#IWSG post -- March 1 Question: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?

Here we are again! Another month, another security or insecurity. How this year is flying by!

It's always a good way to mark the beginning of the month by posting/reading for the IWSG. My head is full of other things this month, like heading off on a road trip through outback Australia -- 2.054 kilometres (1.276  miles) each way.

I leave today, March 1st.



Thanks to Alex's awesome co-hosts for the March 1 IWSG: Tamara Narayan,Patsy Collins, M.J. Fifield, and Nicohle Christopherson!

Today I'll go with the question:

Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it?

Well, sort of. But the 'really old story' I'm talking about is my vampire novella. 'Under the Tuscan Moon' was my indulgence published in 2015 - written with an ancient slant to the language as it was more likely spoken in the 16th century. Some readers found the language off putting, others thought it was exquisite. Commercial viability has won, and after doing two posts on self-publishing I've used some of the feedback to kick start my sales. Probably the most important advice was to think about my target audience (thanks L Diane Wolfe). So I've done this, and have come up with a new title, new author name, and most importantly, new cover, so there's no doubt what lies inside the pages. Currently, I'm re-writing the whole story, galloping along in modern English at a much faster pace.

Along with my good friend Lynda Young, I attended a Joanna Penn lecture/discussion on self-publishing yesterday (basically, why would you do anything else, she asks?) Joanna is a great proponent of reworking her books -- new covers, fixing anything a reader may have pointed out etc etc. She staggered us by saying she does this monthly! Egad!

So, yes, I believe in reworking stories. I'll let you know how it goes when I re-publish.

Hope you have as much fun as I intend to this month!

And thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit little 'ole me. Looking forward to visiting you as wifi and travel miles allow.

All the best of 2016--What does your list look like? And and #IWSG late note...

Hi there!

Sheesh! I've been checking out a few blogs and see I've missed the IWSG, probably for the first time ever! Sorry if you came by to check out my post, but hey, I've been too involved in real life and forgot digital life there!  Anyway, while I'm here, I'll just say that I'm not feeling insecure this month. I'm feeling very grounded in my writing and am back to writing hours every day. How about you?

The awesome co-hosts for the January 4 posting of the IWSG will be Eva @ Lillicasplace, Crystal Collier, Sheena-kay Graham, Chemist Ken, LG Keltner, and Heather Gardner!

If you want to hang around, I have some pretty pictures for you as I relate my Best of 2016...

But before you do, I should answer this IWSG question:

What writing rule do you wish you’d never heard?

Well, there's a lot of writing rules I wish I'd never heard. Most seem to be just to trip up newbies, as I see best-selling authors breaking these so-called rules every time. One that I find particularly galling is the 'never use as except as a comparison.'


As in (((snark))) (((snark)))

'I fell over as he threw the ball at me.'

Should be...'He threw the ball at me. I fell over.' Yes, sometimes the 'as' makes the sentence out of order, but there's times you just have to use 'as', in my humble opinion.

I read every book from those 4 guys who sell the most popular fiction in the world...Lee Child, Michael Connolly, Dean Koontz, James Patterson...they must laugh themselves silly at this rule, not that they would care. I counted about 20 supposedly bad uses of 'as's' in one page of a recent Lee Child Jack Reacher book. It bothered me that he can do it and still sell gazillions of books. Goes to show readers want a story, not a rigid conformity to rules. Don't get me started...oh, you did. Now I'd better stop or I'll offend the rules police even more.

Happy Writerly New Year!! And blast those rules!! Tell that story!! 

2016. 

The year that was. 

Tough. 

The great humanitarian crises in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries, the rise of nationalism in Germany, the terror threats/incidents in France, Germany, Iraq and Turkey and so on, multiple terror threats thwarted in Australia over Christmas, Brexit in Britain, Trump in the US, a killer president in the Philippines...oh, wow, get those fireworks happening! 

I'm not into New Year's Resolutions. Why shoot myself in the foot? But I rather enjoy thinking about what's been good in the past year while at the same time wondering what the New Year will bring. If you'd like to write your own list of My Best in the comments, that'd be awesome!

BEST...

MOBILE APP: Tinybeans (a baby-picture sharing app for those who don't want their baby's pictures all over the internet). My daughter is a social worker and sees too many wacky things. She chooses not to share photos of her baby, my one and only shiny grandchild. It's tough for me as he is the most gorgeous little fellow, but I totally understand.

INTERVIEWER: CNN's Christian Amanpour. Love the way she takes on the biggies and crooks of the world and at times squeezes a little truth out of them.

DOCUMENTARY: Utopia, produced by John Pilger. A very, very disturbing trip through central Australian aboriginal communities, showing the long history of mainly white abuse and how the situation is even worse than it was in the '60s despite millions of $$$ being spent. Unbelievable.

BOOK I READ: THRILLER - I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes. I hated being so fascinated by the evil, but it felt a reality in our world.

MOVIE: The Light Between Oceans, based on an early Australian true story of a young couple living in a lighthouse on a remote Western Australian island who find and keep a baby who washes up on the shore. Tragic.

BINGE WATCHING:

NETFLIX TV SHOW: The Killing

TV SHOWS: The Good Wife/Madam Secretary

OVERSEAS TRAVEL: China, although it took me 2 weeks to get the pollution out of my system.

WITHIN AUSTRALIA TRAVEL: Sydney/Hunter Valley Wine Region

THINGS ABOUT MOVING BACK TO THE BEACH: Watching whales frolicking from my deck, growing my own tomatoes and herbs. Begone, plastic tomatoes.

BLOGGER MOMENT: Meeting Lynda Young in person on a terribly humid day after her move to Brisbane and sharing a French meal together.

POLITICAL MOMENTS:
-- Bernie Sander's run for President, albeit brief.
-- Michelle Obama's speeches and positive actions for African girls.
(Okay, not Australian political moments. Our politics are deadly boring which is not necessarily a bad thing after seeing the global trend)

DRINK:
-- Baked Poetry Cafe, Peregian Beach, iced coffee.
-- Hunter Valley Chocolate Factory's Mexican Hot Chocolate.
-- Pink Champagne from Peterson's Champagne House, Hunter Valley

CHRISTMAS SNACK: Chocolate and hazlenut truffles from the Hunter Valley Chocolate Factory

ANTICIPATIONS FOR 2017:
-- Finishing my Paris novel and getting it published.
-- Writing most days
-- Meeting with my 2 fabulous critique partners every month and exchanging chapters every few weeks

-- The opening of a French restaurant in Peregian Beach. (No big deal if you live in a big town, but Peregian is a little village of 3,500 people who enjoy the best of everything!!)
-- Finishing watching Netflix's House of Cards.
-- Travelling to the UK in April/May to visit my daughter who's there for a year, then taking her on a guided tour of Paris. Tres magnifique!

Happy New Year!! May all your dreams eventuate in 2017!!

• The WEP winners are announced at Write...Edit...Publish. Please check them out if you have a moment.
• And I'd love to read your list of Best of 2016. Please play along. 

#IWSG post. Lynda Young tells us why she's moving to Brisbane (and it's not just to be nearer to me!)

Ha! Don't we all love an adventure! I do. I'm always looking for the next thing! But sometimes adventures come on us unexpectedly and we have to find a way to jump in. An unexpected adventure can make us a tad insecure. This is what Lynda Young is talking to us about today...Let's go on an adventure with Lynda.


The awesome co-hosts for Nov 2 IWSG are Joylene Novell Butler, Jen Chandler, Mary Aalgaard, Lisa Buie Collard, Tamara Narayan, Tyrean Martinson, and Christine Rains!

Now, back to my guest. As you may know, Lynda's on a hello-I've-published-a-book blog tour for her devotional, Cling to God. Today, Lynda is appearing at Crystal Collier's and mine. 

Brisbane: The Next Adventure

by Lynda R Young

For something completely different, Denise asked me about my interstate move from Sydney to Brisbane. From comfortable New South Wales to hot, sunny Queensland. (Hello, Lynda!! I'm waiting!!)

I’ve lived in Sydney all my life. Until my teens I lived in the Eastern suburbs which was built up, lots of concrete, but close to the CBD. Then I moved in with my Mum to a Southern suburb. With all the trees everywhere, it felt like I’d gone bush. I learned to love it there and, when Mum moved away for her ministerial work, I stayed in the house to look after it. Then I got married and we both loved the house still, so we bought it from my Mum. I’ve lived here for the majority of my life. Neither my husband nor I had any intentions of moving. Then life handed us an unexpected turn. A job opportunity opened up in Brisbane for my husband. We’d been up there visiting family and loved the lifestyle so, we who avoid change, decided to go for it. Bam!

Over the years we’d been slowly renovating the house in Sydney. We had one room left. The biggest. We did that, put the house on the market and sold it four weeks later. Yikes!

Am I insecure about the move? If you’d asked me when we first made the decision I would’ve said, “Heck, yes!” I love my beautiful house. I have friends in Sydney. I love the village atmosphere of the area I’m in. I finally found a hair dresser who could cut my hair without making me look like some freak out of the walking dead, or twenty years older than I am. I know hardly anyone in Brisbane. I know very little about Brisbane. I’ll need to find a new hairdresser! I’m crazy! But the funny thing about the selling and moving process is that it makes you ready. You don’t have time to wonder and fear and question. You just have to put your head down and get things done.

How do I know it’s right? As a Christian, I lean on my God an awful lot and He lets me know if I’m on the right path. With this move He has opened doors and cleared the way and made things possible. We pretty much found our new place to live in Brisbane within a week of looking. I’m pretty sure that’s not normal.

While this move remains terrifying and overwhelming in so many ways, there’s also a calm inside me. It’s our next adventure. Sure, it’s a lot hotter in Brisbane than Sydney, but I’ll find a way to cope. I’m looking forward to meeting new people, discovering the friendly laid-back city where people still smile at strangers and have a chat with you at the checkouts. And this will be my new view.

I think I’ll make it work!

Of course you will, Lynda! I can't wait to meet you and lead you to my hairdresser! And knowing you love your flowers, here's some poppies just for you!

Cling to God: A Daily Devotional. 

by Lynda R Young

Release date: October 18th, 2016
Published by Freedom Fox Press

Tagline: Cling to God in the chaos of life…

Blurb: Cling to God is a book of devotionals for every day of the year. The aim is to encourage Christians in their faith, to help them think about their beliefs and learn more about God. The devotions are short and inspirational so that people with busy lifestyles will still be able to spend time with the Lord each day. It will appeal to a wide Christian audience, to those new in their faith as well as those matured beyond milk and honey.

Author Bio: Lynda R Young, a Christian first, writes devotionals, articles, and speculative short stories. In her spare time she is also an editor, game developer, artist, and dabbles in photography and all things creative. She lives in Australia with her sweetheart of a husband. You can find her here: Blog,Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Links in full:
http://lyndaryoung.blogspot.com.au
https://twitter.com/LyndaRYoung
https://www.facebook.com/LyndaRYoungAuthor
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5832201.Lynda_R_Young

I know you're itching to hit the BUY button. You have choices! Here's the links!

Buy Lynda's Book for Kindle 

Buy Lynda's Book on Amazon: 

Lynda's Book on Nook: 

On B&N

Kobo

ITunes

Goodreads

Over to you, readers. We'd love to  hear your stories...

• Have you lived in the same house for most/all of your life, or have you regularly embraced the moving adventure?
• If you've moved house, did things go well...or badly?
• What was your first reaction to your new house/town/city?
• If you're a believer, did you feel God was with you?

Now, the WEP October challenge was Halloween or Constellations. The winners are announced today over at the Write...Edit...Publish site. A young man we know more for his poetic prowess than his prose ran off with the prize after showing us that he can spin a great flash, from the point of view of a crazy old bat.

Now that we've slayed all those Halloween monsters and finished gazing at the stars, we're dreaming of December and holidays, but not just any old holiday...stay tuned. 

Thanks for coming by. I hope you'll enjoy your time reading other IWSG posts which can be found HERE.

And can you believe it's NaNo already? Are you in? Write every day in November--50,000 words. Easy yeah?

#IWSG post. #Writing at the desk. Jane Austen. Writing for fun! Lynda Young release, Cling to God.

Welcome to another #IWSG post.


Thanks to Alex J Cavanaugh for starting this group and thanks to the rotating co-hosts. This month, please visit Alex's assistants, 

 Tamara Narayan,Tonja Drecker, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Lauren @ Pensuasion, Stephen Tremp, and Julie Flanders! 

Today my topic is Writing at the Desk. 

We as writers might be sitting at our writing desk (your bed, the beach, the cafe), penning something for pure enjoyment. Okay. Rare. Most likely we're sweating over a masterpiece with a deadline, which is where writing loses its fun aspect. And where insecurity hits.

Jane Austen was prolific in her writing, with 6 major novels to her name. (See her full range of books HERE). The most popular has always been Pride and Prejudice which has had numerous adaptations. Considering she died at just 41 years old, she penned an amazing number of words--published novels, and some 3,000 letters. 

When Jane Austen was 19 years old, her father George Austen recognised her prodigious talent. He bought her that little mahogany writing desk we see in the rare drawings of her. This was in the early 1700s. Don't tell me that Jane, a woman, felt secure writing away in those good old days, where, let's face it, women had fewer options than today.

Austen christened her beloved desk with a tale told through letters (remember them?) featuring the wicked and wayward Lady Susan Vernon, an unashamed adulteress. Jane didn't dream it would see the light of published day. This was her fun work. The wickedly audacious tale about Lady Susan was considered way too scandalous by Austen's family to ever be published. But, time marches on, and fifty years after her death, the controversial and unfinished work was published. The Kindle edition is FREE.

Many years later (early 2000s), enter Whit Stillman, American filmmaker. He fell in love with the witty and charming Lady Susan and has worked laboriously to turn Austen's epistolary novel (a novel written as a series of documents) into a screenplay. 

Stillman jokes:

"The family was right. It should never have been published. It is about a corrupt young woman who is a mistress of manipulation in her attempt to make the world her own. Lady Susan is a terrific find. It was Austen's first adult work."

Stillman has named the adaptation, Love and Friendship, and has attracted big name actors--Kate Beckinsale is Lady Susan.

We usually think of Jane Austen as tame. Chick lit claims her as its heroine, one of the first chick lit writers. Think Emma and you can see where they're coming from. There are multiple Jane Austen fan clubs and reading groups, and novels written about her. She has become a commercial commodity, even having zombie films and books adapted from her novels. Think Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

If we think of the old adage 'write what you know', Austen must have been a very critical observer of her times. Her Lady Susan letters show her as a serious comedian with an incredible perception of the world as she knew it. 

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Someone who needs no introduction, and writes what she knows, is our blogger friend and fellow Aussie, Lynda Young. 

Lynda has gouged out some time from her frantically busy life to pen a daily devotional to help in the chaos of life. 

Cling to God: A Daily Devotional by Lynda R Young

Release date: October 18th, 2016
Published by Freedom Fox Press

Cling to God in the chaos of life…

Blurb: Cling to God is a book of devotionals for every day of the year. The aim is to encourage Christians in their faith, to help them think about their beliefs and learn more about God. The devotions are short and inspirational so that people with busy lifestyles will still be able to spend time with the Lord each day. It will appeal to a wide Christian audience, to those new in their faith as well as those matured beyond milk and honey.

Author Bio:

Lynda R Young, a Christian first, writes devotionals, articles, and speculative short stories. In her spare time she is also an editor, game developer, artist, and dabbles in photography and all things creative.She lives in Australia with her sweetheart of a husband. 

You can find her here: Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Links in full:
http://lyndaryoung.blogspot.com.au
https://twitter.com/LyndaRYoung
https://www.facebook.com/LyndaRYoungAuthor
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5832201.Lynda_R_Young

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• So, what are you writing at your desk?
• Do you have a favourite Jane Austen book?
• Do you have any questions for Lynda re her devotional guide?

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And the question of the month for #IWSG is:

What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust, or has it been published?

My first serious piece of writing was a story about a girl who sought asylum in Australia. This was the time of the Vietnamese Boat People seeking safety in Australia after the Vietnam War. I did my research, but life got in the way and this piece never grew wings. Now with asylum seekers and refugees all around us, the premise is current. Maybe I'll find it, dust it off, and modernise it. Or maybe I'll just start again...better idea.
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And the next IWSG Anthology is on FANTASY. Over at WEP we have a guest post from our previous winner, Arpan Ghost, writing about FANTASY.

The Inlinkz form is up. You can now sign up for the WEP GARDENS challenge in my sidebar or over at WEP or on Yolanda Renee's blog. Post from August 17 - 19.

#IWSG, Feb 3rd - Guest Post at Lynda Young's blog

Thanks for stopping by today for the #IWSG. Today I'm over at Lynda Young's blog talking about setting in stories. Both Lyn and I would love it if you popped over and said hello!