Juggling my writing life, partially successfully

Has it really been so long since I put my fingers to the keyboard and updated my blog? Do I have any excuses?

Well, funny you should ask. I can tell you what Roger Federer and I have in common in case you’re interested: a torn meniscus. I bet his rehab is going better than mine. Surgery was two weeks ago. The specialist said he has ‘done all he can’. It will be six weeks before I am fully recovered and I have to do some pretty boring leg exercises.

So, I haven’t been writing much, up until yesterday, when I really got stuck into Book 2 of my Belleville family saga. I’ve heard that second books can be tricky customers but I’m getting into the story now. I find it works for me to put myself in the room with the characters as an invisible observer. It’s like planning out a movie in my head. I think about their gestures, whether they will sit or stand, whether they are angry or sociable and most importantly, what is going to happen next. With so many unresolved issues swirling around the Belleville family, there is plenty to be getting along with. Oh, and in book 2, they are all 10 years older.

Just before my leg operation, I was on duty for my day job in Canberra – if you are interested check out http://www.australiandefence.com.au – I’m publisher of that group within Yaffa Media. On arriving at Canberra airport, I met an executive I know pretty well who had just come off the same flight. His first words to me were: ‘my wife loved your book’.

How great was that! Totally unsolicited. I used my professional LinkedIn account to – as I put it – shamelessly self promote my other career. He happened to be reading the LinkedIn feed on the back deck of his home while having a drink with his wife. He told her about it and she immediately downloaded the Kindle edition. So, social media works, one at a time!! I was seriously chuffed. If you don’t know the word ‘chuffed’, try ‘delighted’.

Last week, I hobbled off to see Eat! Pray! Love! author Elizabth Gilbert at a Brisbane Writers’ Festival out of season event. My husband Peter came with – bless his heart, because I counted only 10 men in the audience among several hundred women. I thought she was fabulous, talking about creativity, among other things.