Five Days of Writing



Wallaby visits us and enjoys our
vegetable scraps as I stop
 writing and watch from
behind large glass windows.

 Have I been whinging too much on posts here and even on facebook at times about not writing my next manuscript? Hmm, somehow I think I have been!

I’ve been asked if this current manuscript will be another book in my Baragula series but while it does have a rural setting, afraid it is not another for that series. I started writing Her Outback Cowboy many years ago and it has sat waiting for me to finish those Baragula books.



It is still the middle of winter
in Tasmania but the wattle
 is starting to flower



 It has been much harder than I thought getting back into the plot, characters’ hearts and minds as well as researching the Texas and Queensland outback settings to try and get them correct. I also decided that the prologue I had started the story with could best have that information given to the reader throughout the first few chapters rather than as it happened years before Chapter One.

Time will tell if I succeed in making the story stronger this way.

For several reasons – mainly my inability to say “no” often enough – it has been a difficult year to try and work on this story. My wonderful husband decided we needed to get away from distractions at home. As a result, last week I had a blissful five days of writing at a special retreat cottage at Eagles Rise , owned and run by lovely Christian friends, Peter and Judy Brown.  I deliberately did not take internet connection for the laptop but did not realise there wasn’t even mobile phone coverage.

It was mostly cold and wet that week but I did manage to take these  photos. They do not do justice to the lovely warm house and beautiful bush setting.

Did I get much writing done? Not as many words as I had hoped perhaps. I certainly worked hard on the plot but know it still needs quite a bit of tweaking to try and make it a "page turner". And no, the bush, that blue wren that visited every day, the kookaburras that were fascinating to see drag those worms out of the ground and those wallabies and rabbits which did enjoy vegetable scraps did not destract me - well not too much. Besides, I did have to stretch and exercise these wrists and my back too!

Coming soon: 

Ray's own blog. It is in the process of being designed and should be made public in the near future.

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

Also, it is wonderful to be able to announce that this new venture is being commenced. Do check out the important information on the following blog by a writer friend of mine, Narelle Atkins.

http://30minutebiblestudies.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/australian-christian-readers-blog-alliance-acrba/

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!

Writers getting it “right.”



Not Qld but western New South Wales
paddocks of Paterson's Curse weeds.
Click on photo to see enlarged.


So, here I am, back trying to finish that half-finished manuscript I started a few years ago before I received a contract for Return to Baragula. I stopped writing this one to concentrate on writing the next two books in the Baragula series.

And have I been busy rewriting and editing that first draft, including trying to get the setting of fictitious Lomond Downs right!

When I wrote Outback from Baragula, I set Davidson Downs in a part of New South Wales I had actually never visited before. Thankfully I had a good friend who did know the general area, even had photos she shared with me.

This time I am setting most of the story of Her Outback Cowboy on a property south-west of Longreach in Central Queensland. This is another part of Australia I have never been able to visit. I have always understood this area is called the Channel Country where many small rivers and creeks are really nothing more than just that, channels rather than rivers. I mentioned to a couple of people this manuscript was set in the “Channel Country” only to be told they both individually thought the area called this was set in northern Queensland. So, back to doing research again in an effort “to get it right!”

I am wondering what other writers find about their unfinished manuscripts. Have I really changed myself so much that I now see unbelievable flaws and editing needed, including those weasel words? Yes, including that word “that”!

Oh, and both men were wrong about where the Channel country is.

Or are they? Would love to hear from anyone who has driven down the road from Longreach on the map called Thompson Developement Road! Do leave a comment here with your email so I can ask you heaps of questions. Or email me at mary@mary-hawkins.com

New Babies – The cuddly kind and...?



Four day old Haylee Mae
and brother Adam


We forget so quickly how tiny a very new baby is. A beautiful addition to our family arrived five days ago. Haylee’s little brother here getting “up close and personal” was about the same size less than two years ago. His little “almost two” personality is becoming more and more evident every day. His latest sentence? Unfortunately it is “Don’t want to!” (And with the exclamation mark.) Mmm...wonder how old Haylee will be when she says similar things as an alternative to “No!”

And so our babies continue to grow until they become more and more independent and we have to release them at last into their own big world “out there.” Haylee reminded both my husband and I so vividly what her father looked like all those years ago - about the same size with that thick mop of very black hair that these days shows tinges of gray. And when he moved out of home to start university a long way from home, it wasn’t always easy to let him go. I am sure he will find it also hard when Haylee and our five other wonderful grandchildren want to spread their wings.

Besides my own birth-pangs with our three children, I’ve had other very different, but still “birth-pangs”, with each manuscript I’ve written. Certainly most of them have taken longer than 9 months before they have developed enough to say they are “full term” and “The End” at last written. However, then comes more waiting time as we had with our own three children and now our grandchildren. The manuscript still has to “grow” through that careful read through. (Watching for any gaps in plot, characters acting “out of character”, dialogue. correct Point of View.) No head-hopping allowed? And as each new baby teaches the parent more, so this writer continues to learn with every one of her written “babies”.

And after each manuscript has been sighed over and I have at last had to resist trying to change anything, it has to be sent out into the wide world of editors, publishers. Hopefully, one day it will be out there on bookshelves for readers to enjoy, judge it too – first by that cover and then those inner contents.

No matter how attractive (or not) the outward appearances of our precious babies become, I pray they will have that true and lasting inner beauty that only the indwelling of Christ by His Holy Spirit can bestow upon them. We can try to teach and nurture by example and words, but it is still those babies growing to maturity who ultimately have to find their own destinies. My greatest “tool” as a grandmother is to maintain my own relationship with Christ and pray and pray and “be there” for them when needed.

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!