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It’s here!

IMG_0595It’s here! 2013. Where did the last year go? At last my countdown to March has made it to ‘weeks’. (No more, ‘next year’. My book is out THIS year.)

That’s right.

In about six weeks from now House for all Seasons will have been printed, packaged and posted off to bookshops** all over Australia and New Zealand. (**bookshop: (noun) – a place where books are sold.)

In eight weeks from now (the official release date of March 1) I will be sitting where I am right now – at my computer, hitting the F5 refresh button and waiting for… I don’t know what I will be waiting for actually. It’s all a bit weird still.

March 1 for me will also will be an early one. I intend celebrating the same way I celebrated the New Year today – at Sawtell Headland, watching the sun rise on a new phase in my life (my life as a ridgey didge published author. My ultimate, never-thought-it-would-ever-happen dream).

Which leads me to my New Years resolution – keep dreaming – and to my plan to inspire others, as part of the Writing Novels in Australia program. Each month during 2013 I will be a guest blogger, sharing my thoughts and experiences as an emerging author.

I’m especially keen to inspire those who think they’ve left it too late to dream. My advice:

Dare to dream.

It’s never too late.

Extraordinary things do happen to ordinary people.

I hope you’ll join me. http://writingnovelsinaustralia.com/

(** Of course I jest. We all know what bookshops are. But I fear we need to treat them like we treat all endangered species so they don’t disappear and become a thing of the past. Perhaps make your new year’s resolution to support yourlocal bookshop a little more than you do already (as well as embracing technology.) In other words… Share the lurve a little.

 

 

 

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Seasons of Change

 

I love the seasons – the sights, the smells, the sounds. I love the birds, the flowers, the foliage. (Just now, I’ve come inside from picking strawberries in a summer rain shower – try it!)

I’ve loved watching the changing seasons this past tweleve months (which has been an interesting, emotional, learning, growing year for me as a writer) hence the pics (above) – a favourite tree of mine because of the way it changes.

Even more inspiring are the emotions each season stirs. I guess that’s why I’m drawn to include the seasons in my stories.

In House For All Seasons, four women as different as the four seasons shed more than their city skins when they reconnect with their country roots.

In The Simmering Season, it’s summer storm season and the NSW country town of Calingarry Crossing is sweltering. As emotions bubble away, and a school reunion brings home more than just memories, you’ll discover there’s no keep a lid on some secrets.

I’m about to throw myself into book three, Season of Shadow and Light.  With a title like that, I can’t wait to see where it takes me. (Although one thing I know for sure is, it will take me home to the country 😉