That Special Place

One of my favourite places is right here in my own backyard.

You see, I live on a small acreage property a mere 16km from a sizeable city. These green belts are few and far between these days. My husband and I live on two and a half acres of heaven amidst the hustle and bustle of city life, which we share with our three young adult children. The grounds are surrounded by large, towering native trees; paperbarks and eucalypts that possums, bird life and the occasional tree snake share with us. We enter our sanctuary through electrics gates, and it seems we can almost blot out the rest of the world, except for the constant whir of car and truck tyres along the bitumen road that snakes past out front.

To get to my backyard, I have to leave my house via the back door and whenever I step outside, I am always greeted by two ridiculously boisterous and happy Old English Sheepdogs. Since their arrival, I can't remember a time when they haven't been there to greet me. Every time the door opens, no matter what time of the day or night, they are ready to share the love, and participate in any game or activity I might have in mind, even if I don't necessarily have any of these things on my mind at the time.

Their names are Mitzi and Jelly Beanz and they certainly entertain our family with their quirky characters and amusing antics. Jelly Beanz has this habit of planting his head right between a spare pair of knees so that his shoulders sit squarely there. To match his sweet personality, it is his way really, of getting a quick 'cuddle' in before the unwilling (usually a guest) recipient pushes him aside. Our family are used to him; he's been doing this since he was a puppy, only now he is fully grown and is sometimes mistaken for being rude (usually by guests). But we know he is not. It's just his way. We're sure he finds it comforting and people-like. Well, why should the two-leggeds get all the cuddles?

To go for a walk down in my back yard, I must navigate and sometimes distract these two four-legged friends, who accompany me to the old, green-slatted garden gate that rests on rusty hinges and has developed its own character over the years. Some might describe it as having a weathered look, but I choose to describe it as having character. Tight feathery fungi grow sporadically on its surface. The gate's entry leads into the adjoining paddock that houses our daughter's two Lippizzaners. There are several ways to enter the back paddock, but I usually go through this gate. I bought the gate a number of years ago when, with the help of a friend, we constructed a dogs' yard. Our friend Steve is a perfectionist and he creatively paved a short pathway where we pass through. I've always liked the effect. Grass grows between the pavers and gives the contradictory sense of tamed unruliness. The yard no longer stands, but the gate remains as testimony that it once did.

The back paddock is divided evenly in two. Electric tape runs parallel to the small creek that cuts across the yard. The tape separates the two inmates and makes sure things remain calm and manageable. The dogs have a healthy respect for the horses and it is at the gate I leave them. They run along the house yard fence and watch closely as I continue on my way.

The front paddock is cropped short and covered in numerous bare patches of earth these days, due to the perpetual drought our area seems to be in, plus the fact that our block is not designed to support two giant horses. Darlings that they are, they give the pasture a good beating, with no time to recover. My dear husband constantly laments on the state of the paddocks, but to no avail. "If only we just had one horse," he whispers, shaking his head. But we all know deep in our hearts, things will not be different, at least for the time being.

A short distance off, Dutch, one of the lippis, shifts his weight, takes a break from picking and raises his head to glance in my direction. He nickers softly, anticipating a treat. I stroll across to him and he notices my hand slip deep into a pocket. He moves closer. From the back paddock, Obie bursts into a shrilly trumpet asking, "What about me?"

The odd fly hovers around the horse and Dutch swishes his tail from time to time to relieve the irritation. I pull out a chopped up piece of carrot and hold it flat on the palm of my hand. The soft, blunt whiskers on Dutch's lips tickle as he muzzles the carrot and slips it into his mouth. His lips never stop searching, even while he busily grinds the prize and squeezes out the juice.

I leave him to it and with a parting pat, continue on my way to the small dam. About nine years ago we planted a small weeping willow and now it stands tall, draping its long tendrils over the dam. It is an impressive tree and my favourite. During the autumn and winter months, its leaves disappear, but during spring and summer, new leaves reappear and showcase the tree in all its glory. It really is the jewel in the crown on our property. Recently I bought my SO two new saplings for his birthday; one being a jacaranda, the other, a bottle tree, and if things work out, we're hoping that these grow into fine specimens as well.

It is at the dam where I love to linger. Obie pops his head over the electric tape and accepts the treat I offer him. It is peaceful down here and a place I can listen to the birdlife and contemplate life, one of my favourite past times.

The Journey of a Sentence

I wake from my night's slumber and some mornings, I find it hard to open my eyes. I lay there thinking about writing, knowing that as soon as I climb out of bed, perform my early morning rituals and prepare my first cup of coffee (though sometimes, I am blessed and my significant other - SO for short, has risen before me, will sometimes bring a cuppa for me on his way back from the kitchen to the bathroom for his shower), I will open my diary and update my 'to do list', it is then I begin to journal.

This has become a ritual. A ritual I welcome.

Journalling for me is something I must do. It is now part of who I am. It also helps me to sustain my writing everyday, even when things get busy.

Journalling helps me to fill blank pages with words and sentences. Journalling is very personal and if anyone knows me, it is these books I fill with my thoughts, feelings, dreams, ideas, events and personal data that makes up my life. My journals are a window to me.

Journalling is important to me and it is a habit. There was a time in my life when I didn't journal; I didn't feel the need to journal. But, that was then and this is now. I am not suggesting that journalling is for everyone. It's not. But it is for me.

I love to watch the pages once blank, fill with the words I have chosen to make sentences. Each in turn, making a story; my story.

All forms of writing begin a journey. Writing in my journal, or writing a poem, a short story, or writing a novel, letter or memo, I take the reader on a journey. Choosing just the right words to make just the right sentences is very important in the process. This takes practice.

Care and thoughtfulness is important to the process of taking a reader on a journey, one step at a time, or in this case, one word at a time. It is important to show the reader where we are going, without disruption; enabling them to see the things we see, to feel the things we feel, to smell the things we smell, and to enjoy the journey as much as we do and to stay on track. If we do deviate, we must remember to come back and join the thread.

Adding in snippets of interesting titbits along the way is an important facet to weaving a story. Carefully chosen words helping show, rather that tell the reader, is an art in itself and something I continue to work on.

Daily writing practice is like taking a journey every day. Thinking about the big picture all the time can sometimes overwhelm the writer. Choose to concentrate on today's journey and see where it leads you.

A good writing exercise is to go for a walk for about twenty minutes. When you return home, sit down at your desk and write about it. What did you see along the way, what did you hear, smell, and touch. Try to write in such a way that the reader actually feels like they are taking the same walk. Write in a way that suggests you are taking the walk again, but this time, at your desk. Exercises such as this are a good way to fit in your daily writing time and they sharpen your skills.

Have a go...try and commit daily to writing, and thinking about your writing.

and importantly, have fun...

New Beginnings

Choosing a new novel is an intimate decision. Something about the cover, the title, the look and feel of the book helps us to make our final decision of whether to read it or not. Maybe the way a book smells or the way it feels in our hand draws us into its unique journey or makes us replace it back on the shelf. The opening lines and first couple of paragraphs may be the lure to hook and reel us in...but once the decision is made to begin, a journey is set in motion, enveloping us in excitement and intrigue.

Another exciting time is when a decision is made to commit some time to a new project...and, for me, today is one such time.

This year is already shaping up to be a big year on a personal level, with an engagement party looming, and sprinkled throughout the remaining year, a twenty-first, a wedding, and another birthday of significance. For me the commencement of a new part-time job in the role as a Primary Learning Extension teacher at a large independent Christian school teaching Creative Writing to switched-on kids is a step back into a smidgeon of routine, which I haven't really had since completing my uni course. I think having a job helps me to keep to some sort of routine, so I don't fritter my life away.

I know this year is going to be busy and yet, I still believe I need to set aside some committed time to feed my own creative juices.

I meet regularly with three gorgeous friends who are interested in similar things to me. They all enjoy writing. We met at university whilst we were participating in a creative writing course. My course was a full-time post-graduate diploma in Creative Writing which I thoroughly loved. Upon graduating and finishing uni, my friends and I decided to make a pact to continue to meet up on a social basis with the option of sharing our work and interests. So far, we have managed to meet up regularly, but slowly the sharing of our writing has fallen by the wayside and been replaced totally by social interaction and business updates.

Two of my friends are now fully immersed in their small businesses, whilst my other friend has surrendered herself to the challenging and wonderful world of motherhood...all very important adventures. As I mentioned previously, I have returned to part-time teaching at my old school, but this time, I am teaching what I am passionate about...writing and books. This is a very exciting time for all of my friends, including me, but for different reasons.

After meeting with them recently, and hearing all their updates I felt satisfied on a social level. One of my friends who is busy growing her strategic based business 'Teak Yew' recently launched her Business Book Club and it was after listening to her speak of its success, I became very excited for her, but it made me miss one of the reasons we had decided to continue to meet up...and that was to share our thoughts about the books we were reading and our work we were currently writing.

So, with this in mind, Novel Tea 'n Pages has been born...beginning with a blog in order to jot down the process of setting up a Book & Writers' Club where people can meet up with others to discuss and share their favourite books and writing samples that they are currently working on.

This blog will serve multiple purposes. Space will be dedicated to books, writing, the club news and odds and ends. So, welcome...if you've happened to have stumbled upon this page...I hope you find something of interest. Obviously it is early days and today is just the start, but as time goes on, I hope to be able to build upon this foundation...

So, till next time...happy reading and writing.