InHouse Publishing Author's Day

Today, I was out and about at InHouse Publishing Author Day at Underwood. It was a beautiful Winter's day to be there - but I didn't get there until the speeches were halfway through. So, my socialising had to be cut short for a bit as people were taking the stage to talk about their journeys in the publishing world. 

However, as with most public places, there's always a bit of chatter in the background during those things. I was told by one of the authors to 'shush!' while I was catching up with an author friend of mine from Facebook I've known for a few years and hadn't been able to attend her book launch due to having laryngitis that week. I know that it's not always everything you want when you do a public thing, but sometimes, it's the public who do the rounds who are just there to network and aren't really there for the speeches. 

Don't get me wrong, authors talking about their journeys is great. However, I watched the interviews online; and felt as though I had heard everything all over again when they were talking today, so thought I didn't really need to hear it. But that was just me. 

I did talk to my share of authors and people there, collecting a nice pile of business cards. I also got talking to a local writer's group who doesn't have a horror writer; so I might drop into that one to see how I feel about joining in. Well, it was a great day for it all, but I didn't stay for too long... just enough to talk to some people, have an ice coffee and make a few connections along the way. Until my next post, happy reading.

Letter-Writing

The other night, I sat down and penned a letter to a dear friend of mine in Toowoomba. I love to write in longhand and she enjoys hearing from me. I also include a piles of photos when I post off my 4-7 page letters to her.

Now, you're going to ask me: why don't you email her? It's cheaper and she can download the photos in a sinch. 

Well, my friend is Joan Lane and she's 80. I've known her since I around 6 years old and holidaying at Brunswick Heads.  She's kind of like my second Grandmother and her and her now-late husband, Ted became close family friends of ours over the years.

Joan doesn't have the internet and wouldn't know how to turn on a computer; actually, these modern-new-fangled things scare her. So, when I learned of this, I decided to write her letters and post them to her. She loves receiving mail and I don't mind if she never writes back; as she's not all that great at writing letters.
So, about 3 times a year, I write Joan a lovely long letter, with photos included inside, telling her about what I've been up to in my life. She loves reading about it; and she shares the news and photos with her family. 

Do you still retain the skill of letter-writing? Do you have a collection of stationery at your disposal? Or do you sit and email all your friends; and if you have somebody who doesn't have a computer, you don't go near pen and paper for them? I love writing to Joan. It's reminds me of how tactile the act of letter-writing actually is and that we really shouldn't lose the skill of writing a really good letter to somebody we're friends with... it may be something we'll really treasure from somebody else someday. Until my next post, happy reading.

Poetry

Once in a while, I can't sleep. So, I'm up really late at night reading or writing to get myself tired enough to get to sleep. A lot of the time, whatever I write normally is just detail stuff on a book or a poem and it's something that's been bothering me since last week - silly really.

However, there are times I get in and write a poem. I think it's the silence of the unit complex, or the way my brain works when I haven't slept for a few nights. But I kick out a very cool poem or two before I turn out the light.

The problem is that I sometimes I misplace the books I have written the poems in for a few months; and then suddenly find them! And that's always like finding a piece of treasure when that happens, because I sit down and read what I've written from that sleepless night to find I've written either a lovely piece of writing, or something I wouldn't bother showing anyone!

Last night, I was working on my book about books and came up to the part where I wanted to talk about poetry. However, I didn't know how long I've been writing poetry for and had to dig around the office to find it all. Strangely, I've lost a few books. I know they're somewhere around the office; so seeing I don't throw out any of my work (which makes me a paper collector too), I'm sure to find all of my poetry at some point soon. 

So, do you write poetry? If so, what kind of work do you write? I'm a concise poet - a writer of word pictures, small poems which aren't too long, but strongly-worded. These are difficult to achieve, but I do enjoy getting in and doing them when I have the time because they're a challenge. I love to read sonnets, ballads and funny poetry (Pam Ayres is one who makes me laugh). Until my next post, happy reading.