Archive for the 'Authors' Category

My life is a work in progress

1 Comment »14th July, 2015; Category: Authors, Blogging, Christian, The Writer's Life, Writing prompts

It has been a while since I last posted an article here.

Sorry if you have missed me.

Under construction:

I have just realised that my life is a work in progress. Well, to be truthful, I’ve probably known that for a long time, but I wasn’t really going to admit it. Not at my age anyway. It takes me back to the days in the 1980s when our church put on a production of “Kids Under Construction.” The whole premise of the story was that, no matter what age we were, God is not finished with us yet. We all have some constructing to undergo. None of can say with authority that we’ve arrived!

Hair? What hair?

In the play I took the role of a grandfather. My hair was more copious than today as was my luxuriant beard (which I don’t bother to grow these days). Both were sprayed grey – almost silver – and when I came on stage looking all of 40 years older than my real age, my poor wife nearly collapsed in shock! Now my hair – or what is left of it – is growing progressively greyer and thinner. (My 6yo grandson loves to call me “baldy”. Cheeky boy.)

Work in Progress

We could indeed say that our lives are a work in progress. Writers also talk about their current “work in progress” (WIP) when referring to their current writing project. I often have several projects on the go at once which causes a few problems. More than a few. I often jump from one to the other. When other responsibilities also jump into the ring, I find myself juggling many balls at once. In no time at all my life looks like a three-ring circus with multiple things happening all the same time.

Get the picture?

It’s not pretty. Send in the clowns. There have to be clowns.

But there is some good news – and the inevitable bad news.

Good news

I have been working on the following projects:

Posting more regularly on my Trevor’s Birding site (click here). This site is all about one of my passions – observing and photographing Australian birds. It has become an obsessive hobby.
Posting more regularly on the Trevor’s Travels site (click here). This site is about another of my passions: travel. I write about and show photos of my travels here in Australia, as well as trips overseas to Thailand, Nepal, Morocco, Ethiopia and Spain. More are in the planning stages.
Posting more regularly here on this site, including more short stories, more poems, more articles about writing, more reviews of what I am reading, and more articles on a whole range of topics.
Publishing here on this site more writing prompts and short story starters.
Preparing stories and poems for submission to various journals, magazines and competitions.

Even better news

I am about to launch into eBooks, So many of the manuscripts resting peacefully in my computer memory will be getting a nasty shock. They will be sent out into the wild, wild world to fend for themselves under the glare of critical readers and lovely people everywhere.
Be kind to them. Love them – or hate them, they are coming. You have been warned.

Now the bad news

All of this will take time.
And effort.
You may need to be patient with me.
Some noise may escape from the construction site.
Sometime – I haven’t the faintest idea where I will find the time – I will begin work on several new major novels which have been simmering away on the back… no, that’s wrong. I haven’t even switched on the cooker yet. [Sigh]

Good writing.

Trevor

Book launch

No Comments »2nd July, 2014; Category: Authors, Books, Events

Rosanne Hawkes’ latest book for younger readers Kelsey and the Quest of the Porcelain Doll will be launched tomorrow by best selling author Katrina Germein.

4:30 pm Thursday July 3rd
Tabor Adelaide
181 Goodwood Road, Millswood, Adelaide
To RSVP: phone 08 8373 8777

Review: Through my eyes: Shahana

3 Comments »13th April, 2014; Category: Authors, Fiction, Master of Arts course, Novels

Shahana: Through my Eyes

“Shahana” by Rosanne Hawke is the first in a series of novels set in war zones as told through the eyes of a young person. This story is set on the Pakistani-Indian border. The author spent some time in Pakistan as an aid worker, her experiences there bring a realistic authenticity to a well crafted and exciting story. In an historic postscript to the novel, Hawke explains that the conflict over sovereignty of Kashmir is the longest existing war anywhere, having commenced in 1947. As is common to most war zones, it is the children who suffer the most.

The protagonist Shahana is an orphan, living alone with her younger brother within a short walk of the Line of Control patrolled constantly by Pakistani and Indian soldiers. Being orphans, Shahana supports her fractured family by creating exquisite embroidery, her only means of financial survival.

When Shahana rescues unconscious Zahid near the border, she is thrown into a dangerous dilemma. She can’t leave him to die, but to shelter him in their humble home brings her and her brother an even great risk. To alert the authorities would bring Zahid certain imprisonment or even death. To further complicate Shahana’s life, her brother Tanveer is taken captive and into virtual slavery under the “care” of the man to whom she sells her embroidery, a man who would do anything to marry her despite the big difference in their ages.

This is a fast moving, exciting, page-turning novel with many twists in the plot. The author has drawn a range of believable characters caught in a dangerous, life-threatening situation. Life in Pakistan today is shown with all its terrible dangers and stark beauty. Highly recommended.

“Shahana” is published by Allen & Unwin.

Teachers’ notes and an interview with the author can be found here.

My next review in two days time will be of the second in this series, “Naveed” set in Afghanistan.

Disclosure: Rosanne Hawke was my supervising lecturer during the writing of my thesis novel for my Master of Arts Creative Writing degree and remains a close friend and former colleague.

Don’t be discouraged by rejection

1 Comment »24th August, 2013; Category: Authors, Books, Novels, Poetry, The Writer's Life

Like all writers, I’ve had my fair share of rejections.

Not every editor will love every piece of writing you submit, whether that is a novel, non-fiction article, poem or short story. It goes with the territory. Rejection is a fact of the writer’s life. It’s a lesson the new writer needs to learn quickly. Accept it, get over it, submit the piece of writing elsewhere and get on with the latest work in progress.

Persistence will pay off in the long run.

My attention was recently drawn recently to the following article: 9 Famous Authors Rejected by Publishers. Click on the link and have a read; some of these famous writers who were initially rejected might surprise you. In fact, one of them, C.S. Lewis, was rejected 800 times before seeing anything in print. He persisted and now has over 100 million books in print, not to mention the film and television adaptations of his works.

Good writing – and don’t give up.

Book Awards time

No Comments »18th August, 2013; Category: Authors, Awards, Books, Events, Writers, Writing for Children

This last week has seen the announcement of our two biggest awards for writers here in Australia.

The most prestigious of our awards is the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards announced last Thursday. You can read all about the books here.

Probably of more interest to me, however, were the Children’s Book of the Year Awards for our best children’s books. We have arguably some of the very best writers for children anywhere in the world. You can see the list of winners in each of the categories here. This award has been run by the Children’s Book Council of Australia for many decades. The list of winners is a Who’s Who of children’s writers in Australia.