Another Blog update at last.

                  Sincere apologies for not updating  here for so long. 

So, programmes like Blogspot and Google change. My problem of being able to create updates has been very frustrating - and too time-consuming. Once again, despite hours trying to work out email addresses and passwords to create this "New Post" had to get help from a fellow writer, Paula Roe. Paula created my website and once again has been wonderful. She spent a lot of her own precious time this morning helping me so that here I am again at long last.

THANK YOU, PAULA ROE  Do check out her website by clicking on her name. 

The days have been so busy, it is hard to believe it is now almost 12 months since publishing my last post. Last year was a great year filled with visits from family and friends - some not seen for far too long.   Afraid it did become so busy with other commitments, it left little time to even think about posting here on my blog - especially when it took so long just finding the "New Post" so could publish one.

Earlier in 2015 there were a lot of trips from our beautiful Beauty Point to Launceston health specialists for Ray and dental appointments for myself. We are thankful all is under control now. Although slowing down of course, taking longer to do things and sometimes the memory not as sharp, my husband and I are very grateful to have the health we do at this time of our lives. 

The busy year did interfere with our writing schedules. At last Ray's new book, the seventh in his themed 31 Day Devotional series has just been published and will soon be on the bookshelves.  

My two manuscripts, Her Outback Cowboy and Delayed Dreams (A follow-on from my 1994 Damaged Dreams with Barbour Publishing) are still needing final revisions.  It has been exciting to see Damaged Dreams and all my back list from Barbour now out again as e-books. The plan is still to have eight more of my back list also available as e-books.

When possible, I still enjoy sharing with other writers online, but especially face to face at Conferences and writer events. 

At a special monthly SWWT meeting a few years ago.

 I am still very involved with activities of the Society Women Writers Tasmania. This year we are hosting the national society's Alice Award Event in August. 

AND NOW, 2016?

 Poatina Faith and the Arts with writers

It commenced in January with me at the Poatina Faith and Arts week. It was a privilege to again host the Creative Writing elective. It was the fore-runner of what is already looking like another very busy year. 

Ray and I at long last are going on our Indian Pacific Train trip to Perth. We have a book-signing there at Mt Lawley Koorong bookshop on April 30^th and other speaking and meeting appointments are being scheduled in April and May. In June we are taking our car to the mainland for our next trip. Besides seeing friends and family, we have accepted an invitation to the three day Christian High Schools Writing Retreat at Tahlee in NSW. We are looking forward to this but know it will be a challenge to share with keen young writers some of the things learnt over the years about writing,

It has thrilled me to see books now published by authors I have shared with over the years at conferences, workshops and mentoring programmes. Perhaps more of that in future blog posts. 

Writing Exercises

I know many of us have our thoughts now turned to Easter, especially Good Friday at this time. However, because I’ve been so late publishing my Thursday blog post, I’m typing this after a great morning spent with other writers at the Society Women Writers Tasmania’s monthly meeting.

Our meetings always vary quite a lot. The first section we share anything from the previous month that may have happened about our individual projects. Each month we are give a topic to write as homework to share the next meeting. Today the topic was “Fool”. Do I need to admit I did not do the homework this month? I have been busy with helping with the organising of our Romance Writers Australia Tasmanian Roadshow here in May. Naturally I shared about that during my turn!

Then our president led us in a writing exercise. Now, we’ve done this “slam” writing occasionally before at these meetings and I always find them very difficult. Seems I need to take too long to think about what to write – and may I say that is often my excuse for my late posts here! Also it seems that, since those weeks now over twenty years ago since I first started using a computer, my brain doesn’t usually work as well without those fingers tapping rather than moving a pen.

Today really surprised me and I’d like to share this exercise with you.

Close your eyes for about ten seconds and just think of words. Don’t think of anything else, just let words flow through your mind.

Now write down a favourite colour, then a number, a name and then a word – any word. I inwardly groaned each time Wendy told use what to write down but I played the “game” and wrote:
green    seven    Emily    workshop

Oh boy, then she said we had ten minutes to write something,anything - as long as we used those four words! And no editing!

In a few seconds I was writing furiously. I honestly was amazed how swiftly I knew what to write in that firast sentence, and did not want to stop when those ten minutes were up. The words had just flowed. We are not all novelists but of course for me Emily had immediately become a “character” in a story.

This is the first couple of paragraphs I wrote:

Emily was green with envy. If only she could go to that writer’s workshop. Seven electives to choose from! Surely there would be one that could help her write that novel.

Where would she start writing that story in her head? Characters! She needed characters. Perhaps from old fairy stories she had enjoyed so much all those years ago?

Before I knew it I had a character with a flawed past, a mother enious of her when sitting on her father’s knee as he read a favourite book to her. Parents had lied to her, he was not her biological father, and so on and so on. When the ten minutes were up I just wanted to keep writing Emily’s story!

Our president told us that it has been estimated at least one-third of writers who do this exercise then find they have the basis for a story, especially writers who write many books.

Well, I certainly proved that is what happened to me. I am still surprised, but as I read over this hand-written page again a few moments ago I sighed. Perhaps Emily’s story will be told one day. Right now I have to get back to finishing the story of Jennifer and Dave in Her Outback Cowboy.
Mmm... I wonder if Emily could be a minor character there. I wonder if that would then be possible to have Emily share in her own novel just why her mother was jealous of her father’s attention to her. How could that man she had loved and admired so much ever have kept from her he was not her biological father? And who was her real father? And why... what if...?

Why don’t you try this exercise and let me know what you think!

WHAT THIS WRITER DOES BESIDES WRITING

I know I seem to too often mention how busy life is here for me in our relatively quiet little village in Tasmania. Well, perhaps I do need to say that very important word, “No” far more often. I thought today I would share some of the things I have been involved in recently that is keeping me busy–perhaps at times too busy!

Published authors involved in writers’ groups may receive manuscripts from other writers to read and comment on. I have certainly had several of those over the years and, while I do very much enjoy trying to help unpublished writers in this way, it has the danger of taking too much time away from my own writing.

And so, what do I do? I lead with my chin and agree to being the presenter/leader of an elective for fiction writers at the Fusion Faith And The Arts week long event. This was held at Fusion’s village of Poatina in January. A beautiful place and do click HERE to check this unusual village out.

While I did come home weary, it was a very exciting and worth while time of fellowship and input into other writer’s efforts as well as getting to know other great folk involved in various other artistic works. This is an annual event and click HERE to find out more about FATA. It was a real privilege to be involved this year.



With Valerie Parv at
RWA National Conference

 Then I came home and straight back into being involved in planning and organising another exciting event. Romance Writers of Australia had contacted their members in Tasmania last year to see if we would consider having a RWA Roadshow here this year. These day seminars have been held successfully in places like Perth, Adelaide and North Queensland to try and give writers a “taste” of our annual National Conferences. However, these are only held in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and too many other areas miss out. Since these annual conferences commenced way back in 1991 I have only missed a few. Let me assure you, that while I am looking forward so very much to this one day here in Tasmania, I know it can only be a teaser for the wonderful RWA four day conferences held each year.

I couldn’t go to Melbourne last year and am especially looking forward to this special, yummy “Taster!”

And here is the first announcement, the Teaser for the Taster!

Tasmanian RWA Roadshow
When: Saturday 19th
Where: LINC Tasmania – 8 High Street, Launceston

Time: 9.00am – 5.30pm (with optional dinner afterwards)

Cost: Members $55 (GST incl.) Non-members $66 (GST incl.) – includes lunch
More information about our special guest speakers from Victoria, their exciting elective workshops as well as registration will be available very soon at: http://www.romanceaustralia.com/roadshows_tas.html

Oh, and before I finish this post, I have to also mention my involvement in the Tasmanian Baptist Womens' Ministry committee. Our Conference Day happens on Saturday March 24th . Our theme this year is Where is God in Your Life? Is it obvious to you right now too that I sure need Him with me every moment?

I always enjoy these times of Tassie BWM fellowship. A really great day has been planned this year with a special speaker, Jan Adams, and others doing very important and interesting electives like:- 

Where is God in tough economic times? byAnthony Plisek.

Anthony is Senior Financial Counselor at Anglicare Hobart.

Registration Forms will be available this weekend .

So, once again I’ve lead with that softening chin of mine and am presenting the Bible Study elective, Where Is God In Your Day. And now I’m off to start preparing it! Perhaps God will again try to tell me what to say "No" to and hopefully I'll be listening!

MORE ABOUT THESE EVENTS NEXT WEEK!

And until then I might even be able to write more of my Her Outback Cowboy manuscript? Another perhaps?

Oops! For a moment forgot about the Society Women Writers Tasmania meeting next Monday – and helping to organise their Short Story Contest!

When Writers meet Face to Face

As well as online fellowship, writers do enjoy meeting with other writers. This photo was taken at a monthly meeting I try hard to go to each time of the Society Women Writers Tasmania. We have our next meeting this coming Monday - a special Christmas luncheon time!
My apologies for not posting here for so long. We arrived home from Queensland late last Thursday. Hard to believe a week has already slipped by. We “oldies” were certainly ready for a holdiay to get over our two week working holiday, but instead have found ourselves very busy catching up on mail, email, restocking the fridge and helping our family – not to mention the usual unpacking, laundry, sorting out notes and paperwork from the Writer events.

The last few days I’ve spent too much time trying to sort out insurance re-imbursement for a bit of damage to our hire car and trying very hard to find my camera. Sorry there are no photos this time of our trip. The above one was taken last year but a good reminder of writers meeting face to face! They are all still on that camera – somewhere not in aeroplanes. airports, hire car company and apparently at our family’s homes!

However, our trip away was a great time of meeting with readers at book-signings, my extended Qld family and then of course other writers. The Word Writer Fair was even bigger and better this year as it continues to attract more and more of those of us who are writers. I’ve already heard about some pre-planning to make our face to face time together with writers from all over Australia even more exciting next year. I so enjoyed putting faces to names of other writers I've only "met" online here as they have commented on our blogs posts and also on other blogs and writers email loops.

On the Friday I was privleged to mentor four fiction writers. It was a busy but very rewarding day and hopefully we will see those manuscripts they worked so hard on published in the future.

Saturday was very special for me again this year. Ray presented a workshop on writing devotionals and I talked to writers wanting to write fiction who attended my workshop on what writers need to know they should know before they start a novel. There have been so many things I’ve had to continue learning over the years and so many things I wish I had known before writing my own first novels. I sure pray it will help other writers not to have to learn the hard way I so often have by making mistakes with my manuscripts.

The CALEB Award dinner was another time of fellowship for us all. I was thrilled to be one of the three finalists in the fiction category and am thrilled for the winner, Paula Vince, for her novel Best Forgotten. Not only did she win our category but was the overall Grand winner! Fiction ruled!

An extra special moment for me was the delight of seeing one of the unpublished writers I mentored last year win the unpublished category, and know she has signed a contract for that manuscript we worked so hard on. Congratulations Jo Wanmer!

Another delight for me was the opportunity to meet and share dinner with members of the newly formed Toowoomba Romance Writers of Australia group. Perhaps I will be able to share more about the details of that and other experiences out west in future blog posts.

Already Ray and I are seeking to know what and where and how we may be involved with writers’ events next year. Already I am booked to share with writers at Fusion’s annual Faith and Art convention here in Tasmania in January. I missed the Romance Writers Australia National conference this year and in 2012 will be held at the Gold Coast in Qld. There is planning afoot for an RWA Roadshow for writers of romance here in Tasmania next May. Then there is another Word Writers Fair in Adelaide as well as another in Brisbane.

Choices, always choices. Our prayer is we will continue to listen to God, let Him choose for us. May He continue to make the journey HE wants to take us on very, very clear.

Fellowship through similar interests and commitment

This past week has been a feast of fellowship for me with other writers and other committed Christians.

Let me start with the monthly meeting of Society Women Writers Tasmania last Monday. I was unable to go last month and it was good to hear what the writers had been busy doing. Then we enjoyed the workshop about understanding people with sociopathic characteristics and how to portray them in our writing efforts. I find these meetings with other writers stimulating, help me be more disciplined with my writing. This time I did remember to take some photos!

Ray shared on his post last Monday a little about our week of fellowship with our Texas friends. The last few days have continued to be a feast for us here in our little church in our small village on the shores of the beautiful Tamar River.

Last week we shared fellowship on a special evening for the ladies. My diet certainly flew out the window with the temptation of all the goodies prepared for us. It was a fun night which included that chocolate fountain where we coated yummy marshmallows, strawberries and even slices of banana now rather a luxury after the floods this year in Australia destroyed so many plantations! While we nibbled away (now... is that the right word or should it be guzzled for me?), it was great to chat together and get to know women from our area. Later we were blessed and also challenged in our daily walk with God through the items in song and the talk by Heather Horton from Lake Fork Baptist church.

Well, that was last week’s feast for fellowship - especially with other women - but yesterday and today were added feasts as we shared a morning tea again with women in our neighbouring village. Today I was privileged to take our three ladies from Texas to enjoy with me the Beaconsfield Aglow meeting. Another time of praising God and this time being reminded that God’s promises are sure, certain and He never fails to keep them. But what about promises we have made not only to others but especially to God?

And perhaps the fact I kept forgetting to take more photos to share here and on Facebook is an indication how carried away I get at times when sharing God’s Word with other women. It is not only a time of enjoying fellowship but sharing the challenges to live as women who belong to Jesus Christ. Only then can God be glorified in and through us as we not only “talk the walk” but “walk the talk.”

And so, I've enjoyed fellowship these past days with writers who share with me a passion to put thoughts in words on paper and women who seek also to be strengthened in their Christian walk and praise the Lord as I do.

What kind of fellowship do you enjoy the most?