Day 1: NaNoWrimo Has Begun

Well Deb kicked off her stint for the month of November and posted just over 1700 words for Day 1. That's not too shabby, but will she be able to keep up the pace? She plans to journal about the experience here. Below is the link...check it out.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/profile/edit

Deb's chosen Novel topic is: 'This Life' and it is a story that will capture the trials, tribulations and joys of a family and their life together. Generations learn from each other by the stories passed down. This is one family's modern day history.

NaNoWrimo encourages their participants to aim for 50,000 words within the month of November. Deb wonders if she can sustain this?

Stay tuned.

So, until next time...happy reading & writing...

October Writers' Club Meeting - Networking

Sitting by an open window

A gentle breeze plays the flimsy curtain

The writer waits while

Thoughts and ideas flip and spin

Desiring to settle

But where, and in what order

The writer looks out

past the window

and through, to the open field

and dreams

Ⓒ Deb Smith - 29 Oct 2011

Writing can be a very solitary activity 

No one can join with you to get those words, your words down on paper. If you don't sit down and begin, then the words will stay silent, locked away inside you. Writers must commit daily to putting their words down on paper. If there is no commitment, then again, no words will appear. Writing is a slave to time, or is time a slave to writing? Or, is the writer a slave to their writing?

Writing, even just thinking about writing is time consuming

It is important for the writer to diarise a date and time to write - everyday. This should be a priority. No one said it would be easy, but if writing is to you, like oxygen is to the body, then you need to prioritise. So, make time.

Balance is the key

Writers need to get out. Out and about to meet new people and observe characters who walk the streets and inhabit our world. Writers need to socialise. They need to note down life's idiosyncrasies, the ways, the why fors and whens. I'm sure I just broke some grammatical rules with that last sentence, but I love it, so it is going to stay. Writers get to choose what stays and what goes, at least for some of the time.

Writers on missions

Writers owe it to their readers to go on missions, so they can report back, create scenes with authenticity, build upon the real, with creative flair and imagination. Writers frame what they observe with their pens, like photographers frame with their lens. Photographers must go out into the world, as must writers.

Writers who network

Networking simply makes sense. Writers who mix it up with other writers develop layers of experience, absorb wisdom, share their gifts and impart snippets of knowledge, that would be missed if left back at that window with a view.

Writers UNITE AND CONNECT with other Writers

Writing Clubs are a great and informal way to connect and share ideas with other like-mindeds. They are a source of information and wisdom, and, along with the odd tale of desperation, juicy depictions of adventurous journeys, and wondrous encounters with success makes for very interesting fodder. Listening to other writers share their work is like an elixir for good health; a definite source of inspiration. Writing festivals and writing courses are also great ways to inspire and ignite imagination.

So...what's stopping you?

October Book Club - 'Wanting' by Richard Flanagan

Book Blurb:
'Bass Strait, 1839. A young Aboriginal girl, Mathinna, runs through the wet wallaby grass of a wild island at the edge of the world to get help for her dying father. Eighteen years later in Manchester, the great novelist Charles Dickens is a sensation, starring in a play that more and more resembles the frozen landscape of his own inner life.


The most celebrated explorer of the age, Sir John Franklin, and his wife, Lady Jane, adopt Mathinna as an experiment to prove that the savage can be civilised - only to discover that within the most civilised can lurk the most savage. When Sir John disappears in the Arctic while searching for the fabled Northwest Passage, Lady Jane turns to Dickens for help.


Inspired by historical events, Wanting is a haunting meditation about love, loss and the way life is finally determined never by reason, but only ever by wanting. It confirms Richard Flanagan's growing reputation as one of the most original and powerful novelists working in the English language today.'

This was a delicious book to devour. It was captivating and a marvellous read that left you WANTING more. Flanaghan intertwined all threads of the story seamlessly. And, when you wonder...how could you possibly link an Aboriginal girl, an Arctic explorer and his wife, and Charles Dickens, it leaves you scratching your head at how well Flanagan has managed to do so.

This book is stunning and simple to read. The language Flanagan uses is easy on the eyes and flows logically. So glad that this book was added to our list of selections this year. If you haven't already read this ... then we highly recommend you get started.

Until next time,

happy reading...

September Book Club - 'Shirley, Goodness & Mercy' by Chris Van Wyk

Some of our members found it a challenge to obtain a copy of this month's selection, Shirley, Goodness & Mercy by Chris Van Wyk. Buying online was the quickest, cheapest and best option this time around. Those who purchased their copy from The Book Depository seemed to have the least problems. The books, although second hand, came within the week and all in good condition. Those who ordered the books from the American Bookstore waited weeks and weeks and as a result, weren't able to read the book in time.

As a guess, this is the only book so far that caused the group any grief in procuring.

There were mixed reviews with regard to Van Wyk's work. Most members enjoyed the author's glimpse into life as a young coloured boy growing up in the township of Riverlea, Johannesburg, South Africa. Although the shadow of apartheid lurked the writer did not dwell on this, but shared delightful anecdotes of his special relationships with his family members, both immediate and extended. He also showed the importance of humour and laughter in life.

Accounts such as this are important to one's culture. Stories of what life was like are important to build an overall picture of the life and times. They become mosaics, woven and threaded in the fabric of society.

The importance of this author's work is something we thought about and discussed at length. For those not from South Africa, it was a glimpse into another's culture. However, the bigger picture is that here was a young coloured boy, all grown up, defeating the odds to be a voice for his people and his life blood. When you think like that you gain a deeper perspective.

This book is worth picking up and visiting.

Enjoy...

Until next time,
happy reading...