Distractions at Distractions Espresso

Distractions Espresso, Southport.

It's happened...a broken toe! Of all the times I've hit my toes on a bed leg, corner of the wall or chair leg, I have never broken a toe ... until now. I really whacked it this time.

I can be a bit clumsy sometimes. Mainly because I don't always watch where I'm going because I'm caught up in my creative world with all my characters chatting to each other. I can't resist getting in on the action with them. They are usually acting out my story ahead of time and they are unaware of me having a life.  You don't need to be writing a book to whack your toe against the chair leg though. I was clearing the breakfast table when it happened. I yelled and said a couple of words under my breath that will remain unpublished and I shed a few tears. Yes, tears!

It hurt a lot, but I was in denial. My son was staying with me at the time and we were anxious to go out for a coffee at Distractions Espresso in Southport. Great coffee, by the way. I thought it might distract me from my hurting toe. It did!

By the end of the week though it was really painful. My son had returned overseas so there were no more distractions for me. Being sad to be on my own again my thoughts returned to the niggling ache on my left foot. A friend said I really should go and see about it. I did and the result was a broken toe. It is now bound up next to my little toe with a supporting strip of  bandage tape. The doctor told me it's the only way it can be treated. I'm glad because I though I was going to have to wear one of those moon boots.

This little event has taught me a few things:

1.  Slow down when I'm clearing the dishes, or better still, have someone do them for me.

2. Distractions, such as coffee at Distractions Espresso, are definitely good when one has an aching foot.

3.  Take the time to let the toe heal. That means sitting back with the foot up from time to time eating a bit of something sweet, like chocolate.

4.  Too much chocolate is bound to put on weight because I'm not walking my regular 6 ks. per day. When I can walk again, it's going to be agony in a different way.

5.  Waiting three weeks for the pain to settle so that I can do the walk is really, really annoying. I can read great books though, like Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.

6.  I promise my feet I will slow down around all things that are traps for authors who think they live in a world where chair legs don't matter.

Ah, almost three weeks down ... three to go.

Have you ever had a broken toe? I'd like to hear your story and any handy hints that you might have to keep me out of trouble while I'm resting.

Banished to Antarctica

It's been a while since I posted and prior to that my posts have been spasmodic. The reason for this is that I have been on an amazing journey into my writing self. I liken it to being banished to Antarctica. I allowed my writing critic, Drakar, to have control of my head and he did some serious damage to my writing confidence that resulted in me thinking every word I tapped out on the keyboard or scribbled on a page meant nothing. From time to time, every writer has doubts about their work and how it will be received by readers. My doubts overwhelmed me paralysing my writing so that for a long time I couldn't think words at all.

Believing my writing days were over I went back to the accounting world. For the past almost eighteen months I've slogged through the numbers believing I had to hang up my letters and pursue that career and make it into something I would be satisfied with. What I learned was that it was safe and secure with a regular income coming in to pay the bills. What I wasn't prepared for was the war raging within me. The letters and numbers beat against each other creating a potent cauldron of insecurity that left me beaten and confused, alienated and alone, and badly in need of some direction. I let the battle rage believing it would fight itself out and there would be an eventual winner and I would be stronger for the experience.

Anger at the indecision raging within was my constant companion and this affected my relationships to the point of me staying away from family as much as possible and shutting down many of my friendships and terminating friendships before they got started. I was hurting a lot of people and myself. I withdrew from all social contact except the little (my own choice) I received in the work environment and a neighbour who showered me with unconditional love. These shaky relationships is what brought me through the battle and helped me understand my number days are over and I have a clear winner - words!

I am grateful for Kim and my colleagues at Your Wealth Corporation.

This week has started with a new-found confidence in my writing seeing me polish off my manuscript, Dusty, (working title) that I've been working on for two years. It is different to my other books and so needs to go to a different publisher. I wait impatiently for the verdict and while I wait, I place my fingers on the keyboard and work on the long awaited Mr Bojangles (working title), sequel to African Hearts. This story has been in the pressure cooker since African Hearts was finished. It is well-cooked and ready to come out of the oven, so I anticipate it will be written with nimble fingers flying across the keyboard requiring stops only for refuelling and other bodily comforts until the story is out.

This writer's life.

Drakar, meanwhile ... heh, heh ... I'm pleased to say has been sent on a holiday to the lovely Antarctica where he will be for the duration of this summer and hopefully lost in an unseasonal blizzard. As for the numbers, they continue to be, but not with me. They are left in the hands of young vibrant people who want to make a difference to the bottom line of businesses and help them achieve their goals while at the same time working toward their own dreams.

As Mr Bojangles unfolds, I'll keep you posted...

The Long Road to Reading and Arithmetic

Pyjama Angels...changing young people's lives.

Hello, I'm a Pyjama Angel. I want to tell you about The Pyjama Foundation and the fabulous work it does with foster children.

This is an official poster of The Pyjama Foundation. The purpose is to raise awareness of the difficulties experienced by foster children and how this impacts their learning. This Sunday, 24th March, The Pyjama Foundation is conducting its major fund raising event for the year in Queensland with The Long Road event. This event involves non-competitive walk events throughout Queensland and Sydney. If you want to be part of this worthwhile event register here today: http://thepyjamafoundation.com/downloads/reg-long-road-home.pdf

It's going to be a fun event. I'll be attending the Gold Coast event bright and early on Sunday morning walking and chatting with other participants.

The Pyjama Foundation assists children in foster/statutory care. These children often come from traumatic backgrounds and have a hard time trying to understand and where they fit in the world. The Pyjama Foundation has started a literacy and numeracy program for the children. For one hour per week, a Pyjama Angel visits the child to help them with reading and/or their arithmetic. Apart from being a mother, it is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Every week I sit with my special child and I help them with their reading. There is much sharing about our day and what we are interested in, and then we read and play games or make up our own wacky stories. To share with a young mind is beneficial to their and my own creativity and it's my way of giving back to my community. These children desperately need to be able to read and understand basic numeracy, like every other child, but it is their circumstances that make this road more diffcult for them.

If you don't have the time to walk this Sunday, perhaps you would like to help this organisation achieve their financial goals by giving a donation. Thank you. These children need these basic skills to ensure they have a future.

Good Writing Habits

Book signing...Web of lies

I've often been asked by many aspiring writers about my writing habits. It's as if by finding out about my daily writing routine they will be validated in some way regarding their own habits. If they're not yet published it's as if they try my routine then they will surely be published.

Every author has a different routine. Some write in the early hours of the morning before they go to their day job. Some work into the long dark hours after a full eight hour day or more. Another snatches bits of time when the baby is asleep (this was me when my son was young). Others write during their lunch hour, while waiting in the doctor's surgery, or sitting on the bus or train on their daily commute. I know of one successful author who only wrote on the weekends because she was a busy teacher all week.

It's the flexibility and freedom of writing that attracted me to this work. I am definitely not a nine to five worker. When I was in the workforce in my other life, working that nine to five shift, I felt I was in gaol for the whole eight hours. For most of that time I was stuck in a work area where I couldn't see the outside world. When I started writing full time I made sure there was light and the natural world around me. For variety, I go to the beach or a park or outdoor coffee shop to write. It's good for my health and it fills my creative well; double benefit.

As to my current routine, I write every day without fail. Week days, eight hours or more, while weekends for only a couple of hours per day. I believe it's important to keep the writing habit moving. I have this fear that if I miss a day, I may never get back to it. However, every year, I stop writing mid-December and don't come back until about mid-January. I may make some random notes, but that's all. This is my down time. Summer makes me come alive. It's my time to bask in the hot sun for a few minutes then take a cool refreshing swim in the surf. It's time to absorb the world around me into my heart and spirit and let nature take hold of me for those weeks. It's also a time to meet new people and make new friends whom I like to connect with in the year ahead.

Writing is my life, and  the more I write I'm finding out more about myself and how I relate to this wonderful planet we live on. Ideas are limitless, they are everywhere I go. As to that writing habit: I just do what feels right for me. I expect you will do what works for you.

Happy writing!

How about you? Do you have regular writing habits or do you have to squeeze time to write out of your busy day?

Jigsaw Puzzles and Writing

A Christian Riese Lassen Puzzle

Did you know there's a lot of similarities between doing a jigsaw puzzle and writing a book?

Several years ago, I completed a jigsaw puzzle of an orchestra. It was all musical instruments, bald heads and red noses. It was a challenge and it was fun. I worked the jigsaw to keep my mind quiet and focused during an extremely busy time in my life. Putting all the pieces together helped in reducing stress when I felt my life was out of control.

I also found the shapes, splashes of colour and the slotting together of all those shapes and colours aided my creativity as I planned my manuscript. Ideas for my work come to me at different times and places. I jot them down on loose pieces of paper or in my trusty notebook with its worn, grubby edges. When I'm ready to start a new writing project, I have my puzzle pieces to hand, ie., the research content, characters, plot ideas, and setting. I sort and swap, change and rearrange all these elements together to make the plot of my new novel. I approach my jigsaws in the same way. I paddle my fingers through all the pieces, searching for all the straight edges and when that outline is finished, I start filling in the middle.

While I'm writing and puzzling, I have my earphones on and listen to my favourite musician, James Andrew Black. These two activities keep me focused and in the world I've created until the work is done. An added bonus is being able to rest the eyes on colour and shape, which is a great relief after looking at black and white text for extended periods.

Recently, I understood why the travelling around Australia exercise sabotaged my writing. I had no jigsaw puzzle time while writing Web of Lies and this project took much longer than I'd planned. Now, I'm one hundred percent focused on my new novel, Broken Dreams, working title. My new jigsaw, of two swimming dolphins, a Christian Riese Lassen puzzle, is laid out on my dining room table, ready for me to place random pieces whenever I get up and walk around to release the tension in my shoulders from hunching over the keyboard. By the time I finish writing my first draft, the puzzle is done, too. It's also a great visual tool to monitor the progress on my novel, as the puzzle comes together so does my manuscript.

How about you, do you have an activity you do while you're writing or performing your work?