As the year comes to an end..

I thought I'd share some of the Books I've read and loved this year..
They are of course all 5* reads in my opinion..

 Fiona Woods 'Cloudwish'
Cath Crowley's 'Words in Deep Blue' 
Krystal Sutherland 'Our Chemical Hearts'

These three are three of the best contemporary YA reads around. The writers have nailed their protagonists feels so well that your chest aches with the intensity of it, particularly for Sutherlands Henry as he faces unrequited love.
 
Mary Anne Yarde's ' The Du Lac Chronicles' Excellent Historical Fiction and I totally fell in love with Merton, one of the books main protagonists, you will have to read the book to find out why.. I have no doubt that he will have the same effect on you as he did on me...
Marion Kurmennow's 'Unrelenting' Based on a true story about the authors grandparents and the harsh treatment of German Jews in the second World war, Unrelenting is a sad frightening read that was hard to put down.

All of the above was for me a totally satisfying read and I hope they will be for you as well..they are all available on Amazons books.com at a ridiculously low price.. happy reading everyone.

The Green Room: And for some unknown reason..

The Green Room: And for some unknown reason..: my biog app has decided that it will no longer allow me to write a post and closes down at any attempt to write more than a few words..and I...

And for some unknown reason..

my biog app has decided that it will no longer allow me to write a post and closes down at any attempt to write more than a few words..and I have tried to fix the problem to no avail.. this has happened before and a quick update of software and I'm up and running but this time no such luck, as far as I can see there is no update required.. so I'm back to laptop posts which are fine but a little inconvenient and a tad frustrating when I seem to get a light bulb moment mostly when I'm out and about without the big guy.. but hey things could be worse, my phone could die and believe me without access to twitter, Instagram, FB, my Kindle app, Pinterest, watt pad, my notes, colorfly solitaire + other games too numerous (read embarrassing) to mention here..well I'm not sure if life would be worth living (drama queen sighs) ^^^^^^^...
(Mmmm Note to self: might be the cause of NOT getting enough writing done)
The end...

39,000 WORDS and counting..

How hard is it to get to 50,000 words? Sooo dam hard sometimes it takes all you've got and then some..have you ever wondered why you can't get more than 300 words on the page each time you write.. this happens to me constantly, I think I have a good run on words and I get to the end of a block and find I'm around the 300 mark again, and again..
I surprised myself while away recently traveling to Newcastle by car to see my new grandson and somehow manged to get over 3000 down, partly, thanks to my husband and son who took it in turns to drive and partly because I made myself cosy in the back seat with pillows and coffee and snacks and just wrote, and wrote some more. And then the brilliant thing is that making a choice to travel home by train instead of flying means I did the same again astonishingly getting past the 6000 word count in less than one week.. so now i just need to plan another trip away.. where I'm strapped in my seat with plenty of snacks and coffee and you never know I might get the dam book finished sometime this year..or not..

Early mornings late nights and...

Writing in between farm work, in bed, over meals, in front of the TV, on the way up the coast, in cafes, as a matter of fact anywhere possible to get to 50,000 + words..its tiring, exacting, frustrating and exhilarating and unbelievably astonishing when you reach your goal..and what's that I say..just a few more 51 & counting..

When you hope for a review..then you get this!!

Strong Characters in an intriguing Storyline

By Judith Rook - September 1, 2016 Breathless" brings into vivid existence the life of an Australian adolescent in the final year of school. The educational setting, and the relationships which build and grow there are authentic and convincing, as is the home life of the protagonist, Charlie, a girl at the boundary between independent living and emotional dependency on the father she loves.
Where is her mother? The question is one of the many interesting twists in this very well-crafted young adult novel and exists as a dark line which runs throughout the narrative, carrying with it a sense of unresolved mystery and fear.
MM Carter has a remarkable gift for character creation; even those who make only minor appearances are rounded and strong, and the main characters spring almost instantaneously into complete and persuasive reality. The year bully is cleverly used as a mirror for Charlie’s own growth and his comeuppance is a little different from similar cases of uncertain egos.
And what a reality there is in this book. The reader is taken at a very fast pace repeatedly from small crisis to large climax. The storyline is full of incident and tension, there is excellent developmental conflict between the youthful characters and a large-scale external structural conflict. Just the stuff to engage a young adult reader, and a more mature adult reader too.
It is a shame that the final proof-read did not pick up a number of grammatical errors, which happen often enough to call for a mention. But apart from that, in "Breathless", MM Carter demonstrates accomplished writing skills and presents a book which is well worth taking into a personal library for more than one read.

What if your new light bulb moment takes up everything you've got..ie magination, time etc and..

You faithlessly leave behind the novel you are working on, pushing it aside rather abruptly as your creative flow kicks in with a rush of adrenaline that is reminiscent of first love, bringing with it exciting plot lines, memorable characters and story twists at a pace you can hardly keep up with - jotting down the first chapter; racing to the novels conclusion; working on chapter headings; character flaws and, and, and.. and slowly.. decisively you hit on a sub plot that's shocks you, but is both so believable and doable that maybe, just maybe it will make an interesting if not controversial read..

Amazon's new tool for authors takes a reader straight into a book..brilliant!! Breathless by MM Carter

When Words Won't Come..

And it's 3am in the morning again. And you are mind blaringly(is this even a word) awake. And it's freezing..and the clock is ticking..and the keyboard is still..and still. And then the doubts creep in..writer you say? How in the name of everything written can you possibly be a writer? when no thoughts filter down from that space in your head that's called your creative side and trickle onto the page..forget leap onto the page!! And why must that urge to write (although empty) occur in the small hours of the morning and did I mention it's freezing and you've been pulled from the cocoon of warmth that is your doona with the hope of much..and results in little..and still the keyboard is still..

Writing spaces can make or break you..

Right? What is it about the effect of the type of writing space you have, impacts on your ability to write..I guess what I'm trying to understand and work out for myself is if certain types of writing spaces have a more positive affect on our writing performance (for lack of a better word) than do certain other types of space? For example does a quite, verses a noisy space, better enable a writer to get more words down on paper, so to speak? I mean libraries have always been a quite space and are certainly conducive to reading & studying..which often means writing essays etc and writers centres & rooms are not really known as a hectic environment..so it's a bit of a puzzle to me as I seem to be able to write equally in both a hectic setting (sitting in a crowded coffee shop in the middle of a vibrant city..and in the quiet dead of night..or in this space I was working in today..

So I guess everyone is different right? It's truly a mater of what works best & as long as words are being written and stories are unfolding what does it matter where they are written..

When Your Writing Shocks..

At first it's hard to get past the self doubt, it's a disaster, the woe is me why did I write this, they hate it feelings..and then the light bulb moment hits and you realize that what they are saying is exactly the type of response that you are waiting for. Shock is an emotional feeling and that's good isn't it?
This is what happened when I was quizzing a 30 something friend the other day on her thoughts about Breathless. I knew she'd bought it and read it, and hadn't as yet given me any feedback. At first she said she hadn't read enough to comment, but as I pressed her for any response, and assured her that I could take it even if she thought it was crap, and that I'm okay with constructive criticism and that not everyone is going to like it, I wasn't prepared for this response;

                                                          I don't want to read anymore because I can't handle  being taken back to the painful days of my teen years, I'm sorry but it's just too much, it's like I can feel everything Charlie feels, the loneliness, the heartache of things happening out of my control, the sadness, the grief.. and I don't want to feel like that again, it took me too long to work through it..

But isn't this why we write to evoke an emotional response from the reader; to have them feel what we can hopefully have our characters convey to them? As it dawned on me that that is exactly what I'd hoped a reader would feel as they identified with Charlies (my main female protagonist) dealt hand in life; this transitional, often sad and lonely, often complex, often raging emotional period of life from deep despair one minute to conquer the world the next, called Adolescense.. maybe writing is not so bad after all..Except for the pay.. but that's for another post , another day.

The Curse of Repetition...

can surely be a pain in the butt for many a writer..we were talking about repetition in our writers group at our last meeting and I was thinking about the time when I was going through a 'word repeat' edit on one of my novels and found a total of 49 'justs' 30 'likes' and 15 'saids'...there were other words on repeat but these were the main offenders, and try as I might I couldn't understand how in the blazes I hadn't picked it up going through the 5 or so previous edits!! The reason we were talking about repetitive words was because one of the members of the group found, in the 1st paragraph of the manuscript we were critiquing, the word 'over' five times. Talking about insignificant words like over often slipping through unseen by the writer, we were able to identify a few words that seem to remain on the write, repeat, write challenge for each of us. It was a great exercise to not only identify the sneaky offenders, but I found it really helpful to fess up and speak them out loud to the group cementing them in my memory, which I'm hoping will probably make me more aware of the excess use of these words as I continue to write.

It's 4am in the morning..AGAIN

and suddenly my creative mind has blasted into gear and my computer is alive and running.. I'm thinking there is no way out of it if you are a writer..when your thoughts flash through your head and collide together in their rush to get out and onto your page there really is only one thing you can do about it and get up and start writing..and I guess that's the point isn't it of writing you just have to do it when it flows..but..what about the discipline of writing? Should the creative mind be disciplined? is it important to schedule writing time into your day? Isn't creative writing just that, creatively writing, waiting for the inspirational flow that comes with a flourish and then getting it down on the page..I don't know about you but I get a higher word count at times like these than when I sit and stare at the screen, waiting for something to come knowing it simply.. won't.. come..so until I figure out another idea,way, strategy, I guess I'll wait for the inevitable light bulb moment to wake me for another early morning session.. 

The Thing About Social Media is..

That you really do find some great people to chat with, follow, be inspired by and generally get to know..and if you are a reader like me, you get to find some really awesome books online that you might miss otherwise..I love the ease of pulling a book up that's been recommended on one or other of the social media platforms..like a few days ago on twitter I came across the fantastic first in a series of historical fiction novels - 'The Du Lac Chronicles'  by Mary Yarde, an epic saga of love, loyalty, betrayal that draws a reader in and keeps them with it till the end. A great read that takes you out of the ordinary everyday into a world gone by that is completely relatable. Hooked by the intrigue of the plot and the intimacy between the main protagonists I loved every minute of it and definitely would give this series a 5 star rating..

My Book Is Finally Here..

 

It's hard to believe but my book is finally published online.. the years/ hours writing, the structural edits, the angst over characters, the grammar and spelling edits, the plot changes, the deliberation over cover image, the indecision over marketing strategies, the copy edits and more edits etc have finished..and now it's out there flaws and all.
For one minute I thought the hard work is done...
When in reality the hard work ie how to get people to read it has just begun..
For those of you who want to take a look you will find it on Amazon.com:books mm carter 

It's time..

So at long last all edits have been done and re check after re check completed..I'm quite sure there are no spelling mistakes but have heard that even the best authors can miss a letter or two...so a couple more days and 'Breathless' will be in the eyes of the reader..a friend asked if I am scared? and I can confidently say not so much any more..it is what it is, hopefully a story that will appeal to its YA audience..and that it will be enough appeal to warrant its sequel 'Out of Darkness' to be read..  Ok so will keep you posted real soon..

This is a super great read..

As a prolific reader I'd often thought when I was a child that when I grow up I'd like to write like some of my favourite authors..Enid Blyton. Anna Sewel, John Marsden, LM Montgomery, the Bronte sisters etc.. Now of course I have grown up, well nearly..and 

I'm still a prolific reader but I no longer want to write like some of my favourite authors.. now the field is too wide to choose from, with new authors evolving year by year and tons of new books to discover like this fantastic example of YA writing.. now I want to write with my own writers voice, hold my own platform and share stories through my own eyes of experience..I can only hope and will be happy if I can write half as good as some of my favs from the past and some of the current writers I most admire...

Final Edit Stages

Yoo hoo!! Final edit stages this week from my sweet as, creative writing degreed daughter..can finally see an end to the edit stages of my first book and excited about publishing on Amazon sometime soon..hopefully by the end of the month..

It gets exciting when there is an end in sight..even though a little scary that your baby will be out there for all to see..but that's part of the fun right? Ok back to the grammar, spelling, etc etc edit..