It's been a bit quiet round here lately, but that's because EE, Danielle and I have been busy with final edits on Tangled up in Blue. It all started with a discussion over dinner over a year ago, and now we're in pre-release, with our newest book due to hit the shelves 30th November 2020.
We're very excited. Along the way we've learned more about editing, publishing, and each other than I ever thought possible. So what's it all about? Think Australian small towns, family secrets, estranged sisters and unexpected romance. There are three separate stories and each of us has brought something new and exciting to the compilation - there's fortune cookies, baking, coffee, sherbet cones, antique hip flasks, diaries, postcards, adventure racing, annual festivals and most importantly love - unrequited love, instantaneous love, rekindled love, forbidden love and sisterly love. Oh, and there's bowerbirds.... I can't wait for you to read it. Winter in Brisbane isn't exactly onerous. We get about ten frigidly cold days (generally when there is snow on the mountains about 4 hours drive south of us), a month of cold, dry winds and that's about it. The days are sunny, the nights are cool.
The farm is at a higher elevation, and often dips into the minus temperatures with frost, and occasionally we get sleet. But we've missed out on winter at the farm this year because of border closures. I've tried to wait this last one out, but it looks like it will be prolonged, so I'm off to apply for an exemption. Hopefully I'll get down there again in enough time to use the fireplace. And to see some newborn calves that always arrive end of August. This is our social distancing walking path which goes to the acreages. If you scroll in, you can see the tips of the sky-scrapers in Brisbane city. We live at the city end of this road, and this was taken at sunset. There are koalas and kangaroos out here, and we spend a fair amount of time trying to spot them. No luck today... 2020 has been a mix of highs and lows this far, and as I do every winter solstice, I like to have a think about where I've been, and where I'm going.
As I write this, my washing is hanging on a washing line that won't see sun again until late August, and the wind is howling around the back end of the house. Tomorrow, when we're doing our virtual Gold Coast Half Marathon, they're saying it will be one of the coldest mornings of the year. So maybe not a singlet... COVID-19 has made 2020 seem awfully long. I'm relatively unaffected - I still go to an office to work (still have a job), still go to the farm (with my cross border exemption paperwork) and to the shops once a week. Running training restarted two weeks ago, the gym reopens this week. I've discovered some new takeaway options, and I've stayed well. I've stayed home. But we've lost a few during this time - a brother in law, a cousin, a friend's doggie bestest friend, and a stranger whose path crossed mine on his final day on earth. When I think about that, and how difficult funerals and grieving are when you are social distancing, I realise how lucky I am to live in Australia. The death toll in other parts of the world is staggering, and I'm not sure how the families affected are coping. I know my twitter feed is full of mentions of loss at the moment. It makes writing, or promoting a book, difficult. My long awaited theatre trilogy is coming in late July/early August, and I am so excited to see it hit the shelves. I hope it brings some joy to readers, in a world that seems remarkably devoid of joy at the moment. A while ago, Danielle, Elaine and I went to a writing retreat unlike any we'd done previously. There was great food, peace and quiet and a challenge to think differently about our writing. Tangled up in Blue was born. Fast forward to September last year, and another rural trip, this time to the towns where the book was set, and our stories were written and ready to be integrated into a single timeline. Tangled up in Blue releases Spring 2020 in print and ebook, and Danielle, Elaine and I are very excited. When I saw the call for the Paw Prints of Love Anthology I knew I wanted to write something for it - it was an Australian contemporary romance continuity, novella length and had pets in it.
I sat down to write it having just stayed at a local hotel in a town in the middle of NSW, and with memories of a 1995 trip to Western Australia firmly in my mind I started writing. And I'm thrilled that my story was accepted. I really enjoyed writing Beth and Nick's story. I hope you enjoy it too. Beth Taranga arrives in Stonecrest Bay with big hopes for the future and when she meets Nick Morton, those hopes grow. Can Beth and Nick put the secrets of the past behind them to find love? Pre-Order your paperback copy or your ebook now. Releasing April 29th 2020 This year, instead of making a huge amount of goals, I chose a word for the year.
Committed So be it writing, or editing, or running, or farming, wherever I am I need to be committed. This year is shaping up to be just as insane as last year when it comes to commitments. I've already booked in one overseas trip, two writing related interstate trips, three big runs (two of which require travel), local writing group meetings and a host of other non-negotiable commitments. People often say "I don't know how you do it all." Some days, I wonder too. I think the secret comes down to planning. Running - I'm not the natural runner - long, lean and lithe. I'm a bit more like a baby elephant chubbing along. Some days, I don't want to. But 6 days a week, there's a non-negotiable 4am start - either for a gym visit or for running training. It's all done by 6am and I never have that "Gee I can't fit this in" feeling at 10pm at night. More than likely at 10pm, I'm making lunches and laying out my gym gear so that 4am doesn't feel quite as yuk. So, this year for my writing I'm committed to at least one new 50k manuscript, finishing off my two pre-publication commitments, working towards self-publishing on a group project, and trying something new involving a rapid submission window. Wish me luck. National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo - some people think its madness to try to write 50 000 words in 30 days, but I am a NaNo participant, and I thought I'd share what I've learned.
I've been registered since 2011 and I've registered six projects - four got to 50K, none of which have been published. One got very, very close. 2018 saw me log 10K on a novel that was completed to 55K, has sold and will be published in 2020. I finished it in the November, but I stopped logging at 10K. No idea why. This year's attempt is something that's been kicking around in my head and I'm not sure how we're going to end up. I'm 8.5K in on day 5. So here's my opinion on NaNo: The good:
So, I'm going to be on radio silence for most of the next 25 days. My goal is to work around my shifts at work, my still unwell doggo and my running/fitness goals, and crack out 50K. Wish me luck. Happy New Year I'm deep in the planning stages for 202 so I thought I'd share my process. My day job is lucky enough to have an arts program attached to the organisation - so we can be involved in choir, a writing program, musical instruments available anytime, as well as creative arts for children - the focus of our business. When the writing program was announced I jumped on board. It seemed simple enough - anyone who wanted to write could join, and we would meet after work for 2 hours once a month to talk writing and support each other electronically (and in person) in between. There was homework and sessions were moderated by a well-known Brisbane author. I was in. Four months later, I was out. Free, accessible, supportive, high-level mentoring - was I nuts? No, it wasn't the right group for me at that time because I was at a different stage of my career to the other writers in the room as the only published author other than the moderator. The biggest difference: They had writing goals (some had never written before) while I had an annual work plan, with deadlines, mini-goals and I was time pressured as a result Before I made the decision, I sat down and looked at everything I do outside of day job working/travel and accounted for where I spent my time. And the decision came down to could I justify another two hours to talk writing, or would I be better off spending the time writing? I chose writing and I also made some of the other non-negotiable things in my life a bit more efficient. Did it work? 2019 was my most productive year for a long time. Most of those projects will come to fruition in 2020. So what's the difference between a work plan and a goal? A goal is what you want to achieve. A work plan is the extra detail that tells you how it is going to be achieved. It's breaking it down into manageable chunks, it's identifying those barriers to writing, and scheduling writing around them. It's scheduling those barriers as well, so they don't impact writing time. It's showing up for a writing shift the same as you would a day job shift. To make sure it's all written down in one central place I use a Personalised Planner that has everything: house, writing, running and social in one place. This helps me identify "pressure points" and then I schedule the writing around them. I use my phone's calendar for the day to day. This method won't work for everyone, but it does help me to get more organised. And more organised = more words. That's a win. 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. Five firm favourites from my recent work trip to Perth Western Australia:
Perth, I'd forgotten how much I love you. I'll be back. I promise. |
Fiona Greene AuthorWhen you set out on a journey and night falls, that's when you will discover the stars." Archives
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