July-August-September is what I call my "refilling the well" season - I have a big day job conference that I work towards all year, then the annual Romance Writers of Australia conference and I fit in a writing retreat as well. So heaps of travel, food and friends. It's frantic - I had a one day turn around between the day job conference and the RWA conference - essentially tipped my suitcase contents into the washing machine, onto the line, and then back into the case. My highlights: Catching up with my two buddies Nikki and Dan - both in Perth during the day-job conference and a week later at RWA. We've done a bit of work together (all online) so it was nice to catch up for real. Shared a special moment in relation to that project and wished this Moet bottle was for real. Romance Writers of Australia - Melbourne 2019 conference - was awesome as always. As I have developed as a writer, my workshop needs have changed and now I am more likely to be in an editing workshop, a self-publishing workshop or a specialised topic, rather than general romance writing. Every year, I come home with lightbulb moments, and energised by spending time with my writing buddies. This year the weather was attrocious - hail at 10am, windy, so I didn't get out much, but I did get to the Terracotta Warriors exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria. While the warriors were the focus, the complementary artwork - both sculpted and painted - was breathtaking. My last trip was a visit to the beautiful Bunya Mountains for a writing retreat. I've connected with a new group of Brisbane based writers and we are now annual retreaters - but with a difference. We use "Varuna rules". So we travel up together, have dinner together, and generally ignore one another during the day while we work, and again after 10pm. (If you're interested in Varuna and how it structures retreats, check the Varuna webpage for their residency FAQs).
This year, I was lucky enough to share with two other writers who've been working with me on a combined project and we spent the weekend sharing our manuscripts for continuity. It's fascinating how the stories have come together in our "shared world" and I cannot wait to get these works ready for publication. Awesome house, awesome views, awesome wildlife. Bunya Mountains is pet free for visitors, so its been a long time since I'd visited, and I wished I could have a week up there - the house was well set up for it. The only downers were the threat of bushfire, made worse by the howling wind, and the loss of writing time from the drive - It's a bit too far for a 3 day working retreat - so next time it might have to be four days. But all in all, a productive and fun weekend. Winter has been and gone - how did that happen?
This is one of my favourite winter photos - it was 4 degrees with an apparent temp of -1, and I was wearing Queensland winter running gear (shorts and a T-shirt) in South Australia where the wind blows straight off Antarctica (or so it seemed). Everyone was asking "Aren't you cold?" Yes, I was. It's amazing how fast you can run with the threat of hypothermia as your incentive. Sorry I haven't been around much these last few weeks. There's a long story as to why but you all know I love to write short, so here goes: 1. New day job 2. On top of existing day job 3. New computer (gulp) 4. Travel for new day job 5. New gym routine (Ok its not a NEW gym routine, its ROUTINE use of the gym) 6. RWA Conference - spectacular as always but squeezed in between all of the above - so not as much time at conference as previous years. Things are starting to settle down a bit now in this "new normal" and I'm getting better at prioritising my time (aka I'm getting up earlier). Should see me round here more often as a result. There's something special about a RWA conference - it sparks my writing motivation and I love that. So what about my goals:
The rest of my list is ticked off, so I guess I'd better start working on what I want to achieve next year. How are your 2015 goals coming along? |
Fiona Greene AuthorWhen you set out on a journey and night falls, that's when you will discover the stars." Archives
November 2022
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