sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Wonderful Wednesday

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Friends.

Friends.

It is – finally – starting to look and feel like Spring in my part of the world. This morning I walked bare foot on the beach, with my feet in the water. There were dolphins swimming just off shore, dogs playing on the beach, and fellow walkers smiling as broadly as I was. And I felt happy and grateful to be alive.

If you are a regular visitor here, you might notice that I don’t post a lot about my personal life, but my sense of contentment this morning inspired me to write a bit this post. Those who know e well know it’s been a bit a tough year for me – I lost my beautiful sister, I’ve had niggling (but thankfully minor) health issues, other people close to me have had health battles, and I’ve been a bit stressed about deadlines and stuff.

But on a beautiful day like today, I’m reminded of the importance not to discount those sorrows but, at the same time, to find things to be grateful for and happy about. So, today, here’s what makes me feels blessed:

  1. The family I was born into, the family I married into, the family my beloved and I have created, and the families our children are growing. Four generations of love and laughter – and chaos.
  2. The sunshine, and the ocean, and the fact I can enjoy both.
  3. Friends, near and far, who always seem to pop up at just the right moments.

 

Hmm. Maybe I’ll make  regular thing of sharing my blessings. It makes me smile even more when I put them into words.

 

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Want to Succeed as a Writer? One thing you need to do.

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The number one thing you should be doing if you want to get published, stay published and succeed as a writer? Write? Read? Study the market? Write some more? Revise? All of these are very important, but today I’m here to say that the number one thing you should be doing is (drumroll please)…

Hang out with other people in the industry!

Fellow writers, published authors, publishers, editors, reviewers, booksellers, publicists, you name it. All of these people are wonderful to spend time with for two reasons – firstly, they may open up opportunities for you, but secondly, and waaaaaaaaaaay more importantly, they can become your friends.

We all know the song ‘you gotta have friends’. And not every friend has to have the same interests as you (gosh, I have friends, close friends, who pretty much never read), but friends who love books and words as much as you do are invaluable.

A friend will cheer with you when you get an acceptance – and commiserate when you get a rejection.

A friend will offer advice about where to go next after that rejection.

A friend will share industry news with you – and gladly accept news from you.

A friend will hear of an opportunity that doesn’t suit them but might suit you – and share it.

A friend will spread the word of your latest book, poem, blog post, tweet.

A friend will sit next to you at a conference, or share what they learnt at the event you couldn’t get to.

A friend will read a book/blog post/ article and know that you, too, will be interested, so recommend it to you.

A friend might live on the other side of the country but will still hug you when you meet up, even if it’s been years – or even if you’ve never met in real life.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? But how do you make these writerly friends?

big hug sue and claire

With my friends Claire Saxby and Sue Whiting at a CBCA Conference/

In real life, there are lots of opportunities to meet like-minded people. If you are, like me, a children’s writer, you join organisations like SCBWI (there are branches across the world, and lots of stuff online) or the CBCA. You go along to events in your town such as booklaunches or writing groups, or signings – and talk to people. You attend writing workshops or writers’ festivals – and talk to people.

Online there are even more opportunities to ‘meet’ people. Facebook and Twitter are just two of the Social Media tools where you can interact and, gradually build up friendships. It’s amazing how quickly you can get to know somebody, even when chatting in snippets of 140 characters!  There are also groups and pages where you can interact with people. Blogs and websites provide even more opportunities.

But, be aware – making friends is not the same as either shamelessly self-promoting or simply plugging people for information. Friendship is a two way street, and while, if you are starting out, you may feel you don’t have a whole lot to offer, you can certainly lend support, or be a cheer squad, or engage in conversations.

With author friends loving each others' books.

With author friends loving each others’ books.

Some of my best friendships have been built through both real life events – particularly CBCA Conferences and SCBWI events – and online through email groups, Twitter and Facebook. Through these friendships I have grown as a writer, but, more importantly, I’ve been enriched as a person.

Here’s to friends!

A Weekend to Treasure

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What a weekend!

I’m just back from four days in Canberra, where I attended the CBCA National Conference. The CBCA is a not for profit organisation dedicated to fostering a love for and awareness of literature for young Australians. And, in a time when bookstores are closing, funding for the arts (including literature) is being cut, libraries are under threat, and we hear lots of doom and gloom about the future of books, let me tell you that the future of Australian children’s books is looking bright, if this weekend is anything to by. The conference was full of authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians, teachers, academics and more, all passionate about putting good books into kids’ hands.

Highlights, for me:

  1. The above. Spending time with so many friends, old and new, with the common love of children’s books. I think I’ll blog some more about friends in the coming days.
  2. The launch of Roses are Blue, during morning tea on Sunday. The book isn’t due out till July 1 so there will be another launch closer to home a bit later on, but seeing the book in print, and sharing it in that environment was fabulous. It was espgesture2ecially wonderful to share the moment with my special friends (again, I’ll say more about this in another post), and to also share the moment with the delightful Choechoe Brereton, whose debut picture book A House for Donfinkle, was launched at the same time. We’d not met before, but I know we will meet many more times, and after a short time together I felt like I’d know her forever. Gorgeous gorgeous lady.
  3. Andy Griffiths‘ session where he discussed whether Humour is Really Necessary in Children’s Books. He had the audience laughing and nodding and laughing some more. His answer? In brief – not every book for children has to be funny (think A Bridge to Terabithia, for example) , but yes we need humorous children’s books, as well as humour within books which are not completely funny. I agree whole-heartedly.
  4. A session celebrating the wonderful work of The School Magazine.( In a wonderful piece of serendipity, I didn’t know my poem Rain was in the new issue of the magazine, so that was a lovely surprise, as was the fact it was illustrated by Matt Ottley. Then, in another lovely coincidence, my first email this morning was an acceptance for another poem for the magazine.) But back to the magazine itself. This wonderful set of publications is produced monthly, and has been around for almost a hundred news, sharing stories, poems, articles, puzzles and wonderful illustrations with school children in NSW and around Australia. Significantly, it is basically the only publication which purchases and publishes poetry for children, something which is very close to my heart, not just as a poet but as someone who adores poetry and wants to see it on every child’s reading menu.
  5. Anne Bell. She is covered also as one of the friends I refer to above, but she is a highlight all on her own. This wonderful wonderful lady is a poet and an artist whose work I’ve long admired, and who is a stalwart of the Dorothea MacKellar Poetry Competition, which I judged for three years, and which encourages children from around Australia to write poetry. She’s also very good for my ego, as she told anyone who’d listen (and probably some who didn’t) how wonderful she thinks I am for focussing on children’s poetry for my Doctoral studies. She even offered to come over and wash my dishes if it would help me get it done! I adore the energy, the dedication and the wonderful spirit of this lady, as well as her humour, and it is an absolute privilege to call her a friend.

I could go on. And on. But I’m still processing the wonders of the weekend. Luckily I have two years to plan for the next conference, in Sydney, 2016.

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