Z.R. Southcombe's Blog, page 24

In dedication – ‘Lucy’s Story: The End of the World’

As my Twitter peeps know, I struggled with choosing the dedicatee for my upcoming book, Lucy’s Story: The End of the World. The first book, What Stars Are Made Of was easy – Yvonne personified the message of the story with perfection that would be foolish to overlook; she helped me realise how beautiful life’s experiences are, and how to come out on top no matter what may befall us.

The Caretaker of Imagination was pretty easy as well. Without David encouraging me from the start, it would never have been written. It wasn’t that I couldn’t have done it without him – but in all honesty, I doubt I ever would have (at least, not yet).

But Lucy’s Story? In some ways, I wanted to dedicate it to the person I wished I could have been. Lucy was so many things that I did not see in myself as a 12-year-old and I have huge admiration for her. At fellow writer, Catherine Mede’s suggestion, I was inclined to dedicate the story to ‘kids all over the world – including the adult ones’. I liked that, but I still searched away in the back of my mind for someone who the story was really for.

And then it hit me. Ella was one of my earliest (and arguably my #1) reader, and gave me my very first review for The Caretaker of Imagination. She read Lucy’s Story: The End of the World very early on in the piece, and has been a huge source of inspiration and encouragement for me. In fact, when she finished reading it, told me how much she identified with Lucy’s character.

And so, my dedicatee: Ella, who is just a year older than Lucy, but every bit as weird, wonderful & awesome.

If you were to write a book, who would you dedicate it to? If you’ve already written a book (or books) who have you dedicated them to? Why?

Introducing singer/songwriter, Jennie Cruse!

Jennie Cruse’s music is beautifully inspiring. On the greyest of days with the bluest of moods, I play her album on repeat (not even exaggerating here) and it never fails to make me feel better.

I first heard Jennie sing at the premiere of ‘Broken Hallelujah‘, a kiwi film hosted by redcarpetnz.tv (I’ll write a bit more about these guys later, but it’s essentially a one-stop shop for NZ events & entertainment run by my friend & hairdresser, Deb Byrnand). After her performance, I got my hands on an album as soon as I could – and got another one for my sister’s birthday!

I met up with Jennie a few weeks ago, hoping to work out a deal for her to perform at my launch party. Being the generous soul that she is, Jennie offered to be the entertainment of the day! I’m chuffed and grateful to have her on board.

Below, Jennie describes her album, ‘Solitude‘ – and I have to say, I completely agree.

“This unique and modern debut album by UK singer songwriter Jennie Cruse is a beautifully recorded dreamscape of 12 elemental, drifting pop songs. Kaleidoscopic and rich in melody, “Solitude” fuses Jennie’s love of ’60’s soundtracks to Goldfrapp, Bjork and Dusty Springfield.”

You can purchase Jennie’s album from my website shop, or directly from Jennie for a mere NZ$15. If you will be at the launch of Lucy’s Story, they’ll be on sale there as well.

Want to know more about Jennie Cruse? You can find her on Facebook, YouTube, and on her brand new website: jenniecruse.com

 

I’ll leave you with a playlist of some of Jennie’s songs, along with some other tracks she’ll be singing at the launch party.

The most important person in my life [reblog]

I originally posted this reflection on my old blog, but I’d like to bring it over here to share with my new readers – and re-share with my old ones. I had begun a daily writing challenge, and the prompt for the day was:

“Who’s the most important person in your life — and how would your day-to-day existence be different without them?”

The first person I think of in response to this prompt is Pa. Though no longer a physical part of my life, it would be blatantly dishonest to claim any other figure as more important than this one man.

Pa (the little chubby one in the middle) with his siblings, before being shipped off to India to live with his Aunt & Uncle, upon the death of his mother.

Pa (or more correctly, “Cuthbert Douglas Southcombe”) is my granddad – the only grandparent I really got to know, and a man who had been living on this earth for so long I took it as truth that he would always be there. For me, growing up as a child in the nineties with fast food, computers, and other first-world goodies, a birth year of 1917 was basically forever ago. As far as I was concerned, Pa was timeless.

From weekly walks to the local library, to the ins and outs of chess, to retold adventures of jungle and desert (though the truth may have been bent on occasion), Pa was the cornerstone of my being. He taught me so much of what I know now, and what I live for, that I cannot even begin to imagine what my day-to-day existence would be without him.

However, this is the challenge put forth today, and so I shall try. Pa had many, many stories to tell – as many elderly folk do – and as I got older, his stories got deeper, darker, and gave me more than a little glimpse into the life of an English-soldier-immigrant, but a real taste of some of the bigger issues. As the harsh realities of his life story dawned on my consciousness, my admiration for Pa grew. He upheld righteousness in the face of adversity (in solitude if necessary), and he did everything with a smile, a wink, and a good sense of humour. On reflection, my motto in life may be: what would Pa do?

Without this influence, this taste of hardship (albeit second-hand), I might have been inclined to take the luxuries of the first-world Western lifestyle for granted – or at least, more so than I do now. For even with his influence, a safe place to sleep at night (or indeed, a place to sleep at all), a half-decent meal, and copious amounts of tea are almost an expectation.

Pa also held a genuine respect for multiculturalism – something we are grappling with even now. Though raised in English colonies (in both Kenya and India), Pa never spoke of anyone as lesser than him – at least based on race or background. The people he spoke of with distaste were those who committed wrongs, did not have respect for others, or did not seem to have common sense. He did, however, talk about some of his friends and family who treated others as lesser than themselves, and it was always with a hint of guilt and shame, as if he was at fault for their errors in judgement.

Throughout my life, I have had a tendency to be quick to judge – often fairly, but based on nothing but first impression and ‘vibe’. Pa taught me to look for the good in people and to respect others and their cultures. Inadvertently, he also taught me not to take on the blame for others’ shortcomings. As humans, we each have our strengths and our limitations: one’s own burden is enough.

Essentially, Pa helped me to become a wholesome being; someone with worth beyond her self-vision, years beyond her age. Though frailty of body and old age eventually took its toll, it is not uncommon for me, especially when making decisions against the grain, to take solace in knowing that Pa would be proud of me.

 

There is nothing you need to do

In my ‘Monday Musings‘ (title due to change, maybe. Or not. We’ll see.) I mentioned a workshop I had been to over the long weekend – in bio-dynamic cranio-sacral therapy.

After that weekend, I felt GOOD. I felt free – my body felt free – and I felt more grounded (which sorta makes sense, because we did a lot of meditation based on grounding and centering).

This leads to the point of this blog post. As I said, we did a fair bit of meditation. Cranio-sacral therapy relies on the practitioner being in a state of balanced awareness. This allows them to really listen to the needs of the client, and respond with gentleness and specificity.

The meditation & grounding was guided. Twice, the line ‘there is nothing you need to do’ came up. The first time I heard it, my reaction was, ‘Yes, there is!’. I could probably have rattled off a list right there on the spot of at least ten things I ‘had’ to do. (I didn’t, of course, but I stored that line away for later reflection).

And now I am bringing that reflection to you. I find one of the biggest hindrances of my own progress is the worry I feel about the other things that I need to be doing. Like, right now I am writing this blog post, but in the back of my mind are voices telling me I should be catching up on filing, or writing, or painting, or tweeting people I haven’t tweeted for a while, or replying to emails, or going for a walk, or… I think you get the point.

This comes back to mindfulness as well. Fellow writer Amanda Staley and I have talked about this on many occasions (she also picked up on the theme in The Caretaker of Imagination). Mindfulness is the art of living in the moment; of appreciating where you are right now, and doing what you are doing. It is something I need to consciously make an effort to do, or I get lost in thoughts of what else I should be doing – and ironically means that I get nothing done!

Right now I am blogging: there is nothing else I need to do, there is nowhere else I need to be. All I need to be doing is immersing myself in this post, in this idea, and trying to communicate it in a way that brings out the heart of the matter & hopefully prompts you to think a bit more about it.

So, whatever you are doing now is all you need to do. I’d love your thoughts on this topic – please do leave a comment below

Monday Musings

When I was blogging a while ago, I began doing a sort of round-up on Mondays. I’d write some of my goals for the week, and what I had achieved in the previous week. On the whole, I found this a great way to keep on top of stuff (uh, except when I didn’t lol).

So I’m kind of sort of reviving my Monday blogging. I’ll post a bit of a reflection of last week, and what’s on the cards for the upcoming week.

Hopefully, this will serve two purposes – firstly, to keep me on track & focused! But also, I’m making an effort to get out and about more (you can see upcoming events in the right-hand sidebar now (scroll down if you’re reading this on your phone or tablet)). So since I’m doing more events, it lets you guys know if I’m in your area.

So what did I get up to last week?

Over the long weekend, I went down to Hamilton to do a workshop with Butterfly Clinic and Neotouch in cranio-sacral therapy. This was a beautiful, transformative experience and I will do a proper blog about it later this week.
And in relation to that, I’ve sent Karyn at Butterfly Clinic a copy of each of my books, and she will soon be stocking them in her shop!
I spent the rest of the week at Blockhouse Bay Intermediate (read about it here) as they were celebrating Book Week. I met some lovely young people, and answered lots of fantastic questions.
On Sunday, I held my very first stall at the Mangere Bridge Boutique Markets. It was a lovely morning and I met some great people.
I didn’t do much on the writing front, but I did manage to get everything through to my printer, Chris, so Lucy’s Story is currently being made!

My mock set-up for my market stall!

And what’s on the cards for this week?

Clean the house! It was a busy week so there’s lots of catching up to do.
Get the colouring pages and writing tasks prepared for the launch party.
Work on my draft for Beyond the End of the World.  Writing has been really slow on this and I need to give myself a kick in the butt and get this done.
And on the weekend, I’ll be visiting the Mt Eden Village Craft Market with the hopes of having a stall there next time – on Saturday the 11th of July.

Book Week at Blockhouse Bay Intermediate

Following on from my first school visit at St Dominic’s, I popped down the road and spent last week at Blockhouse Bay Intermediate (equivalent to middle school, for my US peeps :-)). They were celebrating Book Week, and as part of that had guests come in and talk to the students about reading & writing.

I had the pleasure of talking with four different classes, and had HEAPS of questions about writing. There was, or course, the classic ‘Where do you get your inspiration / ideas from?‘ but my favourite question was ‘How old do you have to be to be an author?‘. At 26 years, I’m at the young end of the published author age spectrum and one of my strongest motivations is proving that you can be a writer – published, even – at any age you want to. I especially loved the broad grin I got when I told her that there was nothing stopping her from being an author now.

On that note, if you’re in NZ and in Year 7-10 at school, I’ve got an opportunity for you to be published – more info here!

Apart from Q&A, I shared some of Jane Thorne‘s illustrations, showed the students my (messy) planning for The Caretaker of Imagination, and read the first two chapters of Lucy’s Story! This was the scariest part – to read my OWN book to a real, live, honest audience… *shudder*. But, I was pleasantly surprised by their reaction, and even got an applause from one class! This has inspired me enough to get a video reading done (very soon… I promise!)

I’ve got a few other school visits planned, so watch this space – and if you’re a student or teacher in New Zealand – get in touch to organise a visit! I love meeting the young people of New Zealand to share my journey & inspiration

My first author school visit – St Dominic’s Primary School

My first visit to a school as a ‘real author’ happened last week – to none other than the school I used to attend! I grew up in the Auckland suburb of Blockhouse Bay, and down the road from our house was a little Catholic church and school.

I was lucky enough to be invited in to visit the Year 3-6 classes (that’s roughly ages 8-10) and had a wonderful time. The children and the teachers were welcoming – and I even saw a few familiar faces. One of them is in the photo below – she taught me at a different school, when I was Year 8 (12 years old). It was a lovely moment to be back as an adult sharing where I’m at in this stage of life.

The most heart-warming part of the visit was learning how many students were interested in writing and reading (there were a few budding comic book artists, too!) and being able to show them that being a writer can be more than just a daydream

Thanks to St Dominic’s Primary students & staff for such a wonderful, welcoming and inspiring visit!

Getting Out & About in Auckland – June 2015

I have some exciting events & appearances coming up soon. This week, I’ll be visiting my old primary school, St Dominic’s Primary, for my first school visit as a ‘real author’. I’ll be visiting the middle & senior classes (roughly ages 7-10) to talk with them about being a writer, and inspire them (or so I’ve been told – no pressure, right?).

Just down the road from St Dominic’s Primary School is Blockhouse Bay Intermediate (that’s middle school for you US folk), and in the first week of June they’re celebrating Book Week. I’ll be going in for three mornings to read to some of the students, and talk about what it’s like to be a writer.

Photo from Mangere Bridge Village Boutique Markets Facebook page.

The weekend after that I’ll be meeting up with some fellow indie writers, and – if weather permits – have my first stall at the Mangere Bridge Village Boutique Markets (Sunday 7th June, if anyone wants to pop in and say hi!). I first heard about them from Robyn P Murray, who sells her picture books and short stories there.

On the 20th of June, of course, there’s the book launch for Lucy’s Story: The End of the World. I am particularly looking forward to this, because I absolutely love Lucy and I’m really proud of her story.

And finally, on Saturday the 27th of June, I’m teaming up with Robyn P Murray and Jo Barr to set up at the Blockhouse Bay Market Day.  We’ve been discussing the option of a shared stall for a while, so it’s great to be able to finally do one together. Both Robyn & Jo have some gorgeously illustrated picture books, Robyn also does short stories and I also have chapter books. Between us, we’ve got a fantastic range of books for kids from pre-school right up to intermediate.

Photo from Eventfinda.

 

 

Taking ‘selfish’ out of my vocabulary

Last week, I had a long chat with a good friend of mine. She had picked up that I had been tired lately, and sat me down to talk about it. I think I ended up talking a lot more than she had planned, but I enjoyed our chat and we both felt good afterwards.

Among the advice she gave me was ‘take selfish out of your vocabulary’.

You see, sometimes when you’re doing something you really love doing, and you have the opportunity to keep on doing it, you can actually feel bad about it.

Writing and painting are things that I do, first and foremost, for me. My painting is a raw self-expression of who I am and how I’m feeling, and sometimes I feel it’s too raw. My paintings develop organically, and when I finish a painting, I often question whether I am opening up too much on the canvas. In the end, however, it is art true to myself.

My writing is a different kind of self-expression. It’s not so much my self that I put into words, but my ideas. There’s a reason why highschool English teachers ask about the ‘author’s message': we’re fighting to make our voice heard; to teach, in a more subtle way than ramming our message down people’s throats.

The bottom line being: my work is selfish. Or at least, that’s how I see it sometimes. It’s all about myself, my ideas, and my desires. This is the thinking that leads me to question whether I ‘should’ be writing – or get a ‘real job’.

And that’s where my friend’s message comes in. Fellow writer JC Hart has had this chat with me before (so obviously it’s taking a while for the message to sink in lol). Doing what you love is NOT selfish. I’m a teacher at heart as much as I am a story teller (I’ve noticed that many people’s first comment when they see my artwork is: “There’s a story in that, isn’t there?). It sounds cheesy, but all I want is for people to be happy.

I want to be a living example – for adults as much as children – that if you really enjoy doing something, if it fulfills you, then there’s no reason you can’t do it. You don’t have to have what’s customarily referred to as a ‘real job’, and I’m out there to prove it. I’d like to add that I’ve already seen results in this area, which is beautifully rewarding for me! (Although if a real job fulfills you, then by all means go ahead).

In addition to all of that, my wise friend Deborah Moss (and artist! Deb painted the puzzle piece for me, titled ‘Stars Make Me Teary Eyed‘) reminds me that it’s not what you do, but who you are. We all know that if we are around vibrant, healthy and generous people – we simply feel better. If you’re doing something you love, and enjoying your life, the spirits of people around you are automagically lifted.

So I’m taking selfish out of my vocabulary. I’m using the gifts I’ve been given and the support people lend me to do the best that I can, and hopefully inspire some people along the way
Do you ever feel like you’re being selfish to follow your passions? What keeps you going?

‘Lucy’s Story’ launch date announced

 

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