sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Big Question 4: Favourite Dr Seuss Tale

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He’s having a birthday, he’s having it now
So step up, Dr Seuss and take a big bow.

Okay, so my rhyme is NOT as Seussical as can be, but you get the drift – today, March 2, is Dr Seuss’s birthday. If he was alive today, Dr Seuss, or Theodor Suess Geisel would be 105. If you want to learn more about him, you can click here to visit the Seussville website.

To celebrate the day, I am asking another of my big questions. Today’s question is: What was/is your favourite Dr Seuss book, and why? Post your answer below in the comment section.

My own favourite as a child and still, is Horton Hatches an Egg, I think mainly for the sheer absurdity of the idea, but also for the wonderfully wrought rhyme and rhythm, and of course, the message of being true to your promises – and being justly rewarded!

What about you? What is YOUR favourite Dr Seuss book?

Big Question 3: When Did You Know You Were a Writer?

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Continuing in my series of big questions, today I ask you – When did you know you were a writer?

For me, I always wrote. Some of my earliest memories are of trying to write stories and letters – even when I didn’t know how to form the letters. Then, once I learned to form the letters, there was no stopping me. All through my childhood I wrote stories, poems, letters and even novels.

So, I guess I was always a writer, but I didn’t really realise that this wasn’t the norm. I suppose I first realised that I was a writer (and that other people weren’t) when I was in high school and friends commented on my writing. One girl asked me to write a poem just for her and I had to stop and wonder why she didn’t write one for herself. There came a realisation, on my part, that not everyone could write like I could.

Later, in my last year of school, a girl asked me what I wanted to do when I left school. I answered “I want to be a writer.” The girl (who, I might add, didn’t like me much) looked down her nose at me and said smugly – “oh, you mean you want to be a journalist?” Her look and tone of voice suggested a superiority that SHE knew what a writer was called, even if I didn’t. Allowing myself to feel put down, I did try to explain that no, what I wanted to do was to write creatively for a living – fiction, poetry, and yes, perhaps nonfiction too. But I was left feeling somehow ignorant or at best unrealistic. Still, I knew, that one day I would prove to that girl, and myself, that I could be a writer.

In the years that followed school, I was busy with life’s realities – attending university, having a family and even becoming a teacher (because by then I’d discovered that a good back up career was a necessity), but I never lost the dream of writing for a living. It took many years before the acceptances started coming in, and I suppose in my adult life I didn’t feel ready to call myself a writer until I started having some acceptances.

These days, with twenty seven books under my belt and more coming out this year, I gladly admit to being not just a writer, but even call myself ‘author’.

So, over to you. When did YOU know that you were a writer? Share your answer in the comments field below.

Big Question 2: Where do you work?

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Time for anotehr big question. this is where I ask you, the blog reader, to share your experiences with other readers.
So, today’s questions: Where do you work? I’m referring here to your workspace for writing, rather than any other job you may hold oustide the home.
For me, I have a desk in the room that should be the formal dining of our home. Who needs two dining rooms, for goodness sake? But my four bedroom home does not have a separate office, so I have appropriated this room for my office. As well as my desk there’s two bookcases and a lower profile shelving unit for my files. I’ve also relented and moved my kids’ computer desk into this space because I was sick of their computer being poked into a tiny corner in the living area. Still, my desk and computer are mine alone, and the kids respect that.
My desk is never tidy. It has piles of books to be reviewed, pie ls of stories to be rewritten, a pile of bills to be paid, and other important pieces of paper. It also has a pen holder, a wooden giraffe, a stuffed owl and three small elephants.
It works for me.
So, tell me what your work area is like. Is it messy or clean? A room or a corner? let me know by leaving your comment below.

The Big Question 1: How Did You Celebrate When You Got Your First Acceptance?

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Okay, time for a new feature here on my blog. I like to constantly add new things, and I thought it would be fun to post some questions to get you, the reader, to share your experiences.
So, question number 1 is: How did you celebrate when you got your first acceptance?
For me, I remember very clearly getting my first book acceptance. It was for Speak Out, a book of printable black line masters, and the acceptance came based on an outline and sample pages, so I still had to get the actual book written.
Anyway, I remember getting the phone call and standing in the kitchen with my three children, husband and mother in law all present while I tried to sound serious and professional and not too over-excited. Then, when I got off the phone, I jumped and down and squealed. This was not a great idea because, at the time, I was heavily pregnant – a piece of information I hadn’t given the publisher for fear they wouldn’t want me!
Then, of course, I had to get the book written before the baby was born, which I did. The rest, as they say, is history.
Okay, over to you. Please share the story of your first acceptance by posting in the comments section below. Go on! I look forward to reading how other writers celebrate.
sallymurphy.com.au