Riding the Wave

Riding the wave. That's what I feel like I'm doing at the moment. Sometimes that wave seems about to crash on top of me and other times I feel like I'm going to catch it all the way into the shore.

I won't know if I make it the shore for a few months yet, though. With three books coming out in 4 months, my marketing activities are in over-drive. There seems to be so much to do! Not only that, I'm a member of several writer's groups, networks and other initiatives that take up a lot of time and energy to maintain. On top of that, I have to care for 3 young children and manage a household. It's a constant juggle - but I love it. I can't deny that I do. I love every moment of it even if it is flashing by at a rapid pace.

People ask me, 'How do you keep going?', 'How do you keep the energy and excitement for projects alive?' For me, some of it comes naturally. I'm a born organiser and I worked in marketing for ten years, so I'm comfortable with a lot of things I'm doing. I like organising events. I like designing flyers and creating posters and so on.

And while I'm not spending a lot of time writing creatively per se, I am writing a lot about myself for articles and recording childhood stories and experiences that have made me who I am and which can be used for my presentations - I'm storytelling in different ways to add depth and pizazz to my 'road to publication' story. That part of the process I enjoy, too.

Once, those childhood stories would have been embarrassing to tell or I would have thought they had little value. Now I'm drawing on them to show people who I am and where I come from. I've realised that I've grown as a person and gone past the awkwardness of my childhood experiences. As my dream to become a published author slowly materialises, I feel validated as a person. I feel I'm getting closer to becoming who I've always wanted to be. All that makes it easier to deal with the past.

This realisation also gives me the energy and drive to keep going. I know I'm still in that early stage of my career where everything is bright and shiny and new. I know I have so much more to learn - but that excites me. I'm having so much fun riding this wave that whether it does crash on me or not, I will remember this ride as one of the best times in my life.

Totally Twins Taking Off!

These are the brand new covers for my Totally Twins series - renamed from The Fabulous Diary of Persephone Pinchgut. I hope you like them.

This morning, I met with Sophia Whitfield, publisher at New Frontier. I'm setting up a blog spot for the series, which will be 'written by' Persephone, the main character in the books.

Sophia and I had lots to talk about and we also discussed the second book in the series, Model Behaviour, to be released quite quickly after the first book, Musical Mayhem, which comes out in September 2010.

I also saw the illustrations Serena Geddes has done for the second book and they look awesome. Loads of new characters, gorgeous animals and quirky elements - all the things I love about Serena's work. Musical Mayhem goes off to the printers in the next few weeks. Very exciting!

It's a great feeling to be at this stage in my writing career, on the cusp of real-life author-dom and publication of my first few children's books. Sure, I've got a busy few months ahead, but I figure it's all part of getting my name out there and establishing myself.

Yesterday, I spent half the day presenting at Literature Live! practise session at Balgowlah Heights Public School, along with other children's book creators: Susanne Gervay, Sue Walker, Nina Rycroft, Laurine Croasdale, Jeni Mawter and Serena Geddes.

The fun part for me came when I was talking about the characters in my Totally Twins series, and discoverd that I had two real-life identical twins in the audience. Georgia and Lucy were lovely girls and although they looked as identical as Perse and Portia from Totally Twins, they were also very different. Glad to know I got something right!

Short Stories & Articles

Do you recognise this stately gentleman? He's the Big Merino at Goulbourn, just north of Canberra. He's absolutely massive, as one of my sons said with a great deal of admiration, 'He's bigger than a mammoth!'.

I spent the weekend in Canberra with my family on a quick getaway for my birthday. Despite the wet weather, we had a wonderful time sightseeing and visiting Parliament House, the Old Bus Depot Markets, Cockington Green and the War Memorial. I highly recommend a trip to Canberra, though navigating your way through London Circuit can be interesting at times!

And yes, never mind this month-long wet weather we've had in Sydney, there's nothing we can do about it and at least it's good for keeping us inside and writing. Speaking of which, I've been working on an article for the ACT Writers' Centre magazine, due out in July. The topic of my article is, 'Who Wants To Publish Your Picture Book?'. I'll be talking about my long and winding road to publication and will be including some advice and tips on getting published. Keep an eye out for it!

Another positive, I received an email tonight stating that the two short stories I entered in the 2010 Common Thread Longer Short Story Competition had been shortlisted. Maggie & Jack and The Tender Barbs Of Sacrifice, are in the running for a prize. Who would have thought? Fingers crossed at least one of them comes through. There's nothing quite like receiving an email (or letter) that says one of your stories has been written well - well enough to make it to the top of the pile in a competition.

Looking forward to the Writers' Network meeting at the Hughendon tomorrow morning. Hope to see some friendly faces and share some good news.

Signing off,

A.