I write Australian cozies with sassy female sleuths who couldn't solve the mystery without the help of friends, so grab a coffee, pull up a chair and make yourself at home... http://ajblythe.com
Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world. Tom Clancy
Every September I set my goals for the writing year. So far I have done everything I needed for the first 6 months. But now I'm moving the goal posts. I'm no longer going to enter the First Kiss with two manuscripts, in fact, I'm not going to enter it with any. This is because I have made the decision to be more selective with my contests, eg picking contests with finals judges I'd like to get my ms in front of. I think I'll have to put a lot of thought into my 2011/12 goals!
Today is the official national day of Australia. On the 26th January we commemorate the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788.
I think people's need for books and the sense of community a library creates can be forgotten at times. After reading the following article, originally posted by the ABC on 16th January, I don't think the council of Milton Keynes will forget again.
The residents of a small town in Britain have borrowed every single book from their local library in an attempt to stop it from being closed.
Until this week, the town of Stony Stratford, a constituent town of Milton Keynes in north Buckinghamshire, was notable only because its two pubs, The Cock and The Bull, were the likely origin of the phrase "a cock and bull story".
But when the Milton Keynes Council decided to close Stony Stratford's library as part of budget cuts, 6,000 of the town's residents decided they had another story to tell.
A week ago the library held 16,000 books but today the stunned librarians preside over bare shelves. The people of Stony Stratford have taken home their maximum allowance of 15 books, including dusty mechanics manuals and flimsy paperback novels. At one stage during the week, nearly 380 books were being stamped out on loan every hour.
The campaign, called 'Wot No Books', was organised on Facebook by Friends of Stony Stratford Library. The group says the protest aims to show the void that would be left in the community if the library closed.
The Stony Stratford Council has backed the campaign against the Milton Keynes Council, because like many of the town's groups, it holds its meetings in the library. The Milton Keynes Council says it will continue to consult with the community about the planned closure.
Categories bookshelves, community, library, Milton Kenyes Council, people power, reading, Stony Stratford
As some of you may already know, a team from the Romance Writers of Australia commitee has started a drive for book donations...
We've all seen the devastation the recent Queensland floods have wrought and have wondered how we can help. We know that for many affected families, books will not be high on their priorities list for some time to come.
So…with the aid of some wonderful volunteers, we've put together a Romance Writers of Australia Flooded Communities Book Appeal.
FICTION BOOKS! Romance books, children's books, young adult books, genre books, whatever – either new or in sparkling condition.
Now! And any time over the next few months. The books will be boxed and delivered to the appropriate libraries/schools/neighbourhood centres/community centres in batches as soon as the communities are ready to receive them. We'll be liaising with councils, libraries and schools to ensure this is done appropriately. Feel free to pop a note inside, or if you're an author, sign it.
There was a lot of relief in Brisbane yesterday when it was realised the flood peak was 1 metre (3'3") lower than expected. While this was good news, it was short-lived. There was still so much water everywhere, and so much destruction.
To give you some idea this is a street in our central business district - before the flood and during:
My home state has seen a lot of water in the past few weeks. Floods have stretched nearly the entire state - 80% has been declared a disaster zone, an area twice the size of Texas and over 5 United Kingdoms. And now it is our turn.
I live in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland in the SE corner. Today they predict our flood will peak, higher than the previous highest flood of 1974. The Brisbane River runs right through the CBD (below is a photo of our central business district from then) so as you can imagine many businesses and homes are going to be affected.
Regardless of what the river does today the devestation and destruction the past two weeks of flooding have wrought on Queensland will last a long time.
My family is safe. My home is safe. I'm one of the lucky ones. My thoughts are with those who haven't been so fortunate.
For the last year I have been poking fun at the but in all of us... those 'but' excuses for not getting writing done. Today is the last My Excuse Monday post.
Now that there is no possible excuse for not writing left (unless you revisit my last years posts as per below *grin*) I thought I'd shift direction for my Monday blog posts. So from next week I will be starting Motivational Monday - stay tuned!
Yes, this is my New Year's Resolution... I'm aiming for 60 minutes of writing a day. I'm not sure I'll write every day (there will be days of plotting, editing - and life butting in) but I'm hoping the goal will drive me to do better than before. Guess time will tell :o)
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