sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

My Favourite Favourites

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As part of my never-ending quest to be more organised, I’ve been tidying up my favourites list. I thought I would share twelve of my favourite favourites. Mostly focused on children’s writing, these are sites that I’ve visited many times and also sites I recommend to others.

http://www.kristiholl.com/Mystery_Lessons.htm Mystery lessons by Kristi Holl. This is a series of detailed and informative articles about writing mysteries, written by a published author of a number of children’s mysteries.

http://www.robinfriedman.com/index.html Website of Robin Friedman, US author. What’s of special interest on this site is her series of interviews with editors. Very informative.

http://www.right-writing.com/middle-grade.html Writing the middle Grade Novel – an article by Kristi Holl (See above). Condenses important information about writing for kids aged 8-12.

http://www.rickwalton.com/freeu/index.htm Rock Canyon University Free School of Writing for Children. This is the tongue in cheek name for a series of very short articles on the craft of writing picture books. Yes, it is tongue in cheek, but the advice is pretty spot on.

http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/for_writers/writing_for_kids/writingforkids.html A series of articles about writing for children and YA, from author Cynthia Leitich Smith. Sound advice.

http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/writing_tips.shtml Index to articles on a range of topics related to writing for children.

http://members.aol.com/ddpattison/pb101.html Picture Books 101. A good introduction to picture book writing.

http://www.terryburns.net/LIBRARY.htm Library of Writing Links – loads of links to writing advice, critique groups, research tools and much more, organized into categories.

http://www.writing-world.com/admin1/siteindex.shtml Writing World. Hundreds of articles on all areas of writing – not just writing for children.

http://fictionaddiction.net/articles.html Fiction Addiction. Again not just about writing for children, though there is a section dedicated to our genre.

http://www.fictionforum.net/writers/articles/art09-02.html The Cover Letter. A detailed look at what a cover letter should (and should not) contain.

http://www.underdown.org/ The Purple Crayon. Harold Underdown’s site, full of articles, market news and more.

Enjoy discovering or rediscovering these excellent resources. If you’ve found a great children’s writing site I haven’t mentioned here, let me know.

Things to Do?

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Have had a bit of online time this afternoon. Updated this blog and my other , added a stats feature so I can see how many people are reading what I write, and then did some blog-surfing. I’ve been jumping from blog to blog, interested to see what others have got to say. Some were writers’ blogs, others more random.

And I learnt about something called a meme. A meme (in blogging terms) is a list of questions posted in one blog or on one website, which otters then address on their own blogs/sites, with a link to the original. You can see a better explanation here.

Anyway, I cam across a meme which challenges people to write a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. It’s like a new year’s resolution or a (long) to do list, with the added challenge that you make your list public, then keep the world updated on your progress in completing the things on the list.

For a moment I was tempted, but I haven’t joined in. I’m not sure I want to embark on something like that unless I’m pretty sure I’ll find the drive to firstly get the things done, and secondly update others on my successes (or otherwise). Still, I find it an interesting concept and enjoyed browsing through the goals others had set themselves – which ranged from buying a tooth-whitening system, to watching the sun rise on a mountain top.

There are lots of memes around, some for fun, some to encourage site visitors, others to share useful information. I haven’t yet participated in any, but now that I know more maybe I will some time.

In the meantime, thought I haven’t written a list of 101 things, I do write myself a list of things to do each week. I include things I know I must do (where a deadline must be met, for example) and other things I would like to achieve, and I cross them off as I go. My current list includes reviewing the three books I’ve finished this week, updating both of my blogs at least three times (this one’s had more than three, the other needs another entry), assignment marking (done), and more. Come Monday I’ll revisit my list, and start a new one, starting with the things I didn’t get done this week.

Having a list does keep me on track, but sometimes, like this afternoon, I give myself a break and do some stuff not on the list. It is Saturday after all.

Rhyming Bear

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My friend Pemberthy has written a new poem – this time a diamante. Check it out!

I have said it before, but I’ll say it again. Writing in different poetic forms is good discipline for developing writing skills, and it’s fun, too.

Why not write a diamante of your own?

Pemberthy Spotted in Anglesea

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Yay! There’s been another Pemberthy sighting – this time in Anglesea, West of Melbourne. the new dot is the hot pink one on the south east coast. Thanks so much Jackie for letting me know – though of course I knew this sighting was coming, as Jackie had ordered a signed copy of the book from me last week. Still, it’s nice to know it arrived safely and Pemberthy is now in residence in another part of Australia.

So, the map now looks like this:

It’s never too late to report a Pemberthy sighting. If you’ve just tuned in, I’m mapping sightings of Pemebrthy Bear, the star of my picture book by the same name, as he’s spotted in people’s homes, in bookstores, in schools and in libraries. Keep your eye out for him, and let me know when you see him. You can read more about my mapping exercise here.

Busy – But Still Writing

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What a busy week! It’s the middle of year school holidays here and, with the Murphlets at home all day, my working routine has been disrupted. It seems I’ve spent half of the week in the car ferrying people hither and thither, as well as playing endless board games with Murphlets 5 and 6, who have played a game called Trouble almost non-stop. Then there’s Murphlet 3 who has landed himself in hospital today with a secondary infection from a bug he had earlier in the week. He woke up battling to breathe this morning and, though he’s better since the doctor put him on antibiotics and cortisone, is spending the night at the hospital for observation.

Anyway, I’ve not exactly had long interrupted hours at my desk this week, but rather than letting this worry me, I’ve been enjoying the time with the Murphlets and the breaking routine. Plus, the time in the car is good because I find driving great incubation time. I had to pick Murphlet 2 up form a sleepover today – an hour and a half’s drive each way So with three hours driving, I also had three hours to think about a new story. I’ve had a character and a name for a year and been promising myself that I’d find this character’s story some time. On the drive today I started thinking about him and wondering just what it is he wants the world to know about him. An idea began to tickle and I shared it with the Murphlets who were in the car (numbers four, five and six) who gave their opinion. Then on the drive home I tickled it out some more and shared it with Murphlet Two, who also gave her input. When I visited Murphlet Three at the hospital I shared the idea with him and he also responded.

When I finally got some time this evening to sit at my desk, I was able to type up the whole first draft of a new picture book. It’s rough – hey, it’s a first draft – but I can see it taking shape. Only another hundred drafts and it’ll be ready to submit!

Tomorrow will be another busy day, divided between the hospital and home (hopefully Murphlet 3 will be well enough to come home – I miss him and hated leaving him at the end of visiting hours tonight). But whatever I’m doing, I know I am always a writer, whether it’s an idea incubating, an experience which I can use in a future story, or an emotion that might one day shape a character. And when I do get time to sit at my desk I appreciate it all the more after a busy spell – and really use the time productively.

Have a nice weekend.

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For quite some time I’ve been planning to write an article about the review process. So many authors have questions or misconceptions about how to get reviewed, how reviewers work and what they should use reviews for, that i thought it would be worth an article.

Anyway last night I sat down to write an article on the subject – and ended up writing till almost midnight, by which time I’d written not one, but three articles. The first explores how books get reviewed (from being sent out by a publisher through to the review being published), the second looks at who reviews are read by, and why they are read at all and the third discusses how an author can use a review – to promote their book and as a form of feedback on their writing.

I was surprised that I had so much to say on the topic – though I shouldn’t have been surprised, as it’s a subject close to my heart and I’m never short of something to say on ANY topic. I’ll submit the three as a series to a writers’ ezine, and hopefully they’ll prove helpful.

Of course the subject of reviews is a bit subjective. I attended the Re:views conference in Adelaide a couple of years ago where the subject of who reviews were for was a hot topic of discussion, which I’m not sure was resolved. Personally, my reviews are aimed at the general reading public – they’re not long or in depth enough for academic purposes, and they are readily accessible to anyone who can use a search engine, without the need to buy a special review publication. Most of my hits come from search engines, though I do get a lot of repeat visitors, and I seem to have a high proportion of hits from education servers, suggesting that teachers and/or teacher/librarians and, of course, students, are among my visitors.

Anyway, I hope my reviews are useful to the majority of visitors. The fact I get over 300 visitors a day suggests that aussiereviews IS a useful resource.

Back at my desk today is about marking assignments for my tutoring job, so I’d best get on with it.

https://sallymurphy.com.au/2007/07/537/

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