Tag: books

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Art Is A Many Labelled Thing

carolyncordon

When I used to say I was a writer, I didn’t also consider myself to be an artist, wrongly so, as it turns out. Because of course, writing is indeed an Art, the Art of Literature.

The book pictured above is one made up of writing, both poetry and prose, from people connected to my writing group, and I am proud of each one of them!

It is filled with responses to writing prompts given at our various events held, and the book is certainly correctly labelled as literature, such is the quality of the chosen pieces.

I am as proud to be connected with this book as I am of my own personal published books I have. But a couple of years ago, I took my first steps to another form of Art, that of Visual Art. I took up the idea of perhaps writing and actually illustrating children’s picture books.

And to do that, I would naturally need to actually draw the pictures to go in the picture book, right? Right! Well that idea, while a fun change for a while, didn’t really take off in my mind, and while I’m still open to the idea one day happening, it is off my list of things to to NOW!

But the idea of being a Visual Artist as well as being involved in Literature stuck in my head, and I decided it was somethng I had to do, and how I was going to do it was to take something I’d already been doing for a bit of fun, and treat it in a much more serious way.

I am a dog owner, and as my husband and I have been walking our dog (Lenny, a Greyhound, retired from racing), well I’d been picking up bits and pieces of rusty “rubbish” and putting them on our fence.

Over time, there were more and more things there, and as the fence itself is made of iron, and much of it has rusted. I thought about it all, and decided I would put it all together, thinking of the many important contexts touched on by what I was doing.

In the image above are some of the items that make up this Art Installation, a tiny section, some given to me, some found, but all of them either rusty, found or both rusty and found. That chicken now has a name, Chicky Chook, and she may well be the ‘star’ of a picture book, using photos rather than drawings … My mind comes up with so many different ideas!

Anyway, back to the Art Installation:
Obviously, recycling and reimagining items otherwise looked on as trash, and now considered as items put on display, and so assist in the creation of the “Redbanks Rust and Found Art Installation”, all went toward my thinking on what I was doing as Art.

Initially I was Creating an Art Installation, and now, having more than 750 individual items on display, with more awaiting placement, and of course more found every week, I am thinking more closely about what I am doing, and where the best place may be for each item to be put on display.

Previously I would just put things anywhere, now I consider the most effective way to place each item, filling gaps in the display, to make it more visually appealing to onlookers …

So yes I am indeed a Visual Artist, as well as being involved in literature. I in fact have been bringing the two Art forms together, and intend publishing a collection of written responses to this Art Installation, and launch it at a Festival put on by my writing group.

Writing will always be a much loved aspect of my Art, but Visual Art is becoming more and more important to me as well!

Those two frogs were giving to me by a friend who’d had some rearrangement in her garden and no longer needed them, and she automatically thought of me! I’m becoming famous about this Art Installation, in my immediate community anyway, and am thinking about ways to extend my breadth of connections regarding this, and turn both it, and my other Creative things I do into a paying business!

Exciting times, and I am gathering as many supporters together to assist in making this installation into a fun and interesting place for tourists, whether they’re intrastare, interstate, or overseas visitors. This idea is taking up much of my thinking at the moment, and I truly feel it may actually work!

I don’t need thousands of visitors, I just need enough visitors committed to what I have to present, and happy to pay for it. I’ll be working at making my site one for not fust looking and walking on, but getting involved in what is on presentation, as a form of Experiential Tourism.

This is really appealing to me, and I hope it will be of interest to many others as well. If anyone is interested in knowing more, feel free to contact me, I’d love to tell you about it! And tell your friends too!

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Exciting Times Are Coming Soon

carolyncordon

As a poet writer of many, many years with nine books published, I consider myself to have been a hobbyist for most of those years, and while I’d more recently thrown off the hobbyist tag, I haven’t really thought of my writing as being a business.

But as a creative person, with ideas frequently popping into my mind, and with some of these ideas while still Creative things, they’re a large step on and up, far beyond being a poet and writer. And with these new ideas I have, I can see much more opportunities in terms of actually making money, more than occasionally selling one of my books.

I am looking to bring together all of my Creative things I do, and doing all of them as aspects of the business ‘Carolyn Cordon Creative’. I am poet and writer, yes, but I will also be and Art Installation Curator, and a Stand Up Comedian/Performer too. And while I will still be doing the various creative writing group and workshops I currently do for free, I will also be putting my name out as a Performer and Presenter, and also the person running a Tourism business.

I’ll have lanyards for this and that, so many of them I’ll have to be careful not to choke myself! Haha. One tag will do – Carolyn Cordon Creative!

The turnaround in my thoughts about all of this came, I feel, when I realised what I did at my own home had possibilities for Tourists to visit, and also my most recent creative writing workshops are proving to be worthwhile to others, and fun to me as well.

And while I won’t be starting to charge for those particular workshops, I feel the world is my oyster regarding any more such opportunities that come along.

And having this new website, where I have brought all of these aspects of myself together, and having paid money for it, rather that doing the basic websites by myself, well, it feels much more business-like to me. I’ve been talking with people, getting assistance, and I know who to talk to in the future to get all of this business thing up and running, soon, soon, soon!

I’ve put a note on my calendar (which I’m now using in a more business-like manner these days), to get a haircut if and when needed, and for me that is definitely a sign of new things on the way. Usually my next hair cut is months overdue before I get around to doing anything about it!

I have meetings that will be relevant to me in my new business happening soon, I’ve got a milion ideas in my head, and I am so excited to be doing this. I know there are many things I don’t know yet that I don’t know, but the idea of the new learning required makes me even more excited, not worried!

I have two books on the way, with both of them to be launched later this calendar year, and I am going to have a fine time wehn both of htese new books are launched into the world – book launches are so much fun, I love them, and when the book being launched is one of mine, Woah, even better!

There is a poetry collection, about the pond at our place, and the turtle who lives in that pond. This should be easy to get ready, most of it is already written, and it’s mostly poetry that is already more or less collected together, and ready to be made into a book.

The other book to be published is another poetry related book, with some prose as well though, and photographs as there too. Hmm thinking about it, perhaps that book may need to wait a longer time. Unless … Ahh, the decisions that need to be made, I can do this!

I’ve had the thought that perhaps the idea that I move up from self-publisheing my work and actually become a publisher, may be useful, and profitable … Who knows how that might go. It’s certainly relevant to everything else I do!

At the moment having this business is feeling like a big bundle of fun things, wrapped up together with the possibility of getting money for doing what I love to do. How awesome would that be? Extremely Awesome!

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Being Back on the Radio

carolyncordon

I loved being back at PBA FM, after being away from there for so long! Formerly, I’d been there as one of the presenters of the ‘WORDS OUT LOUD’ Program (I’m fairly sure that was the name of the show). Today I was there as a guest for Nick and Beth, on their program, Short and Sweet Spoken Word.

The three of us talked about what I’ve been doing word-wise lately, so I jumped at the chance to talk about some of what I’ve been up to. So of course I jumped at the chance!

Talking on the radio is something I’m quite good at, as it turns out. I’m not any use at the mastering the panel thing – I know I was trained in it quite a few years ago, but my brain said, nup, don’t wanna do that, so the lesson fell though.

That didn’t matter, because Nick and Beth were there, managing that part, and they kept it all going nicely! I was able to speak about my writing, poetry, blogging, editing of a newsletter, and creation of an Art Installation.

The presenters had a copy of that newsletter, so could see what I was doing with that, and that led nicely on to the RUST & FOUND Art Installation – because after Beth had got that newsletter up on her screen, she could see some of the pictures of found objects that have become a part of that Art Installation.

So we spoke about that, and also the recent event Beth and I were both at, in Gawler, the Gawler MAP event, where the Governeor of South Australia was recently a guest, and did a fine job of it.

And once we’d finished talking aobut me and my writing, Beth had a kind of quiz, for Nick and I to think on, and answer. She had a list with two versions of particular words (one correct way to say the word, and the other incorrect way, and we had to choose which was the correct pronunciation.

And because this was radio, Beth read out the two versions of the words, because just showing us the words would make ‘dead air’, instead of fine radio! It was fun.

Being on the radio is something I’m happily do more of, if and when I can! Just don’t ask me to ‘man’ the panel, because I just can’t do it!

And being able to talk about the Art Installation was an awesome opportunity! While the Art Installation has now been largely created (on and along my front fence!), there are still spaces to be filled!

And my walking of our dog and looking for (and finding) rusty items of interest (to me and viewers of this Installation too, I hope), well this is keeping the dog exercised, and me too, so we’re both keeping fit and healthy!

And the curation part of the Redbanks RUST & FOUND Art Installation is keeping my brain healthy as well, and I consider the various aspects of what I’m doing – the placement of objects, whether or not items are and aren’t relevant for this installation …

I don’t think the Installation isn’t ever going to be completely finished, for as long as I go on walking, which I hope to do at least four or more times a week! And putting it together and considering the placement of pieces is only a part of it, because there’s the promotion aspects too, as this Radio session was to some extent.

And of course the Mallala Crossroad Chronicle, the newsletter I edit is a perfect avenue for me to talk about what I’m doing with our front fence! And the even more exciting part of that is that the Adelaide Plains Mayor is going to Open the Art Installation for me!

And not only is he going to open it, he will be speaking about a particular rust item form his own place (and I hope), giving it to me to be put on display as a part of the Redbanks RUST & FOUND Art Installation!

And if it turns out he’s only showing it to us for the purpose of his talk, and he takes it home with him again that will be fine too. After all, there are over four hundred individual items on and along our fence and front gate! And that number is growing, every time I head outside!

In fact this morning, I and my support worker/Installation assistant placed out a much larger item, a nice big rusty Exercise Bike, that had been left idle on our front veranda for goodness knows how many years. It’s now got a proper role in life!

I think I’ll have to write a poem about that! I’m going to write a book, a non fiction book, with the working title of “Rust & Found – the Making of the Redbanks Art Installation’. The book will have some poems about this project, including some poetry about some of the items.

I suspect the work on that book will be a lot more ‘on the way’ than it is right now whn the Installation is Opened, but it won’t be published then, it will be quite a bit later.. The Opening of Installation is happening on 5 May this year, which is only a couple of months away …

Another relevant time to have a book out might be for the Gawler & Adelaide Plains Festival of Words – Scenes, which is happening at the end of July this year … But I think it’s not going to be ready then either. Festival 2025 – that may be the time to launch that book. It gives me a deadline that is reasonable, and do-able.

And when that book comes out, you can bet I’ll be looking for more opportunities to go on the radio again then!

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Words & Books, and More Words & More Books!

carolyncordon

Writer, Poet, Blogger, Editor, I write things, because words are my main tools for what I love to do, to write, and to speak, and if I’m speaking in public, for a purpose, words will be written, probably to properly say what I really want to say.

And this year is definitely a year of words, and books for me! I put out a call for words to be written and sent to me, and I know have a book on its way to being printed, so it can be launched and then provided to all of the wonderful people who’ve sent in their responses as requested. This book, and anthology of both poetry and prose is a fine look at what creative people thought on, regarding Covid-19, from the serious to the ridiculous, and all things in between.

This book will be launched during the Gawler and Adelaide Plains Festival of Words (Recovery), and this Festival is another perfect storm of words, with writers, and poets doing thier thing in a variety of ways, in a variety of different places, taking words to the community!

And today, I’ll be talking with a friend and one of the things that will be mentioned is another book a book that may well be written, and then published next year, with a launch, perhaps, because, well who doesn’t like to celebrate a new book come into the world?! I love book launches! This book with be the fourth in a series of books begun way back, when my son was at Primary school. He’s now a grown man, working for a living, with his own house … Wow.

And of course, there are the things I do regularly, a writing group meeting every Thursday, Poetry reading every month, and the Festival, an annual event held in July, with the seventh such Festival happening this year 22-25 July. What fun, what lovely words!

And there will be workshops run for that Festival, and I hope attendees might end up writing their own new book, and have a book launch, so I can attend, and feel joyful for having been involved in that new book coming into the world, a precious time for sure!

And of course there are also books in the library, where I visit every month or so, to find some more books to read, then take back again, free of charge. I love libraries, and I’m glad to live in Australia, where our library system buys books, and loans them out to readers the way they do, it’s great!

Yes, I love words, and I’m so glad there are many people in the world who love books too! Do you love books? If you do, leave a message to tell us about it!

One of my books, and a brochure, all about multiple sclerosis, which I’ve written about, raising funds and awareness about my chronic illness …
Cozy Mystery, Public Speaker

Excited About My Writing

carolyncordon

If a writer isn’t at least a little bit excited about their writing, is their really any reason to write? I’m talking about those of us who write for pleasure, rather than people who write reports for a living. People who do that could well still get a buzz out of writing a good report, but it may not live up to the huge boost of the writer who sells their first book.

Getting published is a huge rush of excitemnt for sure. Sharing our words with other, interested people, is a boost too, though, one that I definitely find exciting even after having done it for many years.

This writing prompt thing for all of February though, that’s something else entirely, sharing my love of words, and assisting other writers to come up with now ideas, brand new pieces of writing. Fabulous February I’ve been calling it, and I’m havng a good time with it, giving the writing prompt every morning, and then I’ve been using the new prompt myself to being a new piece of writing into the world!

Well eventually I will, if not straight away. When a poet is working to put together a poetry collection they need all of the inspiration and writing prompts they can find! And I am that poet, for sure. My poetry collection has a title, and it has some poems, it just needs more of them!

I’ve begun putting some of my brand new poems into the collection, and I’ve been thrilled at the way some of my new words fit in with the words already there. By the end of February, may there be at least twently more poems, to go wih other poems I have to include.

I’ve been looking through various places I have around the house with bags and folders, all with poems, pieces of writing that haven’t made it into anything yet, for one reason or another. Some of them where needing a little more work, others simply were misfiled, to be found later, perhaps edited a bit, made better, and woohoo, more poems to go into my new collection!

I also have a different writing project going on at the moment, and this is something I’ve been thinking about since last year, and was working on, but disaster struck, in the form of a broken ankle. This led to a brand new book, more poetry, this time a small collection, in the form of a chapbook, with 21 poems all about my broken ankle.

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So writing these poems was what I worked on from early October, until the book was published and launched in December. The book launch was certainly a good time, selling copies of my brand new book. But that excitement’s done now, time to go back to what I was working on, when my focus suddenly and painfully changed.

And what that project was, was the writing of a series of Cosy Murder Mysteries, all set in a fictictious town, which is modelled slightly on a town I know quite well. For this project I’ve used the same town and characters of something else I was working on last year, something that wasn’t working the way I’d hoped.

That other piece of writing wasn’t giving me a real buzz, not all of it. Working with the characters was good, exploring the town was, it was more that the genre of that book wasn’t working for me, it wasn’t something I read much myself, if at all. I wasn’t excited by it.

The idea of writing a series of Cosy Murder Mysteries, that certainly floats my boat! I can see myself in twenty years time, the beloved writer nearly fifteen mysteries in the ‘At Talloola’ Series with sleuth, Meredith Webster. I’ll be 76 then, and still working my way through my list of book titles, and I hope giving talks and workshops all around Australia, an internationally too. Haha, you gotta have a dream cos if you don’t have a dream, how’re gonna have your dream come true. (clumsily plagarised lined from that movie, you know the one)

Anyway, by then, Meredith will be living with her adviser in police matters, Travis, who by then will be the Mayor of Talloola, and Meredith will still be coordinating the town of Talloola, but as a retired lady of leisure … as well as still doing her samateur sluthing thing …

So that’s my career as a writer sorted out, and Meredith’s career as a fictional amateur sleuth sorted out too. There will be lots of things going on in my life and hers, “At Talloola”!