PART TWO - MY JOURNEY LAST OCTOBER

Do hope you have read Part One before this where I shared a little of our time in Melbourne, with friends at Orange and Tamworth in New South Wales. The main focus of our time on the Australian mainland was the Omega Writers’ CALEB conference in Brisbane, Queensland.

Our home until I was nine on
the black soil plains of the Darling Downs.

However, our next appointments after Tamworth were near and in Dalby on the Darling Downs, over 200 kilometres west of Brisbane. This was the black soil pains area where I grew up and still have extended family on several large farms.  On our old farm on the eastern Downs near Bongeen (the setting of my Search book series now e-books), Dad grew mainly grain crops like wheat, barley and sorghum.  The landscape has changed tremendously, especially with large numbers of much larger dams for irrigating cotton and a variety of other seasonal crops.

 

Bruce organised our time at Dalby

We were booked to stay several days with my brother Stan Pedler on a farm some distance from Dalby. The minister at the church in Dalby was an old friend of ours and a great organiser of a dinner where we spoke and Ray preached at their church the next day. 
It was our first experience doing a book-signing for a general market bookshop. Collins Bookshop was in a large shopping complex and a great experience.

I also enjoyed very much meeting old friends and family, some who live in Dalby and others out on farms I remember visiting many years ago with my own family.



As I mentioned in the last blog post, we were concerned about the “sore” on Ray’s face. The day we arrived at Stan’s, my brother mentioned he had a very painful knee. He lived close to an hour’s drive from Dalby so made an appointment to see his doctor while we were at the book-signing. It was too good an opportunity to miss, so while I stayed with our books for a brief while, Ray went with Stan hoping to be able to also see a doctor at the clinic. I have no doubt God was organising us even more than our friend could have control of. 



My big brother, Stan.

Stan’s doctor took one look and booked Ray in to have it cut out in the surgery the next afternoon. Only later did we discover he was concerned enough to give up his day off to do that. Family and friends have told us this doctor Ray “happened” to see is very highly thought of in the area as the doctor with a great deal of experience at the local Skin Cancer Clinic. Yes, it was a Squamous Cell Carcinoma - still nasty but not as vicious as a melanoma. So for nearly a fortnight during the conference and speaking appointments, Ray had that dressing on his face. 

Oh, need I mention the pain in Stan’s knee also stopped quickly over the next few days? God is good and His mercies endure forever. 

Ruth Bonetti, Anne Hamilton
 and Jo Wanmer

 

We could only spend a brief few hours with family and friends in my home town of Toowoomba on the way to Brisbane and the wonderful CALEB writers’ conference.

Hard working CALEB members who worked hard organising our conference our great conference.

 

 

The Omega Writers organise the Award dinner and fiction finalists wait to be told the dinner.

The few days were a wonderful time of fellowship with other writers. This input to my writing was something I regret very much not having for over ten years in those early days of
trying to write that first book, Search for Tomorrow.

 


The writers in the master class I  presented doing an exercise about point of view and dialogue - while I had a break from speaking.


    

The publisher of Wombat/Even Before Publishing with most of her published authors - except my husband, Ray, who had sneaked off too soon after the dinner.

I am so thrilled and proud of our Aussie writers. May we all continue to try and improve our efforts to give readers more challenging and entertaining books. I am only sorry my camera was not working properly so could have more photos.

 

Currently I am trying very hard to get to what I hope wil be the final revisions for my new single title, Her Outback Cowboy.

When I do get time, afraid I am too slow preparing my blog posts and now Christmas Day has come and gone as I type this on Boxing Day. I do hope all reading this have had a great time yesterday and a restful time today. May you know personally the true wonder of how God has shown His love for us by giving us His only Son.

 

I am afraid I did not think to get my camera out yesterday when at Craig and Rachelle's for our Christmas time together. Those six grandchildren had a wonderful time today with their presents. I stayed with them for a few hours while Mum and Dad - and Grandad too - had to work at Seahorse World and Seahorse Australia breeding farm. Like all farms, the animals - and fish! - still have to be cared for on holidays. 

 

And now the rest of our trip - already over too long ago - has to wait until I have time to prepare PART THREE - especially some more photos I hope you might enjoy.

Would love anyone who is in the above photos to let me know in a comment. 

 

I also have a post last Monday and the next two on some of the basics of writing Christian Romance - Click on this:- Australasian Christian Writers 

 

SCREAMING BOOKS

CALEB Award Finalists
Ray and Mary

Ray is at the stage an author loves - receiving a cover to approve for his next book, Bethlehem's Warrior Baby. We think it is great - but more of that in days to come!

He wrote this blog post for me. He has a way with words I've always loved. I hope you are blessed as much as I have been - and am - by his devotional thoughts. There is also a quirky, fun way he looks at life, especially our world of books!
Enjoy this take from him on entering bookshops!

Screaming Books 

I open the bookshop door and the clamour begins. Do you hear it, or am I slightly (largely) off centre?  It’s as though each book on shelves and sale bins have vocal cords just waiting for customers to enter their domain.

Some scream louder into my ears than others. I’m guessing, but I imagine the same applies to you. Each of us would have different pitch levels to which our souls are attuned and pick up the vibrations of the books on our wave-length. For me it is books on background to Biblical words and history, commentaries, especially dealing with the return of Christ or about Israel. In contrast, Mary hears and responds to fiction (especially some romance novels) and biographies.

Closing eyes and wearing ear muffs doesn’t work. Books seem to have devised a way through such barriers. Should I make it past the new releases, there, waiting with many enticements is the ‘Bargain Bin’! Oh, the agony sometimes of a nearly empty wallet when ears and soul ache in longing as I scan or handle each volume.

As I stumble away from such temptation, I’m arrested by favourite authors or books written by friends. Do I have them? Do I need them? Should I support them? Each of these books whisper to my heart and sweetly cajole me to divest myself of the remaining money in my pocket.

What defences have I managed to build against such seduction and begging appeals? None really! I stay away for as long as possible or I enter their realm without money. Both fail. I can operate a credit card, an account, and pay later.

Does this weakness pass with age? Not in my case! I guess I might need a counsellor. Do you know of any good books on the subject?

PS. I’m trying to train the books I write to have a wide screaming range so that people can only silence them after being handled, purchased, wrapped and read. When you take home one of my devotionals, do let me know if such a strategy works.

Ray Hawkins —who loves the screams of books. 

Both Ray and I will be travelling from freezing Tasmania (well, it is today!) to beautiful Queensland for the Word Writers Getaway in October. http://www.thewordwriters.com/ 

Do check out the programme and book NOW!

Ray is a volunteer and I will be in the "editing room" as well as presenting a two hour workshop on Structure of the Novel. There are many sessions to choose from. Do let writers you know about this wonderful programme - a first for Christian writers in Australia.

Mary Hawkins - who wants you to buy, read and be blessed by OUR Screaming Books!