Walking the Talk
I may not have published a book recently, but I’ve been busy building my author platform, studying author success stories, and honing my craft. April and May were busy months…
April 2023
I entered my very first short story competition last year in 2022 and my story Angel Wings are Precious Things was chosen as one of the twenty-six gamer short stories to be featured in an anthology called Got Game?.
A thorough editing process ensued, and the story rewritten and polished several times before publication. I learned a lot through this process, particularly because I’m not usually a short story writer. They created a cool avatar of me to accompany my bio, which makes me look twenty years younger, and I’m okay with that lol.
On April 2nd, the Got Game? anthology was released, and the publishers hosted the book launch in Brisbane in the Netherworld Arcade in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. The launch gave me the opportunity to sign books, which was both surreal and fun. There are some great stories in the anthology and I think the cover looks great. If you are interested in checking out the anthology Got Game?, where my short story Angel Wings are Precious Things is one of the 26 gamer stories featured go here
Later that afternoon I attended a very interesting short course at the Queensland Writers Centre in Brisbane called Writing the Novella presented by Nick Earls who is the author of twenty-eight books, including the bestselling novels Zigzag Street, Bachelor Kisses and Perfect Skin, and the award-winning novella series Wisdom Tree. If you are interested in any of these courses, go here
At the April meeting of the Gold Coast Writers’ Association, Jen Swenson presented a talk on, The Importance of Being Seen, a deeply personal journey about being your authentic self and showing up confidently in the world. Paul Smith’s workshop Swords, Knives and Weapons educated us on the origin of the various weapons and the importance of accuracy when using weapons in your storytelling and Christine Betts talked about The Power of Email Lists for Authors. All about the importance of the email list and how to go about building your list with various platforms. If you are an aspiring writer, join us here
Later in the month I assisted other committee members on the display table for The Gold Coast Writers’ Association at the Seniors Health & Lifestyle Expo, answering questions and bringing awareness to the community about our fabulous association.
And I attended the crime themed Write & Sip event at the Whisky Lounge in Mudgeeraba, where guest authors Megan Norris and Loraine Peck shared their knowledge on crime writing. Our imaginations were firing brought on by various exercises. I chatted to the lovely Loraine Peck and, of course, purchased one of her books, The Second Son. I look forward to reading this first book in the series. Another outstanding event organised by The Gold Coast Writers’ Association in partnership with Sisters in Crime Qld.
May 2023
Gold Coast Libraries brought their ‘A Game’ by bringing Candice Fox to the stage. I hadn’t read one of her books before, but Candice Fox has a new fan – me!
What a fabulous night we had listening to this down to earth, engaging, and hilarious storyteller. Who would have thought a crime writer could be so funny? And yes, I bought her latest release, Fire with Fire, to add to my ever-growing collection. I have since read her book, which I thoroughly enjoyed. If you are interested in these author events check them out here.
It was wonderful to reconnect with several people I hadn’t seen for years and meet new readers and writers. A bucket list moment occurred when a gentleman approached me to tell me he had borrowed my book from the library and congratulated me.
At the May meeting of Gold Coast Writers’ Association, Rhiannon Elton’s talk left a lasting impression. What I found most interesting is that I was completely absorbed in what she was saying. Just Rhiannon doing her thing, no bells and whistles, no PowerPoint to distract me, just Rhiannon owning her space, talking about marketing in her unique creative way. I’m going to call it single focus presenting as that’s what it felt like to me, although I’ve googled it and couldn’t find the term. I have since spoken to a few teacher friends about my experience and they have called it Explicit teaching, which focuses on teaching with less background distraction. Well, it sure worked for me. On a side note, Rhiannon and I reconnected after meeting at a yoga retreat in Stanthorpe several years ago. It was inspiring to see how far she’s come in the past few years.
Our second speaker, Dylan Conway, shared his painful journey to creating his brilliant charity Brothersnbooks, which is changing the stigma around reading. One of the many points that struck a chord with me was when he was talking about the Distraction phenomenon which apparently many of us are dealing with. I’ve been seriously considering lately that I may have ADHD, because I was finding it increasingly hard to focus on one task at a time, but now understand that it’s something else entirely.
In the past few months, I’ve also submitted my recently completed manuscript to a few publishers, trying to find it a home. The submission process is a whole process unto itself, preparing the cover letter, the bio, and the synopsis. Fingers and toes crossed.
On to my next manuscript and the journey continues.
Thanks for being a part of my journey.
Selena
