tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91204876661264424272024-02-19T12:53:07.768+08:00Egoboo WAEgoboo WA is a bunch of Australian writers who are working together to crit, learn, and inspire each other.SarahPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10331711532075086214noreply@blogger.comBlogger340125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-90630661918196337262016-12-26T10:00:00.000+08:002016-12-26T10:05:33.994+08:00A whole 'nother year-and-a-bit<br />
Well, we have let this blog slip, haven't we? I guess Facebook has taken over from blogs to a very large degree, but I think there is still a need for blogs, because they display their content for a much longer time.<br />
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Anyhow, here I am again, to tell you about my second book, recently released. <i>The Cloak of Challiver</i> was launched at a very low-key affair during the September convention in Canberra. It's available as an e-book, and you can pre-order a hard copy version, but I have no word on when that will be released.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7cqx1WjLmvrZ-17-WHkXyHz1Rlw6T44EnOAQ1Of5u0abklvSw7fiB_UzyTNrF3nXP_El366E0m53lGS1YaQKcaW73lzxpYcky8eippSK_qftJRm4iBoQXn_hkxedTZS2JXtTqOUCCo8/s1600/Cloak+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7cqx1WjLmvrZ-17-WHkXyHz1Rlw6T44EnOAQ1Of5u0abklvSw7fiB_UzyTNrF3nXP_El366E0m53lGS1YaQKcaW73lzxpYcky8eippSK_qftJRm4iBoQXn_hkxedTZS2JXtTqOUCCo8/s200/Cloak+cover.jpg" width="190" /></a>It's a different book from <i>The Dagger of Dresnia</i>, although Ellyria is again the linchpin character, with her daughter-in-law Tamirayne as her sidekick. They are twenty-two years older, and as the story is basically a double romance, the plot highlights the adventures of Ellyria's two granddaughters, Milana and Lyrien, both of whom fall in love with men their parents would consider to be unsuitable partners. The Dark Spirit is still around, as is Nustofer, the villainous cleric from The Dagger of Dresnia, and as with any good medieval fantasy, there are plenty of of love scenes, battles and mysteries. You can buy the ebook from Amazon and other online retailers, or direct from the publishers at <a href="http://satalyte.com.au/">http://satalyte.com.au/</a> - and if you're holding out for hard copy, just put in a pre-order.<br />
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Book Three, <i>The Seer of Syland</i>, will be a couple of generations later than the Cloak story. Don't hold your breath - it's still very much a WIP (work-in-progress!) I'm also playing with a novella, a spin-off from <i>The Cloak of Challiver</i>.<br />
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Happy reading, friends!Satima Flavellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-75846549715924421592015-10-25T17:34:00.000+08:002015-10-25T17:34:10.271+08:00Free samples!<big> </big><br />
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<big><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORjnNSCA749KiNYtcze4YdFqYC5_IvdVHkDdSD0hlyuuDv-0rERCBLNXIoIMiA7t_nAjav4KQsNvTodcfzmoBdNGwzOKMPuGHarCKk8egZGcrkJ3cEOL18SfhU-cPpGmnX2JJGD7r_1bW/s1600/Scrolls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORjnNSCA749KiNYtcze4YdFqYC5_IvdVHkDdSD0hlyuuDv-0rERCBLNXIoIMiA7t_nAjav4KQsNvTodcfzmoBdNGwzOKMPuGHarCKk8egZGcrkJ3cEOL18SfhU-cPpGmnX2JJGD7r_1bW/s320/Scrolls.jpg" width="320" /></a></big></div>
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<big>With the help of my good friend <a href="http://deep-cogitations.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Robert Denethon</a>, I have created a sampler of scenes from the first two books of The Talismans trilogy. The sampler is free to dowload in mobi, epub and .pdf versions from Dropbox.</big><br />
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<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88472035/Talismans-By-Satima-Flavell-Kindle-SAMPLER-7.mobi">Sampler for Kindle readers</a><br />
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<big><a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88472035/Talismans-By-Satima-Flavell-PDF-SAMPLER-1.epub">Sampler for epub readers</a></big><br />
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<big><a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88472035/Talismans-By-Satima-Flavell-PDF-SAMPLER-1.pdf" target="_blank">Sampler for .pdf readers </a> </big><br />
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<big>I hope this tempts a few people to buy book one, <i>The Dagger of Dresnia</i>, and, of course, to stamp impatiently while waiting for book two, <i>The Cloak of Challiver</i>, which is due for release early in the new year.</big><br />
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<big>Happy reading, friends! </big><br />
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Satima Flavellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-72525386228237766762015-05-12T18:39:00.001+08:002015-05-12T18:39:50.022+08:00Demanding the Ashes: introducing a new children's novel.Longtime friend of the Egobooers and award-winning former member of the KSP Speculative Fiction Group, Sonia Helbig has published <i><b>Demanding the Ashes</b>,</i> the first novel in her kid's series <i><b>Street Cricket Wars</b></i>, under the pen-name Ricky Striker.<br />
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<u style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; line-height: 20pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ricky Striker’s Street Cricket Wars #1 Demanding The Ashes</span></span></u><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cricket mad Fred Black is just about to start high school but he has a huge problem on his hands. Evans - Selwood’s Primary School’s biggest bully who’s picked on Fred all primary school - will be going to the same High School next year. Fred decides he must stop the bullying once and for all. Can and his best mate, Todd, come up with a crazy plan to force Evans to stop the name calling once and for all? </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Find out in Ricky Striker’s Street Cricket Wars #1 Demanding The Ashes</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Themes: Friendship, Bullying, Sports, Cricket</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Warning 1* Episode #1 ends on a cliff hanger just like most TV serial episodes. If you’d rather avoid the cliff hangers and get the whole series at once then you may like to check out the complete serial early bird edition which is available for readers who can’t bear cliff hanger endings or waiting for the monthly installments. It’s cheaper this way too!</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Warning 2* - Contains classic Ricky Striker “Weird Humor” moments based on The Ashes<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WUFXLT0" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img class="CToWUd" height="320" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=b6d0329e25&view=fimg&th=14d298c32ae4cdaa&attid=0.1.2&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ_MXQ53_yR5xEMG8W1kP6sh0WIp1AdX7rK1_KqO4hNbYdPYMkFK2x4gThCjQyQnyprz6prFtVRfnjFd68gCqLGFmTkuaeFK3QzZhxYxZXqo46BGkhwJJqb0-x0&sz=w428-h640&ats=1431425985954&rm=14d298c32ae4cdaa&zw&atsh=1" width="214" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WUFXLT0" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Street Cricket Wars: The Complete Serial #1-5</a><b> </b></span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ricky Striker’s Street Cricket Wars The Complete Serial #1-5 Blurb<u></u><u></u></span></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 26px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cricket mad Fred Black is about to start high school but he has a huge problem on his hands. Evans - Selwood’s biggest bully who’s picked on Fred all primary school - will be going to the same high school next year. Fred and his best mate, Todd, come up with a crazy plan to stop the bullying for good. After all, cricket can solve anything. Can’t it? But life is never that simple for Fred. There’s a reason his dad calls him Trouble. And Trouble is definitely about to break loose. Worse trouble than being called names by the school bully. So much trouble it erupts into a street cricket war.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Will Fred be able to put all the trouble right, keep his Mum and Dad happy, as well as beat Evans and win the right to his real name back - or will he fail? Find out in Ricky Striker’s Street Cricket Wars The Complete Serial Episodes #1-5.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Themes: Friendship, Bullying, Sports, Cricket</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Warning* - Contains classic Ricky Striker “Weird Humor” moments based on The Ashes</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This early bird compilation edition is available for readers who can’t bear cliff hanger endings or waiting for the monthly installments. It’s cheaper this way too!<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Demanding the Ashes</b></i> is available at Amazon<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WUP1SLS" target="_blank"> here</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*The series is also available in iTunes, Nook, Kobo, Page Foundry, Scribd and Tolino.</span></div>
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Congratulations, Sonia (Ricky), and wishing you the very best with your wonderful new kid's book series!Joanna Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12115011400004015918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-62887969404157915702015-05-08T14:18:00.001+08:002015-05-08T14:18:45.662+08:00Author Spotlight: Satima FlavellSatima joins me today for a inspiring chat about writing, novels and publishing, over at my author site, <a href="http://joannafay.me/2015/05/08/author-spotlight-satima-flavell/" target="_blank">Joanna Fay</a>.<br />
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<br />Joanna Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12115011400004015918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-6750116041638542042015-03-07T14:01:00.000+08:002015-03-07T14:01:31.201+08:00Interstellar Award for Speculative Poetry open for submissionsFrom March 1st to May 1st, 2015, entries will be open for the new <b>Interstellar Award for Speculative Poetry</b>. After much deliberation, I'm pleased to open a prize solely for speculative poems. In the second half of the year, the Interstellar Award will be open for speculative short fiction. The award offers a First Prize of $1000 and Second Prize of $300, with highly commended and commended acknowledgements.<br />
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Speculative is here defined as <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">science fiction and fantasy, all sub-genres such as space opera, hard SF, soft SF, paranormal, steampunk, new gothic, supernatural, metaphysical fantasy, magical realism, and all hybrid genres, including new ones of your own making. The only proviso is that entries contain at least an element of the speculative. So whether you're opening stargates, riding dragons, consorting with elves, reinventing mythologies, shifting magnetic fields, or revealing a subtle anomaly in an otherwise mundane event, your poem/s will be admissible.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #333333;">Further details and entry guidelines can be found at </span><u><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://interstellaraward.wordpress.com/interstellar-award-for-speculative-poetry/" target="_blank">Interstellar</a></span></u><span style="color: #333333;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span>Joanna Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12115011400004015918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-67852624317041814192015-02-25T15:46:00.000+08:002015-02-25T16:07:23.724+08:00Musa Publishing closing day sale until February 28.<div style="color: #333333; font-family: calluna-1, calluna-2, 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.8400001525879px; line-height: 22.2600002288818px;">
Sadly, it's the end of an era for Musa Publishing, which is closing its virtual doors at the end of this week on February 28th. I am grateful to Musa as the first publisher of my novels, with a hard-working, ethical, friendly management and editorial team, and wish them the very best for the future.</div>
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All books will be discounted by 80% until closing time on Feb 28. If you've thought about reading the first three novels in my fantasy epic, <em>The Siaris Quartet</em>, and haven't yet, now is the time to visit Musa and purchase them (for $1 each), as I don't know how long it will be before they find a new home with the as yet 'mystery publisher' who will take them on, and publish the final book of the quartet, <em>Ascension</em>, currently underway!</div>
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Here are the links for my three novels at Musa:</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=302" href="http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=302" target="_blank"><span data-mce-style="text-decoration: underline;"><span data-mce-style="color: #ff00ff; text-decoration: underline;" style="color: magenta;">Daughter of Hope</span></span></a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=540&zenid=90ed61ba3963e90acbe08b46c441c2f9" href="http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=540&zenid=90ed61ba3963e90acbe08b46c441c2f9" target="_blank"><span data-mce-style="text-decoration: underline;"><span data-mce-style="color: #ff00ff; text-decoration: underline;" style="color: magenta;">Reunion</span></span></a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=721" href="http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=721" target="_blank"><span data-mce-style="text-decoration: underline;"><span data-mce-style="color: #ff00ff; text-decoration: underline;" style="color: magenta;">Vow's Answer</span></span></a></div>
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Happy reading, dear friends! The adventure continues...............</div>
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Joanna Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12115011400004015918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-79454017213820468402014-09-28T18:41:00.000+08:002014-09-28T18:51:34.146+08:00Self-publishing traps<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I recently undertook to do an 'Assessments Day' for a local writing centre. I was honoured to be asked and really enjoyed the event. The writers I spoke with were generally very sensible and had their feet on the ground, but now and then I come across someone with stars in their eyes: someone who thinks writing books is going to be their path to riches.<br />
<br />
Sadly, this is usually far from the truth. Most writers in this country earn less than the dole. In my city of Perth, for example, I believe there is less than a handful of people earning their living by writing fiction. If you write, do it because you enjoy it, not because you expect to make a living at it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />As a freelance editor, my speciality is doing what I call
‘mini-assessments’ for new writers. A mini-assessment is based on a synopsis
and the first twenty pages of the writer’s manuscript.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I always start by giving new clients what I call 'the standard lecture'. Now, it’s
quite possible that you already know these things, but it’s surprising how many
writers do not, so I'll restate them here to be on the safe side.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 18.95pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">It’s
extremely hard to get a novel published, and it’s getting harder and harder
with the current uncertainties of the economy and the radical changes that are
inevitable in the publishing industry. For every thousand MSS sent to
publishers, no more than a half-a-dozen are published. Hard SF – or even ‘soft’
SF – is harder to sell than Fantasy and even harder to sell than the most
popular genres, Romance, Crime and Mystery.</span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 18.95pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Because
it is so hard to get published, your work needs to be of a very high standard
in every department. This usually means spending money on editing and/or MS
assessment, and these services are not cheap. Because of that, it’s sensible to
make sure you’ve done absolutely all you can with the work before handing it to
an editor. </span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 18.95pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">You
may well decide to self-publish. Here are a couple of things to bear in mind.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">‘Vanity’
publishing should be avoided at all costs. Publishers who want money from you
to publish your novel are vanity publishers, even if they call themselves
self-publishing houses. True self-publishing means you set yourself up as a
publisher and engage your own sub-contractors for editing, artwork, layout and
printing. It’s a lot of work, but it usually works out cheaper than vanity
presses. In either case, distribution and marketing fall to the author, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">it’s a sad fact that most self-published or
vanity-published fiction books sell fewer than 100 copies, and many sell fewer
than twenty</b>. The bolding there is deliberate as it’s something every
wannabe author should know and accept. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A
note on e-publishing. This is becoming more and more the route most writers
will follow to get their work ‘out there’. A quick look at Smashwords on any
given day will reveal that several dozen new books have miraculously appeared
overnight! So it’s just as competitive as the hard-copy market. All those books
begging to be read </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">— </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">no one could possibly read all of them, and many
readers still have a resistance to reading on-screen at all. So an e-book has
to be outstanding to succeed, and the author must also be ready to undertake a
lot of work on promotion through the social media. Just sticking your book up online
will not by itself bring in sales.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I hope
I haven’t put you off self-publishing with the above comments: properly approached, self-publishing is as valid a way of any to get your work in front of readers. However, I do like to make sure
new writers don’t have stars in their eyes and are not on the road to being
conned by vanity publishers! There are some veritable sharks about on the
internet. I’ve heard of people paying as much as $25,000 to get a book
published, because they didn’t know any better, and I've personally met one young man who'd been fleeced of $12,000 for a really shabby editing job and very ordinary looking stock cover. Don't let this happen to you: don't be conned - be careful!</span></div>
Satima Flavellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-25465580267343521082014-07-16T13:42:00.000+08:002014-07-16T13:42:04.271+08:00Writerly Advice From the Blogosphere One of the great things about being part of the writing community is how willing its members are to share their experiences. Here are a couple of instances that came up in the last few days.<br />
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The first is from my Clarion South mate, Peter M. Ball. Besides being a talented writer, Peter is a source of great writing advice - and especially on his blog, <i><a href="http://www.petermball.com/">Man Versus Bea</a>r</i>. In the last week he's excelled himself in two posts. In <i><a href="http://www.petermball.com/2014/07/14/you-dont-want-to-be-published/#idc-container">You Don't Want to be Published</a> </i>he made me first shake my head and then think, both useful responses when you're being asked to work out exactly why you are writing and what you expect to get out of it. Then he capped it by writing <a href="http://www.petermball.com/2014/07/16/networking-tips-for-reclusive-introverted-writer-types/#idc-container" style="font-style: italic;">Networking Tips for Reclusive, Introverted Writer-Types</a> where he sets out what networking can be for a writer. It turns out that it's much simpler - and much less painful - than I had supposed.<br />
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The second comes from <a href="http://pattyjansen.com/blog/" style="font-style: italic;">Must Use Bigger Elephants</a>, Patty Jansen's blog. Patty has embraced self publishing and many of her posts are on her experiences in the area. Her latest post, <i><a href="http://pattyjansen.com/blog/self-published-2011-2014-im-still-glad/">Why I Self-published in 2011 and Why in 2014 I'm Still Glad That I Did</a></i>, outlines the reasons for her original decision and what she has gained from it. She gives any writer lots to think about with what she has to say.<br />
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Helen V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07989670682260643429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-29799583872963277902014-07-05T16:52:00.000+08:002014-07-05T16:52:14.680+08:00Australian Speculative Poetry anthology, 'The Stars Like Sand', now available!<div style="color: #333333; font-family: calluna-1, calluna-2, 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
I'm delighted to have a poem in this new anthology of Australian Speculative Poetry, <em>The Stars Like Sand</em>, edited by Tim Jones and P.S.Cottier, published by Interactive Press. From the editors:</div>
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<span data-mce-style="color: #800080;" style="color: purple;"><em>Travel to the stars and beyond in this anthology by Australia's leading poets. Witness the end of the world, time travel to the future near or far, or teleport with a fairy or witch. Ghosts, dreams and strange creatures breed and mingle in these pages. Poetry has never been so mind-bending, or so entertaining.</em></span></div>
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It's rare to see anthologies of speculative poetry (fantasy, science fiction and all manner of hybrids), and <em>The Stars Like Sand</em> represents a wonderfully diverse array of voices and visions past and present, leaping into multiple futures. My poem 'Folds' is joined by creations from the likes of John Tranter, Sean Williams, Judith Beveridge, Simon Petrie, Kevin Gillam, Diane Fahey, Chris Wallace-Crabbe and Aussie icon A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson, to name but a few.</div>
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The Stars Like Sand can be found on Amazon in print and for Kindle <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Stars-Like-Sand-Speculative/dp/1922120782" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
Joanna Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12115011400004015918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-55973856484487549802014-06-09T10:05:00.000+08:002014-06-09T10:07:06.851+08:00'Daughter of Hope' FREE from Musa Publishing through June!<div style="background-color: #f4ebc3; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: calluna-1, calluna-2, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 21.125px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Hi All, while I’m busy penning <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ascension</em>, the final novel of <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Siaris Quartet</em> (which is taking me on some unexpected twists and turns, I can tell you), Musa Publishing is kindly offering the first novel<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </em><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">in the Siaris series, </span><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Daughter of Hope,</em> for Free throughout the month of June. All you need to do is sign up for Musa’s monthly E-Newsletter to receive a free book coupon! Just follow this link: <a href="http://goo.gl/niU2pl" style="border: 0px; color: #5c683f; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://goo.gl/niU2pl</a></div>
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Happy Reading!</div>
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Joanna Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12115011400004015918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-26351251219084883412014-05-04T17:06:00.000+08:002014-11-23T13:24:24.295+08:00An excellent workshop on marketing your writing<br />
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<big>Most writers realise early in their apprenticeships that workshops with industry professionals can play a major role in the learning process. Over the last dozen or so years, I have attended workshops, seminars and conventions with an almost religious devotion, seeking out the best ways to improve my writing. This must have been a successful manoeuvre<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span>, because I was recently lucky enough to see my first novel, <i>The Dagger of Dresnia</i>, in print with <a href="http://www.satalyte.com.au/" target="_blank">Satalyte Publishing</a>.<br />
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But having a novel in print doesn't necessarily mean novels in readers' hands. As with any other commodity, marketing is key. Marketing is the art of finding out who would be likely to use your product and making sure people in the target group find out about it, and it's a subject sadly neglected during a writer's training period. So when we finally have the first-off-the-press copy in our hot little hands, how do we make sure other copies get into the hands of our target audience? If a writer is lucky enough to be picked up by a major publishing house, s/he will be guided by the Publicity Department of that publishing house. Those of us who have elected to go with small press or self-publishing pretty much have to do our own marketing.<br />
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Hachette authors, methinks, are blessed souls, because they have the guidance of Jaki Arthur, Hachette's Publicity Manager. As I'm not an Hachette author, I count myself fortunate to have been accepted into a one-day workshop on Marketing Development Skills facilitated by Ms Arthur at the WA State Library last Saturday. It was a free event, presented by the Australia Council for the Arts via Writing WA, but it was competitive - all participants had to have had a novel published in the previous year, and also been invited to take part in a writers conference for the following year. At the end of the selection process, there were eighteen eager writers delighted at the opportunity to participate. On Saturday morning we milled around outside the State Library, chattering excitedly while waiting for the doors to open at 10.00AM.<br />
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The workshop ran for over four hours plus breaks for refreshments and peer-group networking (we have, of course, vowed eternal friendship and will keep in touch via email and social networking) so what I can condense here will not cover all the many and varied topics. If you get the chance to attend another such workshop, jump at it!<br />
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Jaki Arthur recommended that we start by identifying the elements of our Public Relations Strategy:<br />
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1. Identifying our goals for the next year (having another book on the shelves, appearing at a conference, winning an award, being interviewed on radio, getting a place on the Tuesday Book Club etc.) No goal is too high - as Ms Arthur pointed out, it's best to aim high and achieve a lesser goal than to aim at a lesser goal and not succeed at all! Unlike the next eight points, which are to be drawn on as required when we interact with fans and industry professionals, this point is for our own use. We must never lose sight of our goals.<br />
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2. Analyse the themes in your novel. It should be possible to find at least seven, and Ms Arthur suggests that this is the magic number for marketing via this route. I found this hard - I'd only identified two themes in <i>The Dagger of Dresnia</i> but by brainstorming with the group via post-it notes on a whiteboard, I quickly realised that my two themes could be broken down into their component parts and that there were several other themes that I held in common with others in the room. This is the sort of thing that conference organisers love - they can mix and match their panellists according to themes! I actually wound up with eight themes: The nature of love in its many forms; the development of intimacy in different kinds of relationships; the singularising nature of an unusual talent; dealing with the consequences of the decisions we make; internal conflict; family conflict; problem teenagers; racial conflict. On further reflection, I could even add another - the potentially healing power of family ties. (I'd better stop now or this will turn into a post on 'identifying themes'!)<br />
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3. Develop three versions of your biography - one of 30 words, one of 80 words and a long one that might be half a page or so in length. Keep them up-to-date so you have them ready and on call when needed. Don't get stuck on biographical details and academic qualifications. Rather, make sure you include hooks for journalists and interviewers such as 'Satima was once chased by an angry boar when trying to separate a sow from her piglets.' (No, that didn't actually happen to me, but we can all find quirky incidents in our lives, and they make the best hooks.)<br />
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4. Get your press release together. It should contain the book's title, the author's name (and a photo) the imprint and the publication date. It should also carry your strap line and blurb (if your novel is already published, this will be the descriptive paragraph on the back cover) a bio of appropriate length, quotes from reviews - and, of course, the all-important cover image. (I have all this info on my bookmark handouts, which like an idiot I forgot to take to the workshop! Business cards are also useful. I have some - and forgot those, too!)<br />
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5. Be able to identify your genre or sub-genre. I soon realised that giving this information to people in the industry and to potential readers might require different approaches. 'Literary romantic fiction' might make sense to an editor or an agent, but might come across as pretentious to the layperson. 'Commercial' is also a loaded word to the layperson, even though it simply means 'suitable for a wide market' to a professional book buyer. So my blurb to an industry professional might be 'High fantasy in the classic pseudo-medieval setting,' while to a layperson my usual response is 'High fantasy - elves and stuff.' That usually gives them all they need to know, although if they are enthusiasts they will say 'Oh - like Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones/Whatever-the-current-flagship-of-the-genre-may-be?' That always opens the door to further discussion and mention of the book's selling points.<br />
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6. Make sure you have a concise Strap Line for your latest work. 'Strap line' is the industry term for the well-known 'elevator pitch' - you know, when you find yourself in a lift with a famous agent and s/he politely asks what your book is about! You've got to be able to answer that quickly, before the lift stops at the agent's floor! I finally managed to get mine down to '<i>The Dagger of Dresnia</i> is about an elvish princess, widow of a mortal king, who in her efforts to ensure the succession is tricked into a bargain with a Dark Spirit - and then all hell breaks loose.' (As an aside, I quickly realised when listening to each participant's quick pitch, that the successful strap lines centred on the precipitating incident while giving a clear idea of two basic elements of any story - what the MC wants, and what's going to stop him/her from getting it.)<br />
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7. Set up a web presence. (Of course, you can - and probably should - develop this well before your book comes out.) Ms Arthur suggests that we have, at minimum, an up-to-date web page, a blog, and a presence on the popular social media - Facebook, Twitter, etc. (Ms Arthur didn't seem to think these would help with sales, but I have found than many of my 900-odd Facebook friends were among the first to download the ebook version of <i>The Dagger of Dresnia</i> and over 160 of them have joined <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TalismansTrilogy?fref=ts" target="_blank">The Talismans series's page</a>. Of course, I spend a lot of time on Facebook and over time, anyone who does that will build up a following. Some well-known authors, I'm sure, must pay someone to spend time on Facebook for them as they post regularly and have thousands of followers. Either that or they are far, far better time-managers than I am!)<br />
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8. As well as the more personal interactions online, get your bio and bibliography up on every possible outlet. Have author pages on e.g. Amazon, Booktopia, Net Galley etc. Note that many bookish sites (and even Big W has one!) contain interactive content and may feature online interviews. (I was interested to learn that Big W will not sell books that feature Bad Language. Damn and bugger, that puts <i>The Dagger of Dresnia</i>, with its explicit sex scenes, out of the contest!)<br />
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9. Do your homework. Make sure you know who to contact in relation to any particular conference or media outlet. To this end, start a hard copy little black book that you never leave at home. Be sure to include the role of the person - editor, publicity officer, journalist, fan, writer of...(title or genre) or whatever, because you will forget who is who as the LBB fills up!<br />
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10. Like point 1, this is just for our own use. We must never, ever, forget that our job is to write the best books we possibly can. We must never let anything get in the way of that. We can worry about all the various contingencies that can arise if and when they arise, and if there is an appropriate person at the publishing house to deal with such matters, we should let them do so.<br />
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And with this collection of tools at our disposal, we are ready to meet any foreseeable contingency. Literary Festival coming up? The organiser will want to see a press release, bio and themes. Have them ready! (Note that at the major festivals, participating authors receive an appearance fee, so perhaps it's best to leave negotiations to your agent or publisher.)<br />
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<i>Please note that this is a record of my take on the workshop and shouldn't be considered as an infallible record of Jaki Arthur's utterly fantastic presentation!</i></big>
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<br />Satima Flavellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-81261923841609478402014-04-03T10:50:00.000+08:002014-04-03T10:50:42.760+08:00Prompts, Anyone?I'm a great fan of writing to triggers or prompts so when I was delighted came across something useful on poet Katy Evans-Bush's blog, <i><a href="http://baroqueinhackney.com/2014/04/02/its-springtime-write-a-poem">Baroque in Hackney</a>. </i>Writing and writers being what they there are times we are teeming with ideas and others when we've got nothing and prompts can push start us when we have a blank space and inspiration fails.<br />
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Evans-Bush is a UK poet and poetry teacher and as a writing exercise she directed her class to <i><a href="http://bibliomancyoracle.tumblr.com/askoracle">Bibliomancy Oracle.</a></i> It's not strictly a prompt site but having played around with it I can see why she suggested it.<br />
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Her other link is to <a href="http://fiftytwopoetry.wordpress.com/">52 <i>Write a Poem a Week</i></a> . This is, unsurprisingly, a poetry website. I think its prompts and suggested exercises work well for any writer but particularly for speculative fiction writers.<br />
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Here are a few other sites and blogs I've found useful but there are many more on the internet.<br />
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<a href="http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/" style="font-style: italic;">Writing Prompts</a> - the writer uses them to teach in secondary schools but adults will find them useful too.<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/">Creative Writing Prompts</a> </i>There are over three hundred prompts on this website.<br />
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<a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts" style="font-style: italic;">Writers Digest</a> A wide range of prompts on every conceivable subject.<br />
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<a href="http://www.dailywritingtips.com/writing-prompts-101" style="font-style: italic;">Daily Writing Tips</a> There are some interesting exercises, prompts and links here.<br />
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For those of you who like a book to hold in your hands, I highly recommend <i>Everything I Know About Writing </i>by Australian author, <a href="http://www.johnmarsden.com.au/index.html">John Marsden</a>. It's published by Pan Macmillan Australia and available from the publisher and <a href="http://amazon.com/">amazon.com</a> - and, if you prefer it that way, it's also available as an e-book. His fiction is pretty darn good too.<br />
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<br />Helen V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07989670682260643429noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-34706768033305244632014-02-13T20:28:00.000+08:002014-02-13T20:28:39.178+08:00'Victoria Chase' shortlists in the Aeon Award 2013My fantasy-steampunk hybrid short story, 'Victoria Chase', was shortlisted in the First Round of the Aeon Award (an international speculative fiction award run from Ireland by Albedo One magazine) in 2013. It's been a long wait to see if it would be chosen as one of the final 6, from a list of 32 stories over the four rounds of the competition. It wasn't, but it was still encouraging to get this far (for a third time)!<br />
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An excerpt from 'Victoria Chase', and a link to the full shortlist and other details of the Aeon Award, can be found at my blog <a href="http://joannafay.me/2014/02/13/victoria-makes-the-aeon-award-2013-shortlist/" target="_blank">here</a>.Joanna Fayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12115011400004015918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-56628236360448314622014-02-06T09:20:00.000+08:002014-02-06T09:20:35.009+08:00What Makes a Good StoryAustralian writer, Ian McHugh, has some great tips on how to turn a good idea into a great story:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.486080169677734px;">"<a href="http://ianmchugh.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/on-turning-ideas-into-stories/#like-1291">Having a notion that the world is round is an idea. A story is like the ship you build to prove that idea. Like a ship, a story needs something to push it along, a method for navigating and steering it and a watertight structure to prevent it from sinking without trace into the dark and airless depths of crushing despair below. Like a ship, a story is a cohesive, complex, mechanical whole, the purpose of which is to deliver your idea to its destination (your readers). And like a ship, if any parts of the machine are poorly designed or constructed, your story will end up becalmed in the middle of nowhere, go off in the wrong direction or sink without trace into the dark and airless depths of etcetera.</a>"</span><br />
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Click on the text above to see Ian's entire post, outlining the brainstorming and writing process of his fabulous short story, "Cold, Cold War", which was published in June 2013 and is currently available online at <a href="http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/cold-cold-war/">Beneath Ceaseless Skies.</a>Carol Ryleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06303656672609607055noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-83858414038375963132014-01-29T16:19:00.000+08:002014-01-29T16:19:16.855+08:00A New Year and Egoboo WA is Alive and Well<br />
Although it’s been a few months since we last blogged, individual Egobooers have been quietly making progress with their personal writing goals...<br />
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<b>Joanna Fay </b><br />
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Jo has recently published her third novel, <i>Book Three of the Siaris Quartet</i> over at Musa Publishing. Vividly written, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vows-Answer-The-Siaris-Quartet-ebook/dp/B00HJX81QQ">Vow’s Answer</a> continues the eons-old war as Xereth strengthens his alliance with the corrupt and powerful Morreath, threatening the lives of Gods, half-Gods, humankind and ultimately, Siaris itself. Book Four is soon to follow. You can read more about <i>Vow's Answer</i> on J<a href="http://joannafay.me/">o's Blog.</a><br />
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Earlier in 2013, Jo published a short story “The Twelfth Hour” in <i>Daughters of Icarus: New Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy</i> (<a href="http://pinknarc.com/books.htm">Pink Narcissus Press</a>, USA).<br />
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Jo also won Third Prize in the <i>Banjo Paterson Writing Awards Open Poetry Section</i> with “Circle of Stones: and also received a commendation for “The Sheet Could Be Silk” in the <i>Karen W Treanor Poetry Award.</i><br />
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<b>Satima Flavell</b><br />
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Satima is excited about recently selling her first novel, <i>The Dagger of Dresnia: Book One of the Talismans Trilogy</i>, to <a href="http://satalyte.com.au/">Satalyte Publishing</a>, due to be released in April. She is now busy with Book Two.<br />
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Satima has also continued to write theatrical reviews for <a href="http://www.artshub.com.au/">Artshub</a> and is also undertaking editing commissions from writers and tertiary students.<br />
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In the coming year Satima will be speaking at the <a href="http://conflux.org.au/conflux-writers-day-2/">Conflux Writers Day</a> at the Australian National University in April as well as undertaking manuscript assessments for the <a href="http://kspf.iinet.net.au/">Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre</a> in September.<br />
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<b>Laura E Goodin</b><br />
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Laura has been madly finishing off her PhD in Creative Writing as well as keeping herself busy with performances throughout the year:<br />
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"The Tooth in the Mouth" (short story) performed at The Vault Cabaret, Port Kembla, NSW, June 15, 2013 Comets and Chocolates (full-length, one-man musical) performed at the Seymour Centre, Sydney, NSW, September 2013<br />
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"Is Not This Love?" (song cycle written with composer Houston Dunleavy) performed at The Studio Flute Tree, Leichardt, NSW, by Wendy Dixon, Michael Halliwell, and David Miller, October 26, 2013<br />
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"To the Person Who Left a Note on My Windshield" (poem set by composer Houston Dunleavy) performed at the Australian Society of Music Educators Conference, September 29, 2013<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Laura performing "Person Who Left a Note on My Windshield"</span></center>
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<b>Carol Ryles</b><br />
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Carol completed her PhD in Creative Writing and received a whole lot of fabulous praise from her examiners. Her novel, <i>Heart Fire</i>, is out looking for a publisher.<br />
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Carol's short story, "The Silence of Clockwork", written in the same world as Heart Fire and featuring one of its main characters (Ruk) was published in <i>The Conflux 9 Convention Programme</i>.<br />
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Another short story, “Siri and the Chaos Maker”, also set in the world of <i>Heart Fire</i> (but in a different country and era), is to be published in April in <a href="http://ticonderogapublications.com/index.php/our-books/180-kisses-by-clockwork/352-kisses-by-clockwork-contents-announced">Kisses by Clockwork, edited by Liz Grzyb</a>.<br />
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<b>Sarah Parker</b><br />
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Sarah has been working on her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/teawithtarts">Tea with Tarts workgroup</a> as well as writing worksheets for <a href="http://www.saucysarahs.com.au/">Saucy Sarahs</a>. A lot of her energy is also going into her new job at the <a href="http://www.immunisationalliance.org.au/">Immunisation Alliance</a> and their daughter project <a href="http://www.i.immunise.org.au/">I Immunise</a>.<br />
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Sarah was also Guest of Honour at <i>Swancon 2013.</i> This year she is organizing the kids' stream at <a href="https://2014.swancon.com.au/">Swancon 2014</a>.<br />
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<b>Helen Venn</b><br />
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Helen has been busily editing her first novel and is now working on its sequel. She continues to maintain her <a href="http://www.imaginemeatclarion.blogspot.com/">personal blog</a> and has changed its focus from purely personal to include book reviews.<br />
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<b>Keira McKenzie</b><br />
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Keira is madly finishing off her PhD in Creative Writing as well as <a href="http://mtlawleyshire.wordpress.com/">blogging fabulously artistic sunset, wildlife and moon shots around Perth and Matilda Bay.</a><br />
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Sunsets and moonrise, buildings and birds: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dmnhbRh7sE83Ici9rsZz8HKn0-UEdahyphenhyphenoyWdLjp_rUvhyphenhyphenZAsg_OAWgyE28cSFhg2nJw6e8tDYb_KEGSKeebdosneWheZRYHH8PCUiItrmb0EH1D5UENXF7uMw-hY23eEdMAaALfwkaw/s1600/matilda+bay_18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPMznlOI6c3R86AFLN2sgB6xTzVPe1uoS8ki72KRWq52dQsjTdNtaB7bzm4xnYJT6O2a99joj0oZIEEh5QENER-I-62o8y2q1tUrgPy-GWuV9QQuHXVLTOxdnZtFjSXGP0b7-KpmUvo40/s1600/moon_7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPMznlOI6c3R86AFLN2sgB6xTzVPe1uoS8ki72KRWq52dQsjTdNtaB7bzm4xnYJT6O2a99joj0oZIEEh5QENER-I-62o8y2q1tUrgPy-GWuV9QQuHXVLTOxdnZtFjSXGP0b7-KpmUvo40/s1600/moon_7.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">moon rising over clouds 1/7/14</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkgwGW8y6sNhXT5S-o-vSF5TAfWKKuPmRc8aFsdDH8M1GQw0CdxP3NGAuMoSONA3JL_TF62jqOGJjDvBfGLL_IIlGkEbZCvEmhAYtuXKwLUtwAot2lyxJ8IBamELutRupm7s9P0xeTFSs/s1600/sunset_15.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkgwGW8y6sNhXT5S-o-vSF5TAfWKKuPmRc8aFsdDH8M1GQw0CdxP3NGAuMoSONA3JL_TF62jqOGJjDvBfGLL_IIlGkEbZCvEmhAYtuXKwLUtwAot2lyxJ8IBamELutRupm7s9P0xeTFSs/s1600/sunset_15.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sunset /8/1/14</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dmnhbRh7sE83Ici9rsZz8HKn0-UEdahyphenhyphenoyWdLjp_rUvhyphenhyphenZAsg_OAWgyE28cSFhg2nJw6e8tDYb_KEGSKeebdosneWheZRYHH8PCUiItrmb0EH1D5UENXF7uMw-hY23eEdMAaALfwkaw/s1600/matilda+bay_18.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dmnhbRh7sE83Ici9rsZz8HKn0-UEdahyphenhyphenoyWdLjp_rUvhyphenhyphenZAsg_OAWgyE28cSFhg2nJw6e8tDYb_KEGSKeebdosneWheZRYHH8PCUiItrmb0EH1D5UENXF7uMw-hY23eEdMAaALfwkaw/s1600/matilda+bay_18.jpg" height="280" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pelican being photobombed by a pesky seagull - Matilda Bay 14/1/14</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Architectural detail, West Perth. 7/1/14</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkgwGW8y6sNhXT5S-o-vSF5TAfWKKuPmRc8aFsdDH8M1GQw0CdxP3NGAuMoSONA3JL_TF62jqOGJjDvBfGLL_IIlGkEbZCvEmhAYtuXKwLUtwAot2lyxJ8IBamELutRupm7s9P0xeTFSs/s1600/sunset_15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dmnhbRh7sE83Ici9rsZz8HKn0-UEdahyphenhyphenoyWdLjp_rUvhyphenhyphenZAsg_OAWgyE28cSFhg2nJw6e8tDYb_KEGSKeebdosneWheZRYHH8PCUiItrmb0EH1D5UENXF7uMw-hY23eEdMAaALfwkaw/s1600/matilda+bay_18.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHmpNQIA11f32oR-XRYl5yaAfD-VJa5MAh4c3HzlZD0FcrYVA2M1qcEtsaxoq2FFrYsQwzY5-Zf4p1ZoimY0YspG57P2AruM47MIz0Xv9TKCwrVUWTAa82SAVLQ0p6tu2rQbfDjvRg7A/s1600/light_architectural+detail.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
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Carol Ryleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06303656672609607055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-37802459651327760362013-10-17T09:00:00.000+08:002013-10-17T09:00:05.527+08:00Outlining versus PantsingThis <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/">Writers Digest </a>article <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/6-secrets-of-writing-a-novel-without-an-outline">on the merits of not outlining when writing a novel </a>appealed to me, given I am a pantser myself. Author, Steven James, has some interesting things to say on the subject and there are some useful links at the end of the article too. <a href="http://www.stevenjames.net/">His website</a> is worth a look too.<br />
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Helen V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07989670682260643429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-69445693394665424622013-10-14T16:03:00.000+08:002014-09-28T18:23:53.147+08:00A Con about conmen. And thieves. And especially murderers ...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I love going to conventions! I won't miss an SF con if I can possibly be
there - but twice now I've been to a con with a different slant - Crimescene.
This excellent small convention looks set to become a regular feature of Perth’s
readers and writers convention scene. It’s quite possible that it might
eventually put the SF cons in the shade, because many, many more people are
interested in reading and writing crime novels than spaceships and dragons.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new Tara Sharp book by Crimescene guest Marianne Delacourt (alter ego of SF writer Marianne de Pierres)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">With editing colleague Marisa Wikramanayake, I spent last Saturday at
Rydges Hotel in Perth, a very nice venue that has a cosy setup for small
conventions. We were there to run a panel on editing for
newbie authors, and were delighted to find that we had a bright, interested
audience who asked questions and shared their own experiences. I hope they all
write best sellers!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I spoke about the mistakes beginners of all genres make in their writing
- a</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">s a freelance editor, my
speciality is doing what I call ‘mini-assessments’ for new writers. A
mini-assessment is based on a synopsis and the first twenty pages of the
writer’s manuscript. I’ve been doing these for several years now. It didn’t
take me long to realise that a new writer’s problems all show up within a few
pages – and I quickly learnt that almost all beginning writers show the same
faults. They don’t all have all of them, but some do – and I’ve yet to have a
newbie client who didn’t show at least three of them! I believe the first two
are inexcusable, but you’d be amazed at how often I see them!</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">1. The first one is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not reading enough</b>. A writer learns the
basics of the craft by reading work by experienced authors and emulating them.
You need to read widely, not just in your preferred genre, but in other genres
as well. And it’s important that you read not just modern works, but the
classics of past years, too. If a client writes but doesn’t read it’s
screamingly obvious to me, and it will be to an editor at a publishing house,
too. So make sure you read extensively – non-fiction as well as fiction – and
read other genres as well the one you write in. And when choosing books to
read, be sure to at least sample the work of authors from days gone by. In any
job, the historical perspective is important. If we can’t see where we’ve come
from, we’ve got Buckley’s chance of knowing where we are going! But we need to
read the modern writers too, so we can start to recognise trends.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2. You learn a lot by
reading, but it’s not enough to turn you into a writer. The second problem of
beginning writers is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not bothering to
learn the craft of writing</b>. I don’t know why it is, but many people seem to
think that because they know how to write words and sentences, they will
automatically know how to write stories, too. Sadly this isn’t true. It takes
at least 10 years to train as a concert pianist, and it takes about the same amount
of time to learn to write well. Just as if you were learning a musical
instrument, you need to practise and take tuition, so I hope you wannabe
writers out there are doing a bit of writing every day and also going to classes and
workshops as often as you can. It’s also useful to join writers critiquing
groups, and go to conventions like Crimescene. There are national conventions for Romance and Speculative Fiction every year in Australia, and perhaps Crimescene will set the ball rolling for crime, suspense and mystery as well. Also, you can learn a
lot about the industry as well as the craft of writing by reading blogs by
writers, editors and agents.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Still on the craft of writing; do make sure
you have a good grasp of the basics, the stuff you learnt in school. Without a
good understanding of grammar, spelling, syntax and punctuation you are going
to find it impossible to find an agent or a publisher, and if you self-publish
a badly written book it simply won’t sell. There are so many self-published
books out there that you have to be as good as traditionally-published authors
if your work is going to attract readers. Learning to lay out your MS like a
professional – with wide margins, double-spacing and so on is also important if
you don’t want your submissions to look amateurish. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">These two faults are inexcusable because </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">all these things can be
learnt online. All you have to do is Google!</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The other four faults are excusable, and will be overcome with time, patience and practice. Here they are:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">3. A problem shared
by most beginners is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not knowing where
to start the story</b>. In genre fiction, it’s essential to start <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in media res</i> – right in the thick of
things. Beginners tend to load the first few pages with back story, and that is
a sure mark of an amateur. Start with something exciting that leads us to the
precipitating incident – the event that gets the story rolling.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">4. And that brings me to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Structure – another bugbear for beginners</b>.
Structure is complex and this isn't the place to go into depth with it. Just
bear in mind that for a novel to work you must be able to answer the following
four questions:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 18.95pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">a. Who is your main character?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 18.95pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">b. What does s/he want?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 18.95pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">c. What is stopping him/her from getting it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 18.95pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">d. How does s/he deal with the opposition?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">These are
the four essentials of a good story. If what’s written can’t be summed up in
this way, it’s not a story. It might be a lovely descriptive piece, a
dissertation, or a clever bit of propaganda, but it’s not a story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Expanding on
this idea, a </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">novel needs three acts,
like a classic play. The precipitating (or inciting) incident comes early in
the piece, certainly not more than ten per cent of the way in. At about the
thirty per cent mark should come the protagonist's first setback, which marks the end of Act
One. (All major characters should have been introduced by the end of Act One, by the way!)
Act Two is the longest act, and it can take up to 60 per cent of the novel.
About half way through the total length we should have a second setback, and at
the end of Act Two – 90 per cent of the way through the novel – we have the
third and biggest setback. There will have been minor disasters in between, of course,
both in the main plot and in the subplot, but the one at the end of Act Two
should show us the main character hitting an all-time low from which he or she
has to turn things around. In most novels, this will be where the protagonist’s
fortunes turn: the battle is won, the throne is gained, the princess is
rescued - or your detective solves the case and confronts the criminal. The in
true Henri Poirot style, we should see the main character clear up loose ends.
This denouement should use up no more than ten per cent of the total word count.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">That’s a very brief look at structure, but
once again, you only have to Google to find articles that will clarify what
I’ve just rushed through.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">5. The fifth problem of
beginners is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not having sufficient grasp
of ‘show, don’t tell</b>’. This is the most widely touted rule in writing, so
I’m sure you’ve heard it before. When we go to a new place, we learn about it
by finding our way around and listening to what the locals have to say. So too,
in reading fiction, we learn about the author's world by becoming immersed in
the sights, sounds and senses of the inhabitants, who are brought to life
through dialogue. This is especially important today because modern readers
expect an immersion experience. </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Writers today have to compete with many other forms
of entertainment, and most of those are visual. We cannot give our reader
visuals in a straight novel, but we can give them something better. We can get
right inside the mind and body of our main character, showing how anger affects
his body rather than telling reader he is angry; showing how he interacts with
his world rather describing the scenery or telling us it’s a fine sunny day.
Done skilfully, this not only drags the reader into your characters’ world, but
also gives the reader information about the characters and the plot. It’s a
very subtle thing, this show-don’t-tell. Chekov put it very nicely when he
said, ‘Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of moonlight on
broken glass’. Can you see how that single phrase shows us that it’s night
time, the moon is shining, and that the presence of broken glass means there
must be a building or some other human artefact nearby, and that there has been
an accident or violence of some sort. In that one little phrase ‘the glint of
moonlight on broken glass’ - there lies a world of writerly wisdom. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">There are lots of subtleties in
show-don’t-tell, and it’s closely bound up with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">worldbuilding</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and point of
view</b>. Fellow Egobooer Carol Ryles says that it’s useful to think of
worldbuilding as a picture painted on glass. You smash that glass picture and
insert shards of it – tiny shards, no more than slivers – into your story where
appropriate, and always by showing, not telling, and through the viewpoint of
the characters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">6. This strong connection
that binds show-don’t-tell to worldbuilding and point-of-view brings me to the
last problem of beginning writers – and that’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not having a good enough grasp of point of view</b>. I’m assuming you
all know the difference between first and third point-of view. First is easier
than third in some ways, and harder in others. Easier because you are forced to
write from within the headspace of the main character, and harder because you
are limited to that one viewpoint. First person makes it easier also to give
readers the immersion experience they want. That’s harder to do in third
person. What many authors today do is write from a close third viewpoint, which
involves getting inside the character’s head just as you would with first
person, so you are limited by what that one character thinks, feels, senses and
experiences. But in third person you are at liberty to include more than one
view point. Do make sure, though, that you only use one POV per scene.
‘Head-hopping’ – skipping about from one character’s head to another – is not
only confusing for your readers: it also prevents you from giving them the full
immersion experience of the tight third POV. In a really close third, you write
everything, even the narrative, from within the character’s head. You avoid
using dialogue tags as much as possible, and you slip information about the
characters and their world in where appropriate, always from within the
thoughts, feelings and experiences of the POV character, so narrative, setting
and point-of-view become a kind of holy trinity, each one different
manifestation of ‘show-don’t-tell’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Marisa then went into more detail about what an editor looks for in
crime stories and the kinds of stereotyped characters and situations that
writers tend to use. You can read about her take on these topics at <a href="http://marisa.com.au/an-editors-take-on-crime-fiction/">http://marisa.com.au/an-editors-take-on-crime-fiction/</a>. Lee Battersby has blogged about the con in more detail at <a href="http://battersblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/blood-splatter-kidnapping-and-other.html">http://battersblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/blood-splatter-kidnapping-and-other.html</a>
</span></div>
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<![endif]-->Satima Flavellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-36445159739758981262013-09-27T20:12:00.002+08:002013-09-27T20:12:34.432+08:00Diversity in SFThis has been a hot topic of discussion recently so I thought I'd mention a few I've seen.<br />
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Particularly interesting to me was <a href="http://www.jimchines.com/2013/09/diversity-in-sff/">this blog post by Jim C. Hines</a>. Full of interesting links it's well worth looking at.<br />
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Through it I found <i>Writing the Other</i><i> </i>by <a href="http://www.nisishawl.com/">Nisi Shawl</a> and <a href="http://www.cynthiaward.com/">Cynthia Ward</a> (Aqueduct Press 2005, available both in paperback and as an ebook and highly recommended) which addresses the problems inherent in writing fiction outside your culture and suggests ways writers can avoid falling into the inevitable traps.<br />
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I had barely finished reading it when I came across <a href="http://aliettedebodard.com/2013/09/13/a-few-disjointed-thoughts-on-other-cultures-and-diversity-in-sff/">these comments</a> by <a href="http://aliettedebodard.com/">Aliette de Bodard</a>. Although she calls it a rant, it is really much more measured than that. As well as giving her opinion she also provides some useful links. The comments are interesting too.<br />
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Helen V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07989670682260643429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-50460931741478345682013-09-17T09:49:00.000+08:002013-09-17T09:49:06.991+08:00Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Congratulations to all the <a href="http://pba.slwa.wa.gov.au/">winners of the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards</a> announced yesterday by the Honourable John Day, Minister for Culture and the Arts. The judges' report is <a href="http://pba.slwa.wa.gov.au/awards_archive/2012/judges_report">here</a> and the shortlist <a href="http://pba.slwa.wa.gov.au/awards_archive/2012/shortlist">here</a>. More books to add to the To Be Read list - for me at least.<br />
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Helen V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07989670682260643429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-53951392468048550672013-09-12T13:33:00.000+08:002013-09-12T13:33:27.019+08:00Author-Publishers<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While reading Chuck Wendig's blog, <a href="http://terribleminds.com/">Terrible Minds</a>, I came across an interesting post on his theory that if you publish your own book you are both an author and a publisher and should both call yourself that and behave accordingly. He does swear a bit so be warned but you can read his thoughts on <a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/09/09/why-i-like-the-term-author-publisher/">why self publishers should rename themselves as author-publishers here.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There are some thought provoking ideas here and, if we are going to be serious about treading newer routes in getting published, we need to look at all aspects of it. Publishing is a business so perhaps if we are considering self-publishing we should remind ourselves of that. It's not just having the thrill of seeing our words in print or in an e-book anymore. It's about sales and that means every aspect of getting a book out to the public - editing, illustration, marketing, all those things which traditional publishers do - come back onto the author. That, in turn, means everything should look and sound professional so, given that producing and marketing a book means, yes, you are both an author and a publisher, why wouldn't you call yourself that? Makes sense to me. What do you think?</span><br />
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Helen V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07989670682260643429noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-48397766727964062372013-09-04T09:00:00.000+08:002013-09-04T09:00:01.377+08:00Self E-publishingNot so long ago the attitude was, not all that unreasonably, that self-published meant unprofessional and substandard work but now many self-published books are well written and professionally presented with some even making it on to shortlists of major awards.<br />
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Given the current state of flux the publishing industry is in and with new opportunities for authors to take publication into their own hands opening up seemingly by the minute it might be a good time to provide links to some professionals who have tried to self- publishing. Here are a few links I found informative:<br />
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Aliette de Bodard is a multiple award winner and traditionally published author. Her thoughts on self e-publishing are <a href="http://aliettedebodard.com/2013/08/21/my-experience-with-self-publishing-on-a-red-station-drifting/">here</a>.<br />
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Patty Jansen is another award winning writer whose <a href="http://pattyjansen.com/blog">blog</a> is a great source of information with many articles based on her own experience and those of her guest bloggers. Well worth a look.<br />
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Catherine, Caffeinated is the blog of Catherine Ryan Howard. She has wide experience in self publishing. Her blog posts on the subject are <a href="http://catherineryanhoward.com/self-printing-home/self-printing-posts/">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/25/self-publishing-mark-edwards">This article</a> outlines author Mark Edwards' choices and his reasons for the course he has taken.<br />
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Then there's this <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/12/third-way-traditional-self-publishing-notting-hill-press">article about a different form of self publishing</a> where a co-operative of experienced writers have banded together to publish their books and use their skills to make a professional product. The comments are worth looking at too, because there are others who are doing this as well.<br />
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There are many others, of course, some more reliable than others, but it's certainly worth searching.<br />
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Helen V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07989670682260643429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-15483013350768838192013-09-02T21:12:00.000+08:002013-09-02T21:12:01.777+08:00Hugo WinnersThe Hugo Awards is out. Congratulations to all the winners especially to Tansy Rayner Roberts who was awarded Best Fan Writer. As the first Australian woman to win a Hugo this is something special. The complete list is <a href="http://io9.com/the-glamour-the-drama-the-ful-results-of-the-2013-hu-1238074481">here</a>.<br />
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Helen V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07989670682260643429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-44376317089343005792013-08-11T19:19:00.001+08:002013-08-12T22:50:10.539+08:00Swords to Wollongong!<br />
Many years ago, when I was a student at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, I attended a weekly fencing class with Olympic sworsdman Owen Weingott. Actors are expected to learn a variety of skills, including fencing and horse-riding. Sometimes these skills - or the lack of them - can be the deciding factor in whether or not an actor gets a coveted movie role.<br />
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We did 'quarte, sixte, advance, retreat, lunge, parry' so many times that I can still do it in my sleep. I was expecting my first child at the time, which gave poor Mr Weingott the heeby-jeebies. I think he had visions of some over-enthusiastic student impaling me and my unborn infant. That would actually be a bit hard to do with foils, which are the flexible blades that are every fencer's first weapon, and in fact my firstborn and I came through the experience unscathed. However, I've done no fencing since, and I've always regretted that. It was heaps of fun, and good exercise to boot.<br />
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Fencing is not just an asset for actors, but also for writers, especially historical and fantasy writers. Not only is it valuable
for fitness, determination, focus, teamwork, and social skills, but it is also one of the activities that often turns up in stories. It's pretty hard to write about fighting with sabres if we've never had a go at it ourselves. I know of at least a couple of professional writers who took up not just fencing but historical re-enactments to help them learn what it actually feels like to be on one end or other of a blade.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvlBVgYdxgEQlvNJgf-OChGyjXITcoAt4EWVovW6spx6axjtAA-fyUeSUAXUz-AoNTfexlLN3UDWyKlUiLFJor2eKFEYF3q7jqcqsITK2i08FncEKgAaQxYKoUvABQsUttn1zlBjrRQ4/s1600/fencing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvlBVgYdxgEQlvNJgf-OChGyjXITcoAt4EWVovW6spx6axjtAA-fyUeSUAXUz-AoNTfexlLN3UDWyKlUiLFJor2eKFEYF3q7jqcqsITK2i08FncEKgAaQxYKoUvABQsUttn1zlBjrRQ4/s320/fencing.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fencing photo by Martial Wraith, courtesy of Photobucket</td></tr>
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Dramatic and writerly aspirations aside, I think many of us would like to have a go at being swashbuckling swordspersons. (Hey, who doesn't love the duelling scene from The Princess Bride?) The enthusiastic fencers at Bulli Swords, the only fencing club on the south coast of New South Wales, think it's time the people of Wollongong had the chance to give it a try. Problem is, the sport requires a lot of equipment, and that equipment
costs money.<br />
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Bulli Swords is an extremely small club. They charge no annual membership, and their weekly sessions are as inexpensive as possible, so that even people on a limited budget can have a go. This means that buying beginners' equipment is beyond the club's means. They have only a very limited number of foils, masks, jackets, chest protectors and gloves – nowhere near enough to run a dedicated beginners' class, or to welcome as many new fencers to their weekly sessions as they would like. <br />
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Here's how we can all help. A thousand dollars will get the club enough equipment to run regular beginners' classes for eight people, and to be able to lend gear on normal training nights to people who can't afford their own. Please help Bulli Swords to bring fencing to the people of Wollongong by contributing to their crowd-funding project at <a href="http://www.pozible.com/project/29504">http://www.pozible.com/project/29504</a> . They only need a couple of hunded dollars more to reach their $1,000 target by the 25 August deadline. Even a dollar or two, along with your good wishes, will help them get there. <br />
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And who knows - not only might a few aspiring actors and writers sign on, but unemployed youth (fencing is an excellent sport for young people, and there's lots of unemployment in Wollongong) and maybe the odd pregnant woman might benefit from the program, too!Satima Flavellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-54341779674858508322013-07-22T17:44:00.000+08:002013-07-22T17:44:07.397+08:00Book-in-a-Day competitionOur friends and colleagues at the Canberra Science Fiction Guild are making up a team to create an entry for the annual Write-a-Book-in-a-Day competition. This is a great fundraiser for children's hospitals throughout Australia. The idea is that you get a team together, get your friends to sponsor you, and on a predetermined date, your team sits down and jointly writes a book suitable for children. You have just one day to get it it written, edited, illustrated, printed and bound, so it takes some really nifty teamwork to make it happen.<br />
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Three of us Egobooers - Carol Ryles, Helen Venn and Satima Flavell - were part of such a team in 2004, when we won the Western Australian 'Professional' division. I'd thoroughly recommend the experience to any writing group. It's great fun and an excellent fundraiser for the hospitals as well.
So form a team of your own if you can, or if not, go to <a href="http://csfg.wordpress.com/">http://csfg.wordpress.com/</a>, where you can sign up to support the Canberra team. It doesn't have to be a big donation - every little helps.<br />
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You can find out more about Write-a-Book-in-a-Day at <a href="http://www.writeabookinaday.com/">http://www.writeabookinaday.com/</a>.Satima Flavellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-4480782557601144632013-06-25T07:56:00.000+08:002013-06-25T07:56:15.679+08:00Joanna Fay wins Banjo Patterson Writing Award for PoetryHearty congratulations to Joanna Fay (writing as Jo Mills) for winning third prize in the Open Poetry Section of this year's <i>Banjo Patterson Award</i> for her poem "Circle of Stones".<br />
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You can read "Circle of Stones"<i> </i>along with photographs that inspired Jo at <a href="http://joannafay.me/2013/06/24/circle-of-stones/#comment-1283">Jo's own website</a>.<br />
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A well-deserved prize, Jo.<br />
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The Banjo Patterson Award is a biennial award run by the Festival of Arts in Orange, NSW.<br />
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<a href="http://carolryles.net/">Carol</a>Carol Ryleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06303656672609607055noreply@blogger.com2