

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    Latest piece of research for the foundation fellowship: the book titled Police in Sri Lanka by Frank de Silva

    Foundation Fellowship update: a bit about Gin and Tonic

    January 12, 2018

    What is a typical day for a journalist?

    October 16, 2019
    My desk in Phillips cabin at the KSP Writers Centre (c) Marisa Wikramanayake

    Day 3: So many emotions

    May 31, 2018
  • Australian Women Writers Challenge,  Literary Journalism

    Watch “Emily Paull in conversation with Liz Byrski” on YouTube

    July 27, 2016 / No Comments

    A week or so ago, I filmed this video for Westbooks of their Q & A session with author Liz Byrski. Find out about her latest book The Woman Next Door and her writing routine as she gets interviewed by Emily Paull. 

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    A real bookshop by Elsie esq via Flickr

    Capering criminally with the challenge: what I read for Australian Women Writers 2013

    January 3, 2014

    Interview with Jane Rawson

    March 20, 2014

    Australian Love Stories

    November 20, 2014
  • The Paper House by Anna Spargo-Ryan
    Australian Women Writers Challenge,  Book Reviews

    The Paper House by Anna Spargo-Ryan

    May 25, 2016 / 6 Comments

    My heart fell out on a spring morning… ~ The Paper House by Anna Spargo-Ryan Grief is an ever present theme in Australian literature. We are a nation of writers fascinated by either lack or loss. That, in itself, intrigues me. And it intrigues me that much like Anna’s opening line here, that we never run out of ways to twist and use language to be able to describe so well the nuances of the nature of that grief. And language and the use of it is what strikes me so immediately with The Paper House. This is Anna’s first book, one she has worked on for ages, one that…

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    Australia Day Book Giveaway Blog Hop

    January 25, 2014
    A few right thinking men by Sulari Gentill

    Sulari Gentill’s A Few Right Thinking Men

    June 6, 2016

    Interview with Jane Rawson

    March 20, 2014
  • Writing

    HIM update for April 15

    April 14, 2016 / No Comments

    Quick explainer: I am writing my second book HIM and have staggered my word count goals this time. If you sign up to the mailing list or become a blog subscriber you get to read the first draft. If you don’t you just get this update on whether I hit my goals or not each week. Subscribers scroll down for your link, mailing list, you will get an email in your inbox. Word count goals this week: 5,000 Actual word count this week: 3334 Total word count so far: 11,338 Total word count goal at this point: 60,000 NOTE: HALFWAY TO NOVELLA AND 1/5TH TO NOVEL! 🙂 How long did it take me? 3 hours What have I…

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    The Writers' Cabins at KSP (c) Writers Bloc

    Day 1: Home on my back, home where there is a bed

    May 30, 2018

    Why you shouldn't let your muse get drunk on champagne/how to braintrain your muse

    May 4, 2011

    An editor's take on crime fiction

    October 12, 2013
  • Writing

    John Green on How to make things and why

    February 15, 2016 / No Comments

    John Green, he of Looking for Alaska, The Fault In Our Stars and Paper Towns fame, wasn't always great at telling stories, mostly because he claims he had the wrong idea about why one should create and tell stories in the first place. This is a lovely, honest video about what it means to be a writer or a creator of anything and why we should continue it.

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    Why you shouldn't let your muse get drunk on champagne/how to braintrain your muse

    May 4, 2011

    How do you tell a story?

    February 9, 2019
    temporary book cover for the novel in progress titled HIM by Marisa Wikramanayake

    HIM update for January 15

    January 15, 2016
  • Opinion,  Writing

    Why you should love your writers more (or pay us more)

    January 20, 2016 / No Comments

    Note: I wrote this piece after seeing this image sometime in December 2014 on Facebook. I was reminded of it recently and thought I would repost it here: [aesop_parallax img=”http://marisa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/10689919_10153438607982501_2808857729860272201_n.jpg” parallaxbg=”on” captionposition=”bottom-left” lightbox=”on” floater=”off” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up”]   There are career paths and structures that support various other occupations but some of us don’t get that stability when doctors, lawyers, accountants etc can. And you can sell a million books and still make less than $10,000 per year because you get a small percentage of each sale as royalties. Every writer or artist or anyone in a similar occupation that has to deal with this weird pay inequality gap type thing…

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