Self-publishing continued...Your responses to my post. What works. What doesn't...and the cost of self-publishing.

Recently, I posted about my blog focus for the year. Posting more about Australia was hailed as good stuff by many. 

So, these are my conclusions about blogging in 2017:

• My posts will have more of an Aussie flavour, as when I started out in 2008 with my travel blog.
• I'll do some travelogue-style posts. I've been asked for more info on Tasmania, so I might start there. Tasmania is interesting. I lived there for nearly 2 years, so I'll be talking about a state where I have personal knowledge. Well, actually, I've travelled every state and territory of Australia, so I will be sharing first-hand experience.

But this week it's different. For the IWSG, I posted about self-publishing. The comments were interesting, and I am sharing some here hoping they might help someone. I'm not going to link them all, that takes too long, but here is the link to the post so you can see the links yourself. They're in chronological order except for the final one...

F Scott Fitzgerald, a self-published author

• 'You've had some of your work on Wattpad. What's your take on that? - D.G. Hudson
• I'm no expert on Wattpad. It has worked for some writers who publish their chapter/s and seek feedback. I'm not prioritising it at the moment, and I've heard there's some hacking of authors' work, but I don't really know if that's true. And an acquaintance found 75,000 readers for her romance, but still can't get a publisher interested, so what's that about?
• 'Self-publishing is a "Learn As You Grow" path. It is simply a marketplace that is too over-crowded to stand out unless you are a Name. Persistence and Evolving are the only things that will see us through. The more books you self-publish, the bigger your backlist will be should you ever gain fans. That thought is what keeps me going.' Roland Yeomans.
• I'd be more comforted if I knew Roland was happy with his sales, having published over 20 books. I'm the tortoise, Roland. You're the hare. 
• Raimey Gallant has a template for marketing your book (keeping track of street teams and everything else) on her blog today for IWSG. And BadRedHeadMedia has a lot of info on building your author brand (for that all-important name recognition). Ronel Janse Van Vuuren
• Very interesting. Check it out.
• 'How about doing an additional recipe collection relating to each of your books - Tuscan, Parisian ... then you could add to that ... French, Italian etc refer to the place/ happening in the book ... ?'  Hilary Melton-Butcher.
• I love this idea. Do you?
• 'Self-publishing demands all your time and energy when you decide to go that route.' - Pat Garcia
• 'I have a whole book of ideas and there are so many more new ones available now. Ask yourself - who is your target reader? Where do those people hang out? Now, find a way to put yourself in front of them, via a book club, a conference, articles for websites and blogs, fan sites, etc.' L Diane Wolfe
• '...we stay with Amazon and KU and KDP etc. because that's where pretty much *all* my sales come from.' - Pepper Words
• I've read that 75% of all books are sold via Amazon and I haven't bothered formatting for the rest, but am looking into Draft2Digital who do all that for you in exchange for 15% of your royalties -- oh, goody, just heard on the weekend that an actual Amazon office is coming to Australia. I wonder what that's all about? If it leads to lower prices (you wouldn't believe how much extra we have to pay compared to our US friends!), I'm happy.
• 'As you know Denise, marketing comes easy for me. I help authors market their books. And I also upload for other authors, so I do know some authors are making good money from self publishing.' - Nas Dean
• Yes, Nas and others like Mason Canyon provide an editing/marketing service. Let me know if you do! I think the cost runs over $300, but I'm open to correction. You can't always book these services as they're very busy. Not many self-pubbed authors can afford these services. But it definitely widens the scope if you hate self-promotion.
• 'A lot of those statements you made can also be applied to traditional publishing too. Which, if I'm honest, is kinda depressing.' Lynda Young
• Yep. I'd heard that traditional publishers don't help much with marketing. You have to convince them you have a marketing plan before they accept your manuscript. *chews thumb*
• 'If you join Payoneer, they provide you with a US bank account that you can give Amazon, which makes royalties *SO* much easier. And I use it myself, so I know it works. Misha Gericke.
• Whoops. Then I remembered I'd signed up for Payoneer and forgot why. Doh!!
• 'I’m on the Writer Unboxed Twitter team and my duty is to scour the internet for information on promotion. I post links on both indie and traditional promotion under #WUPromo. This isn’t intended as a plug, but there’s a lot of good information there,' VR Barkowski
• I love Writer Unboxed. Must check out this twitter feed. Sounds good.
• 'It's not that I don't want to share publishing/marketing tips, it's that I haven't found anything that works. Nada. - Lexa Cain
• That is SO DEPRESSING!!
• 'While I have read many good works that were self-published, I'm disappointed by the number that are sloppy. People who rush the process and don't have their work properly edited. I'm slogging through one now.' Faraway Eyes.
• This is also depressing. Many of the self-pubbed books on my Kindle I've read 6% and can't go on...I like to read really, really, good stories and aspire to write that way, too. Maybe I'll never get there, but it's a good goal.
• 'I'll let you know how long it takes me to recoup the cost of editing, formatting, and design. Hmm...' - Yolanda Renee.
• This is the thing. It's not 'free' to self-publish like some people think. If you do it right (pay experts for different kinds of editing - structural, copy editing and so on, then there's formatting and a professional cover at a minimum), you're looking at $3,000+. You might also hire someone to write your blurb, do illustrations etc. And then there's Print on Demand. Traditional publishing, if you can be so lucky to hook such an animal, helps defray these substantial costs.

Lisa Genova, who self-published Still Alice, then got picked up by traditional publishers.
I just finished reading her Love Anthony. Best read for some time.

So there it is, peeps! I've learned a few more things about self-publishing by throwing it open to discussion last week. I'm hoping more of you will respond to this post and the comments of various bloggers.

• After reading this and/or my previous post, are you still planning on self-publishing?

See you next week!!

And if you think this post is helpful, please hit the social media buttons! Much appreciated! (I'm going to be posting about social media SOON!)

And here's another plug for Write...Edit...Publish. Please think about joining us. A new challenge comes out every second month. Check out the schedule at the top of my sidebar. There might be something that catches your imagination. You can sign up in my sidebar. Also, you can delete your link if you run out of time/inspiration.

THIS MONTH, FEBRUARY...Back of the Drawer (not your average Valentine's challenge). Tell us your interpretation in a poem, a flash fiction piece of 1000 words or less, a non-fiction piece detailing your personal experience or someone else's experience, write a script, draw your dreams, or post a photograph or a photo essay. The genre is up to you. The artistic choice is completely yours.

How times have changed...in the publishing world! From Daphne du Maurier to today.

Hi everyone!

I've been busy with the River City Writers Conference, (a few of you 'liked' some of the trillion facebook posts), a single day dedicated to writing workshops, networking, launching/buying books, chatting with editors and publishers...and eating and drinking and being merry!

Members of Vannguard Writers Group @ the conference - 

Raelene, myself, Charmaine and Nas. 

(Nas is an honorary member of our Brisbane group)

We had some great presenters - Helene Young, pilot and author of a series of excellent romantic suspense single titles set in Queensland's wild, empty north where surveillance is key - Karen Tyrrell, author of 'resilience' books...2 adult (on overcoming mental illness) and 2 for children...one especially successful title Stop the Bully has gained her entree into schools and libraries - Antony Puttee, who runs an uber successful self-publishing one-stop-shop, Book Cover Cafe, who ran an awesome session on how to get your self-published book out there and how to get high Amazon sales - then our very own Nas Dean, helped me judge the flash fiction competition which ran in conjunction with the conference. Nas then presented her session on editing.

Nas Dean presenting on editing in the modern age

Nas' session on editing had some of the died-in-the-wool old-school publishing houses (who sent representatives to the conference to receive pitches from writers) screaming in frustration, claiming publishers did all the things the presenters had been claiming all day that writers did -- editing, promoting, book covers etc. This caused much merriment from those who had already told their story of the hard road of promotion even after being contracted to a publishing house. Obviously these guys have no idea how hard writers are doing it before submitting manuscripts in the faint hope of being picked up, and how little it is perceived that the traditional publishers do after buying rights to your book...(I'm no expert on this, having never submitted anything to an agent or publishing house!)

CLASSIC BOOKS Vs MODERN BOOKS

...Which brings me to some of the changes I see when comparing classic books to modern books. I read a lot of stories of how the old publishing houses used to treat favoured authors--the army of editors who went through the novel after submission, the pampering, the promotion etc. Don't many of us think these oldies were just pure genius? Well, it took a lot of help to polish that genius.

Today, many traditionally-published authors and self-published authors are doing it all/mostly by themselves, some by choice and some because they can't afford/don't see the need for even one editor. (My  opinion is everyone needs an editor, and most savvy readers can tell when this important step has been skipped). I've shared this before, but Margaret Mitchell (author of Gone With the Wind) re-wrote her first chapter 60 times. So these oldies but goodies still did the hard yards themselves before they were touted as overnight/on-going successes.


Along with several other books, I'm currently reading Daphne du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek, (1941). (Well, it does have French... in the title). This book is a classic passionate romance/adventure, one of her most popular novels -- on the best-selling list for thirty years!! But the beautiful Lady Dona and her French pirate adventurer would have been severely edited today.

We modern writers get slapped on the wrist if we carelessly 'head hop' even once in our stories - du Maurier and plenty of her contemporaries did this as a matter of course, and even modern best-sellling author Nora Roberts, a great favourite of mine, does it A LOT, especially in her romances.

Dialogue has changed too. Now we go through our manuscripts with a magnifying glass trying to find/slay most, if not all, dialogue tags, turning them into actions instead.

"Don't touch that!" Jack said to Kiddly Bop. ... becomes...

Jack ran across the room. "Don't touch that!" Kiddly Bop snatched his hand away from the grinding machine just before his arm was lopped off.

(I used the exclamation mark to upset all the 'no exclamation marks' modern rule!! as I think it is quite probable that Jack yelled in this situation.) 

But on p.62 of Frenchman's Creek I found this dialogue...exactly reproduced:

  'William, you are a genius,' she [Lady Dona] said, and he bowed, permitting himself a smile. 'I am pleased you are glad, my lady.'
  'How do I look? Will your master approve?' she asked him, turning on her heels. 'He will make no comment, my lady,' replied the servant, 'but I do not think he will be entirely indifferent to your appearance.'

So...if you don't know what's odd about the above, I'll leave you blissfully unaware. But I'll just say it caused me to be 'taken out of the story' which is the criticism I receive from critique partners whose job it is to make sure we don't commit such writerly sins.

And of course I bought a book - Delia Strange's

FEMME. I'm quite liking the sci-fi romance genre.

• Methinks it was somewhat easier to be an author in the olden days. What do you think? (And I don't mean -- of course it's not, it's a lot easier today to be an author as you can just self publish). I'm talking about the old style, the third person onmisicient POV etc. as compared to today's more stringent rules about everything.

Nas snapped us heading out to breakfast. 

Yes, the last bite of Winter was in the air.

Had a great weekend with Nas and Rajesh staying with us... and attending the River City Writers Conference. How was your weekend?

What gives you energy when you're on a writing marathon?

Hi everybody!

I'm tweaking my blog posts a little. Today I'm sharing with you another passion of mine -- food. When my children were little, I began studying Naturopathy. I've always been interested in nutrition and once subscribed to several health magazines such as Prevention, but Google changed all that. I didn't finish the course, but I'm happy to share that one of my daughters is currently studying Naturopathy and has opened her own vegan, vegetarian, organic cafe, which has taken off like a rocket!

Gluten free black bean brownies -- I love how you
can have your cake and eat it too when it's made
from healthy ingredients!

Anyway, my lifelong study of food science has never wavered. I throw out the faddish ideas and concentrate on what really works -- remember those days when everything was bad for you -- eggs being the top of the list. Well, some of you may still think so as egg white omelettes continue to do the rounds of the brekkie cafe culture, but I'm for whole food!

Where's this going? Well, I've shared the occasional recipe here, mainly Christmas plonk and Toblerone Cheesecake (swoon!) -- chocolate is so good for you, hahahahahah! (I also subscribe to the belief that moderation never killed anyone, but it is hard to be moderate with chocolate).

Today I want to share a healthy recipe that keeps me going when I write. I make it nearly every day. Gives me such a {{{zing}}} and saves me from endless cups of tea and snacks. I've always been a lover of smoothies, but this one takes the cake...or saves me from cake...

My green smoothie in its healthy setting --

the greenhouse outside my kitchen sink with

the aloe vera within arm's reach

GREEN SMOOTHIE

Throw all the following ingredients in a super blender (I have a Bio Chef), then enjoy throughout the day.

INGREDIENTS - (Don't get precious. Adjust portions according to your likes/dislikes)

- half cup chilled water

- half cup coconut water (no added sugar variety of course) 

- dash of aloe vera juice or squeeze a little fresh aloe vera from your plant - don't have it every day

- 2 heaped tablespoons protein powder of your choice 

- a good portion of fresh ginger (I use about an inch) - or add a teaspoon of ground ginger

- a small portion of fresh tumeric (I use about an inch) - or use a teaspoon of tumeric powder

- 1 teaspoon spirulina powder (organic if possible)

- 1 dessertspoon flaxseed oil (keep in its carton in fridge - the darker the better or it will oxidise and then it's bad for you)

- half a fresh avocado, nice and ripe

- between half a cup and a full cup of fresh or frozen blueberries (I usually use frozen as blueberries aren't grown locally and cost a fortune fresh here. Frozen are still good nutrition).

That's it folks! This makes a super healthy breakfast and a constant source of energy throughout the day. Don't keep it too long or it will oxidise and be bad for you!

So let's drink to long writing days and sizzling good health!

In a few days I will be having Nas Dean staying at my place. On Saturday we're attending a Writer's Conference in Brisbane where Nas will be presenting her editing tips. A fun few days!! I may share a few gems with you next week. 

I wonder if I'll convince Nas and Ragesh to join me in a green smoothie for breakfast??

BOOK REVIEWS

Many people confessed they don't like book reviews/launches on blogs, well, I did one here for Australian self-published debut author, Ella Carey, The Paris Time Capsule, mainly because I'd read it and IT ROCKED!! And just last week I saw this:

Ella reached #1 Best Seller in Women's Romance Fiction!! 

If you'd like to read my interview with Ella on her books' debut, go here... Maybe your book might be next!!

And for those of you who now have all that excess energy, perhaps you'll find the time to post for Write...Edit...Publish's August challenge -- anything using TAKING CHANCES. Check it out in my sidebar. Love to have you! We've just started signing up...

Visit from a favourite blogger - Paula Roe Writing Workshop, Pain-free Plotting (even for Pantsers).

Hi friends and visitors!

I've not found a spare moment to blog as I've been delighted to be hosting a visit from a favourite blogger friend and editor, Nas Dean and her lovely husband Rajesh, from Fiji. This of course entails much driving around, showing them our paradise.

Nas and Rajesh on Noosa's Main Beach

Yes, the same lovelies who insisted my husband and I house-sit while they went to the States last year. What a time we had in Fiji...and what a lot of writing I got done in such inspirational surroundings. My first novel, set in Fiji and in its final edits, is about to be subbed to Harlequin Escape (in Australia). I'll let you know how I go...

Meanwhile, Nas' main reason to visit was to attend the Australian Romance Readers convention, an international event, which is being held in a hotel about 3 minutes from my Brisbane apartment. This convention brings together romance readers, authors and publishers and provides opportunities to talk about all things related to romance fiction.  This year will feature heavy hitting award-winning authors Kristan Higgins, Anne Gracie and Rachel Vincent as keynote speakers.

Yesterday, I attended a Pain-free Plotting (even for Pantsers) workshop by Paula Roe with Nas and my writing group friends, Charmaine Clancy and Jillanne Harrison. Awesome time at the Carindale Library -- and it was FREE! 

Nas, Myself, Charmaine, Jillanne busily plotting

Paula Roe and Nas

Paula used the Hero's Journey as the basis of her Pain-free Plotting workshop. Note our colourful sticky notes above. Most of us are familiar with the Hero's Journey pattern of narrative which originates (as far as I know)  from Joseph Campbel's The Hero With a Thousand Faces in 1949. 

Most, if not all stories, follow this structure (even Harlequin romances!) up to a point. Paula is a visual teacher, and the way she had us plotting our hero's journey using different coloured Post-it notes for Act 1, Act 11 and Act 111 of our story made it just that little clearer. Those around me all decided we had the elements covered -- up to a point.

As Paula said, even if you're a pantser and rush headlong into your story after getting that fabulous story idea, the Hero's Journey checklist is a very useful tool to use when editing that first draft. 

For anyone who may not know the Hero's Journey steps, or who didn't click on the link above, they are below. I found it useful to think of a favourite story as we did this exercise--The Hunger Games is a good example that most of us probably know. I can easily visualise these steps...modernised with some Roe-isms and Covey-isms.

ACT 1: (The Setup) Pose a Plot Question.

1.  The ORDINARY WORLD of the hero--establishes the characters in their everyday lives--this may take pages, or just be a simple sentence. Can also be told using backstory, but don't clutter the beginning of your story with too much backstory. 

2.  The CALL TO ADVENTURE--showing an extra-ordinary character in an ordinary world, with the potential to embark on a quest. 

3.  The DENIAL of the call--a crisis point. Here you establish their external goal. Usually transplanted into another world. 

4.  ...followed by ACCEPTANCE--character fully focused on his/her external goal...then your hero walks through the door...into ACT 11...

ACT 11: (Where the story unfolds) 

All about tests--failing them, learning, failing some more...finally passing them.

5.  Hero enters the NEW WORLD/LEARNS THE RULES,

6.  ...then ALLIES/ENEMIES are revealed, 

7.  ...followed by FAILING TRIALS, 

8.  ...then the hero reaches the POINT OF NO RETURN. He/she wants to go back to his/her ORDINARY WORLD, but cannot.

This is the Midpoint of your novel. If your midpoint is saggy, problematic, as Paula said, your hero may not have come up against enough obstacles, or his goal may need to be revisited.

9.  There's no going back, so the hero is now FAILING, 

then finally PASSING TRIALS. This reveals your hero's resilience, yet he/she is not perfect.

10. Then we have TIME OUT/HERO'S MASK IS REVEALED--to him/her self. This is usually portrayed through Internal Dialogue, but not always.

11. GUT PUNCH TIME! OMG! The reader asks--is that really going to happen? It is not totally a Black Moment, but it seems like it. How will the hero act under pressure?

12. NOOOOOOOOOO! At the beginning of your story, you asked a question...now the reader wonders if this is the answer! But of course it isn't!

The reader is left hungry for more...can't put your book down at this stage. So...the stage is all set for ACT 111.

ACT 111: (Climax/Resolution) It's a wrap! You must answer the original plot question asked at the beginning of your story.

13. THE ROAD BACK -- I wanna go home, cries the hero! He/she tries to leave, to go back to their ORDINARY WORLD.

14. TIME OUT -- again. Revelation. Decision time. The 'Ah-ha!' moment.(Internal dialogue...thinking...lull in action.)

15. PLOT CLIMAX/FINAL LESSON -- the gut-wrenching personal Black Moment for the hero. Boo hoo!

16. RESOLUTION -- Wrap up. Everyone's happy (at least in a romance). The hero returns. Others are affected by the changes in the hero. 

Paula recommended Michael Hague for some excellent articles regarding plotting. He is a very successful Hollywood screenwriter. 

Of course I learnt a lot more at Paula's workshop, but I'm sure you're worn out by now! Do visit Paula's website. She has some yummy stuff for writers.

• I hope you enjoyed The Hero's Journey. Do you use this pattern of narrative, or do you follow another method? I know there are several others, but I think, to a certain extent, most popular fiction follows The Hero's Journey. Do you agree/disagree?

RomanticFridayWriters are Driven to Murder in March. We want 1,000 words of prose or poetry on murder most foul. Go to the RFW Challenge Page for more details. Sign up soon! You'll see the linky here or on the RFW website.

Bula from Fiji!. Bollywood in Fiji, Hollywood in Fiji and free ebook!

Bula from Fiji!

MOVIES IN FIJI

If you missed him on facebook,
this is the Fijian policeman
next door. Cute uniform!

Bollywood has overtaken Hollywood as the biggest movie maker in the world and I was surprised to see a Bollywood takeover of Fiji. There are currently several productions taking place (four simultaneously) and locals count themselves lucky to be asked to play extras for the princely sum of $30 (AUD $15ish) per day. Wages in Fiji are very low, even for professionals like policemen and teachers, so the Fijians are happy to earn a little extra to be an extra (pun intended). Anything that helps a struggling economy is a positive if you can get over the fact that to most of us such low wages reek of exploitation.

I shouldn’t have been too surprised at the popularity of Bollywood movies here, as 37% of the population of Fiji is Indo-Fijian compared to 57% of native Fijians. Every day there are Bollywood movies showing wherever you go to visit or eat as most of the businesses are owned by the Indo-Fijians. There are Bollywood movies on the television if/when I turn it on during the day. Not to mention the shops and handicraft stalls where you can buy saris and look the part! (Psst, I got to try on a sari of Nas’ and report it is very uncomfortable when you’re not used to it!)

GEOGRAPHY LESSON, LOL!

Fiji consists of two largish islands, Vanua Levu and Viti Levu (where Nas lives and I'm hanging out). Vitu Levu has Nadi (the tourist capital) where Nas has her home, and Suva, (the political capital). However, these are just 2 of 300+ islands. The scenery is what most people consider paradise – golden sandy beaches, reefs, jungle-type mountains complete with waterfalls – all making beautiful locations for movie making.

Long before Bollywood invaded Fiji’s sparkling shores, Hollywood was here! Here are some movies made on the Fijian islands which you may recognize:

• ·         Robinson Crusoe (1932)
• ·         The Blue Lagoon (1948)
• ·         The Blue Lagoon (1979) - remake
• ·         The Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)
• ·         Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004)
• ·         Cast Away (2000) – the island (Monuriki) is now unofficially called Tom Hanks Island and after a day trip there everyone wonders how Tom and his volleyball could drag themselves away. There is actually an island already called Castaway Island so they can't change it to that!
• ·         Contact (Jodi Foster’s ‘heaven’ sequence)

For the Bollywood fans, the major movie currently being shot around Suva, Nadi and the islands, is Table 21, starring Rajeev Khandelwal and Tina Desai.

The reason why Hollywood stopped choosing Fiji for locations is because of the instability of its government. Since independence from the Brits after 96 years of colonial administration , then the first steps to Fijian self-government in 1960, there have been four coups, with Commodore Frank Bainimarama in charge since he declared himself President in 2006. Democratic elections are set for 2013. Registration is currently underway. Great news!

Maybe Hollywood will return!

As will I. On our go-to list for next week:

·         Cocktails, dinner and watching the fire dancers at Denarau (an island close to Nadi Town)

·         A bus trip all the way around our island, Viti Levu – via the Queens Road to Suva, then return via the Kings Road through the mountains.

·         A full day sailing on the Seaspray 83 foot classic schooner, visiting 9 islands, including a traditional Fijian village.

Plans are known to go awry, but that’s the plan for now! As you can imagine, there’ll be some awesome snaps.

The lucky couple at Denarau where you catch the boats for the islands.

Moce (Goodbye) and Vinaka (Thank You) for reading a little about Fiji.

 FREE EBOOKS!

Carole Anne Carr is offering her ebook Candle Dark for free for three days from 6th July until 8th July. She is also offering her ebook First Wolf free for two days—July 12th and 13th. So be sure to check them out!

Reading, 'Riting and tRavelling in Fiji, lucky me!

‘I love to go a’wandering along the mountain track

And as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on my back.’ 

…so the song (Happy Wanderer, Scout Songs) goes. And so do I. It’s time for me to go a'wandering again – this time to Fiji.

I haven’t been to Fiji before, have you?  My wanderings usually take me far, far away into the Northern Hemisphere. I've been saving the Pacific Islands and Asia for when I can no longer stand 20 hours on a plane! 

But for this trip I decided to explore closer to home, one reason being I wanted to meet someone who lives there – someone who invited me to check out the Fiji islands some time ago. This time the planets aligned, and I emailed that special someone who said – yes, yes, yes, come on over, but you’re not just staying a week (as I’d planned) you have to stay 6 weeks as we’re going away and we need a house sitter! 

This caused some consternation as you can imagine – man, who wants to stay in a tropical paradise in a beautiful home with 330-ish islands in close proximity for 6 whole weeks? What will we do to fill the days? Huh? Oh, that’s right, great idea! So my mid-year jaunt turns out to be a surprise to me at least – all of July and half of August in Nadi, Fiji.

And who would be this mysterious someone who set this mid-winter tropical tryst in motion, you ask? I know, you want in on the action too! You want to peek into my address book! Well, this mysterious someone you probably know, that most generous blogger in the bloggerverse, Nas Dean.  Not only does she tirelessly promote romance writers on her RomanceBookParadise blog and collaboratively review romance titles on her Romance Reader blog, she tirelessly gives of her home and her resources to introduce writers to her hometown, Nadi, Fiji.

So, dear jealous followers, I leave for Nas’ on June 29^th (gulp, that's this coming Friday, friends, better get cracking!) and return to my sub-tropical Queensland paradise on August 19^th. Fiji – ah, a pretty good ‘summer place’ to spend winter and winter is being a bit nasty here on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland ATM - bleak, Scotland-type winter days with oppressive clouds. 

   

Nas assures me her home is wi-fi’ed to the max so there should be no break in my blogging and hosting of RomanticFridayWriters schedule. If you'd like to write flash fiction/poetry for RFW check out the 2 upcoming challenges in my right sidebar or go here to the RFW site. My RFWer stories will take on a romantic paradise setting I’m sure. I imagine grass skirts (and that’s just on the men!), palm trees dipping into the pristine blue waters and glorious sunsets over the Pacific – except for grass-skirted men, much the same as home, but with an exotic flavor.

My plans always go awry, but at this stage I hope to catch up on my Kindle reading list, do lots of writing and lots of island hopping, not necessarily in that order! I'll miss my Writing Group. We're collaborating on a high fantasy novel, but have our own Facebook page so I should be able to continue to add my bits and pieces.

I hope you’ll enjoy my little photo essays during my time in the wonderful Fijian islands.

Thanks Nas, blogger extraordinaire!

Found this recent photo of Nas and her daughter on the
Romance Reader blog.

And I’ll fill my incoming suitcase with books for your libraries and schools and do my bit for the retail economy on the return journey.

Until I have my own fab photos to post, I'm using one from google images which is supposed to be copyright free, fingers crossed. 

• So do you know Nas? Have you been to Fiji or any of the Pacific Islands?