Photos of Winter
Winter arrived in Perth last week, and for some reason bad weather never fails to stimulate my writing. I think it’s a combination of the sounds—rain on a tin roof, wind rushing through the trees—and sights—grey skies, water...
Humps and Troughs
I thought I’d squeeze a blog post in before the end of the financial year—so here’s an update: The Novel: Unfortunately, I don’t have much to report on this front, except that I’m stuck. So stuck, I’m considering seeking help. When I...
Storyboarding and More …
I know I said I was taking a break from blogging, but I thought I’d give you an update on what I’ve been up to over the past week. The Novel As you know from my last blog post, I’m rewriting Ida’s Children....
A Break from Blogging
This is a quick post to let you know I’ll be taking a break from blogging in order to concentrate on my novel. The thing is, an agent has kindly sent me some feedback. By ‘kindly’, I mean ‘bluntly’, and...
More On Writing a Novel: Feedback
In my last blog post, I talked about some of the lessons I’ve learned while writing a novel. Besides learning how to write, I’ve also learnt a fair bit about editing, having revised my novel countless times now. There’s a lot more involved in editing...
10 Things I’ve Learned About Writing a Novel—An Incomplete List
My novel began life as a short story about a young girl in the 1960s, but it has grown into a family saga beginning in the 1920s and ending in the present day. In writing it, I sometimes feel as if I’ve bitten off more than I...
Final Draft 2.0 and Carving Out Time to Write
It’s been school holidays for the past couple of weeks, and up until the last couple of days, the weather has been cold, wet and gloomy—and perfect for writing! I took the opportunity to immerse myself in an unscheduled home writing retreat, during...
Shortlisted for 2014 TAG Hungerford Award
I’m finally allowed to tell everyone that my novel, ‘Ida’s Children’, has been shortlisted for the 2014 City of Fremantle-TAG Hungerford Award. This is the nicest present I’ve ever been given, and a wonderful...
The Final Countdown
Hopefully, I’m on the downhill run with this novel. I’ve finished the latest draft, draft #12 at least (but who’s counting?), and I feel as if it’s ready to send out to agents and publishers. Please note, I also felt...
Rejection
It’s a long time since I’ve been rejected for anything—a boyfriend, a job—mainly because I haven’t put myself in line for it, being happily married and not looking for work. But last week my manuscript was rejected for the QWC-Hachette Manuscript...