Carousing with the Cats

Melbourne may have been freezing with lashing rain and polar blasts, but it was warm and fabulous at the 2019 RWA conference this past weekend. I had such a brilliant time catching up with the LoveCats family who all flew into Melbourne from across the country.

Highlights included:

Clare, Jennifer and Amy

• Watching the stunning and statuesque Annie West sweep into the Gala dinner in the most beautiful green dress
• Hearing about Michelle Douglas’s amazing trip to New York for the RWA America conference and her being a finalist in the US Rita Awards (the highest award for distinction in romance fiction) for her book The Million Pound Marriage Deal
• Learning more about Clare Connelly incredible ongoing success and knowing it is happening to such a beautiful person
• Laughing at Shannon Curtis’s wit. She kept me laughing all weekend. Hilarious doesn’t come close to how funny this woman is
• Listening to Rachel Bailey’s awesome ideas for making future conferences more fabulous and watching with awe as she works behind the RWA scenes to get things done
• And there were so many more...

Amy Andrew's keynote speech

The weekend’s shining star was Amy Andrews. We leapt to our feet for a standing ovation when Amy became a RWA Life Member for her incredible contribution to organisation. Such a deserved honour as Amy has worked so hard for RWA including being President (twice wasn’t it, Amy?).  But, it also recognised Amy for all the incredible gifts of kindness she shows people such as mentoring aspiring writers, helping authors network and generally being an amazing, inspiring person.

Amy received not one, but two standing ovations. Her keynote speech has us falling off our chairs laughing then quickly scrambling back up to scribble down all her words of wisdom. It was the amazing Amy Andrews (along with a few other Cats!) who gave me the confidence to take writing seriously and go for it.

I’m now flying back to work (aarrrhhh) truly inspired but also sad we won’t be doing that again for another year.  Something to look forward to.

How about you? What did you get up to over the weekend?

Isn't it romantic

Don’t you just love cuddling up in front of a fire? The temperature in Oz has dropped – thank goodness. I’m a gal who loves the cold. Begs the question why I live in a sub-tropical environment where it is hot most of the year. But finally the temperature around Byron Bay has dropped and we’ve been able to light the fire all this past week.

I love everything about having a fire. Collecting the kindling from around the property. Pine cones are especially good to get the fire going.  I love building it just right so it lights up straight away and then stoking it all evening to keep the house toasty. What a joy.

I realised  I haven’t (I don’t think) ever put a fire lighting scene in my books. I must do that.

What about you? Do you have a fire at home? Do you love lighting it and watching the flames dance?

Off to the Ballet

Do you love ballet? I loved dancing as a child but my mother took me out of dance as back then you needed to be able to sew costumes and my mum couldn’t sew. So I only did one year of ballet. Yes, only once did I get to wear a pink sequined tutu at an end of year concert.

But I love to watch dance. So last night we trekked up to Brisbane to see the ballet, Dangerous Liaisons. Wow. It was amazing. Such talent. Such grace. Such drama.

 

Image courtesy Qld Ballet

The dancers were truly mesmerising to watch. If you know the story, there is much intrigue, lust, sex and drama. This was all played out with great energy and intensity.

At the end of the performance, the dancer who played Vicomte Sebastien de Valmont was promoted from soloist to senior soloist, so that was pretty special to watch.

Any one else love ballet or the performing arts? I’d love to know.

Must Keep at It

Photo courtesy depositphoto

With my writing and day job, I spend a lot of time sitting. With so many messages saying ‘sitting is the new smoking’, I’m very conscious of getting off my butt and getting going.  But, damn, some days it is hard. Sunday is long run day, but with the days not getting any cooler it is a killer. Yesterday it was 28 degrees when I was running – arrrhhh!!! Jumping in the pool after was fantastic.

It was so hot the other day, I decided to walk the dog a long way instead of running. Lucky decision in hindsight. If I’d been running I might have actually stepped on the red-bellied black snake in the grass. Missed it by less than a metre. That’s one way to get the adrenaline buzzing.

But, I do love a good run. Keeps me fit. Keeps my bones strong. Keeps those calories burning. 

What about you? What do you do to keep fit and any tips on an exercise alternative during these heat waves.

One of those weeks!

Image courtesy: pixabay.com

I’ve experience on of those weeks.  You know…stressful, little sleep, grabbing food on the run (and not the healthy kind)…you know…just seriously crappy.

An increased work volume and family emergency (all fine now) created a vortex of hell. Everything went boom! I’m now completely wrecked, so I thought I’d use this post to elicit your advice on the best recovery strategies for such a week.

So far I have:

• Walked to the Byron Bay Lighthouse with one of my besties on a beautiful sunny morning
• Booked a massage for next weekend
• Thought about (but not yet booked) a lovely holiday
• Eaten a yummy dessert (when I wouldn’t normally)
• Dumped some of my domestic responsibilities onto the rest of the family (really liked doing this one and wonder just how long I can keep this in place)

This article from Huffington Post had a few good suggestions.

I would like some of your ideas.  What do you do when you’ve had one of those weeks? What helps you get back on track? I’d love to hear.

How is it possible?

Is it just me or does everyone have about twenty books on their bedside table waiting to be read. Actually, they don’t all fit on my bedside table and are lined up by the wall next to my bed.  How will I ever get to all the books I want to read? Right now within reaching distance are:

• ·      all four of the Elena Ferrante books
• ·      The Lost Man, Jane Harper
• ·      Bridges of Clay, Markus Zusak
• ·      The Last of the Bonegilla Girls, Victoria Purman
• ·      Underworld, Don Delillo
• ·      Yates Garden Guide (one day I will start a veggie patch)
• ·      Northerly, Byron Writers Festival magazine
• ·      WQ, Qld Writers Centre magazine
• ·      Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman
• ·      SweetBitter, Stephanie Danler
• ·      The Barefoot Investor, Scott Pape
• ·      How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie  - I’ve had this book for about twenty years and have always meant to read it

...and the two I have just finished, The Children Act by Ian McEwen and Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard. I loved both of them. And, that’s not counting those downloaded on my iPad.

I want to read more, but where to you find time? I only read at night before going to bed and even then I’m often distracted by the headlines online.

I know I should get my act together with audio books as I do commute two and half hours each day to and from work. This would help.

So, how do you get all the reading you want to do, done? I’d love to know.

Help! Christmas

Image courtesy pixabay.com

Okay. This is shameless. I’m admitting that right up front. But I need help. Lots of help. But it is Christmas…a time for giving.

My dilemma is what to buy my husband for Christmas. He loves books, but preorders them as soon as he reads a good review. He loves music, but likes to buy his own the moment it comes out. He loves surfing but I don’t know anything about it, so he looks after himself. He plays guitar but has enough of them. He’s not that interested in clothes and really has enough anyway. He doesn’t garden, or cook. He doesn’t drink. 

Image courtesy pixabay.com

He does love chocolate and receives quite a bit at Christmas as everyone is in the same boat as me with present buying for him. He loves coffee, but that's not really present-worthy.

I'm thinking of trying to find an 'experience' present. Any ideas? Just not hot air ballooning as he'd want me to come with him and I'm terrified of heights.

So, what on earth do I buy this man? I have had a few successes over the years, but probably more misses.

Do you have someone who is difficult to buy for in your life? What do you buy for them? Do you have any ideas to help me?

When you are a writer, you spend so much time sitting. I haven’t invested yet in a walking desk like Bronwyn Jameson (must look into it properly), but I do know that I have to pay attention to my health with all this sitting.

So, I run. People often ask, “Do you enjoy running?” Answer – only occasionally, but I do enjoy having run. It’s such an efficient way to get exercise done. Straight out my front door, down our undulating country lane past the cows and the farms, past the view to Lennox Head and back. Today I ran eight kilometers (each week I try for longer run on the weekends). I woke up late after a school trivia night (we came second and won a case of wine!) and it was so hot. I sooooooo wanted to walk instead but made myself hit my goal.

Image courtsey pixabay.com

It is the same with writing. When people find out I’m a writer, they often say, ‘I’m planning to write a book’. My university students too, have big dreams of writing novels. But dreams need plans. Need goals. And writing a book is hard work.  I find I’m so much more productive with a plan. Short-term daily plans and those longer term plans. I haven’t been so good with the longer term plans lately and it makes me feel a little lost, so I’m determined when this semester of teaching and marking is over, I plan to really take the time to plan. Should I do a PhD, for example, not a decision to take flippantly.

 

What about you? Are you a planner or just see where the day and life take you, or something else? I’d love to hear.

Which Genre Do You Read?

As some of you know I teach at a Queensland university. This term I’m teaching a course that involves looking at lots of difference genres of books such as crime, romance, historical, sci-fi and more. I’ve been interviewing authors within the different genres to give students insight into what it is like to write in each of these genres.

I’ve learned some fascinating things along the way and it has highlighted some things I hadn’t thought about before. For example, what responsibilities do you have if you write for a younger audience? If you write historicals that are based on real people, what facts do you include in the story and what can you fictionalise? How do you go about researching these peoples’ lives? Each author I’ve interviewed has been so generous with their time and their advice.

I read across lots of genres with favourites being romance (obviously), crime (I’m a massive Jane Harper and Michael Connelly fan), women’s fiction (I want to be Liane Moriarty), literary, some historical, some fantasy, the occasional YA and more.

Do you read across genres? I’d love to know what your favourites are?

Great Old Friends

Don’t you just love old friends? You know the ones you have had since primary school or high school. The ones you may not see for six months or more but are immediately back to where you left off as soon as you are together.

I had my friend from high school, Mandy, stay for the weekend. We have been 'besties' since we were 12. We haven’t seen each other for such a long time due to the complete craziness of life, but that just doesn’t matter.

We had such a fun weekend. We walked to the Byron Bay lighthouse. We walked my cute cavoodle down our pretty country lane to the view of Lennox Head. We walked to Newrybar, our local village (6km round trip) to have coffee and croissants. Yes, we love a good walk. We also love to run, but Mandy hurt her knee, so walking it was this weekend.

One of the wonderful things about Mandy is she can cook. Really cook. Nearly every time she comes Mandy will cook dinner. This time it was prawn risotto. OMG, it was so good. My contribution was lighting a fire and pouring the wine.

Do you have friends like that? The ones you don’t see for an age but as soon as you are together, it is as if no time at all has passed.

Closing the Book

It’s the end of an era for me. I’ve been involved with Byron Writers Festival for eight years. Four of them as a volunteer Board member of which two of those were as the Chair of the organisation. Last Sunday, at the conclusion of the 22^nd Byron Writers Festival, I stepped down as Chair.

It was an honour and a privilege to help lead the organisation for the past two years. I’ve worked with, and met, amazing people. One of my favourite encounters this year was with a luminary Australian novelist and playwright last Saturday night. I drove him back to his hotel and before we got in the car, he wanted to check that I’d completed my HSC! I think he was checking I was old enough to drive. Oh yes, over thirty years ago. I loved him for that question.

The role of Chair has been a wonderful but a very busy one.  There were some weeks when I was working over 20 hours a week. So, with a new full time job, it was simply unsustainable. Also, I think with a change of leadership, comes a change of focus, which I believe is good for a community not-for-profit organisation.

2018 Festival site

This year’s Festival was extra special as we had a good representation from romance and women’s fiction including Rachael Johns, Christine Wells and Victoria Purman. They were wonderful and the hilarious Mandy Nolan brought out the best in the panel they were all on together.

Next year I’ll be able to walk around the gorgeous Festival site and enjoy it from a patron’s perspective. I can’t wait. Hope to see you there.

Byron Writers Festival is Coming…

As many of you know, I’m the Chair of the Byron Writers Festival. A few weeks ago, we launched our Early Bird tickets and revealed the following first line-up of guests. These include: Manal al-Sharif, Anne Aly, Jessie Cole, Michelle de Kretser, Robert Drewe, Eskil Engdal, Jane Harper, Tom Keneally, Miriam Lancewood, Hyeonseo Lee, Tracey Moffatt, Oliver Phommavanh, Tanya Plibersek, David Ritter, Tim Rogers, Kjetil Saeter, Lemn Sissay, Gregory Smith and Sarah Wilson. The rest of the program is still under wraps.

Has anyone read Jane Harper? I’m a huge fan. Her first book The Dry kept me up reading late into the night. The Dry is an international bestseller and has been optioned by the production company behind the film Gone Girl.  More sleepless nights followed with her second story, A Force of Nature.

This week, the full festival program goes on sale and then I can tell you everything. And, maybe, just maybe there might be something romantic in the air.  

So, Byron is the place to be from 3-5 August where you will enjoy the wisdom and musings of the 140 writers, thinkers and commentators. Any chance I will see you there?

Mother’s Day Daughter Style

Ah Mother’s Day. I’m not a big fan of the obviously commercialised days, but hey, I’m very happy to celebrate Mother’s Day.

My husband was away for the day, so my daughter took charge. First, a lovely Sea Mist and Coco Flower candle was presented to me in bed. Then I was rustled up for a walk up to the Byron Lighthouse in the gorgeous sunshine. The water was so clear, we could see around 50 dolphins riding the waves from our perch on the cliff above.

Breakfast next at one of our favourite cafés. I have been craving pancakes forever, so I indulged, as there are no calories on Mother’s Day.

Unfortunately I had to throw down a couple of hours work marking university papers, but then back to Mother’s Day schedule with a walk down our road to ‘our view’ as the sun was slipping. We collected pinecones on the way home and lit a roaring fire – the first of the season.

As I write this I’m digesting the most lovely meal. Pan-seared salmon accompanied by Asian salad and rice – all cooked by my little one who is now cleaning up the kitchen so I can write this.

Have to say, it’s been lovely. Shame we don’t celebrate Mother’s Day once a month. I could get used to this.

Anyone else have a great day yesterday?

Netflix or Movie Theatre

Do you go to the movie theatre anymore? With Netflix available why go to the cinema anymore when you can snuggle up on your own comfy couch with a glass of wine and binge watch so much good stuff.

My daughter insisted we go to the movies last night for a girl’s night out. For us it isn’t a five-minute trip to a Gold Class. Our closest cinema is 25 minutes down the freeway. But, off we went.

We went to see Love, Simon. It was just wonderful. A great movie. I cried twice. My daughter three times (I must be heartless). We then went to dinner by the seaside and it was lovely eating spaghetti marinara breathing in the salt air. Made that comfy couch seem the lesser, lazier option.

So which is better? 

Well I’ve decided both are good. After a hard week of work, that couch and I are soul mates. But, heading out for dinner and a movie, hasn’t really lost its sparkle.

What about you? Comfy couch, wine and the remote or movie theatre, popcorn then dinner? Or, just a nice blend of both.

Finding Time for my Addiction

I have a confession. I’m a magazine addict. I don’t have many vices but a weekend Chardonnay and a great magazine are two of them. Apparently Australians are some of the biggest consumers of magazines in the world. I certainly help with that statistic.

The trouble is I buy them and never have the time to read them. There is always something else more important or urgent to do than sit in by the window in a comfy chair reading a lovely magazine. As I write this, newly purchased issues of House & Garden and Mindfood are taunting me. Read me. Read me. Read me now.

I love that first pass through a magazine when the pages are new and the contents yet to be discovered. Then taking my time on the second pass to read what takes my fancy.

So how do you find time for these little moments of leisure when life is so packed?  After reading Gretchen Rubin’s book Better Than Before, which is all about mastering habits, I now have the solution. I schedule in my magazine reading time and other fun stuff. There’s always more work to do, more writing to accomplish, more preparing for uni lecturing or tutoring or more issues to solve as Chair of the Byron Writers Festival, so with my fun schedule, I get time for non-work things.

I’ve mentioned this scheduling of fun time to friends and some are horrified. “What!,” they exclaim. “Surely having to schedule time for fun is counterintuitive and a little bit sad.”   After trialing this method for a few weeks, I completely disagree. I’ve had more free time than I’ve had in months.

So what do you think? Is scheduling the fun times a great way to ensure you get to do things you enjoy or something else entirely (ie just a little bit sad)?

Shopping – love it or hate it?

I live in the small regional town of Byron Bay. It is a tourism mecca. The centre of town has lots of little shops but I very rarely go shopping. Why? Because I really don’t enjoy shopping. I know. Crazy. Aren’t all women supposed to like shopping? But I don’t.

Yesterday, my daughter had some shopping needs that were beyond our local offerings so we had to drive to our closest major shopping centre over an hour away at Robina (yes – in another state). It has all the major chain stories, DJs, Myers etc. With all that was on offer, the only store that I really enjoyed being in was Kikki K – the stationary store. I love all those notebooks, pens, books about being organized etc. I didn’t buy anything as I have so many notebooks already, it is going to take me a lifetime to use them all. But I do love all those pretty items and it was so hard not to add to my notebook collection.

Small sample of my notebooks

But the rest of it, I can leave (well except perhaps for an 85% designer clothes sale).  And as I discovered, so can my daughter. After about an hour she said ‘you know what Mum, shopping is really boring.’ So, like mother, like daughter.

I know we can’t be the only people for whom shopping is at the bottom of the list of fun things to do but I’m beginning to worry as all my friends love it.

So, is there anyone else out there who finds shopping boring? Or are we alone in the ‘shopping is quite boring’ sphere?

Action Holiday or Leisurely One?

I’m an action holiday kind of gal. 

I’m currently in Whistler on a ski holiday with the family. I love flying down the slopes and getting a nice hot chocolate as a reward after a few hours of hard skiing. Then, out there again for more. I love being totally exhausted by the end of the day. Jumping in that nice long hot shower in the afternoon after a full day of skiing – heavenly.

I’ve tried to do ‘relaxing by the pool’ holidays. I pack great books to try to keep me on the sun lounger, but after about half an hour I’m itching to get moving. To do something active.

Image by Tourism Whistler / Mike Crane

Whilst being here in Canada, I’ve been thinking that a snowy backdrop would be wonderful for a romance. Log fires. Mulled wine. Snowed in in a log cabin with gorgeous views of the mountains. Icicles framing the windows (they are framing the one I’m looking out of now).

Anyway must away. Time to put on the ski suit and get back out there.

What type of holiday-maker are you – action or leisurely? I’d love to hear.

The Christmas Carol Debate

So, where do you stand on the issue of the Christmas Carol?

In our house, there is a diverse range of opinions. My husband loves the traditional carol. He loves The Little Drummer Boy. My daughter likes a Michael Bublé carol. My son couldn’t care less and I worked in enough retail outlets when I was at school and uni during Christmas time to develop a mild loathing for the Christmas ditties.

But yesterday (after being encouraged by Clare’s post about getting ready for Christmas), we put up the Christmas tree (we didn’t even have one, I had to buy one!). So, as my daughter and I had the task, we play Michael’s carols.

I have to say, it was really lovely. My daughter loves to belt out a tune and hearing her enthusiastically singing along was really cute and heart warming.

So, I’ve come around a little to the Christmas carol. And it is starting to feel a bit like Christmas.

How about you? Carol lover or otherwise?

Growth Mindset?

I’m celebrating. I’ve handed in my last assignment on my Graduate Diploma in Leadership through Coaching and Mentoring.  It has been a hard road. Trying to fit in study around Chairing the Byron Writers Festival, teaching at Griffith University, writing books, learning piano, keeping fit and I think I have a family around here somewhere, has been really tough.

But I’ve always loved learning new things. I’m a big believer in the concept that you should never stop learning. One of the interesting concepts I learned about is a Growth Mindset. 

The concept of a growth mindset was developed by psychologist Carol Dweck According to Dweck, “In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.” 

Alternatively, “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” 

There’s a great animated YouTube clip which explains this very simply.

I certainly had to use my growth mindset to become a published writer. I went to as many romance writing workshops I could find travelling to Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane to do so. I went to every Romance Writers of Australia conference and read lots and lots of ‘how to books’. Of course I also read voraciously in the genre. I knew when I set off on this journey it would be hard, hard work and that only dedication and resilience (I had four books rejected before I was published!) would see me through.

But, I got there in the end.

What do you think of the concept of a growth mindset?

Rainforest Paradise and In the News

Coomera Falls

Every year we head up to Binna Burra Mountain Lodge in Lamington National Park for a few days with the entire St George clan. We spend the days bushwalking and the evenings playing games in front of a roaring fire. The Lodge has limited internet and mobile phone coverage so it is a wonderful disconnect from the world.

Glorious Sunsets

This year we walked to Coomera Falls. It was a 13.5km round trip. It had rained the day before, so the falls were running beautifully.

Misty Afternoons

The sunsets were amazing. And one afternoon we were covered in a shroud of mist which made the atmosphere feel very eerie.

This year we played a lot of the game werewolf. You sit around in a group, are given a secret role to play and then the action starts. It was hilarious. I loved that our group, aged 13 to 86 could all join in and play.

I also made an appearance last week in the Gold Coast Bulletin talking about romance writing and the Byron Writers Festival. Always fun to see yourself in the news but always a little nerve-wracking actually preparing and doing the interview.

Do you like playing silly family/friend games? Board games (our favourites are Settlers of Catan and Risk). Made up games? Card games (500 anyone?). I’d love to hear.