Welcome two our new blog for Spring – featuring the first of our seasonal authors – Ida Brady and Jim Shomos. Ida and Jim talk to us about their favourite springtime reading place and what they love most about the season. Welcome Ida and Jim!
Member New Releases | October 2020
Check out our Member New Releases for October 2020!
Three things I learned while writing… Wherever You Go
Welcome to another year of ‘3 things I learned while writing…’ where our members tell us about their writing process, their book and themselves! Monique Mulligan has loved words from the moment she could use them and joins us today to tell us about her debut novel, ‘Wherever You Go’. Please welcome Monique! 1. That ‘comparisonitis’ gets you nowhere. Sometimes it seems as though all your writer friends are getting book deals and winning awards. They share their ‘I’m signing a new contract’ photos and ‘shelfies’ from all over the world and admit it, you want a piece of that, …
OCTOBER OWLS | 800 Words—Writing for Magazines by Tanya Nellestein
If you’re picturing Erik Thomson knocking out one column a week in Channel Seven’s 800 Words, and making enough money to provide for himself and two teenage children and thinking, I could do that … well, it’s possible. It is possible to make a decent living as a freelance journalist, even in this COVID-induced downturn. However as an author, rather than take it on as a full time career move, most of us are simply wanting to supplement our income using skills that we already have. Writing articles about what interests you, and getting paid, is a great way to …
Kiss and Tell | Fiona McArthur
It’s a big call, but I think Fiona McArthur’s new novel – The Bush Telegraph – might just be my favourite romance novel of 2020. The outback Queensland setting, the strong leads, the perfect storm of conflicts and the all-round beautiful small-town vibe had me grinning (and also sobbing) my way through the pages. As a writer, I loved the shades of grey and moral dilemmas Fiona wove through the story and the excitement of a birth in the middle of the story. As a reader I was cheering for the down-at-heel community and adored the lovely nature of Maddy …
OCTOBER OWLS | Character-led plotting by Samantha Bond
Several years ago, I developed a course on plotting. Like many things, I created it out of my desire to understand something better, in this case, ‘plot’. There are so many methods bandied about by writers and especially movie makers (Hero’s Journey or Save the Cat anyone?) that it’s difficult to keep it simple and find what works for you. I’ve been surprised by the popularity of this course, but I suspect that like my situation, many of you just want plot to be simple to understand and apply in your writing. The reason I was interested in plot was …
Member New Releases | September 2020
Check out our Member New Releases for September 2020!
Anthology contributors in the spotlight
By Libby M Iriks This has been a year of adaptation, but with that comes new opportunities, to which our anthology contributors can attest. Tradition has seen RWA’s anthologies launched amid the fun and chaos of its annual conference weekend. This year, however, each Sweet Treats and Spicy Bites contributor was given their moment in the virtual spotlight. When the RWA committee and conference team announced earlier this year that the conference would go ahead in a virtual setting, I was left wondering – as a Sweet Treats contributor – how our anthologies would be launched. I made an offer …
SEPTEMBER OWLS | Fear of a different blank page
Taking the plunge: your book submission pack with Janet Gover As writers, fear of the blank page is something we all understand. But the blank page I fear is not the one that says Chapter XX at the top. It’s the page that has the word Synopsis at the top. And the one that starts, Dear (agent or editor)… For me, the hardest part of being a writer is not coming up with ideas. My head is swimming with those. The hard part is letting go and sending my book out into the world to be read by someone else. …
SEPTEMBER OWLS | Pen a kick-arse short story in 9 easy steps!
Mastering the Art of Storytelling: Learn how to pen a kick-arse short story with Libby M Iriks Writing isn’t hard. Anyone can put words on a page. In fact, there are countless five-year-old children around the world learning to pen their names as you read this. Storytelling, on the other hand, is an art form, and it takes time to master. Experts have been known to say a person must write half a million to a million words before they can consider themselves a capable storyteller. Now, I know what’s running through your head—how many manuscripts does that equate to …