Tag: Covid

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As A Writer, I Have To Prioritise As Well

carolyncordon

I also have to realise I don’t have to do everything right now, I can plan them, and do some now, other things later. After thinking about this for a week or so, I’ve made a plan and a decision. This is it:

The next anthology I was going to get working on to launch later this year, will now happen toward the end of this year, with a possible launch in 2023.

Covid is a killer, and thousands of people are being affected every moment, with sickness and death, and then the terrible grieving that comes after. So the time to let this theme go, and move on to the next one, is clearly not here, not yet.

I wrote a blog post about this new anthology, and while it is still in the back of my mind. there are other things in my mind as well, further forward in the front of my mind, that will happen before the anthology. The subject of my first anthology I edited, the one titled “Plague Invasion” is still in the news , and it doesn’t feel the time to move away from that subject, when it is still so incredibly relevent to us all.

And I have other things happening with my writing and connected activities, even in this Covid restricted world. A poetry collection to come out in a five more months, the event to launch it, with guest writer/poet events with my writing group to be presented (if Covid allows it), at our usual venue – the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler, in the months before m own personal event put on by our writing group.

I am one of the two organisers for these wonderful events at the Prince Albert hotel, and have to admit, I’ve been missing being there in recent times, because our writing group has been meeting online instead of in person, because of you know what, yes Covid …

And I don’t want to sound too much like I stuck on a theme in exclusion of everything else, but the monthly events our writing group puts on, are all reliant on us being able to meet in person, safely … I was at the hotel today, celebrating my wedding anniversary with my husband, actually, and took the opportunity to check out the areas where we usually hold our events.

And from what I saw, I can’t say for sure that it seemed likely that we’d be able to hold the Gawler Poets at the Pub events there, not just yet … having to keep socially distanced is a thing we have to do, in the interests of the safety of all. But sitting that far away means difficulties for all, and the need to wear a mask unless eating and drinking is another ‘issue’.

So thinking about whether we’re going to be able to hold these events, and whether our writing group are going to be able to meet up for real again soon, these are in my mind as well. And of course, there is the novel I’m writing, bit by tiny bit … I want to work a lot more on that for sure. I think a full day just doing that would be a great thing, but when …

The one thing I do, regarding writing is the monthly newsletter I edit, and that must be ready, and sent off to be printed by a certain day, to be printed and distributed before the end of the month, every month … The January issue is on it’s way, but not ready yet, so I’ know what I’ll be doing tomorrow – the chronicle, not my novel, or any work on an anthology that isn’t going to be released until next year …

Writing that down, shows me I have a plan, and I can stick with it, doing my homework, and the writing exercises with the writing group, at the proper time. Working on the newsletter in the moments that become available, and waiting until my poetry collection is ready to launch in May. Fingers crossed to it being OK to meet up for book launches again by then.

I’m triple vaccinated, and I hope most other people are as well, so we can all safely gather together, and even give hugs to people! Won’t that be a glorious thing? I’d love to prioritise a time for that to happen!

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Poetry as a Public Service …

carolyncordon

As I wrote in this post on Medium, getting vaccinated is the way we can all get together again, once enough of us get our vaccination against Covid.

I know some people don’t want to get this ‘jab’, and others aren’t able to get it for health reasons, but I truly believe it is the most sensible way to keep on in the face of a dangerous virus.

The statistics are there, the case numbers are rising in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, most of those who die were unvaccinated … It is a compelling fact.

Get vaccinated. Even though you may still catch Covid, you will be far less likely to die from it, and the effects won’t be as bad as it could be without any vaccination. Even the first needle can help, but full vaccination is the best.

So friends, please get vaccinated, for your own sake, for those you love, and for your greater community.

The name of the poem in the link is simply Covid Can Kill. Read it, share it, comment on it, spread the word. It may save a life. Stay safe, friends, please …

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One Book Launched, What Comes Next?

carolyncordon

I’m thrilled to say the launch of my most recent book, “Plague Invasion” was a success, with many copies of the book finding new homes, and many more to post to their new homes iin the following week or so.

Self-publishing a book needs so much more than just asking for submissions, putting them together, and then have a launch to give a copy of the contributors present, and actually sell some of the books.

So I’ve done that part now, and as I indicated, it was a successful day, with the money taken bringing me closer to breaking even, if I don’t factor in the time this project has taken, and other related costs. I’m enjoying what I’ve been doing, and so am happy to cover some costs.

And one of the costs is to send out books that have been ordered. I have postal addresses, so today I’ll be putting together the books to post, in Australia and beyond.

But I’ve already begun work on the next Covid-related book. Someone (I can’t remember who) gave me the idea for the title, and I’ve already begun a file on my laptop, with some contributions that didn’t get into this first book.

The second book has the working title of “Are We There Yet?” or possibly the slightly longer title of ‘Are We There Yet? Yeah, Nah …” This second, longer title will, I hope, lend a satirical tone to the project, and assist in bringing in a diverse range of creative writing responses.

I plan on this new anthology being ready to launch at about this time next year, hopefully during the Gawler and Adelaide Plains Festival of Words 2022. So I am in the middle of getting all of these copies of Plague Invasion out, but I am also looking to the next book.

Am I mad? Or am I just enjoying myself with this so much, I don’t want the fun to end?! Maybe a bit of both. But if I can do this without sending myself broke, and give some previously unpublished writers the chance to have their work in a book, without getting ripped off, I’m more than happy to do that!

I have a sponsor (my mother), who I acknowledged in Plague Invasion, and she is one of those people who had their written work published in a book for the first time, and she read the short story she wrote at the book launch, a very prooud moment for her, and for me as well!

My Mum is great! I don’t know whether she will get hooked on this writing thing, and want to be in the next book, but if she does write something, I will certainly consider it, as I did for the works published in Plague Invasion.

The book, what will the cover for the next book look like?

I was stunned at the perfection of this book cover, and can hardly wait to see what may happen for the next book. I’ll have to wait and see what works may come in, once I’ve put the call out. Not yet, I need a rest! Patrick Millikan, the young man who created the from cover image has done fine work with this one, that’s for sure!

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Lockdown, Stay At Home, Don’t Touch!

carolyncordon

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

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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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Getting New Book ‘Out There’

carolyncordon

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:

Book launch details, and book cover.

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!