Tag Archives: Paula Beavan

30,000 words and I’m not ok

18 Monday Nov 2013

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Good morning reader.

Well here we are, day 18 of NaNoWriMo and I’m exhausted. I’ve been sick for a week and a half and have tried to battle on. Screen Shot 2013-11-18 at 8.32.32 AMThe whole of November has just been hard going so far, and it’s not looking like getting any easier.

I came out of the gates with a bang and was pretty consistently writing 2,500 words or more per day. Except when I was in Sydney for the writing course with Kate Forsyth. I told you about that last week, you can check it out here.

Then I started getting sick, but I persevered and was totting up that word count nicely. The only thing was, I wasn’t getting better. I was progressively feeling worse. I blithely ignored all the advice from family and friends and wrote on. Brave thing that I am. Uh, nope. Stupid, more likely.

After almost a week of sticking my head over a bowl of steaming Vicks Vapour Rub in hot water between word wars, and getting no where. Of sucking on Strepsils and taking decongestant medicine, and plotting my next scene while feeling like each breath was being drawn through wet hessian. On Friday I gave up and I went to the doctor. Of course it wasn’t lungs full of phlegm that was the problem but a strep infection in my lower trachea. No wonder all that head steaming and decongestant did nothing. So, I am on antibiotics.

All this is not the worst of it. The absolute worst is that my story has reflected my decline in health. Slowly creeping down into a miserable place. Not where I wanted it to go at all. So probably the 10,000 words I struggled to force onto the page in the last week were all for naught! I know! It makes me crazy. I could have just rested and recovered and been no worse off. I guess I have no choice but to go back to where it started to go off kilter and rewrite. I may as well just do it now and get it over with.

Have you ever read a book where it seems to change tone mid novel? I know I have, I remember reading a book where the main character started to feel annoying. I later read that the author started to hate her and it reflected in the story.

So, for me, it’s back to the drawing board. I hope your day is sunny and bright. It’s cold a raining here. But that is quite good writing weather.

Rainy day

Might just turn on the heater. It’s hard to write with cold fingers.

Introducing . . . Iris Blobel

02 Monday Sep 2013

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This week reader I have a visitor. It’s exciting for two reasons. One that this is my first time I’m the hostess for a blog tour. Two is that Iris has a new book out.

I threw a few questions her way and now I’ll share the answers with you.

Here she is. Iris Blobel

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Tell us a bit about New Beginnings.

New Beginnings is about two sisters from Sydney inheriting a house in Hobart. Thing is, though, they have no idea who Clara Bellinger, the previous owner of the house, was. Trying to settle into their new home and new town, Sophie, the older sister, is still concerned it’s been all a mistake. To add a bit of romance to it, there’s Mark, the lawyer, and Zach, the neighbour from across the road.

Where did the journey of New Beginnings begin?

In the beautiful city Hobart, Tasmania! I took some “family-time-out” last year and went across the Bass Strait. When I walked through the streets of Hobart, I wondered how it would be to live in this city, how it would be to be the “newbie” and bit by bit I had the story of two sisters moving there from Sydney.

Do you listen to music to help the muse?

I love music! I get a lot of wonderful ideas while listening to music. That’s when I use most of the yellow post-it stickers … little ideas quickly jotted down. I love Westlife and Darius Rucker, but then again, there are so many other artists I like that inspire me. Presenting a radio program once a week gives me the opportunity to listen to a lot of various music.

While I write, though, I need absolute silence around me. That’s why I usually write at night.

What did you listen to – or do to get you in the zone while writing New Beginnings? 

Westlife …

“So I say a little prayer
And hope my dreams will take me there
Where the skies are blue, to see you once again… my love.
All the seas from coast to coast
To find the place I Love The Most
Where the fields are green, to see you once again…”

If you didn’t write, what would you like to do creatively?

I am soooo glad I’ve found writing, because I don’t like any sports, no knitting, stitching or cooking … so … hmm … writing it is J

What’s your favourite book or series?

My favourite book without a doubt is “If you could see me now” by Cecelia Ahern. I love the idea of the Peter Pan-alike story of teaching a woman to live, love AND believe.

Favourite book series is “Lucky Harbor” by Jill Shalvis and the Reacher series by Lee Child. Love them both!

Who is your favourite author?

Jill Shalvis and Lee Child

Thanks Iris for sharing a little about New Beginnings and your writing life

I’m going to follow the links below to purchase a copy of New Beginnings myself.

Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/New-Beginings-ebook/dp/B00ENU02BU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1377251351&sr=1-1

Astraea Press: http://astraeapress.com/#!/~/product/category=662245&id=27261175

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/349320

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/new-beginnings-6

Bio:

Iris Blobel was born and raised in Germany and only immigrated to Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the travel bug most of her life, Iris spent quite some time living in Scotland, London as well as Canada where she actually had met her future husband. Her love for putting her stories onto paper has only recently emerged, but now her laptop is a constant companion. Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband and her beautiful two daughters as well as her two dogs. Next to her job at a private school she also presents a German Program at the local Community Radio.

 Excerpt:

Sophie stared at the house. With tears stinging behind her

eyelids, she slowly turned around and helped Mia out of the car.

The little girl looked fragile in the unfamiliar environment, even

though she wasn’t anywhere near fragile. Very clever for her age,

Mia had seen and gone through a lot, but handled most situations

with trust and belief. Sophie wasn’t sure whether that was a good

thing or not. Her younger sister undoubtedly had her mother’s

looks, with the long, straight blond hair, her bright grey-green eyes,

and pale skin. But deep down inside, there was a survivor instinct

as well. Something, she wondered, her mother might have lacked.

“Is this our new home, Sophie?” her sister asked quietly.

Hesitantly she nodded. “Yes, sweetie, I hope so.”

Mark took the suitcase from the boot of his car and walked

towards the house, opened the gate, and placed the girls’

belongings next to the fence. He turned, and Sophie made no effort

in hiding the struggle with emotions.

“That’s it. This is Forty-Six Chestnut Avenue,” he told them.

It was all too much for her, and she sat down onto her

suitcase and took everything in. She stared at the old brick-built

English cottage house. A small path ahead of her led to two worn

out steps and up to the arched entrance. Tucking a strand of hair

behind her ear, her gaze moved over to the windows. Multi-pane

windows with shutters and flower boxes in front. Beautiful.

Though the flowers seemed long dead. The garden was true to the

cottage style, but looked wild and unattended. It was in need of a

lot of work. She looked up and saw a chimney and instantly

thought about cold winter evenings in front of the open fire. She’d

heard that Hobart was very cold during winter.

And then she just cried. Emotions that had bottled up over

the years surfaced, and she wasn’t able to hold back any longer.

The cautious thought that life could improve from now on was too

overwhelming. Tears fell down her cheeks, but she wasn’t

embarrassed.

“Don’t cry, Sophie,” Mia said tenderly to her. “It’ll be all

okay.”

Mark came closer and kneeled in front of her. Carefully he

wiped away a tear from her cheek. “How about we go inside?” he

asked quietly with a gentle smile that made her yearn for a man’s

touch, missing from her life for so long. She gazed at him and

wondered how it would be to have someone else in her life. A man,

who shared a gentle touch or kiss, a kind word, or a well needed

hug. Sophie had had less than a handful of young men dating her,

because looking after her little eight-year-old sister, Mia, on her

own made it difficult to have a social life. But no way would she

complain. She and Mia loved each other as much as they needed

each other. Even more so since their mother had passed away. And

they both hoped this would be their chance.

Well there we have it reader, a new author for us all to check out, though New Beginnings is Iris’s fourth book, so here are the links to her other books.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52502

http://www.amazon.com/Journey-To-Her-Dreams-ebook/dp/B0065KN74U/ref=pd_sim_kstore_7

http://www.amazon.com/Innocent-Tears-ebook/dp/B009CK7HSC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1347964191&sr=8-4&keywords=iris+blobel

Winning and Grinning

26 Monday Aug 2013

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Well hello reader, how’ve you been?

It’s been an awesome week for me. Frightening and exciting all at the same time. But I’ll come to that later.

The first thing I have to share is that last week was the Romance Writer’s of Australia’s annual conference. It’s held in beautiful Freemantle, Western Australia.  I wished I could have made it. Without being too worried about why I couldn’t, I’ll get on with telling you about what I was able to attend! The Clayton’s Conference. The wonderful people at RWA hold an online conference that runs over the same weekend as the live event, so that we, who couldn’t make it to Freemantle don’t miss out.

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I signed up and I wasn’t disappointed! The online event ran from Friday evening to Sunday night and was jam packed with online sessions ran by several authors, an editor from Random House and the content developer for Harper Impulse. It was fabulous to be able to ask questions of these industry professionals in real time. Not to mention the fantastic questions that other’s asked.

I wrote last week about the wonder of the writing community and I consider myself blessed that I have found most everyone to be welcoming, encouraging and helpful. Well things have just got better.

Beyond my wildest dreams, better!

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I won a three month manuscript development opportunity with Harper Impulse content developer Charlotte Ledger! I was so excited reader, I could barely speak! I know, hard to believe.

So, let me tell you how I came to be a winner!

When I first joined RWA I had no idea what a fantastic move it was going to be! I have Cathryn Hein to thank for recommending I join. (Cathryn writes fantastic Rural Romance, check her books out here)

Pretty soon after joining up, I saw there was a June write-a-thon about to start and I thought, why not? I had Festival barely started and going off track, so I signed up for #50ks30days and got stuck in. I met some awesome writers in the 50ks chat room and we clicked and clacked and kept each other company. Great fun and a 60K first draft done in 30 days. I was pretty happy with this, as you can imagine reader!

One subject that continued to pop up in the chat room was the RWA conference coming up! I began to wish I could go, but a only 2 months notice and lack of funds, I knew I couldn’t. Next year is in Sydney and I will be going!

Well RWA keep their members well informed and so I heard about the Clayton’s Online Conference and I signed up, I know, I’d already said that, but!!! Wait for it! An email appeared in the inbox and all the Claytoneers were invited to send in an email entry. Send in contact details with book title, word count, genre and where I was up to with the ms. I sent in Something in the Water, 65K, romantic suspense, 4th edit!

Whoo hoo, guess what reader?? Yep, I won!

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Me, who has not won anything other than a leg of ham at the Christmas Raffle. I did! I won a THREE MONTH MANUSCRIPT DEVELOPMENT FOR SOMETHING IN THE WATER!

With Charlotte Ledger of Harper Impulse! Ha!

The funny thing was, I went to visit a friend in hospital and turned my phone to silent and missed two phone calls to tell me I’d won!

The next day I went to Sydney and on the way home I saw I’d a missed call so listened to the message! It was Dana Scully, of RWA not X Files, and she left a message to tell me that I’d won! I also received a couple of emails from her and another from Charlotte Ledger.

Anyway, I’ve sent off the synopsis for Something in the Water and the first three chapters for Charlotte to have a look at and now I wait for her response. In the meantime I’ll be finishing the 4th, or is that the 7th edit on SITW and trying to calm my crazy palpitating heart.

Have you ever won something reader? Do you even enter competitions? I don’t usually, which is probably why I never win anything. But this is one time I came out a winner. Please share your winning and grinning moment, I’d love to hear about it.

The writing community, I love it

19 Monday Aug 2013

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Reader, one of the things I love most about being a writer is the community. Writers actually want to help each other! I know, it’s amazing.

support

We have a transport company and I can tell you there isn’t much genuine help and community in the industry. You have to guard your work and contacts as if they were gold nuggets. It’s common for people who you may have helped out to undercut you and steal your work. Everybody is suspicious and a lot are dishonest.

In the writerly world things couldn’t be any more different. In the writing community we join groups. Writer’s groups, Critique groups, support groups and any other kind of encouraging group you can think of! I thinks it’s grand.

Since joining the online writing community of facebook I’ve become friends both online and in some instances the relationships have flowed over into face to face meetings.

I don’t know why, but for some reason rather than clawing our way over the fallen bodies of our fellow writers, we help each other up and encourage each other to keep going. It’s an incredible community full of people who want to help and encourage you, not just use you as a step on the ladder and leave you behind.underwater

I’ve been plodding (ok, tearing my hair out) along with the edit of Something in the Water, and at the same time trying to write a synopsis. Now reader, I’m not going to try to tell you how hard it is it break down a 65,000 word novel to a dry 1 – 2 page description. You try to do it with your favourite movie! Suffice to say it’s difficult. Especially for a first timer like me. But, I am honoured and privileged to have a huge amount of help from two different online writing groups. People from both have spent a huge amount of time helping me with the synopsis and I can’t thank them enough.

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As much as I’d like to name them I don’t know if they’d appreciate it. So I’ll just say thank you and know, that you know who you are.

So reader, are you a writer who has found the writing community the same? Have you found similar support in other groups? Have you had a totally different experience?

Another day off, but here’s something

12 Monday Aug 2013

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Here is a little something for you as I’m MIA.

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My day has looked a lot like the image above, and although I have several blog posts half ready, I just didn’t get there today. So, dear reader, I hope you enjoy the article about writing good reviews. See you Friday.

What are we looking for?

09 Friday Aug 2013

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Hi again reader, I’ve been thinking! I know, “Danger danger, Will Robinson!”

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Seriously though, as a reader, I’ve been wondering about what I look for in a book. How I define a good book, and what I consider an average read. What’s the difference between un-put-downable and “Oh, look, I need to clean the ceiling fans.”?

girl reading

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For me it starts with characters. I need to connect. I need to care about what’s happening to the characters. I am fairly persistent, I will give a character a good chance to engage me. But if by the third chapter I can’t remember their name or it’s not clear what is at stake for them, I’m outta there!

On the other hand, being a writer, I notice (that is, I do now, I never used to) when a author has proceeded to tell me a whole heap of stuff about the character in one go I kind of stall. I think this is known as “information dump” in writerly speak. You know the book where the author tells you in half a page that the MC (main character) loves gardening, lives in a pretty cottage by the river and has three dogs and seven cats and wants to marry a millionaire who drives a Jaguar and really likes to eat ice cream cones while sitting listening to Bach on her iPod.

If I wanted to set a scene and show you all that information, I could write it more or less as I have above, or I could do something like this:

Mary carried her ice cone to the small bench seat at the bottom of the garden. It was one of her favourite things to do at the end of a hot day spent pulling weeds and tidying the roses. She sunk down onto the slatted timber seat, proud of her day’s achievements. The quiet song of the river dancing over the stones soothed her and she closed her eyes to listen, watching the red glow of late afternoon sunshine through her closed lids. She sat thus, dreaming of her ideal man, imagining the faceless millionaire as he emerged from his Jaguar. Her favourite fantasy evaporated as fast as the perspiration on her neck when ice cream dripped and ran over the back of her hand to plop in a sticky mess on her sunburnt thigh. 

A well written story shows us all this in the shape of action. This style of story telling is called Deep Point of View, and the best writer I know for this Diana Gabaldon. If you haven’t read her books then I strongly recommend that you do. Here’s a link.

So we have a character we could grow to care about. She likes gardening and ice cream. Fair enough! But then we want something intriguing to happen. We want to be given a reason to read on, to find out if everything is ok and that life and love works out for Mary. Perhaps even, we could  hope that Mary meets her Jaguar driving millionaire – just a thought.

So we could say that Mary was busily wiping off the dripping ice cream only to see an unusually large boat float by on the curve of the river that ran along the bottom of her garden and on the deck stood a man whose face filled the blank of her imaginings.

OR

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“Dammit!” Mary licked the sweet milky rivulet from the back of her hand before wiping the melted ice cream from her thigh with her finger. The overheated skin of her sunburnt legs quickly warmed the cool sweetness. Not wasting even a drop, she licked her finger. Index finger still in her mouth, she heard the throb of a motor. She lifted her head and shielded her eyes to look up the river. A large cabin cruiser was idling toward her, approaching the bend in the river. What were they doing? The  river was far too shallow for such a big boat to navigate. She stood up, a frown creasing her brow. From beneath the hand that shaded her eyes, she saw only one figure on board. She couldn’t see the face of the man who stood silhouetted on the deck. The boat crept around the far side of the watercourse, passing the shady trees on the opposite bank. She got her  first clear view of the man’s face. Her heart began to thud, a rapid tattoo in her chest.  The ice cream cone forgotten, she let her hands fall to her side, the ball of melting confectionery fell out of the cone and onto the grass beside her bare foot. Her breath caught. His face fit every fantasy she’d ever had. The face she’d never been able to imagine into her day dreams. She couldn’t look away. Across the sun dappled water his eyes held her’s captive. Until a loud screeching of fibreglass tearing over rock prised her attention from the handsome boater and down, to look at the point of contact between nature and design. Rover, Rex and Rosie came crashing through the herbaceous border, all three dogs emitting the deep warning growls, reserved for strangers who threatened. 

For me a good story has an interesting character, a story question that I need to know the answer to and it has to take me deep into the character’s point of view. Too large a cast of character’s who aren’t clearly defined can also be the beginning of the end for me.

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So how about you reader? What are you looking for in a story? What keeps you reading? What turns you off? If something turns you off a story do you read on in the hope of improvement? Or do you just give it away and move on? My time is limited, if it doesn’t grab me and hold me, I’ll find the next book and hope it does a better job of entertaining me.

Gleaning

05 Monday Aug 2013

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Reader, obviously I haven’t ever actually found a dead body or murdered anyone, at least you hope not, for the latter.

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But as a writer I have to try to tap into the emotion to give you, reader, a credible experience when reading my stories.

Sometimes life throws things my way that make writing a chore rather than a pleasure and this last week was one of them.

Usually reader I find it very easy to write about love, being in love, feeling loved and feeling like I’m special to someone. But this week I didn’t. No real reason for it, but regardless I was full of self doubt and felt pretty useless. I think this started with my cat, Mr Flynn, not coming home on Sunday afternoon. He is usually hanging around, and as we had visitors, he was more likely to be close by. He is such a busy body. When he didn’t show up I started feeling slightly concerned, but not overly worried. He is a cat, cat’s are unpredictable. But he always came home when we did. He didn’t actually ever wander too far anyway, there being a decent supply of mice and critters to hunt in the four back yards he calls his territory. As we had visitors I was trying very hard (unsuccessfully I’m told) to not panic, cry and blubber. I prayed, my friends and family prayed and he did come home eventually. He was a scared and uptight little thing for a few days, and I have no idea what had gone on, but he was home and I didn’t care.

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But reader, this scary and emotional evening proved to be good writerly fodder. As I’ve said previously, I haven’t ever lost anyone close, found a body, witnessed a murder. So as a writer I have to rely almost entirely on my imagination. I’m glad I have an overactive imagination. Even if it led me to visualising some nasty neighbour (none in particular) whacking Flynn on the head with a shovel or dog’s tearing him apart! I know, overreaction for a barely missing cat, but that’s me!

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Does anyone else suffer from the agony of having too good an imagination? Do you look on drama and emotion in your own life as writing fodder? Am I alone in this weird tendency?

a new diary, a new financial year

02 Friday Aug 2013

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Reader, what is is with me and diaries?

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Each end of financial year I buy two new diary’s. A huge one for keeping of the truck loads, and a smaller, usually A5, one for me. I have found it a good idea to keep a record of conversations and phone calls in a diary for easy reference when I have to wade into battle over unpaid invoices or inefficient phone companies, (not to mention any names).

I usually get both at the same time. It’s easier. This year, for some unknown reason, I didn’t. And so, at the the end of July, I find myself searching high and low for the smaller personal diary. Thank goodness I had already purchased the larger “Truck” diary. Eventually I did find one, but it’s bigger than my usual size and it’s not a day to a page. I prefer a day to a page, but scavenging around the leftovers and spoil didn’t leave me with a choice. There was only one style available.

Why am I talking about diaries? I hear you ask reader. Good question.

Because I battle each year with the decision to buy a diary or stick to putting notes into my iPhone. My iPhone calendar is linked to my computer and my iPad and alarms go off all over the house when I have an appointment due. It’s wonderful.

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But, where do I stand with the iPhone/iPad/Mac world when it comes to keeping notes regarding phone calls and requests for quotes. In a handwritten diary page I can easily see what I’m looking for. I can flick through the pages to see what and where the entry is noting my conversation with <insert name> from <insert company> who promised to pay Invoice < insert — you get the idea>. In a digital diary I can’t flick open pages and see the entries as easily. I love that the new diary I purchased has a lined page at the beginning of each month to write the important stuff down for the month. Stuff, reader that I must not forget. I find that while my synced calendar is great for reminders etc, it’s not much good for “at a glance” schedule checking.

My new diary gives me two columns for the day. I love it, I can write business appointments and reminders in one column and personal or writerly commitments or goals in the other. I might even use different coloured pens. Too exciting! I do love the simple things in life reader.

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I am working hard to prioritise my life, to schedule in everything and to keep on track. I have a book (or three) that I would love to find publishing homes for. I have a business that needs to stay afloat and finance my writing dreams. I have a family, friends and fellowship that I need to keep in my life. I want to be happy and healthy and fulfilled.

And so I need a diary.

Do you use a diary? I can’t remember anything without writing it down. Are you firmly embedded in the digital world and able to function without the pen and paper style appointment book or diary? Do you bother at all or just fly by the seat of your pants?

Life is good

29 Monday Jul 2013

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I have been reading a book to help me navigate the crazy maze we call social media. It’s called “Are you there Blog? It’s me writer.” by Kristen Lamb. You can check it out here There’s a chapter about what I guess is basically positive thinking.

It got me thinking!

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I am blessed to be able to work from home! Our transport company enables me to slot in writing time between processing invoices. I get to pretend to be efficient when answering the phone, even though I’m actually hanging tea towels on the clothesline. When I get sick of sitting at the computer, I go out and prune the roses. Yes reader, I have finally tidied them up. I’m hoping for a good display this spring, stay tuned.

I mean how good is that!

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I get to sit in the winter sunshine and read books and call it working! Even if I do answer phone calls regarding loads from Melbourne to Sydney, between sentences. There aren’t many jobs where you can just pick up your work and carry it outside to take advantage of the sunny day.

So enough of me feeling sorry for myself. I have it good and I know it!

One of the perks of having a transport company I get to drive out west sometimes and I see things and countryside that inspire me. Some places inspire me to write romance, have you ever been to Hill End? I have an idea for a story set in the Gold Rush town. It’s a great place to visit, if you ever get the chance. I’d love to write a suspense horror story set in a place like the small town of Sofala NSW. That place is fantastic, you can almost here the Duelling Banjo’s. (no offence to anyone in Sofala, I actually love it, it has such an atmosphere and old world charm, your left with an eerie feeling of being lost in time.)

Deliverance

I’ve mentioned before, here, (last week) that I am planning a Rural Romance for my next story, and so have provisionally set it in the Dunedoo area. I’ve travelled through, and stopped at, Dunedoo many times. But to set a story there I will have to go out for a day or two and have a closer look. I also need to research the history of the area as my MC will be going on an emotional journey into her family’s history. She will search out connections with the Colonial settlers in her family tree. I can tell you here and now reader, this sort of thing excites me. I get lost in the hunt and sometimes don’t emerge from Google for days.

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So, reader do you like history? I’m fascinated by the lives of our country’s earliest European settlers. I love to read about the contact between the northern invaders and the indigenous Australians. There were many heartwarming stories as well as the horrible events.

Do you ever wish to time travel back to see first hand what it was really like? I do. So I hope to perhaps connect with our forefathers via fiction, and perhaps we can share the journey. In the meantime, I am going to be grateful for what I have and enjoy the benefits. As there are always benefits. Sometimes we just have to look a little harder.