Hey Dreamers, I’ve been working on a short story collection lately and I really wanted to share with you a little of my process so far. It has been a major goal for me this year to gather all my short stories together into a cohesive collection for publication. I spent the first few months …
Why I Wish I liked Annihilation
I watched Annihilation the other night. Horror/thrillers where the cast gets picked off one by one until only the protagonist is left standing is not usually my jam but I really wanted to like this one. I wanted to like it because the core cast was entirely female in a genre and narrative structure that …
Making Money From Writing
2015 was the first year I made any money from writing. I made $15. It was for my short story 'A Girl and her Dog' in SQ Magazine and I was stoked. In 2016 I made $151.06. That's more than 100 times growth. I also won a short story competition and an iPad mini. In …
Are you a young writer? What it’s like getting old.
Last month I turned 29. According to many grants, competitions, festivals and publications, that makes this my last, official year of being a young writer. Loosing this label is a little disheartening, panic-inducing some might say. It’s as if the clock hands have been suddenly wound forward. I know it’s not true. There’s no definitive …
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Showing Hearts has been published!
Two weeks ago Volume 18 of FIVE:2:ONE hit the stands with my name on the contents page. It was a long slog from acceptance (mid last year) to publication but it was worth it to see me name in an honest to goodness Amazon listing. The story, ‘Showing Hearts’ is about a pair of ex-lovers. …
How to Use Writing Prompts to Keep Writing
I always associated writing prompts with getting started. Used to spark new ideas or stories. What I didn’t realise was that prompts can be used at any stage of the writing process (and at any skill level). Natasha Lester’s post on how she uses writing prompts really helped with this realisation. So, while some prompts …
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Can you only have one creative passion?
Can you only have one creative passion? If you’re a writer can you be a painter too? Can you be a musician and a sculptor? Yes, of course you can. Now that was a short post, perhaps I should go into more detail. For a very long time now I have identified as a …
Simple Pleasures: Reading at the Beach
When I go to the beach I pack a towel, sunscreen, a water bottle and a book. While I love to lounge in the sun and go for a swim, the greatest pleasure I find in going to the beach is reading. The two things are intrinsically linked in my mind. I grew up an …
NaNoWriMo 2017: Day 30
It's over. NaNoWriMo has come to a close yet again. Some of us have novels now. Some. like me, gave up super early. Either way I'm sure we all learnt something in the process. I stepped back, reassessed my goals and had some other wins as well. Which brings me to yesterday, and how I …
NaNoWriMo 2017: Day 29
Not long now. How has everyone gone with their novels? Better than me I hope. Day 29 saw me return to work after four days off while my mum was in town. As such I did very little other than that. I did read some of Winnie the Pooh and downloaded a short story collection …