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Lockdown, Stay At Home, Don’t Touch!

Oh this horrid Coronavirus, what trouble you are causing us here in Australia. We currently have over half of the population in lockdown, in the hope of containing, and so eliminating this terrible Delta strainof the virus that has been such a bad thing for so many of us.

Our politicians are trying to help us all keep safe, and keep industry going too, in their own (sometimes odd and not very helpful) ways. I say people before profit, and feel a government might want to go that way to, at least a democratic government, and we are supposed to have in Australia, but sometimes I wonder about what it is we currently have …

But anyway, I’m fine, currently staying home, consuming too many calories, not doing enough exercise, and showing the result of that on the bathroom scales … I’ve been weighing myself every day first thing in the morning, and the results have been interesting. I can’t hide anything from those scales! I can’t remember why I got started on that, but I’ll keep it up, maybe I’ll remember the reason for it.

I can use the information I record, in a variety of ways – in a book to come, fiction or non fiction, or as a reminder that weight loss can happen, if and when I obey the rules – fewer calories and more exercise, equals weight loss! (I’ve been recording any what I call ‘extra steps’ too, when and if they happen. Extra steps is when I switch on the pedometer on my phone and go for a walk for exercise).

My state, South Australia is currently in lockdown, and so I have to stay at home, except for medical things, and getting necessary items from the shop. This means the Festival my writing group had organised has had to be cancelled, including the launch of my new book, Plague Invasion, an anthology of poetry and prose creative writing on the subject of Covid-19, the thing that has halted the planned book launch, How Ironic!

Author’s feet and photograph

This time of having to be in lockdown is messing with my head, and I feel discombabulated. It could have been a great time to get a lot of my current work in progress written. It’s a cosy murder mystery, and I’m about a third of the way through, but my head just doesn’t want to settle down and think about that … I have an online writing group meeting later this afternoon though, and I often use the writing prompts we’re given at that group, to write a little more of that novel, so we’ll see what happens …

The group usually meets every Thursday, at a hotel in Gawler, the Prince Albert Hotel. But they aren’t open for such things now. They’re still selling food and drinks too, I suppose, but only as takeaway, no sitting down to eat, not until this current 7 day lockdown is over, next week. Strange times, as I posted on my Facebook page this morning, these are strange days for sure …

But I’m here, I’m well, no-one I know has caught Covid, and I hope things stay that way, this seems to be a horrible disease, with long lasting effects we are only beginning to learn about. I’d love to know how things are for other people, particularly those in other places, in other states, or overseas!

Please leave a comment! Pretty please!

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If You Were An Animal, Which Would It Be?

This is a question I asked myself the other day, because I was looking for something to write on one of the ‘platforms’ I’m currently using to try to earn some money. But of course these online platforms are hopeless for actually making any real money, unless what you write ‘goes viral’ and I sure as heck don’t know how to write like that!

‘Going Viral’ at the moment doesn’t seem like a good way to think about things, not with Covid lurking around, or rather Covid affected people doing, sneaking over borders when they whould be in lockdown at home, or somewhere else, away from other people …

Anyway, back to my initial question … This is the link to what I wrote, where I indicated that I suspected I’d be a Sloth, if I were an animal. But as I talk about that, and in thinking about the idea further, I ended up with a quite different animal, an Owl. This seems a much more impressive animal, a wiser one. Nobody ever thought on a Sloth as being clever.

In fact most people might consider the Sloth to be a rather icky creature, if they’d heard of the oft quoted idea of the Sloth peeing and or pooping on itself as it hangs around in trees, all of its life, there in Central America … I’m not going into the details of that, I have my lunch almost ready for me to eat right now, a healthy bowl of dried fruit, nuts, and seeds, with a coffee to come later, and I don’t want to be put off my food, (or my coffee)!

This idea about ‘making money’ on this platform where the article is, Vocal, which is the second such one I’ve begun writing for happened when a writing group friend mentione it, so I thought I’d take a look. I’ve been blogging on WordPress for some years now, and before that it was Blogspot. But these two now (to me) online platforms are something quite different.

With my blogging, it has been just me on my own, trying to connect with the broader world. With these online platforms though there is a whole online community present already, both writers and readers (although I suspect many are both). So I gave it a go, and why, I got some readers, and made a tiny bit of money. Even better though, I got some comments, and I found other writers whose words I liked, so I left some comments on their posts.

It has the feel of a kind of community, even though there are many only there for the money. I have no misty-eyed ideas I’ll make lots of money there. If I get some kind of payout at the end of the month on Medium I’m happy enough, even though I’m yet to have made enough money for a coffee … And on Vocal, you have to reach a certain amount, and I’m not even halfway there yet, and only making a cent a day, unless the Platform gives out a random encouragement payment …

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Heading back to the animal I’d be, and the idea as a possible writing prompt. It might work more I think, as something to help look back at who I am, and what I believe to be important. I may have used it as the prompt to get that Vocal article written, but I don’t think that article will lead to anything bigger, brighter, or that interesting really, to the greater world.

I did put in a bit of information about some animals though, so who knows … So I ended up conceding that I’d like to be an Owl if I was to be an animal. It was an interesting winding thought path, heading from Sloth to Owl. And really, isn’t writing often that, a thought path, taking you from idea to execution, when what is sopposed to one thing wants to slide off to be something else …

What do you do, when that happens? As friends and readers of this blog may now, I have a murder mystery I’m writing (slowly!). I use our writing group writing prompts to write another piece of the first book in what I had envivioned would become a collecion of such books, all using the same setting and characters, with more characters thrown in if and when needed.

I love my setting, and my characters, but the murder and mystery parts of the book aren’t really taking off in any way … I feel more like a lazy Sloth with this, rather than a wise Owl, but who know what might happen. If it all crashes down and doesn’t happen, I won’t be feeliing wise at all, will I?

I there is an animal that starts off with a big idea, then lets it all settle back down into a little pile of nothing much, that’s the kind of animal I would be, if I were an animal!

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Who Am I Trying To Convince?

I can do this, can’t I? Hmm, maybe …

I wrote an article for Vocal the other day, and posted it to the site. This morning I received a notification the article had been published, which I am happy about. The article is about my published writing, and what I have planned to write in the future. This is where you can read that article, if you wish to …

I’m not sure if all of the books I indicate i may write will happen, there are a lot of Cosy Murder Mystery books I have planned, but I’m still fiddle faddling around getting the first one finished, so I’m not really sure if any of them will actually get published …

But putting it all ‘out there’ is a step that may encourage me to get a move on with it, and with the other books I’m interested in bringing into the world. Step by step, slow but sure, that is how things can happen, no need to rush.

So who am I trying to convince abouit whether these things might happen? Well myself really, because the truth is that if I can’t convince myself, then none of it will happen! I want it to happen, but wanting never actually makes a thing happen.

I need to take action, stop putting off writing more of first novel in my Cosy Murder Mystery series, and then work at getting it published, and working on the second one! And decide how serious I am about the non fiction books I mention in the article I wrote, as well as getting a move on with the next book in the Buster the Dog series.

That one is going to need me to talk with my collaborator, because I am going to bring in a new character to the series, a cat named McTavish the Cat … I will write the dog parts of the story, while my collaborator will write the cat parts. But before that happens, I need to outline the plot so we both know what is happening. And once whe have the story written, it will be time to get the book illustrated and then published.

Ah, the exciting fun of having projects to do, but the irritation at myself for my laziness! I do have a bit of an excuse, if I need one. I’ve been organising a poetry competition, and there is a FEstival happening that my writing group is working on, and that includes me.

I’m going to the the star of one of the Festival events – I will be launching my new book, the one below, on 25 July, on the final day of the Gawler and Adelaide Plains Festival of Words (Recovery). That will be a fun time!

So really it isn’t complete laziness, but some of it is that. Also quite likely a bit of fear of failure … But I’ve proven my worth as a writer, I have books published! And while self-publishing is considered more worthy these days, there is still some stigma attached to it. My next poetry collection is being published by a reputable publisher, Ginninderra Press, who have both published, and rejected my work in the past, so I know if they want to publish my book, it’s because they consider it to be a worthy book.

So while I’m not entiresly convinced in myself as a good writer, I have proof that others think I am, because they have purchased my books! I’m sure I’m not the only writer who sometimes has these doubts. I wonder whether there is a website to visit, when these feelings rise up, so that I can get over my doubts, and just get on and write!

Haha, yeah right! I mean write!

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Haiga Poetic Form, What Is It?

Well, I’m not an expert in these things, not being a scholar of years on study, but as the saying goes -‘I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like!’

I have written a little about this form with an example here Go to the site and have a look, if you wish.

Haiga is the marrying of a Haiku, with an image. The two together may connect in some way, and bring about a deeper understanding. I have written Haiku off and on for many years, and have more recently begun looking at images, and matching them up with Haiku, and so creating Haiga.

This is an enjoyable way to go, putting these two different art forms together, and while I may not be creating the world’s best ever Haiga, I feel happy with what I have been achieving. If I am the only one who sees the connection, so be it …

If you like Haiku, and Haiga, please feel free to leave a message. And if you want to see the Haiga I created today, please feel free to go here to take a look! Many thanks …

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Getting New Book ‘Out There’

When you have a new book, and you are the publisher as well as writer of that new book, there are certain things you are legally required to do. So today, I sent one copy of my new book to the National Library of Australia, and another copy of the book to the State Library of South Australia. This is a necessary thing for publishers to do with new books.

So as I am the ‘publisher’ of my books, as well as the editor of this particular book (an anthology), it’s my task to deal with this part of the publishing process. It costs money, of course, to post books, but it might well lead to further book sales, and also to having copies of my book in libraries. And having books in libraries can lead to even more money being made, through Publis Lending Rights. Yippee.

I am far better at writing than I am at marketing, but I am very slowly getting the hang of it all. It’s a necessary process, but my brain whispers to me that the writing is the fun part, and it’s not interested in that marketing stuff. Naughty brain!

I love this new book though, and want to share it with as many people as possible, so I’ll do my best to be a book marketer, as well as editor, and writer … I put the word out recently to some of hte members of my writing group, that it would be great if one of us got into that side of things, for various group members, but it seems I’m the one who does the most of it, so, maybe I should step up and be that person …

But it would be great to find someone wishing to do these sorts of things, an agent I suppose, who may take on all of the ‘Adelaide Plains Poets’ group, as their clients … We don’t just write poetry, and some of us don’t even write poetry at all, but write books, fiction, and non fiction.

Being a writer, if you do it well, can bring in money, and while the money isn’t the main reason most of us write, it is certainly a welcome part of it all, if and when it happens. I’d happily do a lot more speaking in public, I like to do that, but the idea of being the person to book in for such things doesn’t make me happy at all.

That’s the kind of thing an agent would take over, if there was one their to perform that task … I’m so bad at these things, I haven’t even mentioned the name of my new book, nor plastered the screen with an image of the front cover, even though I love my most recent front cover.

So a gentle slap to make myself get onto this task – My most recent book, due to be launched on 25 July is the anthology – Plague Invasion, a fabulous book, with poetry and prose from writers from Australia and some from writers overseas. The variety and quality of the submissions was excellent, and I’m proud to be the person who brought it all together, to put it out as a book to tell the world how this whole Covid thing has been …


And this is what the cover looks like:

So this is what I’m proud of at the moment, this book and the wonderful contributors who gave me their best, many thanks to you all!