I’m lucky enough to be spending a couple of days on Rottnest Island, on a writing retreat with fellow authors and illustrators. This morning I went for a long walk exploring the island – and Sage Cookson came with me.
Wandering Words #3
Wandering Words #2
How to Make Easy-Peasy Chocolate Fondant
In the back of each book in the Sage Cookson series there is a recipe, which you can make at home. The recipe at the back of Sage Cookson’s Sweet Escape is for Cheat’s Chocolate Fondant. Today I am super-excited because my publisher has produced a video showing you just how easy this recipe is to make.
Enjoy!
A Cautionary Tale of Birds, Birds and More Birds
This is a tale with a moral and I feel inclined to tell you the moral first: be careful what you wish for.
See, I’m in Adelaide at the moment and a few days I took a rather pleasant stroll along the Torrens River, admiring the surroundings and the black swans, including this beauty.
So, this morning was a little cold and blustery but I really wanted to visit the birds again, so off I went.
I’d just got to the river when I started spotting birds. First there was this swan, huddled up against the cold wind.
Then this shag, which was doing duck dives (shag-dives?) under the water.
A mudlark flew in front of me, and I could hear parrots in a nearby tree. I had this sudden idea that I would try to photograph as many birds as I could, and blog about them. There’s my wish.
Further along the bank I could see two pelicans also huddled up against the wind, and I wanted to get them on camera, so I wandered towards them. But, before I could get close to them, this happened: goose attack!
I think I managed to placate the goose, and did get a shot of my sleeping pelicans.
But then I realised I was being chased again:
It was funny but also just a little bit like being in the movie The Birds. There were swamphens, and coots, ducks, all following me. so many of them! And it was then I remembered that I’d wanted to see lots of birds so I could blog about them. Wish granted: in a bit of an awkward way.
Later, I walked into the city, thinking I was away from the birds. But, as I sat on a bench to get my breath, a speckled pigeon and a banjo-playing busker united to give me a laugh.
So maybe, morals aside, I’ll still go looking for birds (and other things) to take photos of and blog about.
Life is good.
Want to Succeed as a Writer? One thing you need to do.
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?
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.
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!
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- …
- 24
- Next Page »