What’s Inside…
At the Desk – Update on my writing
What’s hot in books – my recommendations
My garden – What we’re picking
Things I’ve learnt this month – The importance of Reviews
Words of the Week for January
Betrayed Expectations...
I devoted November till January to completing the second round of edits to send off to my edit. I’m pleased to report that I hit the target on the 31st of January. Talk about scraping in.
I’ve taken this week off from writing and editing to attend to some business tasks and behind-the-scenes jobs I’ve neglected for a little while. On the 8th of February, it’s back to the desk to begin the edits on book three. I don’t have a date for completing the edits on Betrayed Reality at this stage, but it will be out by the end of the year, that’s for certain.
I’ve realised that since about July last year I haven’t really sat and written anything new. So I have sat myself down and had a good chat about where we head in the next little while. I’ve decided publishing books two and three are the current priority and then I’ll look at getting back to book four, which is over 20,000 words into the rewrite.
So the plan is to have book two out before the middle of the year and book three out by Christmas. Let’s see if I can hit those goals.
Hopefully, in next month’s newsletter, I’ll have a snippet from Betrayed Expectations to share with you.
Things I’ve learnt with my writing...
The one thing that stood out for me this month was how often I throw words like that, now, are, felt, knew, had and was into my writing unnecessarily. I easily culled over a thousand words from my manuscript as I tightened up my writing.
There are many things you look out for in the editing stage, but for me this one became obvious and rather annoying after a while. With the next manuscript I write, I’ll be more aware of this habit and try to eliminate the practise.
A bountiful Crop…
What a lovely wet summer we’ve had. We can actually boost about having a lovely green lawn area. Never been able to say that in the nearly eleven years we’ve lived here.
As for produce. Just like the last few years, my garlic was prolific. It’s drying out and stored and will hopefully get us through the first half of the year. I also mince some and that lasts ages. The flavour is so good.
We have strawberries, cherry tomatoes, kale, potatoes, peas and beans and radishes. Everything has grown well this year and we’re harvesting nectarines. The apples are getting bigger and lemons are still a tad green, but not too far off. The figs are being watched closely by us and the bird life. It will be a race to see who gets them first.
Last year was the first time I ever tried figs, and to my husband’s dismay, I loved them. He’ll be fighting me and the birds off this year.
What I've been loving...
This month I’ve read and listened to both fiction and non-fiction books. I was entertained by wonderful authors like Monica McInerney with her book The Godmothers, Lee Christine who wrote Charlotte Pass and Rachael John’s Lost Without You. Books like these from great Australian Authors I really love. I couldn’t choose which I’d recommend more. I loved all three of them.
As for my non-fiction recommendation, I can’t go past this book. It touched me deeply. My husband came home from his run one day to tell me, “Wayne’s written a book, it’ll be released soon.” We got our hands on a copy before the release date.
I can’t say enough about this book. Wayne Quillman is an extremely talented man. This photographic exploration tells of the first Australians and their connection to place and culture. I devoured it in one sitting and loved it. The pictures are amazing. If you’re looking for something different, I highly recommend this as my non-fiction recommendation for January.