The Liebster Award wherein I answer 11 questions, mainly about writing.

Yolanda Renee at Defending the Pen has nominated me for the

Liebster Award.

What is a Liebster Award?

The Liebster Blog Award is an exciting opportunity to develop relationships with our fellow bloggers from different domains. This is a peer nominated award, which acts as a chain blog post. And is mainly intended to connect with new bloggers while building your email list.

Thank you, Yolanda!

Who is Yolanda? She's a sassy lady who writes very scary murder thrillers and zombie stories, and that's just for starters. She works with me at Write...Edit...Publish (WEP) which feeds her passion for flash fiction. Yolanda is a special blogging friend with something to say (she's started a political blog so she can say some more!) and she doesn't mince words there. Her blog is fun, full of variety, and so is Yolanda!

If you don't already follow her, please click HERE and follow her right now!

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Here are the questions Yolanda posted for her nominated bloggers to answer.

1.    What WIP are you working on now or tell us about another hobby you have?

I have several WIPs on the go, but the one I'm currently giving most attention to is my chick-lit novel, Carpe Diem, about the agony and the ecstasy of an Australian girl and a French artist in Paris.

2.    Do you find subjects for blogging difficult or overflowing?

Overflowing. I get ideas when I read blogs, newspapers, watch telly, read books. I think--I want to know more about that, so I research it and post about it.

3.    Your favorite fictional character, why?

Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind, proving how trials and tribulations can change someone for the better. Such an inspirational character. Who thought a spoiled, beautiful, selfish girl could find the grit to care for her family in the midst of terrible suffering. Her relationship with Rhett Butler is a whole other story...I'll think about it tomorrow...

4.    Your favorite author, why?

This is very difficult. I am an avid reader and have several favourites so I must at least tell you about two. I love Pat Conroy for his utterly beautiful descriptions of settings, especially in Beach Music and South of Broad. And Anita Shreve for her captivating stories told in lyrical language, often very suspenseful.

5.    Your favorite genre, why? 

Once again, I don't have just one favourite genre. I am very eclectic in my tastes. I love romance in most of its forms--paranormal/suspense/chick lit/literary fiction (erotica, not so much) and I always look for a romantic element no matter what genre I read because fiction for me reflects real life and real life is about relationships.

6.    Blog hops pro or con – productive or a waste of time?

Pro. Blog hops are invaluable in building our blogger platform and connecting with new bloggers. In my early days of blogging, I grabbed onto every blog hop that came my way. Now that I co-host my own permanent blog hop I can only say that the writing demanded by blog hops such as WEP improve our writing skills although they are very time consuming for the hosts.

7.    Biggest regret or the best decision you've ever made?

Regrets, I have a few, but then again, too few to mention, lol! Best decision? Hmmm. Deciding to have kids? 

8.    What is the meaning of success to you?

To be happy within yourself which I guess is a product of the choices you've made in life.

9.    Do you write reviews for the books you read? Why or why not?

I do write reviews for the books I read. Quick ones on Goodreads for best-selling authors who don't need my help, and longer reviews for blogger friends. As I read a lot of books I can be slow in reviewing, but I eventually get there. I love it when a blogger asks me to read/review their book then gives me a nudge when I don't get a review up quickly enough for them. I love it when people review my book too!

10.Biggest social media success or failure?

Other than blogging, Instagram. It takes so little effort and is very rewarding, especially if you love photography and travel. 

11.Please share a paragraph or two from your current WIP or your favorite quote.~~~~~

A paragraph from Chapter One of my chick-lit novel, Carpe Diem:

I never asked too much when I moved to Paris. My dream was simple. I would meet a gorgeous Frenchman with floppy dark hair falling into mischievous black eyes who would prostrate himself at my feet, make me his wife and carry me over the threshold of his quirky Paris apartment close to the Champs-Elysées. After an early-morning love fest, he would kiss me passionately one last time, then leave for work in his snappy bespoke business suit doing whatever he did in his office on the Champs. I would stretch out on my sumptuous satin sheets until noon, before making an appearance at the exclusive boutique near the Plaza Athenee where I was personal stylist to chic Parisiennes who were also not averse to a lie in. 

So, pretty simple?

Ah, dreams.

Where did they go so wrong?

~~~~

Thanks, Yolanda, this was a lot of fun!

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The Liebster Blog Award rules are:

• Write a blog post about your nomination, displaying an image of the award.
• Thank the person who nominated you that includes a link to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions the person who nominated you asked you in his/her blog post.
• Nominate 5-11 other starting bloggers who you think deserve this award and come up with 11 questions of your own for them to answer.
• List these rules in your blog post.

~~~~

My nominations for the Liebster Award:

Kelly Steel @ Learning to Write

Jemi Fraser @ Just Jemi

Karen Lange @ Write Now

Ann Best @ The Mormon Bests, Memoir Writer

Misha Gericke @ The Five Year Project

Richard Hughes @ Writing and Living at Richard Hughes

Pat Garcia @ Pat Garcia Book Reviews

Nilanjana Bose @ Madly in Verse

    ~~~~

And here are your 11 questions to answer on your blog if you accept the award.

1. What is your burning motivation in life?

2. If you are published, quickly outline your journey for us. 

3. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? Why?

4.What writing 'secret' can you share with us? 

5. What author inspires you more than any other? Why?

6. What/who means the most to you?

7. What is your favourite season? Describe something about that season to appeal to our senses.

8. What do you like to write? Novels, novellas, short stories, flash fiction, poetry, memoir--if you write more than one, tell us.

9. Share with us a sentence or a paragraph from a current piece of your writing.

10. What blogger has inspired you the most?

11. Do you think social media is important in the life of a writer? Why/why not?

#IWSG post - July - How to write like the greats - Hemingway

It's the first Wednesday of the month again. Welcome to July's IWSG! Thanks Alex J Cavanaugh and your co-hosts this month--Yolanda Renee, Tyrean Martinson, Madeline Mora-Summonte , LK Hill, Rachna Chhabria, and JA Scott! Visit them if you can!

I buy a lot of how-to books and it used to make me insecure reading them and realising that my style was nothing like the 'greats' which might explain why I'm not a 'great'! But writing comes down to being true to yourself. You can emulate whoever you like, but you'll never be them. You'll just sound fake.

Still, now that I'm quite comfortable with my writing style, it doesn't mean I don't read how-to books any more. Came across a great one in the library.

And this might be a good place to belatedly insert my answer to this month's IWSG question: What's the best thing anyone has ever said about your writing? 

Easy: Michael di Gesu (whose opinion I value greatly) said my writing in Under the Tuscan Moon was "exquisite". That'll do me!

The book is called 'Fiction Writing Master Class' and the subtitle is 'Emulating the work of great novelists to master the fundamentals of craft'.

Here are some of the greats covered:

Honore de Balzac
Charles Dickens
Herman Melville
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Edith Wharton
W. Somerset Maugham
Frank Kafka
D.H. Lawrence
Ernest Hemingway
Margaret Mitchell
J.D. Salinger
Ray Bradbury
Stephen King

It's no secret I'm a fan of Hemingway. I've read most of his little books, but I don't think I write like him. He's sparing in his prose while I tend to verbosity. But this book picks up the techniques these writers use which gives them their recognised style. Some of the techniques are great to follow.

Here are Hemingway's 'secrets':
Did you know Hemingway is the most imitated author of our time? Not everyone likes his sparse style, but nevertheless, if it worked for Hemingway, writers think it's worth trying to write like him.

I once found (and blogged about) a way to improve your writing was to find a favourite passage by a writer you love, copy it, then write your own. By doing this exercise, I found that I was able to expand my paragraphs, add more of the senses. It was like a free-writing exercise, but following the steps of a master. I know it improved my writing style.

So how did this book distil the style of Hemingway?

SENTENCE LENGTH
Hemingway is most famous for his short sentences. He used simplified, direct prose. But he worked long and hard to write like this. Unlike those of us who love the open slather of NaNoWriMo, it is said that Hemingway never moved on to the next sentence until he was happy with the one he'd just written.

Advice in this book?
Hemingway's technique is especially helpful when rewriting. Break up long complex thoughts into bite-sized morsels. Short sentences can have dramatic effect. String together a series of short sentences when you want to stress a point or add dramatic punch to your prose. I've found I'm doing this now without thinking too much about it.

Example from 'The Snows of Kilamanjaro'...

'All right. Now he would not care for death. One thing he had always dreaded was the pain.'

Notice the cumulative effect, pounding home the idea that the hero is nearing death.

Short sentences add variety and music to your writing...add create white space so your pages don't look cluttered. Mix short with long at times, which Hemingway was also fond of doing. There are many examples in The Old Man and the Sea when he was in the thoughts of the old fisherman.

SENTENCE SPEED
Hemingway's prose moves along at a rapid clip. He writes in the fast lane. I'm not going into detail here, except to say he uses two methods to add speed to his sentences--(1) he chooses short words for simple diction (no flowery language with Hem), and (2) he cuts out commas as much as possible. There are many examples of this technique in A Moveable Feast-

''Often Miss Stein would have no guests and she was always very friendly and for a long time she was affectionate .' Fairly zips along.

The author also covers Hemingway's DICTION, DETAIL AND COLOUR (Imagery), USING 'AND', THE LOOK OF YOUR PAGES (white space), CHARACTERS BASED ON REAL PEOPLE, STRUCTURE (his endings are more memorable than his beginnings. His conclusions are filled with significance made more memorable by foreshadowing throughout his stories.

So ENDINGS--imbue them with symbolic significance and foreshadow final events. Drop subtle hints along the way. Beef up your conclusion with added meaning by making universal or spiritual statements.

So, really, Hemingway did have a lot to offer we writers of modern prose.

No need to feel insecure if  you don't write like Hemingway. But it doesn't hurt to read about him and check how we could improve by following some of his 'rules'.

• How about you? Are there any writing greats you like to emulate?
• Are you secure/insecure this month?
• And in August WEP launches its first challenge, GARDENS. Yolanda Renee has posted about it HERE...

The TMI Blog hop. This is me, from A to Z. Even Donald Trump gets a mention...

Just for fun and because Yolanda Renee is a good blogger friend, as are bloggers Debbie and Guilie, I'm participating in the TMI Blog hop. 

I'm always up for a challenge. How about you? Take the dare and join us!
You have until July 13th!

This is me, from A to Z

A: Age

Age is redundant in this world at this time. I feel blessed that I live in a clean, healthy environment and feel as energetic as a twenty year old, even though I'm a few decades older. Still, growing old is better than the alternative--dying young--and that happens all too often.

B: Biggest fear

That I'll be pushing up daisies before all my ideas/books/travel articles, are published. I've devoted most of my life to others, now I feel time slipping through my fingers, gathering momentum, slip sliding away...

C: Current time

12.23 pm, Pacific Time (Brisbane). CNN blaring about the trials and tribulations of Britain's Brexit vote. For a political junkie, heaven to watch and hell to think about the repercussions around the world.

D: Drink you last had

Black tea with milk.

E: Every day starts with

A groan or a high five, depending on what I've got planned, followed by a drink of distilled water, followed by the first of many cups of tea. Then I make a thermos of beautiful Chinese Emperor Green Tea I bought in China to sip all day like the Chinese do. (I'm a heavy drinker!) And then there's my first cafe coffee of the day, so I'd better get dressed...

F: Favorite Song

That's too hard, but I always say 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' by U2, my favourite band.

G: Ghosts, are they real?

Yes, I know they are, because I was visited by one once, and I've heard a few 'true' ghost stories that can't be discounted. I believe they're out there! 

H: Hometown

Kenilworth, a tiny country one-horse town in the Sunshine Coast hinterland where they make boutique cheeses. It's about 40 kilometres from our beach house at Peregian Beach.

I: In love with

Reading. I'm obsessed. Keep those books coming! If I read half as much, I'd write twice as much, but (((shrugs))) what can I say?

J: Jealous of?

People who actually love the gym!

K: Killed someone?

I can't comment as it's before the courts as we speak. Apparently someone heard me bad mouthing Donald Trump and, well, you just can't do that in this politically correct climate. So, I'm a person of interest should anything happen to the Donald.

L: Last time you cried?

Hmm. I'm not a big crier, but when I cry, I really get into it. Watching those poor refugees living in those camps and trudging across deserts does it for me.

M: Middle name

Claire. Only found out recently that my father wrote 'Clare' on my birth certificate but I've gone with the 'i' all my life.

N: Number of siblings

Too  many to count. My parents took us as we came. So I 'fess I have six bros and 3 sistas. I'm piggy in the middle.

O: One wish

I can't have world peace or the cure for every terminal illness on the planet, so I'll say I wish that people could stop hating each other and inciting others to hate what you hate. And did I do that when I mentioned Donald Trump? I don't hate him, just think it's a strange system that allows someone of his ilk to run for President in what is currently the most powerful country in the world. That could well change with him at the helm. So I wish...

P: Person you last called?

Siam Spicy Thai restaurant to make a reservation for my weekly dose of Thai Red Chicken Curry. Yum!

Q: Question you're always asked

When are you going to stop teaching and write full time? Good question. I take it under advisement.

R: Reason to smile

I've got so much to be thankful for, and so many  have so little.

S: Sounds that annoy you

I can't stand music in the car for some reason. Weird. So when I'm not with him, my husband plays his Johnny Cash full bore. I can hear him coming up the street!

T: Time you woke up

7.45 am. I'm currently on 'holidays' up at the beach so am enjoying the odd sleep in. But as we're doing renos, today there was the carpet man and the pay-tv man is about to arrive to fix our box.

U: Underwear color

Who wants to know? Scary question! Anyway, my underwear is always some shade of pink.

V: Vacation destination

Travelling is an obsession. Next destination--either Cuba, the French canals driving our own hire boat, or back to Paris.

W: Worst habit

Procrastinating about everything! 

X: X-Rays you've had

Most recent was on my foot from too much running! All fixed now. Still running.

Y: Your favorite food

Cheesecake! Favourite cheesecake? Toblerone. I've shared the recipe on my blog several times.

Z: Zodiac sign

Libra. That's why I'm a procrastinating nice balanced person. One of the most famous Librans is Vladimir Putin. I rest my case. 

Please join us!
The blog-fest is on through July 13th. 
Just add your name and post your answers.

The TMI: 26 Things About Me #Blogfest is all about getting to know you better. 

To participate, please write a comment and add your link to the list.

1.	Debbie @The Doglady's Den	8.	Robyn @ Just Bits And Pieces
2.	DiscConnected	9.	Shady Dell Music & Memories
3.	Tilting at Windmills	10.	Sanch @ Living my Imperfect Life
4.	Cathy Graham	11.	Yolanda Renee
5.	Shilpa Garg	12.	C. Lee McKenzie
6.	Chicky	13.	DeeDee
7.	Guilie @ Quiet Laughter	14.	Denise Covey

(Submissions close in 15d 3h 42m)

Create your own linkup for free

Do you have goals bloghop. Novels, novellas, short stories, travel articles...how has June been for you?

Earlier this year I joined this regular monthly Friday bloghop hosted by Misha Gericke and Beth Fred. It's a steadily growing list as writers realise it's a good motivation.

The reason I joined this hop was to keep myself honest, and honestly, reflecting on my goals for the month is a good motivation to push myself. So here it's the last Friday of June, ridiculous, so it's time again...

You're more than welcome to join this bloghop. All you need to do is read and follow the guidelines then SIGN UP HERE...

Your goal is the link title. Not your name or your blog's. This is so we can keep track of who's doing what. 

I signed up as Number 13,  'publish a novel and submit short stories' this year. 

MY WRITING LIFE IN JUNE 2016

MY PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVELLA, BOOK TWO - The Vendemmia (The Harvest)

I am into the sequel to the second story in my  series Under the Tuscan Moon. Sorry for taking so long for those of you who have asked where is the second novella, but the research is taking longer than I'd planned. I hate reading sequels that are rubbish, written under duress, so bear with me.

In the sequel, my two 'loveable', ahem, vamps, Vipunin and Cuchulcain, have returned to Vipunin's castello where he lived before he was turned. Here Vipunin intends to be a very disruptive influence at harvest time. Ciassia and Sibon  are unaware they harbour a monster in their midst, a monster who will do anything to get what he wants...and he wants Ciassia. 

SHORT STORY UPDATE

Last time I gave an update on one of my Paris short stories, Carpe Diem, it was at 25,000 words. This story is lighting up my life and sending electricity through my fingertips as I type, so it is now at 30K+. So I figure my protagonists, Saskia and her lover Raphael, are demanding nothing less than novel length. When you meet these two, you'll know what I mean...

A quick mock up to give you the idea

Currently I'm sorting the chapters as there's a PAST and PRESENT element. I have a further motivation to get the structure right (even as I continue to write up their marriage in country France). I'm lucky to be attending a Margie Lawson immersion class in Brisbane in early August. I've worked through some of her online tutorials and this woman knows a thing or two about writing/editing.  As Margie says on her web page: "EXPECT to work for three full days (plus the afternoon and evening you arrive) dissecting, analyzing, and deep editing." I feel very blessed to have strong-armed my way into her seminar. I'm going to use Carpe Diem as my piece to work on with Margie.

WRITING ABOUT TRAVEL 

As regular visitors and blogger friends know, I wear a travel writer's hat. Well, I've been travelling again...to tropical North Queensland, so haven't achieved more than taking photos and making notes. No time to work on my travel articles, but it won't take long to rectify this now that I'm back home. 

MY PARIS COOKERY SCHOOL NOVEL

This is still waiting for November's NaNoWriMo. 

WRITE...EDIT...PUBLISH

Have done some guest posts, at Chrys Fey's in particular, in which I mention WEP's August challenge, GARDENS. I spent some time meandering around the Remembrance Gardens in Townsville. I felt a story coming on...Please join us in August if you love gardens--flash fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photographs, artwork...

WRAPPING UP...

So overall, June has been very low key as far as writing goes, but you've got to live your life. Major renovations at our beach house (next year our principal residence) are slowing me down writing-wise. I'm helping with the painting now. It'll be worth it when I can lock myself away in Den's Den which is about to be painted. Filling the bookshelves will be delightful.

READING 

I READ A LOT but haven't reviewed much this month. I'm concentrating on bloggers' books on my kindle. Just finished The House by the Lake by Ella Carey, an Aussie writer. Delightful! Already topped some of Amazon's best-seller lists. Set in Berlin and the US and follows her Paris Time Capsule based on the true story of an abandoned apartment in Paris. 

AIM HIGH

Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer.– Ray Bradbury

How are you going with your 2016 goals? I'd love to hear from you. Please share in comments or join the hop.