A Little Thank You Makes My Day

    Belonging to a writing group is always rewarding.
    For many years I've been a member of Romance Writers of New Zealand and through this organisation I have learned so much about the craft of writing.
    At RWNZ's annual conference I've had the benefit of being able to listen to world famous authors, agents and other professionals expound on various aspects of the craft of writing. Chances that as an individual, I could never have accomplished.
    So I find it really rewarding to pass some of this hard won knowledge on. And one way of doing this is by training as a judge and helping judge some of the contests run by RWNZ.
    One of the highlights of my writing year is helping judge the Chapter Short Story Competition.  Writing a good short story is really difficult. With only 1000 to 1250 words to make a complete story vignette, it takes enormous skill. And I have to confess it is not a skill I have mastered.
    The standard of the entries is always high.
    When judging my policy is to always make any criticism constructive and sometimes after I've sent the entries back I start second guessing myself. Am I being too harsh. Was that criticism justified, the negative thoughts and doubts that are the bane of a writer's life, begin to creep in.      
    So imagine my delight to receive this warm thank you letter:

 You recently judged my story ... for the Chapter Short Story Contest.

      Thank you very much for your insight and comments. 

     This is the first time I have presented anything for criticism since I was at school (far too many years ago to count) and I was very apprehensive about doing so... I was so nervous about the results that the message has sat in my Inbox for a fortnight until I had the courage to open it and the documents attached. 

     I was pleasantly surprised to read your comments, even the negative points you made, and that you didn’t tell me to give up and stick to reading.

      I know your intention is to constructively criticise and therefore to encourage and I can assure you that you have succeeded in this case and that I am pleased I overcame my fears and entered this competition. Your comments have encouraged me to continue in my endeavours...and I nearly leapt out of my chair at the inclusion of ‘great promise’ in your final comment!

      At the risk of being repetitious, thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I have scribbled for many years without having the courage to do anything about what I have written, not even letting anyone read it. I know I have hard work ahead of me but I will keep trying.

     Warm regards....

It is letters like this that keep me putting my hand up as a judge. It is so rewarding to be able to give something back to the organisation that has given me so much.   

Free downloads today only

Free downloads today of

Return to Totara Park

Yesterday's Sins

The End is In sight.

When my editor told me my writing was old fashioned and I needed to change my style, my first reaction was:

Whoa!

My second reaction after reading through her critique a second and third time: this is do-able.

Now that the end of this rewrite is in sight I realise her insight was spot-on. The difference is incredible.
It has been a real learning curve and I am now eagerly awaiting her response.

The sense of accomplishment is worth the exercise alone.

On another front I now have my ITIN after a lengthy wait.

Now that I have the coveted number, I now need to forward it to Amazon. So following their instructions I set about doing it only to come to a shuddering stop.

Please submit in wet ink......scratching my head I was stumped until I realised they wanted a hard copy filled out and posted by snail mail.

Just how we supplied legal forms in the olden days when we were young.

Wet ink!!!  I have to admit that is a new one on me.  

Life in a Country Town

Martin enjoying horse love in our driveway

There is an old saying in our part of the world...you can take the girl/guy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl/guy.

This photo encapsulates this sentiment. Wherever there is a horse you will inevitably see my husband.

And even in our small East Waikato town, in our driveway no less, he found two horses to admire. Horses have played a big part in his life. As a child he rode a horse 3 miles to his local school in the days before there were school buses.

In both our childhoods, horses were the mainstay of farming life. My father never owned a tractor. Long after every other farmer in our district had turned to mechanisation, my father had his trusty draught horses, Socks and Prince to haul hay, fencing materials and any other loads to heavy for him to haul alone. When he sold his farm he admitted to shedding a tear when he saw his last horse, Neddy looking out over the top of the stock truck and whinnying at him as he was driven away to his new home. It's hard to imagine feeling that nostalgic about a piece of machinery.       

My father-in-law spent years working with horses and always talked of plowing 1000acres of land on the Maniatoto Plains in Otago as a young man, but he moved over to tractors.

So with this back ground you can imagine my husband's joy to hear the once familiar clip clop of hooves down our very urban street and straight way he was out there to touch and admire the two patient, gentle horses giving school children a holiday treat.

It was a treat that also made this retired farmer's day.