Authentic living

Live authentically and feel the difference.

Will the real you, please stand up.

I woke up this morning thinking about being authentic. For me, being authentic means trusting the voice inside of me and being confident to follow the guidance I receive. As a fiction writer, I have voices going around in my head all the time, and sometimes it is difficult to discern the voice of authority that I should follow. I'm sure you have these voices inside you, too.

I admire young people who listen to their own voice. Some have taken up the call to travel overseas living a nomadic lifestyle so that they can learn about the world and themselves. This is authenticity. They are willing to take a risk following their desires and dreams to see where it will lead them.

Are you trying to be someone you aren't? Not everyone is meant to be a doctor, a plant operator, an accountant, digital nomad, a research scientist, or doing one of a thousand other jobs available in the world. Basically, our profession is dependent on our personality style, our dreams, our natural abilities, and skills that we have learned in life so far.

I used to be an accountant, but working with numbers never quite resonated with me. However, it served me well until a rumbling started inside of me and it grew until it affected every part of my life, including my personal and work relationships. Eventually, unable to stand the discontent any more, I got the courage to really listen to the voice inside of me.

The thing that was holding me back was me! I was insecure about my abilities. After much discussion with my authentic voice, I found my passion is to write and to encourage others on their life's journey. Making the change wasn't easy. That's the subject of another post. I am now living in my authentic self, and every day, my writer's shirt is getting to be a better fit. A force much bigger than I will ever be is at work in me helping me understand who I am and how to wear that writer's shirt.

Your rumbling could also take the form of a romantic relationship that isn't working; a work colleague and you having differences; or the production line you go to every day is driving you crazy with its same old, same old and you can't see anything different in the foreseeable future if you stay there.

Listen to the disquiet inside of you. Your higher source is telling you to move on, to be truthful to yourself and your life's calling. Don't be afraid of change. Do something to make the change you crave so that you can be yourself and not live that lie any longer.

In my latest novel due for release on 3 April 2016, Kate's Choice, Kate is unsettled in her life with Dusty. When she was nineteen she made a choice from her ego, not her authentic self. Eleven years later, she is paying the price for not being true to herself. She's unhappy and wants her life to change. For Kate, fate steps in and her life takes a major turn. 

Unfortunately, in real life, we sometimes have to take fate into our own hands to change our lives. Are you courageous enough to take charge of your life to be your authentic and creative self, so that you can get the contentment and happiness you crave?

Make a conscious effort to work toward your authentic self today and point yourself to a life that is true for you. You may not want to be a writer, but there is an idea smoldering in you that needs to be set on fire. Identify your calling, be brave and go for it with all that you are. Let me know in the comments below what your passion is. I love to hear from you and help you take hold of that authentic dream.

Celebrating Christmas

Kate's Choice

Christmas is here in less than two days. Every year I think about where I've been during the year and where I might be headed in the coming year. I prefer to leave my goal planning for after Christmas though when all the reminiscing about the past year has settled down with family and friends. The Christmas celebration for me is the culmination of the year's activity and time to unwind and let it go.

As an ex-army spouse, Christmas was usually associated with posting time. We would pack up our home early in December and our belongings would be sent to our new posting and then into storage while we waited for our new home. So Christmas was usually spent with extended family or friends while we travelled to our new location. That's army life.

When my then husband left the service we celebrated Christmas at home. It was a lot of fun preparing by baking, buying presents and decorating the tree with my son. We had my sister and her family over for Christmas Day and had a great time reminiscing about the year behind us. Somehow, we never wanted to talk about the year ahead and that is probably why I don't think about the coming year until after Christmas. In the army days there was always the settling in to our new home to be done and learning as much as we could about our new location.

After eleven years of marriage, my characters in Kate's Choice, Kate and Dusty understand the stress separation puts on a marriage and how living away from family can leave a hole deep inside that feels as though it will never be filled. It can be especially difficult at this time of year when the soldiers are serving overseas. My first wedding anniversary and Christmas was spent alone in Brisbane. It was the first year I lived in the city and I found it difficult to make friends. I had to change a few things about myself in order for me to meet new people. I joined as many interest groups as I could and this helped immensely. From then every time we were posted, joining interest groups and looking for work were my priorities.

Kate and Dusty's Christmas after Dusty came back from Afghanistan was difficult. Both had much to deal with personally, and in their relationships. This is the fallout of army life and it puts so much strain on a marriage. If you are with a service family this year extend patience and grace toward them. If they exhibit unpleasant behaviour, it is because there is something deep inside them that they are battling and are not sure how to deal with it. Emotionally they could be fragile. Take the time to listen to them and hear what they are saying. They could be calling out for help. I have been in the pressure cooker and said and done things I wished I hadn't. It was a call for help that those around me understood and I am so glad they practised forgiveness toward me to help me get through that difficult time.

We all make mistakes. Sometimes all we need is a listening ear. Take the time and you might just make a friend or save a life.

Have a wonderful Christmas break wherever you are and whatever you are doing. See you the other side of Christmas. By the way, if you haven't already liked my Facebook page, click here: https://www.facebook.com/authorLauraOConnell/

Merry Christmas!

Growing Macadamias

Kate's Choice  takes place in Germany, Townsville and on an experimental macadamia nut farm at Giru about an hour's drive south of Townsville. During my research this is what I found out about macadamia nuts.

Green and ripened macadamia nuts.

Macadamia nuts are an Australian native. They love to grow in a subtropical climate and flourish when temperatures are between 20 and 25 degrees celsius.

The trees present with shiny dark leaves and grow to a height of 12 to 15 metres. Flowering happens in early spring and nuts begin to form in early December maturing to a well-formed nut by early March. The nuts are encased in a green crust which splits open when the nuts are ready for harvesting. This splitting enables the kernel inside the brown woody shell to dry and separate from the hard shell. Hitting the  hard shell with a hammer to open it will reward you with that delicious smooth nut that has a buttery flavour.

Kate's father, Dominic, feeling the effects of drought felt he needed to diversify his farming, so he sold most of his cattle and planted macadamia nuts as an experiment. 

Giru's temperature is a little too warm and the rainfall can be unreliable for growing macadamias but he wanted to try with the help of trickle irrigation. He planted the small saplings and some of them perished in the heat while the stronger ones held on. With time the trees adapted and grew but not to the height of those that grow in south east Queensland. The leaves didn't have the same depth of green, but he got a crop. He persevered and over the years he planted up to 2,000 trees. Alex, Dusty's brother, is a research scientist. He worked with Dominic to help him through the highs and lows of the experiment to achieve his desired result. 

Whether to take up the challenge to diversify and what new crop to plant has to be one of the most difficult decisions to make in farming. Farmers are on a huge learning curve as they come to understand the life cycle of a new crop and its needs to thrive and whether it can become a viable business venture. The amount of time a new tree crop like Macadamia nuts takes to bear is also another factor. Dominic was willing to take the risk and with Alex's help was able to create a new source of income from his land.

Are you willing to take a risk on a new project and see it through to the end no matter the challenges?

I Love Macadamia Nuts

Macadamia orchard

I love macadamias. Their buttery flavour and soft crunchy texture are hard to resist. When I was a child we had a macadamia tree in the back yard near the chicken coop. I was always happy to see the sweet-smelling white blossoms form in early spring. I waited patiently as the bees came to collect the nectar and then in December I became excited as the first nutlets formed on the tree.

Every day I fed the chickens watching the nutlets grow bigger until they were round nuts quivering in the breeze until about March when they were too heavy to hold on and fell to the ground.

Sometimes the husk cracked while the nut was on the tree, most times though the husk cracked after they had fallen to the ground. Beneath that plump crust was the woody shell that protected the delicious kernel inside. Sometimes, when I had been feeling impatient, I peeled off the green husk then I cracked the nut with a hammer. Much to my disappointment, the flesh hadn't dried sufficiently so it was stuck to the shell and I would have to dig it out of the shell. It just wasn't the same as putting the full flesh into my mouth. When I was patient and waited for the husk to fall off which is important for the drying of the kernel, I'd be rewarded with a delicious round easy to remove kernel just right for eating.

It's easy to get impatient waiting for a macadamia to dry, but it is really worth the wait. When I was young there were few macadamia farms. Now they are grown in northern New South Wales and south east Queensland and further north to Bundaberg.

My new novel, Kate's Choice, due for release on 4 April 2016 is set on an experimental macadamia farm at Giru, south of Towsville. One of the main characters, Alex Mitchell is a research scientist. He is keen to continue Kate's father's work of developing an experimental macadamia orchard. Kate's father planted the trees ten years earlier and they are just beginning to yield enough nuts so that they can make a living. When Kate's father dies, Alex is keen to continue his work on the farm helping Kate while her husband, Alex's brother, Dusty struggles with PTSD.

Macadamias are a delicious versatile food that can be prepared to make savoury or sweet dishes. As Christmas is only eighteen days away, I am looking for ways to serve this delicious nut this summer. Watch this space and my Facebook page for some recipe ideas. They are extra delicious when coated with chocolate. You get double the buttery taste.

How about you, have you had an opportunity to munch on this delicious treat?  

New Release - Kate's Choice

My latest novel has taken a while to come. A lot has happened in my life including a lot of words written since Web of Lies on future projects including Kate's Choice and the sequel to African Hearts. I am really excited about the future of electronic publishing and where it may take me. 

What I particularly like about e-publishing is that it allows me to experiment outside the norms of genre publishing enabling me to offer my readers something that is different to entertain and wow them.

I have studied editing to help me get this one woman show off the ground allowing me greater flexibility in the writing, editing and publishing process. I have a wonderful marketing lady, Leanne on team who knows so much more than I ever will about marketing. She is definitely an asset to this author's business.

My new book, Kate's Choice, went up for pre-order yesterday on Smashwords and will be released on 3 April 2016. If you pre-order you will receive a discount and a free book if you sign up for my newsletter.

Kate believes life is all about making choices. All she ever wanted was a loving husband who comes home every night, a family, and time to paint. When she gets her much desired wish, Dusty is broken physically, mentally and spiritually. She dreams of a life that might have been. Fate steps in. Can she trust herself to make the right choice for the sake of her husband and her family?