sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

A Challenge for 2016

by

SO, it’s a new year, and as I ponder what goals to set for the year, and whether or not to share them publicly, I’ve been taking note of various reading challenges. There are some great ones: the Australian Women Writers Challenge, for example, challenges you to read and review more books by Australian women, a really worthy and important challenge. A few years ago, in the National Year of Reading, I challenged myself to read 365 books – one for every day of the year. I didn’t quite get there, but I had fun trying.

This year, if you’re keen, I’m setting you a challenge. If you are an adult, especially, this is for you: read more kids books.

When was the last time you read a children’s book? Not TO a child (though that is, if you have young people in your life, so very important), and not a Young Adult book (though these also are wonderful), but a book which was written for children read by you for your own enjoyment? If you don’t pick up kids’ books because they are, you think, just for children, you are missing out on something. Children’s books are for children, but they are also for the child in all of us.Read a kids Book

So, this year, I challenge you to take the time to read a children’s book or two, just for the sheer fun of it. It might be a picture book or it might be a novel. You can start with one of mine if you like (perhaps Pearl Verses the World or Roses are Blue, since I get a lot of feedback from adult fans), but this isn’t a plug for my own books so much as it’s a plug for the wonder of a good children’s books.

And, when you’ve read it, tell the world. Or tell a friend. Maybe even lend them the book. And when you read a children’s book that you think other adults might like, how about spreading the word on social media. The hashtag I’m suggesting is #readakidsbook

Now, I’m off to Twitter to spread the word of a great book I’ve just finished reading that I think adults should know about.

The Year That Was

by

It seems the season for end-of –year posts, and though I feel like a copycat doing one when every other blogger seems to be doing the same, I’m going to do one anyway, since by looking back I can see  (and share) what I’ve achieved. As an aside, I recently read a self-help article somewhere which said that goal setting can sometimes be counterproductive because we always feel like we’re not there yet, whereas looking back and seeing how far you’ve come can actually make you feel a sense of achievement which helps you to keep going.

So, while my latest to-do list sits on my desk reminding me of things I haven’t done these past couple of busy weeks, here’s some of the things I have achieved this year:

  1. Five new books – 1915, Fly-In Fly-Out Dad and three reading book titles with Oxford University Press.
  2. The draft of the creative component of my PhD: a verse novel and two poetry collections, as well as drafts of two (and a bit) articles which will also form part of my final project.
  3. Festival and school visits in Singapore, Townsville, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Bunbury, Busselton (and maybe some I’ve missed).
  4. My second ever overseas trip – to the AFCC in Singapore.
  5. A chapter for a book on AFL, from the perspective of a Dockers supporter, coming in 2016, and an invitation to write a chapter for a book to be produced by the AFCC.
  6. Several new picture book drafts and ideas.
  7. Maintained Aussiereviews and this blog and contributed to the Poetry Tag blog which I share with the wonderful Rebecca Newman.
  8. Numerous new poems, including acceptances for the School magazine, an anthology called Minutes to Bedtime, and another called Dirt by Sea, both forthcoming.
  9. A new junior fiction series, coming in 2016 (watch this space).

There’s probably more – and I haven’t touched on the personal stuff, some of which is most important – but if I don’t post this soon 2015 will be over. So here’s to the highs (and less highs) of the year that’s been, and to the dawning of a new year with lots more fun to come.

The Importance of Hope: 100 Years Ago – and Today

by

On this day, 100 years ago, the evacuation of ANZAC soldiers from the Gallipoli peninsula was completed. After eight months locked in an unwinnable struggle with Turkish forces, the remaining men left, in an early morning evacuation which was carefully planned in an attempt to minimise casualties.

1915When I was planning and writing my own story of these events (1915), I always knew that, since the story was to cover the calendar year, this evacuation would form a suitable end point for the book. But I found it harder to write than I expected.

I really believe that every book should end with the offer of some kind of hope, but  (without wanting to give any spoilers) I wasn’t sure where my characters were going to find hope in this evacuation. Yes, those who left were leaving behind months of turmoil and suffering, but they were also leaving behind any chance for a victory, and, importantly, they were leaving the bodies of so many of their mates who were buried there and would never leave. They also didn’t know what lay ahead – while the campaign was over, the war most definitely wasn’t.

I had to dig deep to find hope for my character, Stanley, and for his family and friends. I thought about the fact that those survivors were still alive, and were leaving behind what were likely their worst life experiences to date. I thought about the knowledge for those at home that their loved ones were safe for now. I also thought about little things: the chance for a Christmas parcel from home, looking forward to a shower or a rest, contributing to the ANZAC Book in the last weeks of the campaign and so on.

Why am I so keen to offer hope to my characters? Simple, because I want to offer hope to my readers. Not happy ever after, not artificially fixing everything that goes wrong, but the feeling that even in dark times hope, no matter if it’s the tiniest spark, can be found.

For my character Stanley, and for those soldiers 100 years ago, I hope that they were able to find those moments of hope. And, as Christmas looms for us now as it did for the ANZACS then, I hope you, too, have a sense of hope.DSCN1970

sallymurphy.com.au