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Today, More Fun With Words

carolyncordon

Today is a Monday, and ordinary day, not Public Holiday, and so I spent my time at Gallery 14, in Hamley Bridge, South Australia, being the Write-In-Residence there. I’m enjoying this gig, very much, and customers are getting used to seeing me there, with my books spread out on my table, pen and paper with me, talking with people, drinking coffee, penning some lines, and so on.

And the owner, and staff are completely happy for me to be there, giving me another (free) coffee when I ask for another one. The coffee is good, the feeling of friendship is strong, and the food I’ve had there is good too! Today I did something a bit different, that seems to have worked well.

When I’m there, I am listening to conversations, not eavesdropping, well yeah actually, eavesdropping, but not with malicious intent. I was listening because I wanted to hand out words to people in the cafe, words I’d written, just wise thought types of things, and printed onto fancy card. I went through my collection and found the most appropriate one for each person, and it went well, people were touched, and said they would happily put the words on the fridge, or put up somewhere to share with others.

I love the way words can have the ability to touch people, when the best words find their best reader, as these words did today. I’m definitely going to do the same thing again next time I go to Gallery 14, and I might make a point of having these cards with me for other things too, and hand words with meaning out to a variety of people.

The cards have my contact details, and website address on the back, and if I can get more peoiple visiting my website because of this, woohoo, that will be great. If I don’t get extra visitors, that is still OK, it’s the connection thing that is most important – and giving people these thoughtful little free things, is a much appreciated thing, I’ve learned today. Simple, thoughtful, kind.

It doesn’t take much to be a nice person, and developing these relationships could have increasing benefits over time, even if I don’t sell too many of my books there. Being present is the main thing, showing people that writing and books have a place in there lives, and deserve to be appreciated.

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A Fine Event Today

carolyncordon

Take one event, at a great venue, with a fine presenter, and writers who are willing to be deeply involved with what is happening, and you can certainly get on and produce some awesome pieces of creative writing!

My only regret about this day was that I neglected to have a photograph taken. Apart from that, it was a great day for the production of beautiful words!

If you couldn’t be at this event, and live near Gawler, we will be getting together at the end of March, and every month, in some way and form, usually at the Prince Albert Hotel, Gawler. A hotel accustomed to being there for creative writers, where the Adelaide Plains Chapter and Verse writing group meets, every Thursday afternoon at 4.00pm.

Photo not taken today, but the three on the left were all present today.

Why not come join us sometime? If you’re prepared to be involved, do the writing exercise, and homework, and will be supportive and friendly, you are most welcome!

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My Regular Big Event!

carolyncordon

Today, February 28 is the last day of February, the last day of Summer, and the day of my favourite event of the month. Today is the day my favourite Big Event happens. This Big Event isn’t necessarily big in terms of people attending, but it is huge in terms of the wonderful things that can happen.

The event is the Gawler Poets at the Pub event, incorporating both a writing-related workshop, and after that a Poetry Reading. The event takes place at the Prince Albert Hotel (known as the P/A to regulars, and it has lunch happening too. I am one of the two coordinators of this event, and it is a small part of what the writing group I’m the President of, does.

So Alex Robinson, my co-coordinator, is also the Treasurer of our group, which is the Adelaide Plains Poets. He collects the money, and also brings along books we have as a prize for one of the little mini competitions we hold during the afternoon’s happenings. These new books are donated by a wonderfully eclectic bookshop close to the P/A hotel. It is the Gawler Bookshop, and I love popping in there every now and then to say hi, and thank you to the lovely Ally who owns the store, and can find or get in for you any book you might ever want, I suspect!

So this morning, right now, I’m getting ready to head off to Gawler to the P/A for the workshop our guest for the day will present. The guest is Valerie Volk, and the subject for her workshop is ‘Poetry from Pain’. This is a subject dear to my heart, and to my savings too, because I’ve written and sold my own books touching on this subject. One is my memoir about having Multiple Sclerosis ‘Mick Jane and Me – Living Well With MS’, and the other is a poetry collection about my own story about being sexually abused as a child, teen, and young adult ‘damaged children, Precious Gems’.

So painful things for sure, both of them, but the writing of those books has been therapeutic, and I’m in a much better space in my life now, having written the pain out of my head and onto the pages of my books.

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How Many Is Too Many?

carolyncordon

Ah, an interesting question this one, and the answer can depend of so many different things. How many houses is too many? I have just the one, and and satisfied with that, other people might have many houses, and there are various answers in between. I know a chap who has several rental properties, as well as his own home. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he said he has a holiday home as well.

This man has retired, and obviously earned good money at his job, and saved, or invested, or something. I didn’t have as hightly paid a job as he did, when I was ‘a worker’, and so I certainly have never had enough money to buy a rental property. My my husband and I , both more or less retired, both live good lives. We have enough of what we need, and sometimes too much of other things, but not often.

This is a way to live a good life, I feel, having enough, and not too much, of what we need, and some of what we want. We have enough money to pay our bills, almost all of the time. When we want things we usually have enough money to but them, and sometimes there’s money left over to buy extra things.

If I had lots of vegetables, more than we need, that would be a problem, trying to deal with the excess produce. If I had rental properties as well as the house I live in, I’d worry about the upkeep, getting the rent, looking after the people living in these houses …

Things like flowers, I don’t think you can have too many of them growing in a garden. If there are plenty, you can pick them and have them on display inside, while leaving others in the garden still, to look at, and enjoy. Trees, I’m sure you can have too many of them in some instances, but most of the time, having lots of trees is a wonderful thing!

Those lovely trees can attract birds and other creatures into yard, and most of the time that is a wonderful thing. But if you are growing fruit and vegetables, sometimes lots of birds can be a problem, unless you have ways to keep your produce safe. At our place we have a few strawberry plants growing in hanging baskets, and we decided that this year, we wanted to actually eat our strawberries again, instead of the birds getting them.

So we were fortunate enough to have some extra money, and bought some bird netting, so now we are able to eat some of those lovely strawberries, which always taste better than any you get from anywhere else! There aren’t lots and lots of strawberries, but just enough for us to have some every now and then.

So I think the best way to go is to have an ample sufficiency of what you like, and not much at all, of what you don’e like!

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Some Good News About Rejection!

carolyncordon

Plague Invasion, the anthology I put together last year, using works sent to me from all around the world, as well as my own country of Australia, has been given back to me by the publisher I gave it to, unpublished, and instead of being sad or upset, I am happy!

I spoke with Michael Bollen, from Wakefield Press today, and while he said it was a good anthology, he would not be able to have it ready to be launched in July, for the Gawler and Adelaide Plains Festival of Words (Recovery). In the face of these crazy Covid times, the publishing would is running hot, with many people writing books, and wanting to be published.

So I am both sad the anthology won’t be published by Wakefield Press, but happy to have this ‘baby’ back in my hands, to self publish book myself! It’s been a while since I looked at what I’d said about the terms for publishing this anthology, so I’m going to have to go back and look at it all. I’ll be sending out a form to all of the people whose work I’ve accepted, which will happen I expect, in late March.

So if April comes around, and I haven’t emailed you an author agreement form please contact me on my email address, kittycordo@gmail.com

This doesn’t feel like a rejection to me, it feels like getting my child back, after they’ve been away on a holiday! I have enough pieces for this Anthology to be a fine book as it is right now, so won’t be accepting any new works for Plague Invasion. But if this is a successful endeavour, there may well be a new anthology once this one is launched, sold, loved, and admired!

I have never done such a large project, and while I am thrilled with how this book will likely look, it’s still a very new thing for me, but I saw the time for this anthology was now, and many people wanted to be involved in such a project. The Covid issue has twists and turns, good, and bad, and this process of getting the anthology has been a bit like that too.

But the anthology will happen, and will be launched at the Festival in 2021, and I am so glad. Now, to get onto the artist for the front cover again, and see what he comes up with!