Sally Murphy's Blog, page 46

A Special Delivery

When I got home from my walk today, there was a parcel waiting for me. How could I resist opening it when it exhorted me to do so?

An invitation I couldn’t resist.

Inside, there was a lovely surprise: advance copies of Sage Cookson’s Sweet Escape, the first is my brand new series.

Copies of my latest book.

So, after I’d stopped squealing with delight and hugging it, I had a glass of sparkling sodawater to celebrate.

Bubbling soda water.

With fourteen days till its release, I guess the countdown is really on!

School Magazine: 100 Years

It was great to find a big yellow envelope in my mail today. Inside were contributor copies of the latest Countdown Magazine, with my poem Kitten inside, illustrated by the amazing Matt Ottley.

It’s always exciting to be included in one of the four School Magazines. I’ve posted before about the fact that School Mag is celebrating 100 Years of publication this year. When I was in Sydney recently I was able to help celebrate this event at the CBCA National Conference.

Once again, happy birthday School Magazine!

Poetry Friday: Alone

I’ve been reading and thinking about verse novels lately, and the way that lots of smaller poems can weave a narrative. So, for Poetry Friday today I thought I would share the opening poem from my own verse novel, Pearl Verses the World.

 

Sometimes I think    

That I am on an island –

A deserted one

With just a single coconut tree.

Other days I think

I’m trapped in a bubble

Floating aimlessly through a void.

Whereever  I am

No one sees me.

(Copyright Sally Murphy 2009, 2016)

This poem came to me late one night as I was getting into bed. I grabbed a piece of paper and jotted it down. It was only later that I realised that this wasn’t only a stand-alone poem – it was the start of a story, a story which insisted on being told.  And so it evolved into a verse novel.

At the start of this book trailer (which was my first ever attempt at such a thing) you can hear the poem read aloud, by Murphlet 6.

Ever since that poem came to me, I’ve been really grateful that it chose me – and that Pearl, the voice in the poem, chose me to tell her story. The book has been published in Australia, the United States and England (under the title Pearl) and was made into a play by the Jigsaw Theatre Company. Most importantly, it’s been read and loved by children and by adults, some of whom didn’t even realise that the book was poetry – which is fine by me (I call it poetry by stealth).

What was the last verse novel you read? If you’ve never read one, maybe it’s time you tried one for yourself.

Happy Poetry Friday. Today’s roundup is hosted by Beyond Literacy.

 

Poetry Friday: Happy Toes

Winter has just begun here in Australia, but you’d hardly know it, with mild, sunny days (though the nights have been cold).

 

Yesterday I left my shoes at home and walked barefoot on the sand and in the edge of the water.  The water was a little crisp but gosh it felt good – and it inspired this poem.

Happy Toes

This morning I have happy toes

They’re wriggling in the sand

They’ve carried me here ocean-side

To where the sea meets land

 

This morning I have happy toes

They’re dancing on the beach

They’re gathering secrets from below

And whispering each to each

 

This morning I have happy toes

They’re tingling in the waves

They’re laughing at the silly way

The morning sea behaves

 

This morning I have happy toes

They’ll head home feeling great

But tomorrow they’ll be back here

For another beach play date!

 

Copyright Sally Murphy 2016

 

This week’s Poetry Friday roundup is hosted over at Check It Out. Head over and check out the roundup of poetry goodies across the blogosphere.

Want to Succeed as a Writer? One thing you need to do.

The number one thing you should be doing if you want to get published, stay published and succeed as a writer? Write? Read? Study the market? Write some more? Revise? All of these are very important, but today I’m here to say that the number one thing you should be doing is (drumroll please)…

Hang out with other people in the industry!

Fellow writers, published authors, publishers, editors, reviewers, booksellers, publicists, you name it. All of these people are wonderful to spend time with for two reasons – firstly, they may open up opportunities for you, but secondly, and waaaaaaaaaaay more importantly, they can become your friends.

We all know the song ‘you gotta have friends’. And not every friend has to have the same interests as you (gosh, I have friends, close friends, who pretty much never read), but friends who love books and words as much as you do are invaluable.

A friend will cheer with you when you get an acceptance – and commiserate when you get a rejection.

A friend will offer advice about where to go next after that rejection.

A friend will share industry news with you – and gladly accept news from you.

A friend will hear of an opportunity that doesn’t suit them but might suit you – and share it.

A friend will spread the word of your latest book, poem, blog post, tweet.

A friend will sit next to you at a conference, or share what they learnt at the event you couldn’t get to.

A friend will read a book/blog post/ article and know that you, too, will be interested, so recommend it to you.

A friend might live on the other side of the country but will still hug you when you meet up, even if it’s been years – or even if you’ve never met in real life.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? But how do you make these writerly friends?

With my friends Claire Saxby and Sue Whiting at a CBCA Conference/

In real life, there are lots of opportunities to meet like-minded people. If you are, like me, a children’s writer, you join organisations like SCBWI (there are branches across the world, and lots of stuff online) or the CBCA. You go along to events in your town such as booklaunches or writing groups, or signings – and talk to people. You attend writing workshops or writers’ festivals – and talk to people.

Online there are even more opportunities to ‘meet’ people. Facebook and Twitter are just two of the Social Media tools where you can interact and, gradually build up friendships. It’s amazing how quickly you can get to know somebody, even when chatting in snippets of 140 characters!  There are also groups and pages where you can interact with people. Blogs and websites provide even more opportunities.

But, be aware – making friends is not the same as either shamelessly self-promoting or simply plugging people for information. Friendship is a two way street, and while, if you are starting out, you may feel you don’t have a whole lot to offer, you can certainly lend support, or be a cheer squad, or engage in conversations.

With author friends loving each others’ books.

Some of my best friendships have been built through both real life events – particularly CBCA Conferences and SCBWI events – and online through email groups, Twitter and Facebook. Through these friendships I have grown as a writer, but, more importantly, I’ve been enriched as a person.

Here’s to friends!

Serious Business

This is me at the stand of Five Mile Press (publisher of Fly-In Fly-Out Dad) at last week’s CBCA Conference in Sydney.

And this is my friend, Claire Saxby, photobombing me seconds later.

And this is Claire, another friend Sue Whiting and I later the same day.

As you can, attending conferences is very serious business.

Poetry Friday: What a Wonderful World

It’s Poetry Friday and I want to share a beautiful video and my poetic response to it, as a kind of poetry prompt.

Here’s the video, featuring David Attenborough AND awesome images AND one of my favourite songs:

As an aside, this clip was shown at the CBCA Conference in Sydney as a means of demonstrating what nonfiction books are up against – a point which I thought was a good one, but given that it straightway made me a) want to write and b) find out more about some of the things I saw, I think a good audio-visual resource is a way into books and writing.

Anyway, while it was playing I knew I wanted to respond, but I also knew that I wanted to listen to the rest of the very interesting panel discussion. So I quickly scribbled the words What A Wonderful World on my notebook. Then I looked at what I’d done – I’d written one word per line down the page. Was this the start of a poem?

Some time later (and after the session was over) this is what I came up with:

What trees! What flowers!
A mountain, a sea
Wonderful whales, wonderful wilds
World upon world upon world.

 (Poem copyright S. Murphy 2016)

Short but sweet, but it led me to wonder if this was something I could do with other song titles, especially ones which have been set to video footage.

So here’s a prompt for you.

Either watch the above video, and then write the words What A Wonderful World down your page – and see where it takes you (it’s like an acrostic but with a word rather than a single letter beginning each ling). OR find a song that you like, take its title and do the same. I’d love to see what you come up with!

Have a great week. The Poetry Friday roundup  is at The Drift Record.

Bookweek Comes Early

Last week I was lucky enough to be the author in residence at Mandurah Catholic College, which was celebrating its annual Bookweek. The staff and students made this a really happy visit – from the library display of my books, to the wonderful efforts at portraiture, and, of course, to the engaged, enthusiastic students from kindergarten through to year 9.  Here’s a little video featuring the displays and some of the wonderful author portraits. Enjoy!

 

Thanks for having me, MCC.

Book Love: Spreading the Word About Your Latest Read

Robyn’s beautiful book, Wildlight.

Recently my dear friend, Robyn Mundy, who is also a brilliant author and all-round lovely person wrote a brilliant blog post about why you should support authors, publishers and readers (that’s you – in fact, that’s all of us) by buying a book rather than borrowing it from someone else (pause here and go and read her post, if you haven’t already).

When I read this post I thought ‘Bravo young Robyn! I agree totally!’ (Which is pretty common because when Robyn says something it is well considered and very  clever)

But then I had a thought. What if you can’t afford to buy the book and don’t have access to a library? Or what if you find a book left behind as part of Bookcrossing? Or what if you are holiday with your bestest friend and s/he says, drying her eye as she finishes the last page: “You have got to read this book, NOW.” Or what if…well, you get the picture. There are times when borrowing or passing on a book might  be a good idea.

So then  I thought ‘well, what can the reader who has borrowed (or found) the book do to show the author some love (which is lovey) or some support (ie sales, which equals money which equals being able to pay the bills and write some more)’? SO, as I sat on an airplane yesterday, I brainstormed some ways that you  (and me – cos I’m a reader too) could show support for the author of that free book you’ve read.

Blog. Write a blog post about it! Could be a lengthy review, could be a short review, could just be a ravey post (which is really a review anyway). Include the cover image so people knows what the book is about, and a link to the author’s website and even figure out where it can be purchased.
Tweet. Haven’t got time to blog? Use Twitter. You can say a lot in 140 characters. Say something ravey, tag the author or publisher and watch it get retweeted very enthusiastically.
Instagram. Take a photo of the book and pop in on Instagram. Even less words required. Could be just a photo of the book, or a selfie of yourself showing it some love, or a styled shot of book and relevant props.
Goodreads. Pop over to Goodreads and give the book a good rating. If you’ve got time, add a review (could be one you’ve written elsewhere). Chat with other fans if they’re there.
Amazon (and other Bookstores). Head to Amazon, find  the book’s listing and, again, rate and review it. Other bookstores that have rating systems include Fishpond

With author friends loving each others’ books.

Tell a Friend. Haven’t got a blog, social media account? Just tell a friend about the book next time you see them – or ring them up to tell them. This is just another way of reviewing the book – but what a wonderful way! And a great conversation starter.
Tell a stranger. Kind of the same as 6 (except I don’t recommend ringing a stranger to recommend a book). Strike up a conversation in the supermarket queue or at a party or while you’re browsing in a bookstore. Seriously, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Respond creatively. If you’re a fellow writer, write a poem/story/whatever responding to the book or its issues or one of the characters viewpoints, or whatever. If you’re a visual artist, respond with a piece of art. If you’re a photographer, or musician or installation artist or whatever – be inspired by the book. Then, when people stop to admire your work, or read it on your blog or whatever, tell them about the book that inspired you.

These youngsters responded creatively

Pinterest. Create a Pinterest page dedicated to the book and pin the cover, pictures of the author, photos of places mentioned in the book, links to reviews etc. Or just have one pinterest page called ‘Great Books I Have Read’.
Give It as  gift. Not the copy you scored for free – a brand new copy. We all have trouble thinking up gifts for friends/frenemies, Great Aunt Ethel/Bob next door/whoever. If you have loved a book, buy it for someone who you love. They will thank you for it.

The Australian book community is facing massive challenges at the moment, and is in the midst of a battle for survival. If you love a book (especially an Australian book, and whether or not you bought it or borrowed it), show it (and its creator) some love. Today.

Being an Author: 7 Things to Do Every Day

I’m busy. Super busy at the moment:  working on my PhD, running a busy household, writing and, of course, trying to run my career as an author. Some days it feels like that last one is the bit that gets pushed to the side.  I have to give priorities to my family, I have to work on my studies (submission date is creeping ever closer) and I’m a writer, so I have to write. But my career? When do I get time to work on that: to boost my skills, boost my brand, promote my books (and myself)?

The simple answer is, I need to be doing things every day. And, if you want to make a living as a creator, so do you. So, here the things I try to do every day, most of which take very little time, to ensure my career keeps moving.

Read. Okay, so this one can take as much or as little time as you like, but if you want to be a writer, you need to keep reading, no matter how busy you are. For me, it’s a combination of reading children’s books to stay abreast of what’s out there, and to grow my own skills through exposure to good writing, as well as reading more broadly for lots of reasons. I read news articles and commentary to keep abreast of what’s happening in the world, I read blogs from other writers and industry people, I read in genres other than my own to again grow my skills. Don’t have time to read? Then you don’t have time to be a writer. Or, you make/snatch the time. I carry a book wherever I go. I multi task – I read good stuff in waiting rooms, rather than old magazines. I read my blog feeds while eating lunch, I listen to audiobooks when I’m driving. Whatever it takes.

You can see I never run out of reading materials. My house is full of books.

Write. I’ve already labelled this as one of the things I put before developing my career – but it is, in essence, at the very centre of my career. I wish I could say I write for hours every day, but at the moment my studies preclude hours and hours, and when I’m juggling those other things on my list, sometimes there isn’t even an hour left in my day. But again, I make it a priority to write something new at least five days a week – even if that something new is just a short poem. It’s not always good writing, but getting it down is what matters. You want to be a writer, you gotta write, and that means making the time, not waiting for the time to magically appear.
Tell people you are a writer. If you want to be a professional, you gotta act the part. In the past, I kept a bit quiet about my writing, because I felt like I was showing off, or thought people might not be interested. I would say ‘I work from home’ or simply “I write”. Now, when people ask me what I do, I always say ‘I’m a children’s book author’. Then, if they ask for more detail I tell them, and I always have a business card in my wallet which I present when they ask where they can find out more. This isn’t pushy: it’s professional.
Tell yourself you are a writer. If it helps, dress for the part. Sometimes when I am not feeling very authorish, I’ll put on my favourite big earrings or colourful clothes that I wear for school appearances: even though I’m not going anywhere.
 Do at least one thing every day to promote yourself and/or your books. For me, that means using social media: as well as this blog and website, I have a twitter account, Facebook author page, Instagram and Pinterest accounts. I don’t do every one every day, but I make sure I do at least one. It takes 30 seconds to compose a tweet or Facebook status. Not every post has to be saying ‘buy my book’ – in fact, though it’s the subject for a post of its own, very very few posts should do that, if any at all. Promotion might be letting people know where you are appearing, where your books have been spotted in bookstores, book news and so on, or it might be simply engaging with readers and potential readers by sharing interesting links, or photos or world views. I combine my social media with my reading, by tweeting and facebooking articles I find about matters relating to reading, literature and poetry.
Be organised. It is a career and it must be treated as such. For me, this means that when I sit at my desk in the morning, I make a list of anything that MUST be done that day and I cross it off as I go. I also have a longer running list of objectives, which I revise weekly. On my daily list I include emptying my inbox, and promotion tasks, as well as the writing and study things I need to complete. If I’m honest with you, I don’t always get everything on my list done, but when I sit down the next day I see the uncrossed things and put them at the top of that list.
Lastly, but most importantly, enjoy the ride. Some days – most days, being an author is hard slog. But every day I try to remember to smile, if not about something that’s happened that day, then at least by looking back. From my desk I can see copies of my published books, the wards I’ve won and other reminders that I AM an author. So, while some days the smile comes from the joy of creation, or an acceptance, or lovely feedback, or just finally finding the perfect word, other days I look up from my desk and see those reminders. If you can’t find anything to enjoy about being a writer, it’s just hard work. When there’s a smile on your face the work is easier – and better, too.

That’s my seven. What about you? Is there something YOU do every day that you’d suggest other writers do?