My first online course is almost ready…I’ve decided to call it “Gypsies, tramps and thieves: the romance of writing on the road”…what do you think of the title?
Posted in Choosing the writing life, homeschooling, indie publishing, Online writing courses, RV lifestyle, Uncategorized, writer entrepreneurs, tagged Online writing courses on March 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »
My first online course is almost ready…I’ve decided to call it “Gypsies, tramps and thieves: the romance of writing on the road”…what do you think of the title?
Posted in Uncategorized, Writing and research, writing fiction, writing inspiration, writing life, tagged Australian literature, Goulburn, Miles Franklin, writing historical fiction on December 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized on May 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Fiction, North Queensland History, romance novels, Uncategorized, Writing and research, writing historical fiction, writing life, tagged Atherton Tablelands, Atherton Tablelands history, Carrington, Researching Historical Fiction on March 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Times sure have changed. A research trip to hunt down archival material used to take me weeks of self-indulgent white-gloved hiding out in the dungeons of one or other of the State Libraries dotted around our vast coastline, turning page after fragile page of old journals, records and obscure newspaper accounts of little remembered historical happenings of interest only to the social history researcher intent on tracking down tidbits to add colour and vibrancy to their latest exotic fiction set in times long past. Stories packed in dusty boxes in the dungeons of libraries, bestowed to crusty keepers of the long forgotten tomes waiting to be repackaged to new audiences only if the writer did the legwork required to find, record and transform such tomes under the bespectacled gaze of the tome keeper – take off white cotton glove to wipe an eye teared over in joy or sorrow at life’s cruel ironies recorded in what is now considered an illegible scrawl but was once the fountain-tipped cursive of educated scribes of our yesteryears? Only if you’re really brave…
Enter Trove – no need to leave the comfort of my study for all but the most intricate detailed research (like obscure newspapers that funding has forgotten and remain only on micro-film in the aforementioned State Library dungeons, caretakered by modern day bespectacled keepers of historical records who also, luckily in my case, have the forethought to view the modern digital record keeping methods with a touch of skepticism).
I was chasing 1890s copies of The Wild River Times, tracking down social tidbits on Carrington, an old timber town of the Atherton Tablelands. The new digitalised system at the Library was unhelpful but my crusty bespectacled librarian came to my rescue. She had a PDF of all the old newspapers available on microfilm ‘just in case’. Lucky me!! I now get to spend the next few weeks in the dungeons of the State Library trawling through micro-filmed copies of 1890s Wild River Times in search of tidbits to bring the world of my Timber Cutter’s Daughter in Carrington, Atherton Tablelands, to life.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,900 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 32 trips to carry that many people.
Posted in Uncategorized on September 28, 2014| 2 Comments »
Posted in Uncategorized on September 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Look what I just found…I don’t remember Goulburn having such great food…
Goulburn surprised me with its old fashioned, well-preserved heritage buildings. I felt I was walking back into the history of the Victorian era. Compared to the modern Canberra it felt rural and a very livable city. The camera went into over-drive and I took well over 200 photos.
After the interesting stop in Collector it was lunchtime as we pulled into the Visitors Centre to collect maps and information, so first priority was to refuel the inner man and woman…
This was the first café we came to and looking inside it was busy, always a good sign. So in we went.
Just look at the selection, it made my mouth water…
This is the sweets selection and it is so attractive.
This is our choice quiche for me, mini shepherds pie for Jack, Look at that fresh salad.
With energy levels restored and with map in hand we explore. Just across the road from…
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Posted in Uncategorized on August 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized on August 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Book promotion is a career option with a big future. This is what my ideal book publicist – the book publicist of the future – looks like.
I am looking to hire a book publicist, so this post is sort of a job posting. It is also a blueprint and discussion paper for other writers who are looking for really effective people to help them promote their books, and it is a primer on the state of the industry for people starting out in the book-promotion business.
In future (starting now, for some of us), a freelance book publicist will be one of the two truly essential members of an author’s team – the other being (of course) the editor. Soon, great book publicists (like great editors) will only represent the books they love and believe in, and the fact that a specific publicist has taken on your book will…
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