Modern Monday

29 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, MY BOOKS, THE WRITERS' LIFE, TORN

Tags

books, conference, electronics, gizmos, Melbourne, music, planes, travel

When I started writing a historical novel, it was hard not to notice how many things I take for granted. The list grows regularly. Like travel for example. I’m booking a trip to Melbourne for a writers conference. I’ve decided to just go down for the barest minimum – down Friday morning and back Sunday evening. Just a three day weekend action packed then back Sunday night for work on Monday.

It does my head in if I think how long that would have taken for my characters in 1850. There were no flying visits in those days! No flying at all although one of my characters might just have had a broomstick she could ride…

What would they think if they time-travelled to 2015? Electricity, gas, electronic gizmos, kitchen gizmos, cars, traffic, recorded music whenever you wish to plug in some headphones and I’m sure you can think of a million other things which would be objects of wonder for those from a simpler time.

On the other hand, what do we miss, with all our technology and convenience?

We live our lives at a much faster pace, there is information coming at us from every direction, fewer ‘home’ musicians who would play for a sing-a-long, family time without the idiot box in the corner, when people would play games, read books aloud to the whole family. Even books were a much more precious resource. How many of you can remember when every new book was something to treasure and marvel at? When libraries were the only source of reference books, unless a fast talking travelling salesman had convinced your parents to invest in the latest expensive set of encyclopaedias.

Oh and when I pack for my conference in August I’ll be grateful that my 23 kilos of baggage allowance isn’t consumed by all those layers of clothing and corsets, neck to knee and smothered in petticoats to within an inch of your life! Yes there are pros and cons which are fun to think of and important for a writer to know so that your experience reading is as authentic as I can make it without any of us having to live that life. Pity really though I’m sure, if we could travel back to that time, after a while we would miss at least some of our modern conveniences.

What would you miss most? What do you miss most, even from your own lifetime? I’d love to hear from you.

New Year’s Resolution

28 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, MY BOOKS, THE WRITERS' LIFE, TORN, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

going on alone, hope, looking to the future, planning a new life, strength to go on

New Year? In June? Yes, well, I’m being forced to think about where I am, where I’ll end up if I keep on my current direction, and whether that’s what I want. I fear change will come whether I’m ready for it or not so it seems prudent to make some New Financial Year Resolutions, to set the direction for the year ahead.

Change is one thing we can count on and yet we almost all of us resist change sometime or other. The more drastic the change the harder it is to force oneself to make it, usually.

Mary Ellen, in Torn, is forced to make a life changing journey. How will she cope with having to move away from everyone and everything she has always known and loved to a country and a life on the other side of the world with people she barely knows? Leaving behind what you know and love can be like tearing out your heart. Having to do all of that when your body is in a weakened state by starvation would only make it harder. When you have lost your family and friends in death by the same starvation would test the mettle of anyone.

Would going on be easy? Of course not. What would she be thinking, whether she wanted to or not? Would she sometimes feel guilty that she survived when her loved ones did not? Would she sometimes wish she had not lived to watch them die? Of course. She would sometimes wish she didn’t have to go on without them.

What could give her the strength to go on? How could she drag herself back from the edge of the abyss of self pity and depression? What would give her comfort in the harsh world she finds herself in? Would she willingly put herself in the position where she could lose everyone she has come to love all over again? How can she motivate herself to begin all over again?

Questions I’ve had to answer for Mary in my book and some of the questions we might sometimes have to ask ourselves in real life.

Why do I write?

26 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, MY BOOKS, POETRY, THE WRITERS' LIFE

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

from the heart, Thanks, words

Why do I write?

For the love of great words
And of using them right
For the comfort they bring
In the darkness of night

In my own humble way
Trying to comfort and cheer
But it doesn’t require
High cost, calories or beer.

Because when it comes right
I feel such satisfaction
It’s a beautiful thing
Getting positive reaction

So here’s a ditty for you
Coming straight from my heart
From soul deep inside
Thanks for liking my art.

Word of the Week: Focus

25 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, THE WRITERS' LIFE

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

focus, goals, Michael Hyatt, SMARTER goals

Yes, I know it’s not Wednesday but I’ve got a new word of the week. Maybe the month or the year! It won’t be a surprise I’m sure when I say it’s focus. I have been asked to find a word which will keep me ‘on target’ and what better word is there than FOCUS. What a good word to keep me on track, what is my central point, where to keep my attention or activity. Where is my centre, my heart, my core, what’s at my nucleus?

Firstly, what is worthy of my focus? What will get me where I want to go? What can I do which will get me there in the best, fastest, most efficient manner? What is your goal? For today, for this week, this month, this quarter, this year? No, it’s not new year and that ship has sailed so my new focus is on this financial year 2015/2016. This time my goals are not going to be nebulous, unformed things but clear, concise, SMART or should I say SMARTER. Thanks to Michael Hyatt at http://michaelhyatt.com.

Specific; Measureable; Actionable; Realistic; Time bound; Exciting; Relevant.

This isn’t something I’ve just read about today but something that has been bubbling along for some time. As the saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” Not before time and, of course, not for the first time, my goals are smarter, clearer, specific.

There are so many distractions out there that you don’t have to look for them. There is so much information available in the age of the internet that I can easily lose sight of my big dream. So, when I don’t know what to do next, what’s my priority? Focus.

Do you remember what your biggest dream is? How often do you think about where you are going and how you will go about achieve getting there? So, what are you focussed on? Where are you going? That’s a rhetorical question that only you need to know the answer to. The next question is, have you found the road there? Is it a road less travelled? A path forged by one of your mentors? Or, are you intending to create your own path?

Whatever it is, go for it. Make your dream come true.

Mellow Monday

22 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, MY BOOKS, TORN

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

famine, fireplace, Skibereen, Starvation, warm clothes, warmth, Winter

After a busy day at work and a lunch break where I didn’t get time to do what I had planned, it’s nice to have a quiet night to catch my breath. I love that image and would also love a nice fire to sit and watch the flames. They are hypnotic aren’t they. We were all chilly at work today. Don’t know what was up but the office was frigid.

Our winters are pretty mild here. It’s rare to get down into the low single digits but after the warmth of our summers, it feels pretty chilly to us. I learned so much in my research for Torn. The Great Famine was not the first famine. There had been a number of them, one after the other.

It was strange really, when I was trying to find a place where my Leading Lady (I intensely dislike the tag Heroine) would have grown up with her family, I went around and around and couldn’t decide where to set them down. In the end I took the map, closed my eyes, drew a couple of air circles and my finger landed in Skibereen. There couldn’t have been many places more likely. Reading about the history of Skibereen broke my heart.

Clothing in those days was not as easily come by and though the rich may have had more than enough, not everyone had what was necessary to keep them warm. In the warmer months many had sold their warmer clothing to buy food and when the winters came in hard their already weakened bodies suffered, many fatal consequences.

We all know that there are people even today who suffer from starvation and privation. It makes me grateful for what I have, realise how fortunate I am. I love stories which make me think, to learn about other people, other places, other cultures and lands. I hope my readers will learn something from my book too. Talking of Torn, the edits are upon me again. Hopefully, this will be the last round and I can release my baby into the world sooner rather than later.

Weekend wonder

21 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, MY BOOKS, THE WRITERS' LIFE, TORN

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

achievement, Brisbane, Convict settlement, employees, Hero, horses, Moreton Bay, To Do List

This weekend I did something I can’t remember having done for a very long time. On the train home Friday evening I wrote my To Do List for the weekend. This evening I am about to cross the last item off the list! I’ve even done a couple of things that didn’t make it onto that list.

As is so often the case, I don’t have a whole lot to show for it but I know what I did and that feeling is pretty darn good. So often in this world we work hard and have little or nothing to show for it. It’s not always like that and for my characters in my book it certainly wasn’t the case.

Moving to Moreton Bay in what was New South Wales, Australia in the 1850s was a courageous thing to do. There were few of the facilities and conveniences they had in Ireland in that time and next to none of those we take for granted today.

Brisbane in the Moreton Bay area had been a convict settlement holding some of the worst, hardened criminals. The convict settlement was closed in 1835.

My hero brought with him a number of his horses though not all of them. He had to begin by building houses, stables, outbuildings, yards and everything else he and his employees and horses needed. That kind of hard physical work can be very satisfying. You can look around and see the work of your hands.

You don’t get that same sense of achievement in an office. But that To Do List with those items crossed off looks pretty wonderful to me.

One of my favourite poems

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, LOVE, POETRY

≈ Leave a comment

A White Rose

THE red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.

But I send you a cream-white rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.

John Boyle O’Reilly (1844–1890)

Wednesday with Wheels

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, THE WRITERS' LIFE, TORN

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bikes, cars, paddle wheelers, wheels

Highpoint of the week – I got my car back from the panel-beaters! It’s been away for several weeks so I’ve missed it very much. I have to say I did take for granted having comfortable fast-enough-for-me wheels at my disposal anytime I need them.

It wasn’t always so. Can you imagine living in a world where you either rode a horse, a carriage or Shanks’ Pony. Of course roads were very different too, those which could legitimately actually be called a road. Life was a lot slower by necessity. A trip to town to do get supplies might have taken all day, give or take a shop or two. Those scenes were fun to write, after some solid research, of course.

There are so many uses for the wheel in transport. For those who can’t afford a car there are bicycles of all kinds, custom built jobs, mountain bikes, kids bikes with training wheels right back to the old penny farthing. Wheels have gotten bigger – and smaller. From skateboards up to personal mobility scooters, from paddle wheelers to the landing gear on aeroplanes, then the tiny wheels which take the heavy lifting out of suitcases!

So, where are you wheels? Where-ever you are and whatever you do today, may it be wheely fun!

Monday’s Mood

15 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, MY BOOKS, TORN

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

horses on ships, sailing, shipwreck

Monday mornings are notorious and this morning was a doozy! This morning the city was enshrouded in fog. Out in it, the fog became mizzle. Too fine to be called drizzle but more than just a fog, just as I imagine would set the mood for my Irish characters as they left their homeland. Just enough to mask some of the tears one tried to hide.

Travel by sailing ship was a gamble. Of course many sailed the high seas for years without encountering the kind of tragedy which could and did strike the strongest ship with the most experienced crew without warning and with devastating results. Before the Suez and Panama canals were built, the journey was especially hazardous around the “horns”, Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope.

The Roaring Forties and the Freemantle Doctor were and still are almost as hazardous as the Great Australian Bight but still they braved them, as the wrecks found scattered about and those forever lost attest. It took a brave and/or adventurous emigrant, or a desperate one, to embark on such a journey voluntarily. Those shipwrecks might seem great diving spots today but the sorrow and the loss of those aboard and those at home must have been immense. To risk your most valuable horses on such a journey was also a calculated risk, not undertaken lightly which is why it was the last resort for Liam in Torn.

Every horse in Australia came from somewhere else. I thought it would be easy to understand the logistics and find out how it was done. It only sounded easy. I spent months, off and on, searching for answers specific enough for me to feel confident to write those scenes aboard ship and in the hold with Liam’s horses. There were some great stories when I finally found what I was searching for.

Those shipwrecks might seem great diving spots today but the sorrow and the loss of those aboard and those at home must have been immense.

Sleepy Sunday

14 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, THE WRITERS' LIFE, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cruising, Dreaming, Make it happen, Moreton Bay, Writing Retreat

The sun sidles around the curtains to warm me awake. I stretch and languidly take my time before opening my bleary eyes, rubbing them before I decide I can believe what they show me. There to greet me, warming not only my body but also my heart, is my wonderful husband, bearing two steaming mugs and a rack of toast ready to be slathered with the waiting curls of rich creamy butter and the sweetness of honey or tart Vegemite, or Lemon and Lime Marmalade. The beautifully polished oaken tray is decorated with a lovely cut crystal vase of roses from our garden. Their fragrance makes a valiant but unsuccessful battle to overtake the aroma of the coffee but I appreciate the effort.

He greets me with a “Good morning, honey” and I answer with a cheery “Good morning, sweetheart,” of my own as I rise and prepare to shine. I slip my feet into the softness of my favourite woolly slippers and my body into the peignoir matching my nightgown. As I finish tying the sash of the peignoir which matches my nightgown I straighten and prepare to follow him through the curtained French doors onto our private balcony and gently touches the tray down on the white wrought iron table before turning to wait for me. Our kiss sparks echoes of hours gone by as we take our seats.

A smile splits my face as I lift my favourite mug to my nose and draw a deep breath, closing my eyes to savour the spicy richness of my white chocolate chai latte before sipping that first awakening draught. We hold hands, his right in my left as we take a moment to appreciate the clear sky morning and the view of Moreton Bay, noting the ships waiting in the channel to access the port of Brisbane where they will be unloaded by its distinctive “giraffes” towering above the water.

As we watch, a luxury cruise liner leaves the queue, heading toward the Portside terminal. “One day,” I sigh as I enjoy my favourite dream of taking my writing buddies on a two week writing retreat for the first leg of an around the world cruise.

“You’d better hurry your breakfast if you expect to be ready to circumnavigate the globe this afternoon, darling?”

Too bad it’s not a reality, just a dream. However, it’s up to us to make sure our dreams come true isn’t it? So, this week, my goal is to get us an oaken tray and to prune the rose bush, next week to get us an oaken tray and from there on to the balcony with that view…