Gympie Literary Awards Judging

After a crazy busy weekend of Snap Magic Launches and the beginning of the blog tour, I'm now off to the Gympie Region Literary Awards Evening, followed by a workshop with the award entrants the next day.

To read another writer's unpublished work is indeed a privilege, and to judge this work is a responsibility not to be taken lightly. The six categories of 2014's Gympie Region Literary Awards – (Adult and Children's) Short Story, Poetry and Picture Book, each with their own skill sets, literary elements and nuances, required a broad range of experience and knowledge as a judge.

Following guidelines, meeting a deadline and sending off a manuscript to an unknown reader can be a daunting experience. But it is the first step forwards as a writer - putting your work out there.

I was particularly impressed with the Children's Short Story category. The strength and depth of the themes covered belied the age of the writers. 

I'm very much looking forward to meeting the writers at the awards night and workshop.

Redlitzer Junior Anthology 2014

I'm busy working on the final copyediting of the ten finalists' stories for the Redlitzer Junior Anthology 2014. As this year's editor I had the privilege of running a full-day writing and editing workshop with the finalists last month at the Victoria Point Library in Redlands City. With the help of judges and mentors, Louise Cusack and Marianne de Pierres, the junior writers worked on their rewrites in three small groups.

The day began with a warm-up exercise and editorial feedback on their stories. Overall the 10-14 year olds used consistent point of view, good opening hooks, strong endings/twists and imaginative world building. General weaknesses were paragraphing and the setting out of dialogue. I wonder whether schools are teaching paragraphing with an empty space between each. That's fine for websites, emails, letters and report writing, but creative writing and the publishing world require true paragraphing.

We then looked at Editing a Scene, working on a Scene Overview sheet after a reading of the first scene from my upcoming children's novel, Snap Magic. The junior writers had to fill in questions on characters, purpose, action, setting, sensory details and hooks in relation to their own story.

This was followed by Strengthening a Character. After showing the junior writers examples of my character profiles, they worked on their own, looking specifically at emotions, abilities, personality, physical attributes and mannerisms.

Finally, before they began their rewrites, we worked on Strengthening Plot and Structure. Using a Story Plan and Story Editing Checklist we read and discussed the parts of a story, the goals, obstacles and resolution.

Somewhere in between all this we also managed to fit in a huge cooked breakfast and lunch at the cafe next door!

Tomorrow I'll be putting up my Top Ten Tips for Story Writing (for junior writers). Tune in again!

Literati - Gold Coast

I'm thrilled to be one of the guest authors invited to present workshops at Literati this year. Literati is a literary festival presented by the Gold Coast Libraries and Gold Coast City Council.

Each year Literati brings together readers and writers on the Gold Coast with 24 authors from across Australia. It is a feast of stories, talks, workshops and master classes with a Literary dinner on the Friday night.

I'll be giving a master class on 'Writing and Illustrating Children's Books' on Friday 25th May.

Look forward to seeing some of you there!

All events except the dinner are FREE for Gold Coast residents.  Download the program.

Privacy Settings on Facebook

I'm giving a presentation at this Sunday's SCBWI Queensland meeting on how to edit and customise privacy settings on Facebook. Some of the author and illustrator members have expressed concerns about using Facebook because they believe there is no way to protect their privacy.

While everything you put on the internet is in the public domain, Facebook has taken the time to install privacy measures to ensure you can choose just who exactly gets to see that photo of you on Christmas morning in your PJ's that was posted by your 'have a laugh' relative.

So for those of you who are unable to attend here below are the notes:


Privacy Settings on Facebook by Angela Sunde




Editing your Privacy Settings

At the top right in the blue header of your Facebook page click on ‘Account’.

From the drop down list click on ‘Privacy Settings’.

The first one to appear at the top of a new page is

‘Connecting on Facebook’.

(This is how you choose to connect with others and how you wish to be connected/befriended/viewed.)

Click on ‘View settings’. (This is in blue).

Have a look through these and for each one (in the drop down menu - padlock and arrow pics) choose from:

Everyone,
Friends Only,
Friends of Friends.
OR
Customise.

Not all have customise as a choice.

For example ‘See your friends list’ does. Click on the drop down menu and see.


Using the Customise feature


Click on ‘customise’.

A small window will appear called ‘Custom Privacy’. This allows you to customise this particular aspect of Facebook. Eg Who can see your friends list.

You can then choose from:

Make this visible to (green tick) or Hide this from (red cross).

Under Make this visible to you can choose from:

Friends of Friends
Friends Only
Only Me
OR
Specific People.

With ‘Specific People’ you can specify exactly who you give permission to ‘see your friends list’.

OR

You could choose the Hide this from.

In which case you put in the name of the person/people you don’t wish to 'see your friends list'.

Note: If you have your friends organised in groups, then you may also write the name of the group for either Specific People or Hide this from. (It’s faster). For example I have a group called ‘Publishers’ and I hide certain photo albums from them!!

Now, don’t forget to ‘Save setting’.

The small window will close and you are back on the ‘Connecting on Facebook’ page.

Scroll to the top and click on ‘Back to Privacy’.

You have successfully edited your ‘Connecting on Facebook’ privacy.

Now you need to decide on what privacy settings you wish to choose for ‘Sharing on Facebook’.


How to privatise what you share on Facebook

‘Sharing on Facebook’ controls who can see what you share. Eg photos.

Again you can choose by clicking on the grey list on the left:

Everyone
Friends only
Friends of friends
Recommended
Custom

I have chosen ‘Custom’, which is short for customise.

Now click on the blue words below (with the little edit pencil icon) ‘Customise settings’.

Just as before, here you are able to choose exactly who may see your shared information.

Note:

‘Friends can check me in to Places’. Make sure you edit and disable this one. It shows all of Facebook where you are in the world at any given time if your friends tag you in a post.

Also, customise 'Places you check in to' as this shows everyone on FB where you are if you have a smart phone. Not so smart, eh? I have this one customised to ‘Only me’.

You might also want to edit Photos and videos you're tagged in. Especially if you’ve had friends take unflattering photos of you at that last conference!

Work your way down the page, customising each privacy setting for whom you share each Facebook experience with.


How to privatise photos

On this same page (‘Choose your privacy settings –customise settings’) you will notice a small blue link (at the bottom of the 'Things I share’ list), which says

'Edit privacy settings for existing photos albums and videos'.

Click on this.

‘Control who sees each of your photo albums and videos’ will appear.

Now have fun choosing who may see your photo albums and who may not.

Remember, each time you customise a privacy setting, click on Save setting.

Good luck everyone!

Tickling the Cat at Woodlands

Under an azure sky Woodlands dwarves the marquee set up for larger groups of students. 

The Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature hosted some 9,000 school children over the two weeks. It's an ideal venue with so many large outbuildings and seminar rooms.

Here I am on my first day at the festival in my 'Pond Magic' dress, waiting to be picked up for my first author session at Lockrose State School. I had a class of Prep to Year 3. Then I was whisked back to Woodlands for two sessions with Years 5-7. My presentation was called 'Tickle the Cat' , and did I make the Year 7's laugh out loud - absolutely!

Book signing for three adorable Year 7's.

 I've never had anyone ask if they could hug me before.

Children's Book Week - Picture Book Workshop

The Tuesday of Children's Book Week stormed on the Gold Coast. There was heavy rain, blustering wind and a gale was blowing in from the sea. In spite of it all a large group of determined workshoppers patiently waited in the foyer of the Palm Beach library. 

My first workshop session on 'Writing and Illustrating a Picture Book' was fully booked. Another workshop session was hastily organised for the following week at the Elanora Library and that too was quickly booked out. There were even six people on the waiting list. Gold Coasters are keen.

As the workshop group filed into the room they were eager to get started...

storyboarding

working out plot structures

analysing visual narrative

developing characters.

Testimonials from 'Write and Illustrate a Picture Book Workshop', August 2011:

'My head has held onto so many stories and characters and I have not known what to do with them, until now. Since yesterday I find myself with exploding enthusiasm to the point I have just realised I forgot breakfast, which never happens. Everything I have kept for so long inside my head is now uncontrollably spewing out onto pages.' Kim

'Your workshop was informative, entertaining, and presented in such a professional manner with just enough humour to keep it flowing. A million thank yous. I now have a list of books to read before I do anything more with my childrens' book idea.' Lin

'I just wanted to thank you, for all the hard work, and the amount of material that was covered in today's workshop was incredible. I never imagined the amount of blood, sweat and tears that goes into creating a children's picture book.' Linda

'Absolutely amazing day - so much more than I thought was covered and so inspiring. I now just HAVE to write a children's book!' Anne

'So fantastic, fun, exciting. Loved it and am so glad that I came! Can't wait to get home and start creating!' Rosalie

'I found this workshop extremely informative. It has opened my eyes, inspired me and given me a sense of direction and a good guide towards writing and illustrating.' Fiona

'Made me change perspective 100% in all aspects of a child's book. I appreciate the efforts and learnt so much for myself to help me follow a passion of mine. I was very lost in which way to go and now I have confidence to go the next step in writing children's books.' Lisa

'A fun, interactive, interesting day to help kick start my inner author. With so much information and handy hints to take home and get started.' Ingrid

'A really detailed workshop given with insight and humour. Much appreciated time spent.' Joanna

'Fabulous, fabulous workshop today, Angela ... left feeling confident, empowered and inspired!! Thank you so much! Wish you'd been my teacher at Art School 30 yrs ago!!' Terri


Thank you to the Gold Coast Libraries and the Gold Coast City Council for your support.

Join my Facebook author page to find out about upcoming workshops.

Contact: angelasunde@live.com.au

Children's Book Week - School Visits

I've just completed a week of school visits and library workshops for Children's Book Week. It has meant putting my family and friends on hold while I raced around between gigs, checking and double checking: my bag, my books, my notes, my handouts, my art folders, my sketchbook, my scrapbook, my sketch pad, my USB, my giveaways, my cards, my lunch, my water... my head. Yes, that was screwed on.

Monday kicked off with a full day of Illustration Workshops at a local primary school for classes from Prep to Year Seven.

The focus of the workshops was to learn how text and images work together in a picture book with expected outcomes for students being: improved visual literacy and understanding of narrative structure.

This was also a wonderful opportunity for me to trial my unpublished picture book The Blue Tutu on an eager audience of 5 to 12 year olds. I relished their reactions to the story and my main character, Molly's problem. The page turning suspense kept them hooked and the plot twist in the second act caught them by surprise. I could've cried for joy.

The Prep – Grade 1 workshop was purely visual and auditory, looking at how a picture book is developed and created, with hands on drawing. Some children focussed very hard on 'drawing from the shoulder' and keeping their hands relaxed.

The Grades 2-4 workshop also involved story structure and first rough illustrations. They went back to class with a simple storyboard and ideas for developing characters.

The Grades 5-7 workshop included looking at picture book structure, the visual narrative, page layouts, story flow, developing characters, preliminary storyboarding and creating a dummy book. The highlight for me was when a group of Years 5-6 stayed behind at lunch and asked me to help them with plotting. We had fun mind-mapping ideas on large sheets of paper. They came up with more plot twists than a crime novel!

All classes saw first hand examples of preliminary sketches for my picture book The Blue Tutu, as well as rough illustrations, a storyboard, a full size dummy book, final sketches and final artwork. It gave them an insight into the work that goes into creating a finished picture book. There was a lot to cover!


If you would like to book a workshop in your school or library please contact me: angelasunde@live.com.au
I’m able to tailor a workshop on writing and/or illustrating for children to suit your needs.

If you enjoyed this post then pop back on Saturday, 3rd August when author Tania McCartney will be visiting my blog to share some tips on Speaking in Schools.

Tania is stopping by on her blog tour for the launch of her new book, Riley and the Grumpy Wombat.

Write and Illustrate a Picture Book

The Calendar of Events booklet has just been released by the Gold Coast Libraries. It's full of interesting and fun-filled activities for Gold Coast residents in the months of June to August.

It caught me by surprise to find my workshop advertised on page 9 as a full page promotion. So I thought I'd share it with you.

Now if you live on the Gold Coast it's free and I promise you a full day of creative enlightenment. You will read, view and understand picture books from a completely new perspective.

It is not necessary to be able to draw to participate in this workshop. Here are the details:

Ever wondered how to go about illustrating a children’s picture book? This workshop will take you through the process step by step as you learn to develop a visual narrative to a supplied text (or your own). From sketching preliminary roughs, developing characters, storyboarding, page layouts, creating a dummy book to preparing artwork for submission, all areas will be covered, including how to approach a publisher.

Join me on the 23rd August 2011  from 10am to 4pm at the Elanora Library.

Phone the library to book yourself in  on (07) 55 811 671.

Elanora Library

The Pines Shopping Centre

Guineas Creek Road

Elanora 4221

Gold Coast

Building your Author Brand

Recently I gave a presentation 'Building your Author Brand' to the Prana Writers group on the Gold Coast. The Prana Writers came together as a group three years ago when we were all successful applicants for a Gold Coast City Council initiative called 'Write That Book'. Under the mentorship of international award winning author, Louise Cusack, the members of our group spent one year completing a novel and the following year editing it. The second year was possible through a Regional Arts Development Fund grant.

This year we have continued to work together towards achieving our goals. At our last meeting I wished to share with the group the experience and knowledge gained from the publication, marketing and promotion of my first book, Pond Magic.

‘Author branding’ is a term I first heard a couple of years ago at a writers’ conference. The concept made complete sense to me; the author is the brand. And while many writers may find self-promotion daunting, I took it on with gusto.
 
But just what is a brand and how do you create an author brand? Someone once told me it is:

‘a promise, an experience and a memory.’

  

Recently a writing friend complimented me on my website. As I encouraged him to create his own, he said: “Oh no, I don’t have a product.” The truth is you don’t need a product (or a published book) to promote your author brand. In fact the earlier you start the better. As a writer you are already producing ideas readers may find interesting. You are self-employed – a one man band. And, unless this is a hobby for you, you should begin to look upon your writing as a business and yourself as a professional. Once you do, walking into a pitch session with a potential publisher or agent will be so much less intimidating.

So just how would I describe my author brand?

Fun, creative, flamboyant, international

and above all…

professional.

Now, think of five words to describe yours…

I am available for Author Talks and Creative Writing workshops for adults and children.

Contact: angelasunde@live.com.au

Illustration Workshop Review and Feedback

With two small suitcases loaded with picture books and reference books, notes and handouts, hand drawn posters and blue tack I arrived at the Gold Coast Art School fully prepared to indulge in the passion that is children's picture books and their illustration. When I looked at the amount I had prepared, I wondered whether we would get through half of it. But with two decades of teaching experience I know how to pace a lesson and not allow myself to be side-tracked.

Luckily for me I had a group of intelligent and passionate artists and writers. Together we looked at the genre and its mediums, themes, qualities and messages. The day was broken into topics like: Narrative and Visual Structure, Visual Narrative, Page Layouts, Characterisation, Storyboarding, Dummy books and Submission to a publisher.

We studied carefully the elements above in relation to the following books: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham, The Important Things by Peter Carnavas, Amy and Louis by Libby Gleeson, illustrated by Freya Blackwood, and Mutt Dog by Stephen Michael King.

The participants were given an exercise in analysis of one of the books where they looked at colour, space, movement, composition, perspective and pacing. Later in the day they storyboarded the text to one of my picture book manuscripts. Interestingly their page breaks were almost identical to mine.

I forgot my camera. I can't believe it. I had so wanted to post some photos of my workshop at the Gold Coast Art School. Instead I thought I'd include some of the feedback I received at the end of a very busy day.

"I have attended many workshops and classes on creative writing, but yours was 'spot on' in addressing children's picture books. Your storyboard workshop was particularly helpful."

"The workshop was informative and professional. Angela was happy to share her personal journey in illustrating so we could avoid the pitfalls. Having self-published, I would have loved to have this info prior to my experiences."

"What an amazing amount of info, but easily understood. Well presented and explained to a complete novice - maybe this is a new direction for me!"

It was such a fun day for me also and I would happily re-pack those suitcases and present this workshop again tomorrow. Any takers?

Workshop on Illustrating Children's Books

Ever wondered how to go about illustrating a children’s picture book?

During this one day workshop at the Gold Coast Art School I will take you through the process step by step as you learn to develop a visual narrative to a supplied text (or you may bring your own).

From sketching preliminary roughs, developing characters, storyboarding, page layouts, creating a dummy book to preparing artwork for submission, all areas will be covered, including how to approach a publisher. This workshop may also be suitable for the children’s writer who would like to improve their writing with a greater understanding of the picture book genre and the approach illustrators take when deciding on page breaks, sub-plots etc. It is not necessary to be able to draw for this workshop.


Workshop presenter:
Angela Sunde
Children’s Author and Illustrator
• Pond Magic, an Aussie Chomp, Penguin Australia, 2010.
• 3rd Place Award Picture Book Illustration, Children’s and Young Adult Conference 2009 http://www.cyaconference.com/


Workshop Date:
Sunday 18th July
9.30am – 4pm


Workshop Venue:
The Gold Coast Art School
http://www.artschool.com.au/
57 Nerang Street
Southport

See more here: Chee Chee and Mia

Publish That Book

In 2009 author, Louise Cusack, was approached by the Gold Coast City Council 'Creative Juices' team to run a year long series of workshops with 16 writers, the aim of which was to finish the first drafts of sixteen novels by the end of the year. This group was called "Write That Book' and I was one of the lucky sixteen to be chosen from the 70 plus applicants.

Today was the second workshop day for the 'Publish That Book' Gold Coast writers group with Louise. Our group applied for a Regional Arts Development Funding (RADF) grant last year to continue working with Louise in 2010 as we struggle to pull our first draft manuscripts into shape and learn how to edit our masterpieces.

Here is a picture of us working away.

We have become a close group who keep in contact with one another in between workshops through an online yahoo group. Five of us, who are all children's writers, also meet fortnightly as a writing critique group. This means we're all busy reading each others work and giving feedback. The feedback, however, is invaluable.

Today we looked closely at the goals of our main characters, and what their motivation is to achieve their goals.

My main character's goal is to save her friend's grandmother, who is dangerously ill. Her motivation is love.

That sounds simple I know, but it took me a while to refine it down to one simple goal.

We also discussed 'Scenes', that is, choosing the right scenes, cutting the unnecessary ones and exactly what a scene should include or not.

With our scene lists in our hands we sat with a partner and looked for the scenes which showed the pivotal points of the story.

And then we stopped and had champagne.

Well, it was lunchtime. And the cafe next door did a nice lunch.

But the champagne was to celebrate the birthdays of three of us who were all born in the same year within three weeks of each other. It's also a major '0' birthday for us. (I won't tell you which).

So I baked a cake, which is unusual for me. It was a carob and sour cherry cake from a Croatian recipe. Croatian carob (Rogac) is different to the powdery stuff. Its ground texture is coarser and it tastes nutty.

Here's a close look. Normally I would put in ground hazelnuts as well.

The three birthday girls and our cake.

Now with all that working, writing, champagne, lunch and cake we also needed coffee, but one of us needed more than most. These workshops are after all exhausting!!! Whose coffees were these?

I'm not telling, except to say they were not Louise's.

Chee Chee and Mia at the CYA

I was in the car at 7am; overnight bag, sleeping bag, pillow, foam mattress, writing materials and sundry all carefully stowed in the back. I was on my way to the CYA!

The highlight of the year in writing and illustrating for children is the Children’s and Young Adults’ Writers and Illustrators Conference held in conjunction with the Brisbane Writers Festival. It was at my first CYA conference three years ago that I fell in love with the industry and its people. Children’s writers and illustrators are a passionate, inclusive group who welcome and support new and emerging writers. Now in its fourth year the conference is a sell out success and draws award-winning speakers and workshop convenors from across Australia and internationally. Every year I am rewarded with rich learning and networking experiences and along the way I have made some treasured friends.

At 8.25am I slipped into a seat in the auditorium, looking forward to Jackie French’s key note speech. Our MC for the morning, Anita Bell, began by announcing the winners of the CYA writing and illustrating competition. I had entered in two categories, but did not expect a prize. When my name was called as the winner of 3rd prize in the Illustrated Picture Book and Graphic Novel category, tears began to sting my eyes. Somehow I fumbled my way to the front and accepted my award. Paul Collins of Ford Street Publishing had chosen my illustrated picture book ‘Chee Chee and Mia’ as the 3rd prize winner. WOO HOO!! That meant so much.

‘Chee Chee and Mia’ tells the story of a little girl’s love for her chicken Chee Chee (she can’t say chicken). Mia loves to hug Chee Chee, take her on the swing and push her around in the doll’s pram. But while Chee Chee tolerates all this attention, she is not all that pleased. The illustrations were worked in watercolour and coloured pencil.

My first workshop for the day was Jackie French’s master class. Her advice was hard hitting and to the point and her pearls of wisdom included:
“A good idea for a book is not enough; you need thousands of good ideas.”
“Quite good is never going to be good enough.”
“Be intellectually honest about your writing.”
“It takes longer for genius to be published than the very good.”

Together we brainstormed a story outline for ‘The Last Zoo’, set in Antarctica. Jackie had us smelling the ice and hearing the muttering of monkeys. She emphasised that each word must be specific and value laden and each character needs to be individual with their own characteristics and quirks.

Jackie believes ideas are more important than the quality of writing – you can always re-write. And writers need to be self-centred enough to spend time on themselves and their writing. This was good advice for me as self doubt and guilt are my two very good friends. But while I may doubt my writing, I seriously do enjoy re-writing.

A 15 minute pitch with Leonie Tyle of Woolshed Press (Random House) was the most rewarding experience of the day for me. I have taken on board her advice regarding my manuscript and in those few moments learned a great deal about some subtle aspects of ‘telling’ that still sneak their way into my writing.

In Meredith Costain’s ‘Constructing a Picture Book’ class she stressed that a good picture book must:
Resonate emotionally with the reader.
Have heart.
Tell an important story the reader can find meaning in.
Beg to be read over and over again.

This is very true of the favourite picture books I have in my collection. In groups of four we then brainstormed ideas for a story and amidst great laughter my group presented our version of ‘Grandma’s False Teeth’ to the audience.

Peter Carnavas’ master class ‘Illustrate a Picture Book’ took us inside the world of the professional illustrator. Peter led us sequentially step by step through the stages of illustration and story development, workshopping with us all the way:
Narrative structure and developing characters.
Finding the balance between words and pictures.
Developing a storyboard.

The session was valuable for the insight to Peter’s methods, for the hands on experience and the sharing of ideas with other illustrators in the room.

Among other things I learned a picture book is structured in three ‘Acts’ – a problem, a journey to solve the problem and a solution. Within Act 2 there is often a ‘blue page’ when all appears lost and the problem seems insurmountable. This week I have been re-working my picture book structures and have included where possible a ‘blue page’. Thanks Peter.

The CYA has been and gone. It was without a doubt the best one yet. Tina Clarke and Ally Howard have once again managed to seamlessly present the conference of the year. Their hard work and commitment is greatly appreciated and I thank them. I also thank the many friends who congratulated me on my award and who have supported me with their kind words. The life of a writer/illustrator is not a lonely one.

Olvar Wood - time to write

What is Olvar Wood?
It’s a writers retreat.

A place where you can go to refresh your mind, renew your passion for writing, meet other like-minded writers and learn more about the craft of writing.

Well, can’t I do that already? I mean, I go to workshops and conferences all the time.
Olvar Wood can offer you more than any workshop or conference. The programme is designed to suit your specific needs within a small group environment in a tranquil bushland setting.

What did you think of the price?
It’s actually good value for money. The cost includes a one-on-one oral manuscript appraisal, daily writing workshops, all meals (including a restaurant outing) and luxury accommodation.

So how was it? Did it live up to your expectations?
I’ve never been to a writer’s retreat before, but I had definite ideas of what I’d like to experience and yes, Olvar Wood lived up to all of them.

On my drive up from the Gold Coast I felt like a little kid on the way to meet Santa at the North Pole; part of me expected a magical place and another part was worried perhaps it didn’t exist. But, from the moment I turned into the driveway, I knew I was in for a treat.

Tucked away in the bush near the township of Palmwoods in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Olvar Wood is an intimate boutique retreat. The warmth of wood, the sound of water and the aesthetics of great design were my first impressions as I pushed open the door into the foyer. The environment created by Dr Nike Bourke and Dr Inga Simpson is perfection and I would happily have stayed there even if I weren’t a writer.

After settling in to my sumptuously appointed room (luxury is the key word here), I joined my weekend co-writers in the lounge for pre-dinner drinks and nibblies. What a delight to meet two creative, inspiring and intelligent women, (Judy and Donna) both with a keen desire to learn as much about children’s writing as I was. Not surprisingly, we had loads to talk about.

Over a gourmet dinner of salmon (with the most delicious crust) with our hosts Nike and Inga, we began our journey of learning. Nike and Inga are warm and caring individuals with an honest desire to provide the most rewarding experience for their visitors. After that first dinner I also knew I was in the presence of great talent and creative writing wisdom. This was going to be a weekend to remember.

Everything was provided for us: a library of books, a complete office (printer, fax machine, copier), wireless internet connection, all our breakfast and snack needs, catered lunches and dinners, platters of fruit, wood for the fireplace, toiletries in the bathrooms, a laundry, our own desks with a dictionary, a personal Olvar Wood pen and pencil and a chocolate bar to feed that writing brain.

Saturday and Sunday were spent with Nike in workshop sessions, which included Working with Story and Character and Imagery and Imagination. Nike has a natural ability to nurture the writer in you. She addressed our needs and encouraged us to ask questions and meet challenges. I was inspired. Both Nike and Inga have backgrounds as professional writers, university lecturers and supervisors of creative writing. The knowledge that Nike was able to impart certainly raised the bar for me.

An hour was set aside for each of us for a private one-on-one appraisal of our manuscript. Not only did I receive an honest and supportive appraisal, I also enjoyed genuine interest and encouraging suggestions from Nike for furthering my writing career. This personal time also allowed Nike to get to know our needs and she incorporated this in the workshops which followed.

Between workshops we were able to enjoy the expansive grounds and native forest, take in the view to the Blackall Ranges, meet the locals (like the small goanna on the roof, who poked his head over to say hello to me) and dine on the veranda.

I left on Sunday with new friends, great memories and a wealth of ideas for my current children’s novel. Most importantly for me, the weekend confirmed I was going in the right direction. And if ever I feel doubt again, I will be beating a path back to Olvar Wood’s door.

Yeah, I’ll definitely give them a look. What’s the website?
http://www.olvarwood.com.au/