Don't hit yourself on the way out, 2018!

It’s been a… complicated 2018. 

There was  the good:

• Aunt Enid was fun to write. It reminded me of many, many wonderful childhood memories


• and I finally got hold of my great aunt’s lemon butter recipe!


• I attended Melbourne Supanova for the first time…  Road trip! with three fellow authors, Matt, Kylie and Katie.


• Just broke even for both Melbourne and Adelaide Supanova. (yeah!) 


• I wrote my first song for an Aussie steampunk band, The Littmus Steampunk Band – The Gadgeteer – which was released on their CD, Left Foot Forward.


• Had a short story published in the anthology, Deadsteam.


• Our offspring graduated from high school. Huzzah! and is contemplating an art career. (buy her stuff, it’s fantastic!)


• I got some fantastic book reviews


• Met Gillian from Sydney steampunk band, Sideshow Annie, and met Pete and Kat from Unorthodox  Society for the Elucidation of Retro-Futurism


• had social media posts liked by Tara Moss (my hero), Gail Carriger (another hero) and some other fave actors.


• my Patreon page went live this year and I got my first Patreon supporters


• I finished 95 projects this year (I was aiming for 99)


• crocheted several items and learned new stitches


• I completed 2.5 book trailers, and got to work with garden gnomes and met lovely staff at the Largs Pier Hotel.


• did five author talks/workshops this year, including a parasol duelling demo.


• attended some fun steampunk events with friends.


• booked our holiday for next year. First one since 2008.

The bad:

• officially diagnosed with PTSD, and high functioning anxiety, so could work on new techniques to help and not waste my time doing general therapies which have done nothing in the past five years. So, in the end, this was really a good thing.


• still haven’t found that magic bullet to stop anxiety attacks.


• too many panic attacks.


• No gardening done this year due to 3 months of chronic bronchitis.


• I’ve forgotten to keep my ‘thankful jar’ up-to-date and, as a result, have forgotten too many great little things that cheered me us this year.


• discovered I’m allergic to another antibiotic.


• Stephen Hawking died this year.


• Quentin Kenihan died. (friend of my Dearheart’s)

and the ugly:

• the fight with my insurance company continued. This has dragged me down, making it hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel… It’s been four years! Just last month the situation came to a head and – thank God – was resolved before I had to end up in court or appear on shady tv current affairs shows.
  
  So, that was good in the end, as well. I’m hoping I can start healing. Finally.

Personally, I’ll be glad to see the back of this year.

Good riddence, 2018!

and…

Hello, 2019.

Happy New Year everyone.

Let’s make it a good one!

Don't hit yourself on the way out, 2018!

Merry Christmas, One and All.

 See you next year.

Merry Christmas, One and All.

All I want for Christmas is Jólabókaflóð

Not long now. Christmas is almost here, and another year is ending.

I plan to try (yet again) to instigate the Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflóð. (Jolabokaflod means Yule Book Flood) where you give gifts of books and read books and eat chocolate on Christmas Eve.

Why not join me?

Here’s my Christmas gift to you: 

The first ten readers can get their own ebook copy of Viola’s Christmas adventure, Tomorrow, When I Die.Here’s how to get your copy:

1. Follow this LINK to Smashwords.


2. Click to buy


3. Use the  Coupon Code: ZZ69T
   
   (expires: Boxing Day: 26/12/18. Limit to first ten readers.)


4. Choose your preferred format and download


5. Fill your bowl with chocolate


6. Snuggle up with Viola and her friends for a Christmas adventure.

Enjoy the holiday, relax with friends and, most of all, stay safe.

Merry Christmas to you all, and to all a good Jolabokaflod.

All I want for Christmas is Jólabókaflóð

A Writerly Christmas: Gift ideas for the Writer in Your Life

It’s that time of the year. Yes. Already. Have you not noticed the endless piped music, the tinsel, the shopping trolleys overflowing with a months worth of shopping (and shops will be shut for less than one day!)

It’s been a busy week – the rush to get everything done before Christmas holidays start: finishing up rewrites on chapter sixteen and getting it to my editor, cleaning house for the inevitible unexpected Christmas visitors, emergency dentist appointment for a broken filling (He goes on holidays tomorrow for two weeks. Talk about timing!) and last minute present shopping.

While I was window shopping I found a plethora of items that the writer (or reader) in your family might love to have…  Here’s just a few to consider:

Mugs: There’s so many to choose from (Redbubble and Cafepress)

   

or a gorgeous tea cup from T2

   

Then there’s Tshirts (from Redbubble or Teepublic)

   

Now we get into the serious stuff: Notebooks.

There are some gorgeous ones out there. Paperblanks make beautiful baroque inspired ones. You can find them online or some newsagents stock them (at least in Australia)

Diver’s notebooks are also a great idea for those of us who have ideas in the shower (I used mine all the time!)

  

And don’t forget pens… especially fountain pens… Check out this Windsor Prose Writing Set. or a custom pen from Etsy.

Or just supply caffeine – coffee, tea or chocolate.  You can buy Haighs hamper bags in milk or dark chocolate.

If you still can’t find anything you think will suit, consider writing an honest book review on either Goodreads or Amazon and recommend your favourite book. That’d warm any author’s heart!

Merry Christmas

and stay safe everyone.

A Writerly Christmas: Gift ideas for the Writer in Your Life

Latest Aunt Enid Review

Thanks to Tilly (my number one fan) for her comments on Instagram after she finished Aunt Enid: Protector Extraordinaire.



Book two should be out by the end of next year…

Latest Aunt Enid Review

The Little Things: Looking for one word.

A riveting plot is great, but it’s the characters that really make (or break) a story – their loves, their troubles, their journey make them complicated, interesting or (hopefully) lovable.

There are many wasy to create characters. Some writers compile a list of traits, likes, dislikes, quirks, even eye colour.  Others consult the I-Ching or astrology manuals for ready-made character profiles. Then there’s the ‘ask 20 questions’ method: answer questions as your character would, with anything from the existential (what is their role in the universe?) to the mundane (what is their favourite ice cream flavour?).

Like real-life humans, character backgrounds and experiences can shape their personality, ethics system/beliefs and emotional responses. Ultimately they shape the character’s goals.

All this background builds up the base of the ‘writing iceberg’ (1.) not just for the story and adds stability to the final characters and their place in each story.

I find one of the most interesting parts of writing is discovering various characters’ personalities  (especially the villians). My mantra for character creation is: each character thinks they are the hero of their own story (especially the villians!)

One of my current WIP villians has always been the side-kick, second to brilliant inventors and scientists. He’s hell-bent on being accepted into the Royal Society (2.) He’d do almost anything to achieve his goal: stealing invetions, research or allying himself with the nefarious Men in Grey (The Society), even willing to risk the consequences of betraying The Society.

His latest stolen invention becomes the focus for other characters in the story (whether they realise it or not).  He fled from Australia to London, changed his name and plotted his ascent to glory and fame.

But, for all the planning of a character and their background, there’s always a small detail not covered in the lists or the twenty questions.

Here’s my current dilemma:

Our villian gets angry and swears at his second-in-charge. Simply put in the first draft: ‘he cursed‘.  Now I’m in rewrites, I need to lock down the dialogue of the interaction. But which particular swear word shall I use?

First there’s the question of the story’s time period. 1883, London to be exact. I could use anything popular at the time; there’s some lovely Victorian era vocab – from mild to explicit.

Next there’s a question of not only his background, but also his emotional state. Think about it. If we are angry, we can say things we don’t mean or revert back to our native language or accent.

Our villian spent most of his life in Australia. Surely, he would revert to something more Australian and less English? Thus began an unexpected line of research. Two hours on the internet and still nothing. So much for a quick fix.

I could have given up and used words like botheration, blast or damnation – all good Victorian era curses. But I couldn’t. I had to be true to his character.

So I took a break and consulted my FB friends (many of who are widely read, professors, librarians,  or historical re-enactors) for references I could use to find a swear word used in 1883 (or nearabouts) Australia.

And they didn’t disappoint. The best suggestions were:

• Green’s dictionary of Slang (online) . This is now one of my bookmarked research sites. You can search for words with country of origin, word type (noun, adverb, exclamation) and year. It provides the date, origin, reference (play, book, movie and page reference). It’s fantastic!


• Singer of the Bush by Banjo Patterson (book). This is a compilation of his work, many from a colloquial Australian point of view. I’ve got this book via the local library and am hoping it may provide time and geographical-relevant words I can use. Though this may be twenty years later than I want.

I have a backup plan if I can’t find an appropriate word: consult the local library’s resident historian and see if he can chase up some references for me…

All this for one word. But an important one. It will highlight not only the character’s background, but show the cracks in the facade he has created to hide his true identity.

So, now it’s back to the research books so I can continue with rewrites.

Footnotes:

1. The iceberg theory of writing (Ernest Hemmingway). “If it is any use to know it, I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows…”
   
   https://english101490.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/hemingways-iceberg-principle.pdf


2. The Royal Society is a fellowship of eminent scientists. It first met in 1660 and was known as ‘The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge’ (1663) .  The Royal Society has published papers by Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin,  approved Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine and documented the eruption of Krakatoa and many other scientific achievments.
   
   https://royalsociety.org/

The Little Things: Looking for one word.

Time Travellers' Picnic, Adelaide

There was rain, tea and chocolate muffins… and a lot of fun.

Time Travellers' Picnic, Adelaide

Tea & Tidings Is On Its Way

December’s newsletter is now flying out to my subscribers.

Tea & Tidings Is On Its Way

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Become a Patron!