sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Five New Dots and a Dance

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Thanks to Lyn and Lorraine who reported sightings of Pemberthy – in Bendigo, Victoria (the pretty pink dot North East of Melbourne) and in Redland Bay, Cleveland and Victoria Point in SE Qld (the red, pink and browny dots south of Brisbane). I also added a green dot in Western Australia for the copy I saw in the school library in Boyup Brook when I was down there recently. Boyup is a lovely town and I thoroughly enjoyed being ‘headline author’ for the Boyup Brook Book Bonanza.

So, with five dots added, the map of Pemberthy sightings looks like this:

If YOU have seen Pemberthy, drop me a line and I’ll add a dot. There’s still lots of room.

I went to work this afternoon – my teaching job (as opposed to the jobs I do from home – writing, reviewing, mothering et al) – and, as it’s the last week of term, thought I’d have some fun. So, I read two gorgeous picture books to my grade ones – Boris Monster Scared of Nothing, by Sophie Laguna and Tough Ol’ Teddy, by Bruce Atherton. I’d grabbed these out of my review pile on impulse as I headed out the door, so didn’t know what to expect, but I loved both, and the kids enjoyed them too.

Then, we danced. On drama day, which is usually Thursday, I’ve been teaching the kids the birdie dance, hokey pokey and the Mexican hat dance. But because it’s the last week, we had an extra dance session. It was only when I spotted an adult watching me through the window as she walked past that I realised how much I was enjoying myself – and how silly I must look. When I teach the kids to dance, I dance, too. But these past weeks I’ve struggled with it, being sore and unwell. Today I was dancing and not feeling it (though a little puffed afterwards).

Yay! I must be getting better. And I don’t care how silly I look!

And Two More Sightings

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Just had an email from Sue who has seen Pemberthy in two places – at home in Stanwell Park, south of Sydney, AND in a bookstore in Sydney’s CBD. Yay! And thanks, Sue. It’s great to hear that the book really is in bookstores.

This is what the map looks like now. The two new dots are the blue ones around the aqua ones on the east coast.

Still smiling 🙂

Pemberthy in Melbourne

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Another Pemberthy spotting has come through – once more in Melbourne. That’s the lime green dot overlapping the purplish one on the south east of this map. Thanks Sherryl for reporting the sighting.

So now Pemberthy has been spotted in Corrigin (my hometown, in WA), Melbourne (twice), Sydney, Logan (Qld) and Brisbane. Have YOU seen Pemberthy anywhere – in your home, bookshop or library? I so, drop me a line and I’ll add another spot. And if you’ve just tuned in and are wondering what on earth all this is about, see my post below, Desperately Seeking Pemberthy.

Blog in Haste, Repent at Leisure

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Hmm. I wrote the post below this morning after I took the kids to school. I hadn’t pressed ‘publish’ (which is how you make the post appear on the site) when the phone rang. Could I come in to work – a relief teacher (that’s me) was needed in an emergency. I’m trying not to do relief at present because I’m not really well enough, but it was an emergency so I said yes, pressed publish and headed off to work.

Four hours later I’m home and back at my desk, having had quite a fun morning (I had to plan lessons on my feet so I read some great picture books to the class, then did an extended music and drama session). The first thing I saw when I sat down here was my blog post which was still open. The second thing I saw were the glaring spelling errors in the first paragraph of my post. Yes, because I was in a hurry I had not proofread or even spellchecked.

Fortunately for me, blogger allows you to edit posts even after they’re published, so I’ve now fixed them, but if anyone read my blog in the last four hours they probably shook their heads at my sloppy work. These were not little errors – they were big fat glaring ones. In future, if I’m in a hurry, I’ll save the posting for later when I have time to do it properly.

But there’s a lesson there for all writers. Proofreading is such a vital part of the writing process. I try not to proofread AS I write, especially for the first draft – that is, I get it all down before I go looking for errors. But then I proofread each draft, with the final draft getting several goings over. Where possible, I also get at least one other person to proofread for me, to see what I’ve missed.

Do you proofread your work meticulously? If not, you should not be sending it out for publishers to read. The care you take with proofreading (and manuscript [presentation, but that’s another story) can make or break your story – a manuscript riddled with errors says to the publisher that you don’t consider it worth doing a good job on, or that you don’t know your craft.

Do yourself a favour and proofread proofread proofread! It doesn’t matter whether it’s a blog post, a letter or a manuscript – get into the habit of proofreading everything you write.

By the way – even though I had to work unexpectedly, I’m still smiling.

Things That Make Me Smile

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I’ve been pretty grumpy lately. My shoulder has been causing me all sorts of problems and I’ve been really run down. All the doctor can find is low iron level, though I’m booked for an ultrasound of the shoulder next week.

So, I’ve been grumpy because of that and have allowed it to make me grumpy about other things – my messy house, the cold weather (and it IS cold!), my writing career.

But I’ve given myself a kick in the pants (not an easy feat) and got back to work the last few days, and the more I carry on as normal, the less grumpy I feel and the less grumpy I feel the more I achieve and the more I can carry on as normal.

Anyway, I’m focusing on the good stuff and this morning I’m smiling because:

a) I hung washing on the line for the first time in two weeks – and my shoulder didn’t scream.

b) It’s only three days until the school holidays and, on Thursday night all six of the Murphlets will be home.

c) There’s been another Pemberthy sighting, this time in Sydney, where, Dale tells me, this copy of Pemberthy is ‘treasured’. Here’s what the map looks like now, with the new spot the nice aqua-ish one on the East coast

Have a smiling day.

Another Sighting

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This is fun. Another Pemberthy sighting has come in by email – from Trudie at Kewarra Beach, north of Cairns. That’s the pretty blue dot in north Queensland.

Gosh, Pemberthy has been to places I’ve never been.

Thanks Trudie. If YOU have seen Pemberthy, drop me a line – even if someone else has already reported from your city or town. I want to go dotty all over!