To E-Book Or Not To E-Book?

I don’t even own an e-reader – at least not yet, but I  feel as though I am being dragged into the era of having my back list of books released as e-books. I’m not even sure if that is how to correctly write the word. Are they E-books, e-Books, eBooks, E-Books or just e-books.? HC stands for hard cover books, PB stands for paperback books, so does EB now stand for ebooks? Please correct me if I’m wrong.  Just one  more basic thing to learn about them!

Last Monday I enjoyed very much the guest speaker, T.D. McKinnon,  http://www.tdmckinnon.com from Victoria at our monthly Society Women Writers Tasmania.  He writes across several genres and now has his books as e-books. However this is really the first time I have heard a writer share details about self-publishing e-books and what he and his wife have discovered about it all.

The last couple of years I have been trying to follow what is happening around the world of publishing with the e-book phenomena. I know many published authors are now having their back lists released as e-books. I was delighted earlier this year to be able to sign addendums to the contracts with Barbour Publishing for my old Heartsong Presents inspirational romance titles to be released as e-books through their new Truly Yours division.

Some authors have had the copyright on their old books revert back to them so they can then self-publish as e-books. My last title, Justice at Baragula was released by the publisher as an e-book but recently heard it seems they are not going to continue with releasing the first two Baragula books as e-books. For some time now I have been thinking seriously about my other titles, both those novels and even perhaps short stories written years ago.  The biggest problem is discovering just how to go about it all!

Ray’s three 31 Day Devotional books are available as print and e-books. He has another one, Bethlehem’s Warrior Baby due for release later this year from Even Before Publishing.

Buying that e-book reader – or putting it on our Christmas gift list if we can wait that long – is becoming more urgent!           

Would love to have both authors and readers share about their experiences with e-books –and e-readers of course.

WHEN WRITING IS HARD

I think all writers have “hard” times of writing when the words, ideas, just will not come or flow properly. I certainly do!

It is now many years ago since that day I was whinging to my teenage daughter about needing “something to “happen” in another manuscript. She said, “For goodness sake, Mum, get a gun and shoot someone!” Well, for that story, Burnout, I did get the gun and had a fun scene with some drunken hooligans doing some target shooting enough to traumatise my heroine already traumatised by guerillas in Africa. Then of course there is that old kangaroo shooter and the shoot out with “baddies” in the Baragula books.

I have always admired writers who somehow manage to work on more than one fiction manuscript at a time. It has always seemed that my brain can only deal adequately with the one set of characters and their story.

Depending on how much of the manuscript I have written before an interruption so I have to switch gears, I have even found it difficult to get back into the story when the current manuscript has been interrupted for many hours, days, weeks, by other demands on my “writing brain”. These include such things as requests for a rewrite from an editor on another story, or even having to again read through a manuscript in the proof editing stage. It seems once I have to become immersed again in another story the uncompleted one is so very hard to pick up and continue writing.

And of course, there are more than these two interruptions that disrupt my writing a manuscript but the following will do for today.

After having successfully sold my Harlequin medical romances and Heartsong Present books, I ventured into writing single title manuscripts. When my first one was completed, I started again going through that realm all writers hate - submitting and receiving rejections again. Of course, this meant the same manuscript was rewritten and rewritten and rewritten.

Not wanting to repeat the mistake I made over thirteen years of rejections on my first ever manuscript, I decided to start writing another book rather than wait until I had sold Return to Baragula. An idea had been brewing for awhile and I always toss story ideas into a folder. So, the setting, the story, and characters were chosen and at last I started writing Her Outback Cowboy. Then the major interruption came.

At last I had signed a contract for Return to Baragula. Very exciting. However, during the rewriting and working on that story, as had happened with my Heartsong books minor characters started to demand their own story be told. Now that at last a publisher was going to release Book One , the next two in that Baragula series had to be written. Poor Her Outback Cowboy had to be put aside – until recently after the launch of Justice at Baragula.

Other interruptions have come while trying to get back into the heads of these new main characters, Jenny and Dave. Er... sorry, make that Jennifer and David! Now I have written well over 40,000 words written of what will probably be about 85,000 – 90,000 words of their story but this last week or so just seem to be stuck for “what happens next”.

I didn’t like the prologue I had written a few years ago so am trying to weave the same information into the story elswewhere for the reader. I am beginning to think I have not researched the setting enough, the possible physical and spiritual conflicts enough.

And... Horrors! Not enough has “happened”. Where is the action? Is it boring?

And what am I doing right now?

Well, besides probably too much reading of other writer’s books, I find all kinds of things that just have to be done around the place. And of course, the writing at this section of the story I’m at right now is so hard, I’m procrastinating by writing a blog post about how hard it is to get into Her Outback Cowboy again by writing about how hard it is sometimes to work on an old manuscript again.

On second thoughts...
Perhaps I do need to “get a gun” into this manuscript! But being another inspirational romance, the hero or heroine mustn’t shoot at each other of course.

But what if... ? Nah, that won’t work. Had stolen cattle in Outback From Baragula.

What about a flood? Nah, had that in Return to Baragula.

Maybe the jealous neighbour from the closest homestead hundreds of kilometres away turns up again? Mmm...
It will probably just have to be that gun once more!

THE JOURNEY THROUGH ANOTHER YEAR

 Well, this Thursday post is late once more and the last one for 2011.

Twelve months ago, this past year was about to begin.How have you journeyed this year? How many hills and valleys have you had to navigate?

Did your world seem bright, an adventure waiting out there?

                                                                                                                                                             
And then did the journey seem daunting?


Not so much colour and you so small?





Each year as we prepare our Christmas letter, it never ceases to amaze me as we list some of our own hills and valleys just how much has happened in the past months. We are thankful this last year did not contain too many valley experiences. However, as we get older so do our friends and families.

My Uncle Reg and my son's father-in-law died this past year. Even today is the funeral of a friend from our Maitland days. Sylvia McGregor-Skiner was a beautiful woman within and without. For several years she was the Director of Nursing at our local state church's Nursing Home where Ray was the chaplain.

One thing we did not write about in our annual letter is the valley of these last days from just before Christmas when our five grandchildren were diagnosed with whooping cough. They are still not all out of the woods with that horrible disease and have more days on another antibiotic which we trust will work better for them all.

And those hill-top experiences? Thankfully there have been more of those than the valleys. After years of trying to convince my dear husband that his devotional meditation writings need to be published so other besides myself can be blessed and challenged by them, his first two books have been released and the response to them has been very good. His book for adults about God's take on children was short-listed in the CALEB award and he presented his first writer's workshop at the Word Writers Fair in Brisbane this year.

We have thought of ourselves as being a "team" during these forty-seven years of marriage and ministry together. I am just so thrilled that now Ray is also sharing the delights - and challenges - of being a published author! I so enjoyed having the book launch of my own last book, Justice at Baragula, shared with the launch of Ray's two devotional mediatations.

We also share book-signings together which have proved to be great fun times.

Now we are looking towards anothe new year journeying together. Where will it take us?
Will the valleys become deep chasms?
Will those hill-tops also be mingled with mountain-top experiences?

So many times we do need that help along the journey.

I simply cannot express it any better than Ray has in the following:

THE JOURNEY'S END

The journey we travel in this life

Brings its happiness and strife

We leave our faint histories

Of failures and victories

And to all but our Maker

The journey is a mystery

For He alone knows

The joys, fears and blows

Felt, yet unexpressed

In the heart suppressed.

The journey we travel in this life

Can bless or cut as a knife

And many a wound or scar

Has our spirit marred

Seen only by the Creator!

He has heard our silent cries

Counted the constant sighs

Seen doubt and faith wrestle

For our soul’s mastery

In time and for eternity!

The journey we travel in this life

Where spiritual darkness is rife

Is challenged by Christ’s light

To walk by faith not sight.

Here our choices there abide

From which we cannot hide

Before the throne of God!

But do we stand alone

Rejected, out of favour

Or accepted, with our Saviour?

                                                                                        © Raymond N. Hawkins July 2011

Word Writers Fair Workshop and CALEB Award

I'm "cheating" a little this week.
Today I also am a contributor to the International Christian Fiction Writers blog and have just posted that to be released 12:05AM American Pacific Time. With several states in Eastern Australia now on Summer Daylight Saving, here my post should be up about 7pm tonight our time - the "penalty" for being so many hours ahead of the USA!

If you've read my other posts here you know I've had a bout of influenza and this means my energy levels are now almost back to normal - whatever that is! So, please forgive this short post and click here to read my other post.
I am still trying to catch up on preparing for The Word Writers Fair in Queensland on November 11th-13th. I am a mentor again this year and also presenting a workshop there for beginner novelists called:

Preparing To Write That Novel

Have you been like too many people I have met over the years who wistfully and often shyly admit they would like to write a novel too “some day.” Then they confess they don’t know if they ever should or could because they don’t know how to go about doing it or even where to start. This workshop would address the basics for you to consider and the skills that are needed to be developed so you too can not only dream about it but work hard towards one day becoming a published fiction author.

And with my mind full of preparing this workshop, I have written a little about it on the ICFW post.
This coming weekend is The Word Writers Fair in Adelaide and I know it will be a great time there as will the one near Brisbane in November. It is not too late to check out these events and register. Do click on the above links and check our the great programmes.

And why the photo (again!) of my latest release? I am thrilled and excited that Justice at Baragula is one of three finalists in the Fiction category of the CALEB Award sponsored by Omega Writers . The other two finalists though are Carol Preston's Mary's Guardian and Paula Vince's Best Forgotten - both great books and it will be three nervous authors at that Awards dinner Friday 11th November in Queensland when the winner will be announced.

Would love to see you there!

Restarting work on that unfinished manuscript

Some years ago, after too many rejections on my first single title attempt, Return to Baragula, I started writing another book. I had written nearly 44,000 words of it with about 20,000 to go when at last I discovered a relatively new publisher in Australia had started to release Christian Fiction. To my delight a contract was signed for Return to Baragula. I had revised it so many times, become so fond of some minor characters that they needed their own story and I started writing Outback From Baragula. Thus what was to be a single title became Book One in my Baragula trilogy and for the last few years there has been simply no time to keep writing that other manuscript.

However, the pace has slowed. Justice at Baragula and my husband’s two devotional meditations have been launched. Promotion and activities with other writers is still keeping me busy but there really is no longer any real excuse not to try and get back to writing that stalled story I have tentatively called Her Outback Cowboy.

It has been incredibly easy to procrastinate opening up this file again, searching the filing cabinet for the printed out so-far-manuscript, dragging out the folders with the research for the settings, character information, story-line, etc, etc. In fact, I have been surprised at my real reluctance to try and get back into the hearts and minds of this hero and heroine once more.

Perhaps I am finding it hard to let the characters from Baragula go.

Perhaps I am just very nervous about going through “it” all again—the writing, the editing, the rewrites, the submission process, those revisions from a publisher, those proofs to check, the promotion of a new release and so on and.

Perhaps I keep thinking of all the house cleaning that needs to be done, all those cupboards that need sorting out—including these filing cabinets that have caused me so much angst trying to find Her Outback Cowboy folders today!

Perhaps it is because today is the first day of spring and has been a lovely sunny day. I just wanted to go outside on one the rare days of sunshine we have had lately and pull up all those weeds in the garden that can hardly be called a flower garden anymore.

Perhaps I just want to help more and more our very busy daughter-in-law and son as they prepare to give us our sixth grandchild in October. I so enjoyed having the four year old granddaughter and 21 month old grandson for several hours on two days this week while their other three lovely boys were at school. And the next two weeks are school holidays for them and I’d love to spend time with them too.

Perhaps it is just simply because I am feeling lazy?

So, to prayer and the Scriptures once again for direction, for knowledge to be certain of priorities in my life the Lord wants me to have right now.

Above all, Lord, perhaps I need to simply be more self-disciplined?

Any suggestions gratefully received!

YouTube book trailer, my first e-book and other new book events

Ever curious about what published authors are doing when their latest book is released - besides trembling with nerves and excitement of course? Well, perhaps I should make that the weeks and months before the book is released as well as those days and weeks once the book is on the way at long last to readers.

Months ago when my publisher, Ark House Press, told me the month Justice at Baragula would be released, the action commenced. Emails started going out to my family, friends, acquaintances and to the six – no, make that seven counting Tasmania Writers Centre – organisations I am a member of. Then of course there was my networking on the internet, including Facebook, this blog and also the International Christian Fiction Writers blog I contribute to. No, I haven’t yielded to Twitter!

Then we heard that my husband’s two books were to be released the same month as mine. Action Stations! As mentioned before here, we organised those two book launches. Emails flew to and fro organising those special events. Then of course there was advertising to do in any way we could through our Christian contacts in Melbourne and also in Tasmania. We have had radio interviews and our first book-signing with another booked for July in Hobart – more about that later.

Now, during all that activity, as I had for the first two Baragula books I emailed Misty Taggart at Trailer To The Stars to have a video book trailer produced for this third Baragula book. When the time came for her to make the trailer her husband was very ill in hospital and our son who was to do the voice over became extremely busy becoming “Mr Darcy” in a theatre production of Pride and Prejudice. The trailer was completed several days ago now but this is my first chance to let you know about it! I am also in the throes of copying all three Baragula book trailers to DVDs to be able to give to bookshops who are willing to use them in their stores.

The other exciting news is that Justice at Baragula is now available as an e-book from two major Christian Bookshop outlets, Koorong and Word. My publisher is also endeavouring to soon have it available at Amazon for their Kindle.

And so, what else should a writer be doing at this time? Writing her next book! And that is what I am finding very difficult to settle down to now. Somehow I have to make the time to finish Her Outback Cowboy.

Do have a listen to this latest book trailer on YouTube for Justice at Baragula. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnGljXFxzLg

And please leave a comment here to let me know what you think of it – and the other two for Return to Baragula and Outback From Baragula on YouTube also if you have not seen them before this.

And now it is nearly bed-time so that manuscript will have to wait - again. Oh, but I should mention I am at last able to see the top of this desk after a clean-up today. Mmm... Wonder what else I'll find to do tomorrow instead of writing that manuscript

RAY'S MONDAY: When is a launch not a small boat?

Sounds strange to call a book event ‘a launch’. In our minds the word may conjure up images of sleek, fast moving motor type boats. However Mary and I had a book launch without slipways and the smashing of a bottle over the keel. (A pagan offering to the sea god anyway.)

Children: God’s Special Interest, my first 31 Day Devotional, was introduced by Pastor Craig Spaulding, associate minister at the Door of Hope. He commented on how relevant the devotions were in our present moral climate of either ignoring or exploiting children. He recommended people read them to understand God’s heart for the young.

From Eden with Love is a 31 Day Devotional on the Biblical presentation of Marriage. The speaker introducing it was Mark Brown, Tasmanian Director for Australian Christian Lobby . He pointed out the easy understandable and uplifting daily readings on this important theme is especially valid in today’s confused thinking about Marriage.

As well as other pertinent comments, in response I mentioned that all royalties from these books go to two Christian enterprises. One is the Churches of Christ Children’s Home in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The other goes to Australian Christian Lobby - and you don’t have to think hard as to which goes where.

Mary’s latest and final (mmm... or is it? She hinted there was another idea bubbling about another minor character!) in the Baragula series, Justice at Baragula was last but not least to be launched.

We were very grateful to Mrs Ann Fair from the bookshop at Door of Hope in Launceston (a Church of Christ) for helping to organise and promote the book launch. She also skilfully introduced Mary's book and read some of the first scene in chapter one. Mary then gave some insights into this book about two young people, a policeman and farmer’s daughter, seeking to deal with their past hurts and brokenness. She mentioned briefly how the characters in this book emerged from out of the previous two in her Baragula series. Their  story had to be told.

The readers were reminded that while this story is written as fiction, there are many broken-hearted folk, including Christians with deep hurts from the past that need healing. There is help available, including from the organisation Careforce Lifekeys as mentioned in the "Authors Note" at the end of this book.

One of the things I enjoy about serving God is how He ties things together. In the morning church service Sandy Hart spoke on overcoming issues from the past, an apt introduction to Mary’s book. Craig is going with Compassion International (a Children’s Ministry) to the Philippines and Mark’s wife Sue is a long time friend of our children from NSW.

Today (Tuesday as I’m running late with this) I was interviewed by a Toowoomba Christian radio station, Voice 92.9FM. This will be played on Thursday morning around 9:00-9:30am on their Catching Up programme. Thos in the viewing area should check the radio for details but folk anywhere in the world should be able to listen live on the internet. Website:

You can buy all our books from any Australian Christian bookshop, Even Before Publishing/Wombat books in Brisbane, or direct from us. See our website - Mary Hawkins Australian author - for details and we have PayPal available there also.
Don't forget:-  Clicking on blue underlined words in the blog will take you to the websites!

RADIO INTERVIEW - AND MORE

Well, I’m late again but I think I do have a few more excuses.

Things are still very busy here with trying to get the word out about Ray’s two books – as in the last post here – and my book, Justice at Baragula.

Yesterday Ray had an appointment in Launceston and I had a lovely time with a great lady, June Younger, who made me so welcome at a Know Your Bible study group she led nearly eight years ago when we first moved to settle in Tasmania. She had rung me asking for my book which I was able to deliver to her yesterday morning. I did enjoy fellowship again with this Godly woman until I suddenly realised the time had gone and I was late already picking up Ray from his appointment!

Mmm...being punctual has always been a problem for me – as my followers on this blog already know. Fortunately, Ray and I still had time to have lunch and be on time for our radio interview appointment at Launceston’s Way FM105.3. www.wayfm.org.au

After other books of mine hit the shelves, over the years I have had the experiences of a few radio interviews in different cities. Ray also has done some stints on radio stations during our years in ministry, including being rostered on minister’s fraternal devotional spots and since moving to Tasmania being a presenter for a while on another northern Tasmanian FM community radio station. But this was a new experience for both of us! One thing that had never happened to me before was the presenter praying with us before the interview. Awesome!

Then Ray and sat side by side speaking into our individual microphones while Steven Weeks interviewed us. It was pretty nerve-wracking in some ways and I have to confess feeling inadequate and ill-prepared.

Steven had read Ray’s two devotional books and so had some good questions which I thought Ray handled very well about his reasons for writing devotional books of God’s heart as revealed in the scriptures about Children and Marriage.

Then it was my turn. Fortunately Steven’s wife had read my book – and enjoyed it very much. This well known “talker” still found it all rather difficult and it was with some trepidation I listened to the interview over the airwaves a few hours later.
Sorry readers, the interview is not available on the internet, so you will have to take my word for it that I believe God will use the airwaves as HE wills in all of this. However, you will have another opportunity to meet with us face to face at the launch of our books at Door of Hope church in Glen Dhu, Launceston this Sunday at 11.45am for a start at 12 midday.

AND A REMINDER: DON'T MISS OUT ON THE DRAW FOR ONE OF RAY'S BOOKS.  See HIS POST - last Tuesday and LEAVE A COMMENT to be in the draw.

Watch the Clouds!

Most of you reading this will be aware of the false prophecy that the rapture would happen last Saturday. This devotion Ray wrote last year seems to be appropriate this week!

Watch The Clouds.

Read Matthew 24:15-35.

Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him Rev.1:7a)

Clouds fascinate me. I enjoy discerning faces and shapes they create as they flit across the sky. They remind me that the Bible is laced with references to God in the company of clouds. He spoke from Mt. Sinai shrouded in dark clouds.(Exodus 19) That left a lasting impression to Israel’s national psyche.

Part of the reason Jesus was crucified was because He said, “…I tell all of you: (The Sanhedrin) in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of Heaven.” This is a quote from Daniel 7:9-14 and the Jewish leaders knew its links with Yahweh and the promised Messiah. The crucifixion tried to prevent this promise. Instead it fulfilled other scriptures and His resurrection guaranteed the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise to return. In Acts 1:9-11 His ascension is recorded and confirmed the future expectation. It was visible. It was from the Mount of Olives. It was with the clouds. In Zechariah 14: 4 foretold an event yet to take place which links an Old Testament prophecy to Jesus and the reading from Acts.

Today we wait for it. When we pray, “…Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven…” we are making a faith statement as well as expressing our hope! This is the great expectation and motivation of Christians especially under harsh regimes. When the Lord returns on the clouds the longing for righteousness, justice and peace on earth will become a reality. Until then we walk by faith and keep our eyes on the clouds. As 1 Corinthians 16:22 puts it ‘Maranatha’. (come O Lord)

Thought for the day. No one will be able to counterfeit that event.

Ray's devotional books are now available in Christian bookshops!

Don't forget the book launch of our three new books at Ringwood Church of Christ in Melbourne, Saturday June 4th at 2.30pm !

Exciting when New Books arrive!

Ray’s devotional books arrived last week.
My Justice at Baragula arrived last Monday so we have several boxes of books to store away until they are all sold – or given away, so watch this blog! I just checked one Christian bookshop on the internet and Ray’s books have started to arrive on their shelves in cities across Australia while mine are still to make their appearance.

I even eventually managed to work out how to “create an event” on Facebook to let folk know about the book launch we are organising – or at least the first one in Melbourne, Victoria, on Saturday, June 4th at 2.30pm at Ringwood Church of Christ. This will be followed by afternoon tea and the friends of our daughter, Gaylene, are kindly catering for us and would appreciate an RSVP so there will be sufficient goodies.

Now we can also announce the names of the kind folk who are going to launch our books.

John Sharpe, the minister at Ringwood will launch From Eden With Love. We do thank John for all his support.

We are thrilled our dear friend, Jacquiline Purnell, will be home from Bangkok and is launching CHILDREN: God’s Special Interest. She has worked for years with children and has written the forward to this book for Ray. Jacqui and her husband David have worked for many years with World Vision and he is currently their South-East Asian Development Manager.

Delightful, talented author Amanda Deed  will be launching my Justice at Baragula. I was not at all surprised when her challenging Christian novel, "The Game”, won the 2010 CALEB award for Christian Fiction.

Ray is donating the royalties from his devotions about children to the Khayelihle Children’s Village in Zimbabwe, and those from his devotions for married couples to the Australian Christian Lobby which supports Christian Marriage.

As well as all the excitement about our books we have been busy with other activities this last week. It has been very encouraging to receive feed-back about my talk last Thursday at the local Women Aglow meeting. As Ray teases me, I spend days preparing a talk but then get away from my notes as my heart takes over. How could anything else happen when talking about the outward appearance of Christians and their inward appearance that should shine the beauty and fragrance of Jesus to those we meet. As Isaiah 53:2 (NIV) says about the promised One, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him...” yet despite the horror of Him dying on a cross, for those of us who have learned to love Him as Keith Green’s song says,
“O Lord, you’re beautiful,
Your face is all I seek.
For when Your eyes are on this child,
Your grace abounds to me.”

Another old song should be our daily prayer. “Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, all His compassion and purity.” If only that could be true!
Our prayer is that at least though our writings we may share snippets about the Lord Jesus Christ that will encourage readers to want to know Him as their Saviour and Lord  - and also intimately as their best Friend.

The winner of last weeks giveaway, Outback From Baragula, is Michelle Dennis Evans. Congratulations! Please send me your postal details to mary@mary-hawkins.com and I will have it in the mail for you.

Book winner and Book Three

A big thank you to those who entered the draw for the first book in my Baragula series, Return to Baragula.

The proofs for Book Three, Justice at Baragula, arrived yesterday and I've been very busy today checking them for the Title Manager at Ark House Press so they could get to the printer in time for the release of the book in May. Sorry the draw for my book giveaway had to wait. Our son arrived right when I needed someone to select a piece of paper from all those with names on of those followers who left a comment.

I am delighted to be able to congratulate Mandy! Your book will be sent as soon as you send me your postal details.

Afraid my eyes have been glued to this computer screen too long today so this post needs to be kept short.

Justice at Baragula is the 18th story I have written and will be my 19th title released. Amazing! Now I need to knuckle down and think very seriously which book will be my 20th - a real milestone. There is still one manuscript I called Delayed Dreams that was rejected and still languishing neglected in a box somewhere. Should I rewrite that one? Should I finish writing Her Outback Cowboy or should I think about seeing if my second inspirational romance book, Damaged Dreams, could be re-packaged and re-printed? That really needs to happen now before I look at Delayed Dreams again.

So, what do I do now? The first thing is to pray of course -which I can assure you all I have certainly been doing.

Do any of you remember my second Heartsong Presents book, Damaged Dreams? Anyone read it?
And afraid this has to be enough tonight here. I need to stop, stretch, do hand and finger exercises - and exercise discipline to stop checking my Facebook home page!

Once again, a very big thank you to you all. I will have another draw for Book Two, Outback From Baragula in the next few weeks!

Giveaways, Guests and Greetings

Australian and New Zealand followers, you still have until before next Wednesday to leave a comment and be entered in the draw for Return to Baragula. Do remember you need to leave a comment AND be a follower to be in the draw.

As I mentioned last week this is Book One in my Baragula series. There will be another giveaway contest for Book Two, Outback From Baragula, before Justice at Baragula, Book Three, is released in May! Not long to wait for that book now, so do check back here! I will be including overseas followers later when I can offer them the e-books Ark house Press have said will be released as well!

Ray and I have been really blessed with hosting overnight guests this last month or so.

In fact, just after I typed that last sentence two lovely friends arrived to share with us. They have become “Grey Nomads” with a camper-van travelling around Australia and we have not seen them for many, many months. They returned to Tasmania for several weeks to see family and friends and we are so privileged to be included in their visit! (And that information is so you know I do have a bit of an excuse for this blog post being late – once again!)

I have truly had a feast of fellowship with guests these last few weeks. Jo-Anne Berthelsen and her husband stayed a few nights with us and while our long-suffering husbands also enjoyed fellowship as fellow ministers, we enjoyed sharing “writer talk”. We are both published by the same company, Ark House Press, and I am really looking forward to reading her next book, Helena’s Legacy, scheduled for release in June. Jo-Anne is also a wonderful speaker – as we discovered when she was the main speaker at the Baptist Women Ministries’ conference in March. Do click on her name to go to her website and learn about this lovely woman who blessed me so much during our time together.

(However, I'll make sure I don't stand in front of the stayed glass of our door next time. I promise you that is not a halo!)

 Last week we were privileged to also have John Mackay stay overnight with us. He is the International Director of  Creation Research - the man the media has called "The crocodile hunter of creation." and an international speaker http://www.creationresearch.net He had several appointments in our area and was great to renew fellowship with him in this way and be informed, blessed and challenged by his message. This photo was taken with John and another member of his team at Brady's Lookout between where we live and Launceston - a beautiful place.

With still catching up on the hundreds of neglected emails, organising book launches for Justice at Baragula  and Ray’s two books in Melbourne (June 4th – more details later) and Launceston as well as family and other commitments, this of course does mean I haven’t written anymore of my new manuscript. But I do know God IS in control! The time to write will come.

And now I must finish here and get back to checking the proofs for that new release in May.

Please remember the draw for that first book in the series, Return to Baragula. The draw will be Tuesday evening and announced next Wednesday.

My First Book Giveaway - on my own blog!

Baragula Book Three, Justice at Baragula, is coming in May! The edits have gone back to the publisher at last, the book is currently being formatted for proof editing and is scheduled for release in early May.
I have written other series before this, but it wasn't until I was doing these last edits I wondered if I have given away too much of the stories in the first two books.

This means I should be encouraging readers to make sure they have read them first. To start with, between now and April 27th, I would love to give away a copy of Book One, Return to Baragula, to anyone who is a follower of my blog and also leaves a comment.

This first Baragula book was published in 2008 and Book Two, Outback From Baragula, in 2009.

These are my first longer inspirational romance novels after the five Harlequin Mills and Boon category medical romances (1994-1998), and contemporary and historical inspirational romances published by the American publisher, Barbour Publishing, in their Heartsong Presents Book club (1993-2002). All except one book were later in two Barbour 4-in-1 volumes under the titles Australia (2000) and Australian Outback (2003). The novella in Australia, Search For the Star, was first published with three other stories by different authors in Christmas Dreams. Do check out my website - still needing updating though, I'm afraid! 

Many folk have asked me where "Baragula" is. Sorry, readers, it is a fictitious town set in the real area north-west of Sydney, not far from the Barrington Mountains to the east of Scone in the Hunter Valley. I do have a scene in the hospital in Scone and along the real road from Scone through to the Barringtons.

Many folk have also asked me, "Where do you get your ideas from?" For most of my books I simply have to say, "I really don't know - or remember where the germ of an idea originated from." So what about that first Baragula book? Let me say first of all that when I wrote Return to Baragula I had no idea of it becoming Book One in a series!

Australian readers will know that at the end of the school year in Australia, many thousands of teenagers completing their last year of High School before Tertiary education or entering the work force descend on various places around Australia to celebrate. We lived in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales when our seventeen year old daughter completed her final Higher School Certificate examinations. Several of her friends travelled to celebrate at the Gold Coast in Southern Queensland. While they apparently had a great time there, I have to confess feeling a little relieved our daughter did not go as she was preparing for twelve months overseas as a Rotary Exchange student. Years later my writer's brain clicked into gear. That simply means I started to ask many "What if?" questions about a Christian teenager who joined a School Bash party at the Gold Coast. The result was the prologue in Return to Baragula and the "ripples" that affected many others in Emily Parker's life for many years.

Book Two and Book Three are not sequels as I understand them but more "spin-offs" about characters you first meet in Return to Baragula. Over the years I have introduced minor characters in my stories and then later decide I just have to write their stories also!
Emily Parker and Doctor Matthew Davidson have their story told mainly in Book One. Then in Outback From Baragula, Matthew's sister, Jillian Davidson and one of Emily's friends, Steve Honeysuckle, have to survive many dangers out in western NSW on her family's cattle station.

In Return to Baragula I introduced Madeline Honeysuckle and the local policeman, Bradley Hunter, who obviously had some history between them. I just  had to share their story in Book Three, due out this coming May! I enjoyed creating an odd outback character - a kangaroo shooter - in Book Two so much he just had to appear again to help Brad and Maddie try to bring a criminal to justice in the final book in the series - well, right now I think it is the last in the Baragula series!
But there's another story, other characters trying to tell me their stories in outback Queensland in a manuscript I'm writing I've tentatively called Her Outback Cowboy. A young woman returns to her old outback home from America after many years growing up in Texas. When still a teenager, she had been wrenched away from her father and her beloved home in the outback.
Hmm, but then there's that Dream series I would love to finish. It is still evolving from my second Heartsong book, Damaged Dreams!

Enough of that! Lets get back to Baragula!
Apologies to my overseas readers, but this time I am limiting this giveaway of Return to Baragula to Australian and New Zealand readers only. And why? Well, Justice at Baragula is going to be released later as an e-book!  My publisher, Ark House Press, has told me it will be one of their first books also released in print AND an e-book. I am also anticipating the other two books will also be available later as e-books.

Of course that means more giveaways in the future!

And there's still more! Book One has had a few changes since that first print edition. I realised Book Clubs and Study Groups were looking for Questions for Discussion included in Christian Fiction books. All my three Baragula books now have them, including the latest version of Return to Baragula which will be the book sent to the winner of the draw.

And yes, I will have another giveaway here later for Outback From Baragula too. And then of course there are my husband's two devotional books, then BookThree in the Baragula series as well, then...?

REMEMBER: TO ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN RETURN TO BARAGULA YOU NEED TO BE A FOLLOWER AND ALSO LEAVE A COMMENT BEFORE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27TH
Please don't forget to leave your name and email contact details - or if your prefer, send them privately to me at mary@mary-hawkins.com 

Weekends, rain - and edits!

Now it is Tasmania's turn. Rain plus rain equals floods.
This has to be a brief post today - even though it is raining still and cosy inside! Just wanted to share how blessed Ray and I are - well we are always blessed but some days it is just more obvious than others. Ever feel like that too?
Last weekend Ray and I had a busy but relaxing weekend.

We had an early start on Saturday because we went to the Launceston's library book sale. Last year over $10,000 was raised by this annual event by the Friends of the Library. As soon as the doors were opened at 9am the crowd of people swarmed in and the piles of books rapidly disappeared from the many tables in the large hall.

Local published authors are invited to display and hopefully sell their books also. This certainly makes many readers realise we do exist!
My fellow members and friends of the Socity Women Writers Tasmania had the table next to myself and another friend - whose photo I do not have - sorry Margaret Muir, whose beautiful books are multi-published by Robert Hale!


After the book sale Ray and I drove over to the east coast of Tasmania to St Helens where we have not until now been able to visit. The churches where Ray had been invited to speak do not currently have a minister so we stayed in their comfortable manse for two nights. This was a very relaxing, cosy time for us as it has been really busy in recent weeks. I am so sorry I don't have photos to share with you this time of the awesome forests, the beautiful coast line, but we do highly recommend a visit tp this beautiful area.
Ray preached at a church at St Helens and at Fingal on the Sunday morning and when we were leaving St Helens late on Monday morning it was just starting to rain. And it is still raining and raining and raining!

It was a slow drive along the winding, mountainous road from St Helens to Scottsdale. We had one special "blessed" few moments when a vehicle coming towards us did not manage a bend and slid on the slippery road across into our lane, tilted over so the front and back wheels were off the bitumen. Even as Ray hit our brakes and we both said, "it's going over," the front drivers side anchored into a soft mound of dirt only inches from the forest and they jolted to a stop on all four wheels. Another foot or so and they would have slammed into some of those huge tree trunks we had been admiring! No one was hurt and they managed to back off the mound and went on their way. "If" they had been going faster, "if" we had been going faster, "if" we had left St Helens a few minutes earlier it could have been a very nasty accident for both of us. Good is God!
On the news this morning we are hearing of several towns like Fingal we drove through being cut off yesterday by flooded roads. This morning we are very grateful to be home safely - even if it is still raining and the visitors from Sydney we are expecting will need to take extra care on the roads. A fellow published author, Jo-Anne Berthelsen, and her husband arrived on the Bass Strait ferry yesterday morning and we haven't heard yet if it was a very rough crossing. Jo-Anne is the main speaker at the Baptist Women's Ministry conference Friday evening and Saturday. I am also involved at the conference so another busy weekend - but not as relaxing for me this time

And what about those edits? Late last Friday evening the edits I have been waiting and waiting for my Justice at Baragula arrived back from the publisher so now I am hard at work on them. This morning was a frustrating one because our landline phone is not working. Telstra, our phone company, says there is a fault on the line. They have diverted all calls to our mobile phone and no serviceman can come until next Monday!

And just as I typed that the mobile phone rang and Jo-Anne and her husband have car problems and had to return to Launceston with the help of the RACT!
My, what a few days! Hoping your day is not the same!

E-books anyone? Randy Ingermanson shares.

When my publisher in Sydney, Ark House Press  told me my third Baragula book would be released not only in print in May but also as an e-book, I suddenly knew I had to find out all I could about them. I don't own an e-book reader of any kind - yet anyway. Because I spend so much time reading on a computer monitor I am very reluctant to enter this other new world. My favourite place to read is lounging on a bed with a favourite author's latest book and a block of my favourite chocolate and - Oh dear, forgot for a moment I'm not allowed to do that now - too much sugar and fat! Well, anyway hopping on the bed with an e-book instead of an old-fashioned book -and no chocolate - doesn't appeal to me at all - yet anyway!

I've even joined a new e-book writers sub-genre group of members of Romance Writers of Australia and reading any article about e-books that comes my way. Then the Advanced Fiction Writing E-Zine arrived this morning. I've been subscribed to this ever since Randy Ingermanson, the "Snowflake Guy", commenced it and over the years have been challenged and helped many times not only by articles here but his wise and knowledgable posts on the American Christian Fiction Writers loop. So, I've taken up this very generous writer's offer of the Reprint rights copied below and share this article (No 4) from the Advanced Fiction Writers E-zine Vol 7 No 3
I strongly recommend writers serious about their writing careers subscribe to this E-zine! And for all of you  readers who have not ventured into writing yourself, this will give you a good, behind-the-scene insight into the world of writers and their careers.

-----------------------------------------------

Over to Randy:-

Reprint Rights
Permission is granted to use any of the articles in this e-zine in your own e-zine or web site, as long as you include the following 2-paragraph blurb with it:

Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy," publishes the Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 24,000 readers, every month. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit

http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/.

Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing and get a free 5-Day Course in How To Publish a Novel.
--------------

4) Marketing: An Industry Pro Goes E
The e-book revolution is roaring in even faster than predicted by e-enthusiasts. A few facts will make clear what I mean:

A-list novelist David Morrell recently self-published his novel THE NAKED EDGE on Amazon, in Kindle and audio formats only.

A-list marketing guru Seth Godin is due today, March 1, 2011, to self-publish his next book, POKE THE BOX, simultaneously in hardcover and e-format.

In January of this year, self-published e-novelist Amanda Hocking sold a reputed 450,000 copies of her books on Amazon. She is 26 years old. Less than a year ago, she posted her first novel on Amazon. Now, she's a superstar.

In view of these, I wasn't surprised when one of my writing buddies, Jim Bell, recently self-published a new e-book, COVER YOUR BACK. The book contains a novella and three short stories. If the words "film noir" and "femme fatale" ring your bells, then COVER YOUR BACK might well be a book you'd enjoy.

Jim has not abandoned the world of traditional publishing. His venture into e-books simply allows him to do things that he couldn't have done with a paper-and-ink publisher that thinks a year is a short period of time.

I asked Jim to tell me about his venture in an interview for this e-zine. Here's a blurb about him and his writing:

JAMES SCOTT BELL is a bestselling thriller author and served as the fiction columnist for Writer's Digest magazine. He has written three popular craft books for Writers Digest Books: Plot & Structure, Revision & Self-Editing and The Art of War for Writers. Jim has taught writing at Pepperdine University and numerous writers conferences. On June 4th and 5th he is teaching a seminar in Los Angeles for novelists and screenwriters. Information can be found at http://www.jamesscottbell.com/

On to the interview. Let's see what motivated Jim to take the e-plunge.


Randy: You recently self-published your first e-book, after more than a decade of publishing paper books with a number of traditional royalty-paying publishers. What prompted you to take the plunge into the e-book market?

Jim: Because there is absolutely no downside to it, and plenty of upside. The e-market is exploding and I had several stories and a novella that didn't have a home. E-book publishing allows me to bring new material to my readers, and introduce me to others. I've always admired the old pulp writers of the mid 20th century who had to write a lot for a penny a word, but created some of the best suspense ever. That's what I always wanted to be able to do, and now can via e-publishing.

The nice thing is that the royalty for these works is great and I get paid every month.


Randy: Let's talk a bit about the process. You decided to write a novella and three short stories. You wrote them in Microsoft Word just as you normally do. Then what happened? How did you take the book from a Word document to its final published form on Amazon and the other online retailers?

Jim: I hired a person to do the conversion for me. There are many people out there who will do this, and the cost is relatively low. You should be able to find someone for between $50 - $100. It may be a bit more if the document needs more work. I toyed with the idea of doing it myself, but was advised by others to let a professional handle it. So I provided the Word document and the person I hired converted into a format for Kindle, for Nook, and for Smashwords, should I expand to that.


Randy: Many fiction contracts have "non-compete" clauses in them. Tell us about those and what they mean for the already-published author who wants to venture into the electronic self-publishing world but doesn't want to alienate his publisher.

Jim: Well, publishers are investing money in writers and trying to build them. So a standard publishing contract has a clause that says the writer cannot sell a book that might compete with the one they're publishing. Usually there's language about potential "harm" to the sales of the contracted book. That could mean that a self-published e-book, at a low price point, could be viewed as competition with the published e-book, which might have a higher price point.

On the other hand, a low priced, self-published e-book can be seen as a marketing tool for the other books. This should all be discussed with the publisher, and a written understanding hammered out.


Randy: Any predictions on the near-term future of publishing? As we speak, Borders is circling the drain and Barnes & Noble is battling to reinvent itself, while dozens of previously unknown writers are earning thousands of dollars per month. Where do you see the world of publishing going in 2011? What are your plans to deal with the massive change?

Jim: I do think the traditional publishing model is undergoing great stress now. There are fewer distributions points, less revenue coming in as consumers turn to lower priced e-books. The old guard will have to be experimenting with new ways of doing things, but that's hard for a big, established business to do.

Meantime, there will be a veritable tsunami of original material self-published. Most of it will be bad. A writer still needs to sweat and strain and get better. The old model provided a filtering system. But for those who learn to write well, the self-publishing avenue has great potential.

I don't think anyone can predict what the landscape will look like in five years. I have been surprised at the rapid rise in e-readers (as was predicted by one Randall Ingermanson). As a writer I'm taking advantage of the opportunity. Others will do the same. And word of mouth will continue to help the best works get the attention they deserve.


Randy: You probably couldn't have traditionally published your novella WATCH YOUR BACK and you almost certainly couldn't have published your short stories in paper format. Tell us a bit about those stories and why you wrote them. Isn't it enough to be a successful novelist?

Jim: I love the short story and novella form. It used to be we had a thriving short story market in this country, lots of pulp and slick magazines. But that all dried up except for a couple of little magazines, through which it is impossible to make a living. And yes, short story collections are rarely published in print form.

So, here is a way for me to write short form suspense fiction and publish it. As I said, there's just no downside to that. I can provide entertainment for readers at a low cost, and everyone's happy.


Randy: I bought COVER YOUR BACK last week and read through it in a day. Great read! Lots of fun for those who like darkish fiction. What advice do you have for someone contemplating writing exclusively for the self-publishing market?

Jim: First, always be about getting better as a writer. That should never stop. I started in this business 20 years ago and have kept on studying the craft all that time.

Second, be sure to have your story vetted by several "beta" readers, and even consider paying a freelance editor to go over the manuscript. Readers do notice if the text is sloppy.

Third, hire a good cover designer. You have to make a good first impression with your book cover.

Finally, make some long term plans. What kind of writing will be your specialty, your "brand"? As you build readers, they are going to expect some continuity in your work. That's not to say you can't be flexible and try new things, but an audience is grown largely by coming to rely on the type of story you produce. Think of Stephen King and John Grisham. Even they did not deviate from their genres until they were well established in them.


Randy: Great advice, as always. Thanks for telling us about your adventures on Planet E, Jim!


If you're interested in checking out what devilish games Jim plays on his lead characters, have a look at the Amazon page for WATCH YOUR BACK. Priced at $2.99, it's a darned good deal:
http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com/blinks/bell/back.php

(Standard full disclosure: The above link contains my Amazon affiliate code.)

I hope to get my own first self-published e-book into cyberspace this month. The book will be one of my previously published novels, OXYGEN.
The premise: An explosion on the first mission to Mars leaves four astronauts with only enough oxygen for one of them to reach the Red Planet alive. NASA engineers feverishly plan a rescue mission, but it's hopeless unless somebody can figure out which of the four astronauts is the saboteur.

Watch this space for more info on OXYGEN.

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So there you have it, readers. I found this article fascinating and a huge "thank you" once again for Randy's generosity in letting me share this with you on my blog.

I would be very interested to know how many readers of my blog do read e-books. Could you please leave your comments about e-books for me? I need to continue learning all I can about them!

Of course you will be hearing more from me about my first published e-book, Justice at Baragula, in the weeks to come.
Oh, and I was also told the first two books in my Baragula series are also in line to be released as e-books - but that's another story!

Books – And More Books!

I have another birthday looming in a few weeks – or is it a couple? Well, already I’m being asked, “what would you like for your birthday, Mum?” I think I heard my daughter sigh at the other end of the phone when I promptly said, “a voucher for buying books.”

There are just so many wonderful books I’d love to buy, especially Christian novels which are not in our local library. Then of course, being a hoarder I love to keep books but our bookshelves are already overflowing – out to the garage actually! I checked out our last credit card statement and was a bit ashamed at how many times I’d put it up that month from my visit to my favourite bookshop. In fact, I’d looked at it only a day or so before our daughter rang and hence my prompt birthday wish.

So, I’m a reader who has to exercise discipline to write her own books.

But then the cover of my next book arrives.

It is actually happening! All those hours on the computer, all those moans and groans when I realised I had to rewrite “that” section, when I had to pour over the manuscript again and again trying to “get it right.” But here it is. I’ve written another book and a publisher is making it possible for me to share it with people who will actually read it!

The thrill of seeing the cover for my soon-to-be-released novel never fades. With it also comes the need to share it with my readers – and the hope they will enjoy it even if it does increase their credit card account!

Justice at Baragula is Book Three in my Baragula series and will be released in May – only weeks away now. In it readers will meet old friends again from Return to Baragula and Outback From Baragula. Mmm. . .I wonder if readers will be able to tell by the characters in this book which particular one is a favourite of mine from Book Two!

Do check out the cover and blurb on the website of Ark House Press (click here) for my nineteenth title and let me know what you think.

And now of course I’m wondering which manuscript will become my twentieth book – if I stop reading other writer’s books long enough to write it!

Burnt peaches, Rewrites - and wasting time

It had taken me ages to prepare that second saucepan of peaches. I poured the small amount of water over the sugar and stirred until it started to boil. I turned the stove plate down and thought I’d wouldn’t start writing this blog post before it had finished cooking. Just a few minutes to check my email inbox before stirring it all again. After all, there could be that email from my publisher about the cover for my new book, Justice at Baragula coming out in a few months.

Well, there was that blog post from a writer friend I’d missed responding to for several days. Just a few lines should do it. Then I saw there were a few posts on that American Christian Fiction writers digest that interested me. A few minutes later – or I thought it was ‘a few’ – I went to check the peaches.

Horror. Froth had oozed up, tumbling over, down the sides of the saucepan, onto the plate, the stove. . .and the peaches were the wrong colour. Brown! Burnt. Ruined? A waste of time?

***

It had taken me hours, even days to decide on the plot for my next book. I took many hours to get to know my hero and heroine’s characters. Even after filling out those basic character questionnaire sheets they still had to let me get to know them when I started writing down their story in those first few chapters. Oh no, too much back-story! But the reader needs to know what happened all those years ago to understand why they are reacting the way I need them to. Would a prologue help?

I took more hours writing and re-writing that prologue. Mmm, much better, and now to change those other chapters. Rewriting took a lot of time. Then I re-read that prologue again. But what about the dialogue through those headphones? Had better check if the passenger and pilot can talk to each other like that in a small one engine plane. My brother once owned a Cessna the same as the one I’ve invented for this scene. A phone call to him should do it.

Horror. Headphones not needed at all except for perhaps the pilot to hear air traffic-control through them! Prologue ruined? A waste of time? Manuscript been put aside and is still waiting. . .waiting. . .

***

Now I have a burnt saucepan soaking – a very burnt saucepan! The peaches are in a clean one until they cool down. A taste? Hmm. . .doesn’t really taste burnt but does have a certain "tang". Perhaps I won’t have to throw them all out after all?

Now I have about three-quarters of that first draft written but no prologue that will work. Now my angst with myself has cooled down, now I’ve had more time to think about the characters, the conflict that separates them, breaking their hearts. Do I really have to throw out all those words no longer needed?

I taste the peaches. Mmm. . .not too burnt?. Perhaps just caramelised sugar? And there are still more on the tree waiting to be picked!

I re-read the manuscript. Mmm. . .not too bad. Perhaps just some more depth of emotion needed, some more showing instead of telling, more dialogue, and then of course that satisfying conclusion still to write!

No time wasted after all? Just a learning experience:-

1. Don’t check emails – or blogs - while cooking.

2..Don’t expect that first draft will not need rewriting, revising, rewriting, re. . .everything!

( But perhaps I did have the same expression today as my grand-daughter on her bad day?)