February Book Club - The Umbrella Club by David Brooks

Welcome to the new year, 2012! And it is hoped it lives up to all your expectations. The working year has commenced for most of us and it is back to routine once again. This pleases some, whilst others may cringe.

All I know is I am looking forward to our first book club meeting of the year. Our titles have been selected and they look very tantalising. Please check them out.

Our first meeting has been changed from the scheduled Wednesday 1 Feb evening to Thursday 2 Feb due to some unforeseen work commitments. Hopefully this will not impact too many members, but sincere apologies if it does. We should be back to normal from then on.

I'd love to hear what great titles you read over the holidays? If you'd like to share, please add a comment. Some people tell me they've had difficulties leaving me their comments. Just so you are aware, for security purposes, you need to be a member of google, so just take a minute to sign up. It's free and then you'll be able to leave me your messages. I really enjoy reading them.

This blog is also a great way to discuss the books, so if you have any interesting things to share about the current book you are reading, write a comment and we can start a discussion.

A couple of club members have told me they have had trouble obtaining The Umbrella Club. I've done some research and here are a couple of suggestions: Try Avid Reader at West End or the State Library Bookstore. I got my copy at the Brisbane Writers Festival back in October. Another online place that is selling the book for under $30 is fishpond.com.au Click on the link then type in the title and author and bob's your uncle!


Well I look forward to seeing all our members next Thursday.

So, until then...
happy reading,
Deb

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2011 was jammed packed and I'm sure 2012 will be immense as well.

Our book club members managed to read 9 new novels during 2011, including: 'The Girl with a Pearl Earring', 'Mr Rosenbaum's List', 'Shirley, Goodness & Mercy', 'The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte - a novel', 'Wanting', 'The Tale of Two Cities', 'The Good Earth', 'Eat, Pray, Love', and 'People of the Book'.


Each book offered a variety of genres, settings, characters, story lines and discussions. Each book touched the reader in a variety of ways and helped enrich our reading lives.

Holidays are either fast approaching or have already arrived. So, now is the perfect time to kick back and relax with a book or two for the holiday season. Whatever you choose to read, enjoy and savour.

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

PS Write and tell us what you'll be reading over the holidays.

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...

Brisbane Writers Festival - September 7 - 11th

I have attended the Brisbane Writers Festival now for the past eight years or so and I am never disappointed. I am looking forward to clocking up another year, to stroll around Brisbane's beautiful icon, The State Library and its gardens to check out this year's line up of talented authors.

For those of you still coming down from MasterChef, the menu of authors and sessions is already out. I am an early bird and have studied the gourmet selections and have booked in my workshops and the sessions I wish to attend. You can tell I am writing this at lunch time and have food on my mind. I'm sure those of you who enjoy your culinary delights would be interested to know that some foodie authors will be in attendance. Click on the link to find out more.

http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/default.asp?pageID=73&CatID=51

This year again, I will be accompanying a school group of enthusiastic readers and writers. My colleagues and I always get excited at this time of year. We love going on outings with our students, especially with the line up of talented children's authors to select from. This year sees Emily Rodda, James Joy, James Phelan, Belinda Jeffrey, Tristan Bancks and Wendy Orr, to name but a few. If these names don't whet your appetite...well...what can I say?

I'm booked into Wendy Orr's session and looking forward to sharpening my skills for writing for young readers. Click on the link to discover more.

http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/default.asp?pageID=73&CatID=47

Another workshop I'm excited to be attending is Writing Romance that Sells with popular panelists, Christina Brooke and Anna Campbell. Hopefully their hints and tips will help steam up pages of my novel in progress.

There are many & varied workshops this year to choose from, but to find one that suits you...Click on the link.

http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/default.asp?pageID=73&CatID=66

I know I am excited to be attending what's become my annual pilgrimage. Maybe I'll see some of you while I'm there.

So, for a festival of storytelling...here is the official Brisbane Writers Festival website to check out all the action for yourself.

http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/

till next time...
happy reading & writing