Month: July 2020

Uncategorized

More On that Anthology to be …

carolyncordon

Well, following ‘advice’ from my writing group, I have contacted the person from the Publisher they ‘suggested’ might be interested in publishing the anthology I’ve been working on, since the middle of April, this year.

When I say ‘advice’ and ‘suggested’, the truth is, they strongly told me I had to do it, or else. The ‘or else’ wasn’t actually stated, but I could feel it there, nonetheless. So what did I do, did I stand up and say, ‘Look you lot, this is my project, not yours, and if I want to self publish a book at great cost to my personal finances, and possibly not sell terribly many copies, that’s my business, so Back Off!’

Well, actually, I’m not stupid, and they’re not stupid either, so what I did, was to go home from that get together (it was the tail end of our groups Gawler and Adelaide Plains Festival of Words – Vision, and once I was home, I made a note on my calendar to ring up thAt publisher the next day, because I knew it was likely to be asked about at the next group meeting, which is tomorrow.

So the day for the phone call arrived, and I made the call, the person from the publishing house said it sounded interesting, and asked me to send it to him, once it was done, and that we could talk about it after that …

So yay to me, yay to my pesky (precious, actually), writing group members, and the other friend who was there, and I hope, yay to Plague Invasion getting printed by a respectable and much awarded South Australian publisher.

I just need to tie up the loose ends, gather the last remaining pieces, tidy it up, and send it off, to see what may happen next …

covid 19

The End Approaches

carolyncordon

Very soon, we will be at the closing date for submissions of poetry and/or prose for the “Plague Invasion – Creative Writing Responses to Covid-19”, and once we hit that date, that will be it. There will be no more submissions accepted.

And how does that feel? Well, it means that part of the work will be over, and it will be time to get stuck right into the next part. I have around 110 pages of the book almost ready to go, still a few little things to add, once I put the word out, asking for them, and they arrive. It’s been a great time putting all of this together, and I thank all of the great poets and writers who have sent me their work for possible inclusion in this anthology.

Oh course, when I wrote that title for this blog post, well, it’s not the end of the whole thing, there are still a good few steps to go. I’m still waiting on those other things I mentioned, and once they arrive, I need to place them in their correct place in the book. I still don’t have either the front or back covers, but they are more or less on their way. Once I get them, and everything else, I will have to finish off the pagination for the content section. There are ways to get this done for me, by my lap top, apparently, I’ll have to look into that.

Once that’s all done, and ready, all of the bits and pieces where they should be, I will need someone to read it, let me know of anything that needs more work on it. If they see any flaws, or work to be done, I’ll have to attend to that. And once that is all done, and good, Time to decide how many copies I will need for the book launch, and beyond, how many needed for sending copies out to all of the Australian contributors, and getting their postage addresses if I don’t already have them.

Some of the out of Australian contributors will be wanting copies, so I will get those copies printed too, and extra copies as well to have on hand if and when other copies are needed. I’ll have to send a copy to the National Library, and the State Library of South Australia too. Once I have the numbers of copies needed, then I head off to see the printer, and there the file is worked on to get it ready for printing, and then yes, the book gets printed, hooray.

I have to organise the book launch then, and get together a list of the people to invite along for that. I love book launches! I know where the launch will happen, and that part of it will be easy to organise. I know the venue well, and the people there know me well too. Exciting times.

Will it happen this year, or next? I don’t know yet. But the launch will happen on the last Sunday of a yet unknown month. It can’t happen before September, and that gives me plenty of time. If it happens next year, that might be better, in terms of people who can actually get there for the launch, I hope. And of course if there’s no halt to this Covid-19 crisis, there will be a limit on the number of people who can actually attend the launch anyway …

Who knows when the end for that might come?

inspiration, meaning in life

Watching the Footy, Thinking on Role Models

carolyncordon

When young people see their heroes on the football field, they may decide to model themselves on their heroes. In terms of their sport, this is an excellent thing, to try to make yourself the best player you can.

But a good football player, is a person who is good at football, and their abilities at their chosen sport may have no relation at all, to indicate what kind of a person they may be. They are merely human beings, who have great skills to enable them to play well.

Certainly, some of them may have exceptional skills at being a good team member, or a great leader, who shows their team the way to win. But they might simply be really good at kicking goals, and is terrible at most other things. Certainly there are AFL players who I feel do great things away from their sport, as well as when they’re playing, and those are the players, I hope young people will follow, as they go through their lives.

Above and beyond …

But truly, the people we could all be thinking of, if we wish to have good role models for a good and worthy life, are those people who do good things that have long lasting benefits for others, rather than simply helping their team to win a game. People who work in the public arena, working hard and well to help other people to have better lives. There are Australians who do wonderful things, helping vulnerable people in many ways, to enable the ones they work for to have better lives. They are my role models, humble people doing wonderful and selfless things.

In this Covid-19 time, many of us are staying home, as safe and sound as is possible, while nurses, doctors, and other essential workers do their work, never knowing if, or when, the coronavirus might be there to infect them. Good role models, all of them. Working hard to help other people, above and beyond what their job requires of them – risking their lives to help.

I’ve had people call me an inspiration, does that make me a role model of sorts? Well if others can emulate me when I’m at my best, that would be a fine thing. (Just don’t look too closely at me when I’m slacking off!)

We all have our moments, good and bad, and surely having others copy us when we’re at our best, would be a time to be proud of, both for ourselves, and the others who follow, and do good also … I’d love to know what you think about these ideas, please leave a comment!

Uncategorized

When Closing Date Approaches …

carolyncordon

It seems to me poets, and possible all writers, love to leave things until the last minute. I state this based on my years of experience as the Competition Secretary for Adelaide Plains Poets, a group which has held an annual poetry competition since 2005.

We have a different theme for the competition every year, and I have the wonderful opportunity to read lots of interesting poetry, for free, when the entries land in my letter box. It would be better, for me, if these poets could send their poems in over the entire time period, from when we first put the word out, until the last week or so. That way, I’d be able to give a more considered reading to those poems that arrive in the final days, before I have to write them up and hand them over to the judges. Ah well …

But the closing date that I’m thinking about at the moment, is the 31 July 2020 date, which is the closing date for people wishing to submit work for the Plague Invasion anthology that I’m editing. This anthology is an interesting looking collection of writing about this crazy Covid-19 time, from the silliness about running out of toilet paper and being unable to get more, to the great time when dining out was allowed again, and a whole heap of other things, you may not have thought about.

toilet paper in its natural habitat

This book will have them all, and more. There will be a short writer bio from each contributor too, and I’m hoping to have a forward written by the mayor of Gawler, who is also a nurse, and so dealing with Covid-19 in a ‘close up and personal’ way. I wish her well, and not just because I want that forward! I’m also having the back blurb written by a well known South Australian poet, and fellow (and prolific and entertaining blogger) who is giving me a great photo for the back cover, that is closely related to the times we’re living in right now.

An image is on its way too, I’m informed, by the secretary of my writing group, whose talented son has put his hand up to provide the artwork for the front cover. This is a wonderful effort from friends, longtime ones and brand new ones, and working with other people in this way has been an awesome experience.

So, if you’ve been following the progress of this anthology, by reading be related blog posts here at my blog, or if this is your first introduction to it all, thank you for showing an interest in it, and if you want to get in the book, you’d better get a move on 31 July is getting closer, and closer! All contributors whose work is accepted with receive a free copy of the book, but residents from out of Australia will have to pay for postage.

You can send me your work, or ask for more details at my email address: kittycordo@gmail.com

Cozy Mystery

Becoming a (famous) Cosy Murder Mystery Writer

carolyncordon

When I’m grown up, I want to be famous for writing Excellent Cosy Murder Mysteries. I’m not sure exactly I’ll be grown up enough to do that, but, at the age of 57, it had better happen soon …

haha!

I’m realising, of course that wanting something is only any good, if you take action to make that thing happen. And when you’re a writer, putting in the early steps toward a new writing project is good, but only if actually writing of the written work happens as well.

I have a town, main characters, interesting other characters, a bad Mayor, a wise old dog, a wise old lady, an overseas friend, a rather cute Deputy Mayor, and I have I think it’s twelve (or maybe could be twenty), titles for mysteries, with brief descriptions of what the story is about, beyond the fact that there is at least one death.

Who is the man in the hi vis top? And why did the police officer stop there?
Hmm, what was in those big plastic fluid containers?

Meredith has some questions she wants answers to! Will she be able to solve this little mystery? I think she will, if she can get her friends together to help her! Maybe she could take her next door neighbours dog for a walk around where those container were, and see if the discover any clues … Mister is very good at finding clues for Meredith!

Are you intrigued in what this little mystery is all about? I am too! I’d better write it, to find out! Finding things to write about is easy, if you keep your eyes open, and ask yourself, and (others) questions. I wasn’t able to ask the people in the photo any questions, but hey, I’m a fiction writer, I can make up the answers, and I might very well do just that. Perhaps I could write a little mystery story …

What do you think? Would you like to read such a story? Perhaps a flash fiction piece, a 100 word mystery? We shall see, watch this space!