Inspiration for Web of Lies

Web of lies

I believe all writing is inspired by experiences in our lives. Certainly, African Hearts and my soon to be released, Web of Lies have been inspired by my life experiences.

The countdown for Web of Lies is on. Thirty-one days to release date on 1st December in bookstores and on Amazon. This novel was inspired by my teenage years when I began to think more about my world, the people in it, and why they do the things they do.

In the late sixties and seventies, I lived in a country town and was aware of teenage girls who suddenly left town for several months and then returned unexpectedly with no explanation for their absence. Eventually, my curious nature got the better of me and my investigations revealed that the young women had gone away to have babies which they gave up for adoption. I was horrified to think this sort of thing was happening in the town in which I lived.

Back then there was no government assistance and the responsibility had to fall back on the families. Also, unwed mothers were ostracised and often thought of as having loose morals in some country towns. The only option available to these young women who’d made a mistake was going away to have their baby and give the infant up for adoption.

I then wondered, what if some of the children secretly came back to be reared by a member of the unwed mother’s family, as in an aunt or other relative. This thought was the germ that created Web of Lies.

Through reading this novel, I hope you, my readers, will be encouraged, and realise mistakes can happen to anyone at any time. Lies can be told with good intentions to cover up mistakes, but what happens in later years when lies are revealed and the trust that has been with a family is destroyed? Can the knowledge of the truth bring a family back together so that all can be forgiven, or are the relationships destroyed forever? Read my novel to find the answers to these questions. Copies can be pre-ordered from Even Before Publishing, Amazon or from the "Books" page on this website.

My website is in the process of being upgraded and should be finalised this week. In the meantime here are the links:

http://evenbeforepublishing.com/lauraoconnell.html

http://www.amazon.com/Web-of-Lies-ebook/dp/B009LJH8A6/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1351486835&sr=8-13&keywords=web+of+lies

I'd also like to know if you've told lies trying to protect those you love. Leave me a comment.

African Hearts E-Book

African hearts e-book

I've been on a big learning curve. This is good. I'm someone who likes to learn something new every day, and if I don't, I feel I've wasted my day.

During the past few weeks, I've been preparing African Hearts for Amazon and Smashwords, including an e-book cover. I hope you like this version. As I explained in a previous blog, I have changed and re-edited this work to make the work similar but stronger. Preparing the manuscript for uploading to the internet was the hardest part and it took longer than I'd planned, but the uploading was easy. Both e-publishers have easy to follow instructions. If you're a logical thinker, it's easy. Just follow the directions.

Let me tell you about the process. I used a word .docx file which was the orginal document I wrote for this work. As I revised the work and made the necessary changes, I turned on the paragraph markings and other formatting symbols so that I could see where the extra spaces and other formatting problems were. I changed the formatting issues as I revised and ended up with a document to be uploaded that cleared Amazon and Smashwords formatting guidelines the first time. I was thrilled the uploading was so quick, but realised it was the quality of the formatting that got me through fast. I recommend when preparing your manuscript for the e-book publishers make sure you take the time to check the correct formatting.

I outsourced the cover to a cover designer. I have no skills in this area. The cover designer was very patient with me, in fact she was an angel. We worked together to-ing and fro-ing many times as we tweaked it to get exactly what I wanted. I hope you like the ebook cover here.

Now, I'm waiting to see how the sales go and from there I will decide whether I want to continue with ebook publishing or continue with traditional publishing. These are exciting times for writers. Never have there been so many options available. The most important point to remember though, is that our books have to be of a high quality with no obvious errors, otherwise our readers will be disappointed.

If you have any questions about e-publishing, leave a comment. I'd be happy to help.

The Tyranny of Belonging

African hearts

I'm preparing my first novel, African Hearts, for uploading to Amazon. As I prepared the text, I was drawn to the conversation where Kam and Gina are on Monkey Rock taking some time out to look at the elephants washing in the creek down in the valley. To this time Gina has been challenged by village life in more ways than one. She questions Kam about belonging and what it means to belong. She also challenged me when I re-read this scene. I've just returned to the Gold Coast, so I began to think about the word 'belong', and a question came into my head: Does anyone belong anywhere?

I don't know about you, but I use this word lightly in conversation, especially where the meaning of life comes up. I looked up the dictionary and realised I've used this word incorrectly for most of my life.To belong is to be possessed, as in an item to be owned by someone. No wonder I became confused whenever I thought about where I belonged.

So what words should I be using instead of 'belong'. After much thought and free writing on this subject, I've come to the conclusion that belong is not a good word when we're meaning we want to 'fit in'. We don't want to be anyone's possession, we want to be a contributing part of a group, helping others and ourselves fit in, and sharing ideas with each other.

Kam thought he wanted to work as a surgeon in that big hospital in Kampala and Gina has been confused for some time about where she fits in; back in Australia or in Gumboli? So I've come to the conclusion they're talking about their life's purpose.

Nobody can own another person, however, they can live together contributing to and sharing a lifestyle and encouraging each other on their life journey. Is this the issue that Kam and Gina were dancing around while they were up at Monkey Rock? I've changed this scene and all the other belonging issues in the e-version of African Hearts. Watch this space for the new cover and when it will be available on Amazon for download to your Kindle.

So, I'm left to ponder further: belong is a strange word, I wonder where it belongs? I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

Living In The Smog

The smog will kill you if you don't rise above it.

Sometimes life can be tough. We get caught in the daily grind of living, making decisions that affect the rest of our life. Some of the decisions are good and some send us into a spin. Usually, the decisions that send us into a spin are the ones that have been blurred by stress and not taking the time to think the situation through.

I've suffered more than my share of making myself miserable because I did something without thinking. I brought my son up encouraging him to think, think, think about everything he does and before he says it. He does it all the time, somehow I don't always heed my own advice these days. Am I too busy, too lazy, too caught up in what others might say or have I lost some of the self-confidence I've had because of life's struggles? Possibly all of these.

During the last four months I've been on a journey of self discovery. I thought I knew myself pretty well. I've always had a sense of adventure and an insatiable curiosity about others' lives. Six months ago I was given the personal papers of a woman who died last December. I glanced at the contents of the boxes knowing I would get to them sometime soon. I've just completed my third book which is under consideration with a publisher as I write.

I'm about to move house again, so it's time I looked at that box. This week I sifted through the papers and the bits and pieces and found some interesting information. However, my head is in a space where I'm not thinking clearly. The person who gave me the boxes phoned me recently to say she was closing her second hand store and would I pass on the boxes to the historical society when I finished. Yes, I would do that. Aware of my fast approaching move, I picked up the phone to see where the historical society contact lived. Can you believe she lived across the street?

Deep inside of me I had doubt about giving the boxes back, but because I'm stressed at the moment, I ignored that feeling and thought the story wasn't interesting enough. Our son is visiting this weekend. I found a phone number on a loose piece of paper. He insisted I phone knowing my head wasn't clear. The person at the other end of the phone was the deceased woman's daughter. She gave me the contact name for a person in Mackay who has researched the deceased woman's husband's family.

Extraordinary! All the pieces of this story are coming together because my son insisted I stop a moment and think about what I'm doing. I thank him for his commitment to me and my career and his own career, and for seeing things that I can't because I'm caught in the smog of life.

Are you missing opportunities because you're living in the smog?

RWA 2012 Gold Coast Conference

Diamonds are forever

It's hard to believe it's only twelve days to the Romance Writers of Australia conference. If you're an aspiring writer it's worth your while taking time out to attend one of these conferences.

Here's what you'll gain:

• You'll meet lots of other writers at different points on their journey toward publication to share your highs and lows with.
• You'll meet multi-published authors who are more than willing to share their journey to publication with you.
• There are workshops to attend to gain valuable tools for the craft of writing that will make you a better writer so that you get closer to that elusive publication.
• You can pitch your completed novel to agents who are looking for the next bestselling auhor.
• You can pitch to publishers who are keen to sign up a deal with an exciting new writer.
• Make new friends and begin to build lifelong friendships.
• Attend plenary sessions presented by top selling authors who share their experiences on the road to publication and give tips to help you on your unique adventure.
• Meet other writers with whom you can swap manuscripts for critiquing and improve your craft.
• Meet other writers and just have fun.
• Come along to the Australian Romance Readers Association book signing. Buy great books and have them signed by the author.

Unfortunately ticket sales are closed, but you can come along to the book signing at QT in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast on Friday, 17th August, 2012 at 4.30 pm.

The Diamonds Are Forever Conference is one not to be missed. See you there!