It’s time to get off the wheel. Imagine days lying in or relaxing on the beach, or in your own backyard.
Laid-back days are built for leisurely or serious reading. Soul searching or fun, reading is a fascinating activity that delivers anywhere -anytime- every time.
I asked readers to recommend some of their recent great reads. With Black Friday deals still available at some retail bookstores, it’s quick and easy to bag a good book bargain.
Here is a mixed-genre list of the most enjoyed and/or informative reads. Blurbs are not included; they are available online and at bricks and mortar bookstores wherever you are.
I took the liberty of naming some lists. Three recommendations from Queensland’s Logas Padayachee, who thoroughly enjoyed her choices:
LL’s Selections:
When the Singing Stops by Di Morrissey
Without Merit by Colleen Hoover
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Mavis’ Sydney Picks:
Black & Buddhist by Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl A. Giles
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Black Teacher by Beryl Gilroy
Blue Mercy by Orna Ross
Jenny Trotter’s Choice:
The Tilt by Chris Hammer
More Suggested Reads
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
Miracles Happen by Dr Brian Weiss
Stories with a Christmas theme are appealing during this time of year.
Stocking Fillers, Twelve Short Stories for Christmas by Debbie Young
Christmas in the Scottish Highlands by Donna Ashcroft
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
My Books with a hint of Christmas:
Gallery Nights by Mala Naidoo
Souls of Her Daughters by Mala Naidoo
Literary classics by Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and many other literary great-reads offer timeless entertainment.
Add your favourite reads in the comment box below to spread the love of reading this holiday season to keep books alive.
Pen, a fictional story and aspects of the scribe’s life, spills onto the page between fiction and reality. Angst and joy collide in the unfurling of the emotive content of the story. The emotional hooks in a story invite readers to open their own wounds and happiness for a well-penned story.
In my novels and short story collections, dogs feature as necessary in human lives. A lifelong love of dogs finds their way into the lives of significant characters I create.
In the Sequel set Across Time and Space, and Vindication Across Time the wonderful Ted is the adored pet of human rights lawyer, Michael Morissey, and aspiring writer Meryl Moorecroft. Michael advises and befriends schoolteacher Marcia Ntuli, caught in workplace professional racism. Ted is the first to understand the growing romantic involvement between Michael and Marcia. His sensitivity to Marcia makes him even more adorable.
Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth. ~Albert Camus
Two hours later they emerged from Michael’s bedroom, laughing at Ted’s quizzical peaked ears and worried frown.
In Souls of Her Daughters, Patience, a social worker has two dogs, Ajax, and Sprite. She adopted them while her sister Grace was overseas at a medical conference. Patience witnesses her sister’s battle with her past demons and hoped Ajax and Sprite might offer her healing and joy. We may read this novel as a stand-alone novel or as a trilogy.
They were abandoned in an old building on the south side of town. I could not take one and leave the other. They are high maintenance in the love department but adorable to come home to.
Life’s Seasons, a short-story collection, includes a valiant dog as title story – Toby. This story was first published in the short-story collection, The Rain, where Toby, a brave dog, living on his owner’s family farm is confronted by a treacherous storm. Instinct guides Toby when the safety of his beloved human family is threatened. Toby’s heroic, selfless act unwinds minute-by-minute to melt hearts.
He gripped the harness between his teeth, prostrating to give the children a lift, to allow them to be pulled up with ease.
The Bardo Trilogy has Woza and Khaya, the loyal companions to the mysterious doyenne Tempest, on her mission to offer safety to women and children who are victims of crime.
Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Living in isolation was difficult, but her parrot, Caramba, a keen white watcher of the skies and her two Rottweilers, Khaya and Woza, filled her lonely hours.
The act of including dogs in each of these novels and short stories is a subconscious inclusion drawn from experience.
Pets are companions who combat loneliness, fulfil a caring need, aid healing from grief and bring joy during life’s challenging times. Both fiction and reality meld to create balance to live in unison with the universe.
Now there’s nothing like one’s writing companion puppy snuggled at one’s feet as words and new worlds rise and fall on the page.
The world is teeming with the here and now, current stories in the making with the mounting flux of national and international events and situations that drown the past as voices evaporate into the mists of time. The danger is in relegating these voices to forgotten histories when they have much to teach this time on human kindness and compassion, to obliterate the self-centred I, me and my way of thinking and behaving.
Fiction writers have the skills at their finger-tips to animate these voices through fictional recreations, Many such esteemed writers, as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Elif Shafak, et al, have done so to great effect over time.
Ignorant of history, we find it easy to accept our isolation from one another. We are more able to recognize differences than shared experiences and perspectives. History proclaims our common humanity. – Author: Linda Simon
South Africa’s apartheid history has a multitude of women’s voices, women of colour – some of whom have gone unnoticed under the radar of time.
Souls of Her Daughters arrived to highlight the role that women of colour made to the contribution in dismantling apartheid’s constructed barriers of race, sex, culture and ethnicity.
InSouls of her Daughters, two mothers, Varuna and Elsie, the mothers of Grace and Patience unite as one family when their husbands are brutally killed during the darkest times in the land’s racist history. Their daughters, Grace and Patience, become the stoic women they reveal themselves to be while fighting their own demons on sexism and abuse. Kindness and compassion pave the way forward as the personal histories of Varuna and Elsie in demonstrating their resilience under the scrutiny and accusations of racist stereotypes.
From humble beginnings both Grace and Patience emerge as women of courage, serving humanity in an international arena. Before they achieved this level of confidence they found a space where they were valued, belonged, to reach out to those struggling a similar or worse fate.
These four forgotten voices were deep, and the reach expansive that it opened the way for two more novels to follow, Chosen Lives, and, What Change May Come. These novels that followed, Souls of Her Daughters takes the reader on a journey from South Africa to Australia, Ireland and India. The novels showcase the kindness and compassion of two sisters born from different mothers into a segregated South African society with the potential to overcome the debilitating challenges of their birth country’s political history.
Fiction has a valuable role to play in the recreated telling of stories that did not make it into the history pages of its respective time, yet these stories carry the potential to educate the here and now for a future built on kindness and compassion. These human qualities dissolve the quagmire of the human condition.
Please like and share your thoughts and ideas on the recreated fictionalised histories you would like to read.
Brevity is not only the soul of wit, but the lifeblood of today. Now— the immediate, matters in a world where nothing is constant.
Attention span flits in the blink of a second.
Words matter, live and linger…
The upswing in the unquenchable thirst for poetry is a gratifying return to the appreciation of the poetic word and form. Poetry propels one on a light year’s journey into measureless realms. It delights and moves the human spirit with the evocative and provocative choice of words, themes, shape and style.
Haiku is short, so brief that every word tells a story to leave its inscription on memory.
For the writer, (for me) haiku is inspiration, a deep but quick inhale and a rapid expulsion of observations and emotions. The effect is cathartic but unforgettable.
The on-tap, sharp and visual that bombard our senses every day, growing an ever-increasing need for quick satisfaction—that adrenalin rush akin to a gym workout.
The economy of life’s necessities gives haiku breath in a world juggling too many balls, where survival is a luxury.
Haiku, originally a seventeen syllable (5-7-5) three-line structure poem was predominately about nature—weather, animals, plants, and changing seasons. Traditionally the Japanese form was the opening of a longer poem, serving as a haiku introduction to the composition.
Variations to the original 5-7-5 syllables are widely used by poets in the modern world to capture values, love, life’s challenges, and varying themes beyond the natural world.
Mother’s Day this year has a different ring to the freedom of yesteryear.
The nation waited to hear if we would be allowed to visit our mothers on this special day of the year. Something we took for granted… our mothers would always be there to listen, comfort, cook an amazing meal, take care of grandchildren, advise on matters of the heart, and chastise bad behaviour.
Love the whole world as a mother loves her only child ~ Gautama Buddha
The hype leading to Mother’s Day has been a buzz from infancy. 2020 has been still but some retail stores have opened for a dash purchase of a gift and a card to celebrate our mothers to tell them we love them. We fervently add that we want our mothers to be safe and well during this global health crisis. Some among us ache to see our mothers, some have passed on, and others are in social isolation — it has been two months of just telephone conversations and if possible, FaceTime, Zoom and Skype chats. The aching emptiness of the missed mama/nana hug is still not a possibility. A joyous expression of love is now a cause for global anxiety as we fear the unknown, the lethal. The comforting hug now a possible cause of harm.
Mothers occupy a universal, sacred place in our hearts. A mother’s unconditional love goes with her children from the cradle to the grave. Cultures revere mothers with a divinity deserving of profound respect and care. This value should undoubtedly be universal. The hearth of family and home is a mother.
Paradise lies at the feet of your mother~ Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
In paying tribute to all mothers today I also refer to the fictional mothers in, Souls of Her Daughters, and two follow-up novels in the trilogy (each reads as a stand-alone novel too) Chosen Lives, and, What Change May Come.
Mothers Varuna and Elsie present as the yin-yang of motherhood. Mama Varuna is Grace’s bold and strong mother who has weathered hardship with loss and societal criticism. Patience’s mother, Mama Elsie is a mild-mannered mother who faces racism and hardship in apartheid South Africa. Both mothers raise their daughters as one family united in their cultural difference and struggles. The highs and lows of the lives of mothers and daughters captured in the daily lives of Grace and Patience are what makes Mother’s Day a constant expression of love.
To all mothers, and future mothers, you are the pillars of family and society and should be celebrated daily.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.’ ~ Proverbs 31:26
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Stay safe and well as restrictions ease in New South Wales and around the world.
Every corner of the world has been hit by Covid19 — life for millions has come to a grinding halt. Businesses have shut down left, right and centre. Bookstores have closed their doors. Libraries are no longer a sanctuary as silent voices are in lockdown.
The question tossed around is: do we go ahead with the launch of a new book?
My heart says yes but my mind says, should I? Then a voice whispers an answer: yes, launch it online, reach people who need to move out of the mental space of the current crisis we all face. We need the sanctity of books. Bookshops continue to take orders online if a digital book is not a preference.
In the face of a global crisis, publishing is vital now more than ever before — it says we are here, later it will speak confirming that we were here, and this is what we did. It is akin to writing historical fiction. The Great Books of the world brought us knowledge of people, cultures, events, aspirations, challenges and celebrations from eras long before our current existence. Without those scribes, the artists of the past, we would be as ignorant of the world as the occupants in Plato’s cave.
Literature is the light into now, the glow of the past and spotlight into our dreams of the future.
Books imprint memory
Writers have the acute ability to sense mood and observe human behaviour down to minuscule details. So, why wait? It is time to pick up the pen of prose or poetry. Each will speak of this time and of our dreams and visions. Leave the messages that say we are indeed one.
In our angst and joy, we are ONE under the sky of humanity
Forthcoming Title This April
To ignite compassion, we must walk in the shoes of angst, or suffering, to extend love and care to others because we know it—we feel it. Stories elicit compassion and bring meaning more particularly as we sit in self-isolation to protect our loved ones and communities.
Writing and publishing must go on, as must, soft digital launches of news titles and relaunching of backlists. Lower prices, offer free titles, reach the masses by bringing meaning to the lives of those living in fear of what the next news bulletin or press conference will announce. Our uncertainty unites us in our desire for a renewed tomorrow. We inhabit the same house under a global sky.
Now we speak with the same human voice in our sans streets, sans parks, sans beaches… but we should never be reduced to fearing each other.
Keep literature flowing for generations to come—it is within our control, thanks to the digital platforms that serve us.
Keep Writing, Keep Reading.
Stay Safe.
This time will pass. Keeping hope alive through poetry and stories.
If stories were never told — history would not exist — change would not occur.
So much that is fictional is drawn from reality.
The horrors that have occurred historically and afresh each day (as the daily news never fails to report) become the fictional realities writers create in imagined worlds. The fiction writer’s world is in tune with current and past societal occurrences. The subconscious mind sifts and imprints that which has emotive associations. From this collaboration of mind and emotions, the writer begins with a particular premise — then something magical happens — the pen takes on a life of its own.
Plotter or panster merge when that magic happens. Hey, presto! Fiction and reality commingle!
For this reason, mindful writing is imperative. It helps guide your book to a niche or a wider audience with a message melded to the entertainment a good book affords.
Every good story has a lesson to teach, an angst or joy to share
Where does the act of creative mindfulness emanate from?
The soul of the writer, his or her angst and joy sensitize the writer to the struggles people undergo — be it a socio-economic matter such as Charles Dickens’ novels that exposed England’s elitism, and Jane Austen’s portraits of gender and social class. These are two writers selected from a host of others of the day.
Today fictional writers create worlds around ‘me too,’ racism and power struggles. Power struggles and injustice are timeless from Fritz Lang’s 1927 German expressionist film Metropolis based on the 1925 novel by Thea von Harbouto, Orwell’s dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four and my current reading of American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins referred to as a ‘high-octane’ story, are a few in the countless number of books that connect readers through discomfit to what it means to struggle and survive.
Political thrillers expose mismanagement, and immorality while entertaining readers with suspense, the drama of high stakes, etc.
If fiction mirrors reality it becomes a record for posterity like all good books. A ‘good book’ depends on which end of the moral spectrum both reader and writer share. If a book angers and soothes, keeps the reader on the edge of their seat by creating desired expectations for the protagonist — it’s a great story penned.
Fiction should make us uncomfortable enough to question where we went wrong, and how can we rectify it
Nothing is political in writing if it showcases reality. The word ‘political’ from my apartheid history conjures thoughts of being labelled as being on the wrong side of the law. Yet a political thriller exposes heinous human behaviour in organizations that we trust to uphold justice.
Fiction is reality dressed up as the world on the pages of a good book, one that dares expose the foibles of troubled societies
Discomfit, guilt and thought
Let’s continue to create fictional realities by rocking the boat of complacency in assuring that the history of the past and history in the making generate discomfort — discomfit elicits thought and one can only hope that positive action will follow to change catastrophes that are within the human scope and rectify atrocious human behaviour.
My stories cut to the bone on forgotten voices who deserve to be heard.
Here’s to more fictional stories for all our better tomorrows.
Happy Australian long weekend. Happy pleasurable reading hours.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Its loveliness increases; it will never
pass into nothingness … ~John Keats
Poet or novelist, one, the other or both — one grows into the other almost instinctively to develop the ideal creative state.
Writing improves with consistency and ongoing learning of the essentials of the craft. The art of writing expands the imagination and bulks the creative muscle by triggering the desire to know more, to research, to read, to push boundaries, and feel joy — a perpetual quest of the writer.
Voracious reading of all forms and more particularly poetry, the fine art of saying much with an economy of words, is a skill worth learning to enhance prose writing skills. Poetry as a literary form is laden with layered sensory imagery, conveying pain and joy, the state of the human condition and a celebration of nature which when emulated in prose fiction, is the lyricism in narration or the cadence ofpoetic storytelling.
Souls Collection (Trilogy)
‘And above all, poetry is compacted metaphor or simile’ ~ Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing
The habit of reading poetry grows the writer’s ability to choose appropriate/effective language or specific words that says it all with brevity. We live in an era where attention span is brief, access is quick, and impatience governs desires.
Saying it all in four lines:
Hear it, See it, Feel it, Believe it…
Spring Song
Hark, I hear a robin calling!
List, the wind is from the south!
And the orchard-bloom is falling
Sweet as kisses on the mouth
~Lucy Maud Montgomery
Little bursts remain to sustain…
Invictus
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul
~ William Ernest Henley
There is an intensely intimate, mindful experience apparent in poetry, a purity that makes it more personal where prose is more social, and when married with a sensitivity to both forms, the reader benefits from the writer’s authenticity.
As a teacher, evidence points to incremental learning leading to lifelong knowledge. Piecemeal understanding is committed to memory in meaningful short bursts of information whereas lengthy mindless memorisation disappears after the moment of recall.
Poetry speaks in the rhythm and profundity of its brief lines, a boon in holding the attention of the reader.
Poetry read before sitting down to write prose or read as the last activity before sleep, sharpens the ability to borrow from the poetic form and style for precise, well-formed ideas that touch with the depth and clarity that poetry engenders.
If writing in a particular genre or establishing an emotion in a prose scene, turn to poetry that’s appropriate in that instant and feel the passion and power of the words and those left unsaid, then a deepening of thought processes emerge to heighten the imagination. Reading poetry written in any period has the inspirational ability to enhance overall writing.
Crafting poems for creative leisure or publication is beneficial as self-directed editing of what works and what requires reworking. Poetry cannot hide intention and purpose, it’s stark, it’s true, a visual and emotive painting through words. This skill shapes brilliance in prose writing.
Poetry and prose are close cousins of the writing family. Read as many novels as you would poems, or more to capture that sweet spot of simple, short, stunning sentences, one after the other, until a story is born.
How many poetry books are there on your bookshelf? The internet is a valuable source, but there’s much to be said on having a book in your hand as you read, delight in, make note of, absorb and contemplate.
For aspiring writers: Write a poem today on any topic, let it tumble freely onto the page, then try your hand at prose. Watch the magic unfold. An open mind is necessary to attain this joy, and brilliance in prose writing.
Happy Reading. Happy Writing.
Share your thoughts on the benefit of poetry in prose writing.
The mind is a powerful seat of creativity — when nutritiously fed, it leads to abundance in creative output and a mood of positivity.
Creativity blends, binds and benefits humanity. The practice of conscience mindfulness is essential for inner and outer harmony. A calm state is conducive to creative thought when mind and emotions are in sync.
Dwelling on the positive elicits the creative mindset through meditation, listening to inspirational or relaxing music, motivational talks, and reading, listening to or writing poetry. This creates an enhanced feeling of joy and general wellbeing. Consciously choosing what we give our attention to is either of benefit or dismantles our equilibrium. The choice rests within. Daily Flow Practice Inspiration Meditation enhances my day, bringing inner calm to invite the muse or conscious mindfulness to create new worlds and people that have a message to share.
Consciously choosing what we give our attention to is the act of mindfulness
To foster the creative state, a mental and emotional journey has to be undertaken, nurtured internally. Pain can be turned into positive creative energy by daily writing about the pain, the angst we feel. Keep a daily journal or diary at your bedside or on your desk and write to diminish the gravitas of the struggle — this conscious decluttering allows freshness or the sunlight of positive energy to seep in.
Turn pain into positive creative energy
Climbing a mountain takes sheer physical effort and stamina to reach the summit, so too is harnessing positive energy — it needs work. Who we engage with and how we engage is as important as what we read, write and listen to. Surround yourself with the company of positive people. Choosing what we eat has an impact on physical wellbeing, and if neglected it erodes wellness, clouds judgement and infiltrates every aspect of life. Equally choose how you will interact with life by rewarding yourself with what you enjoy, taking in a movie, buying yourself flowers or picking a bunch from your garden. The simple things yield profound benefit for body, mind and soul.
Elevating the mind can also be as easy as taking a walk in a park or alongside a river. For me the ocean brings peace. Walking along a shoreline cleanses my mind and frees my soul. Reading poetry is as beneficial as taking a walk in nature when poetry speaks to the spirit. Take time out to seek the simple pleasures of life. We don’t have to climb a mountain to prove how strong we are.
I have been losing myself in the delight of reading Allowing Now – A Book of Mindfulness Poetry by Orna Ross, launched on Friday 25 October. If you’re looking to soothe your soul or settle a disquieted mind look no further for mindful inspiration.
See into the delights of nature…
Look around you and see into the delights of nature — leaves dancing in the breeze, a beam of light peeking through clouds, the silver ripple blinking on a river or the gentle unfurling swish of a wave on a shore. The musical twitter of birds at first light is a celebration of life, a new day and a clear mind.
Make positivity your journey to a creative state by writing a positive thought, your wish for your day upon rising, and a thought on what you are grateful for before turning to sleep to return refreshed for another creative day.
Happy reading. Find your joy by choosing that which fuels your passion, creates wellness and makes your soul sing.
Please share, comment and spread the spirit of creative mindfulness.
Writing has been well documented as having therapeutic value. Do you keep a personal diary, or a journal to record moments that are significant to you? Would you write a memoir or autobiography? Have you tried poetry writing?
Fiction is an avenue that has therapeutic benefit when writing about angst through fiction or poetry. This has value in reaching readers who might face a similar situation. Receiving a reader’s comment on connecting with a character or situation makes writing move from the realm of fictional entertainment to enhancing life, creating a sense of belonging through the power of story/words that whisper, ‘there are people who go through this, you are not alone, it’s not you…’
Human difficulties like our joys are universal and part of our shared humanity regardless of demography or any divisive label. We learn from each other, we share with each other — altruism is part of our human ‘feel good’ makeup. We feel good or secure in knowing that challenges are not unique. This is where fiction like a memoir/autobiography/biography and poetry has the ability to say, ‘I see you, I hear you, I feel your situation.’
‘In our angst and joy we are one under the sky of humanity’
Oftentimes something heard, something seen, or read triggers the imagination to create a story/poem — these seeds have their origin in human experience. Everything in life has imaginative storytelling potential. Historical fiction is a genre whereby much from history or literature is reimagined to suit a particular context adding timelessness to a story.
Poems and stories, when turned inward, create… growth… healing… self-awareness
Shakespeare’s The Tempest reimagined by Margaret Atwood in her novel, Hag-Seed is an example. Prospero becomes Felix a theatre director in a present-day context — he is grieving the deaths of his wife and daughter and has been backstabbed by an aspirational colleague. His vulnerability is an evocative point of connection with the reader. Professional or workplace strife present timeless human dilemmas, but when tastefully explored as a novel’s premise or ideas, it has the potential to speak to many isolated, lonely individuals — there is no shame in being vulnerable. Shame sits on the shoulders of those who abuse vulnerability. The most endearing people, in reality, are those who have experienced hardship, financially, in grief or loss, abuse or ill-health — having walked in the shoes of many with struggles, wires empathy — as human experience should be if we hope to coexist in peace and harmony.
Fiction can remind us why it is essential to be true to who we are in our expressions of self and in our interactions with each other.
In Souls of Her Daughters, Dr Grace Sharvin who heads a busy medical ER has unimaginable frailties but her strength is in her capacity to reach out to others while fighting her own demons.
Life’s lessons come from the adversarial people met, and they become the basis upon which writers craft their villains. A little bit of this and a little bit of that blended in a cauldron and hey presto! The (im)perfect villain is born! The good people we meet shape perspectives on why adversarial individuals have no place in a shared world.
Timeless heart-warming and gut-wrenching stories on life’s challenges and celebrations.
Literature is a luxury, Fiction is a necessity — GK Chesterton
and
Albert Camus said, Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.
Who can argue with such pearls of truth now?
Life, literature, news of the day, and history portray human experiences that provide inroads to new fictional stories and evocative poetry that connect rather than divide by exposing, celebrating, loving, grieving and understanding what it really means to be human. We all, whether real or fictional are indeed not alone in adversity.
Which novels and poems would you recommend to readers on overcoming adversity? Have you read A Spark of Hope?
As writers, it goes with the territory that autobiographical bits of ourselves will slip into our writing. A creative project, the creative process is emotion-driven, its passion on a page — bleeding…
My collection of short stories, out this week, Life’s Seasons into the digital and print worlds is a diverse collection that emanates from my visions of life and some from a generous muse — or perhaps a subconscious memory on history or culture of different times and places.
Launch Video
Here’s a little teaser on some of the stories:
The book cover is drawn from a story set at a picturesque beach resort when an incident occurs to disturb the world of the observer. Final View is both dark and lighthearted through the voice of an aging mortician — her take on why she serves the way she does. Now, I don’t know any morticians, personally, but this story found me. Those Were the Days, is part autobiographical and part imagined on life as a university student. Ancient cultures fascinate me, hence in, Moving On, the life choice of young Anqui emerged to represent the clash of the old and the new. Crime fiction is a passion and a particularly enjoyable teaching experience so The Call of the Outback was born with Inspector Donovan out and about during his early retirement days when a crime finds him, not your typical crime fiction story, but my spin on how things find you where your passion lies.
Then a story about a writer in search of her muse, set on the ocean aboard a luxury cruise ship stems from my love of the ocean although the story is far from peaceful, akin to the symbolism of a turbulent ocean. And there’s more in Stilled Heart, a University Professor struggling with not knowing what happened to his family during an air raid, and meeting a young, hopeful writer who shares the same sense of loss. A secret from the past is revealed by Jacob, a messenger of dreams in Wandering The Earth. And there’s Mai in Adrift, hiding her past on how she arrived in a new country. The shame apartheid enforced in my world is a trigger for Mai’s tale.
Haruki Murakami’s view on the writing of short stories captures the essence of pouring the self into what we write.
My short stories are like soft shadows I have set out in the world, faint footprints I have left. I remember exactly where I set down each and every one of them, and how I felt when I did. Short stories are like guideposts to my heart...
― Haruki Murakami
Without a doubt, the voices and visions of a writer’s world seep into the stories we tell, dressed in different clothes, stretched through the imagination with colour, light and shade, and not forgetting what the muse wills, and so stories are born.
Launch day this week is 22/8/19 for the ebook and 29/8/19 for the Print editions in hardback and paperback. For more on each story you are invited to go these links for the full description:
A good story, like good food, is an unforgettable experience.
In the creation of fictional worlds, the protagonist comes to life through his or her foibles, eccentricities, habits, relationships, hobbies, voice, mannerisms etc. While sensory details include the sounds, we hear and the images we see, through the words on the page, the degustation in a fictional novel brings the reader to the table, heightening the sensual effect in a shared meal with characters.
In my debut novel, Across Time and Space, the aging Ben loves kippers and poached eggs for breakfast. In the sequel, Vindication AcrossTime, while breakfast is important, especially when Ben and Meryl overhear a conversation in a tiny restaurant, on the dark history of the mysterious Professor Andrei Malakov – it’s the journey through South Africa’s gustatory delights that bring drooling joy as barbecued corn on the cob – braaied mielies, to locals, on the breathtaking beaches of the Cape, chilli pineapple in, Sweet, salty, hot and pungent collided, tantalising Michael’s tastebuds. And then who can forget the delectable Kaapse snoek! In contrast, back in Florence, Meryl consumes endless cups of coffee as the trial drains her emotional and physical strength. Her favourite chicken pasta and prawn linguini meals are left untouched as her mind swims with horrific thoughts on where her life was heading.
In the trilogy, Souls of Her Daughters, Chosen Lives, and the third book, out this April, What Change May Come, Thai Delight, a fictional place, is Patience’s favourite restaurant, but both sisters, Grace and Patience find great joy and comfort in cooking and eating their mother’s signature chicken curry – their memory of her is alive in love and food. Grilled salmon, thoughtfully prepared for an elderly neighbour is pushed aside as she perspires through, and relishes Grace’s fish curry, saying, You have your mother’s touch with the delicate spicing, what a scrumptious meal... There are wonderful Mediterranean breakfasts, turmeric lattes and cardamom chai for a full international array of gustatory heaven!
I need chillies to warm my soul’ ~ Patience says in Souls of Her Daughters
From the spicy to the crisp – ham and cheese croissants, in the April release of What Change May Come, complements the racy change and quick food that others bring to Grace and Patience.
Food and fiction are a formidable combination, setting the mood of the moment, letting the reader into a part of the character’s life that we all enjoy – eating as a necessity, or social activity, regardless of what we eat, or where we eat it.
Food will always feature in my fictional tales as comfort food, memory food, and soulful food.
So many voices, so many stories in a country as diverse as Australia, each sharing a connection to people and place.
Today on the blog we have Rhonda Forrest, a high school teacher, from beautiful, sunny Queensland. Rhonda began writing under the pen name ‘Lea Davey’. Her first two novels, Silkworm Secrets and The Shack by the Bay were published under the pen name, Lea Davey, however her latest novel, Two Heartbeats, published October 2018 has been published under her real name, Rhonda Forrest. Having always lived in Queensland, the vast AustralianOutback and the pristine Whitsundays feature strongly in her stories. Rhonda Forrest shares her story and tells us more about her writing journey.
Meet the Author
Rhonda Forrest/Lea Davey
Biography – I was born in Brisbane and grew up in Rochedale, which at the time was a rural farming area. It was a fabulous place to grow up and as kids, we spent our time playing in the bush, riding horses and living in a community where everyone knew each other. I married at the age of 21 and my husband and I moved to acreage at Bannockburn where we lived for thirty years. Along with a menagerie of animals it was here that we brought up our three daughters and made life-long friends with many of our neighbours. At the age of 40, after a multitude of different jobs and running my own business, I decided to study. After 4 years of full-time study, I graduated as a high school teacher of History and English. Recently we have moved to Tamborine Mountain and live between the mountain and a 100-year-old cottage with a rambling garden up in the Whitsundays. Both places are quiet and idyllicplaces to live and write.
Writing Journey – As a child, I loved reading and was surrounded by books. My mother who is 90, still to this day reads every day and as a teenager, she always handed me her books after she had finished them. Nothing was off-limits and I vividly remember being enthralled by books written by Harold Robbins, James Michener, Wilbur Smith and Jackie Collins. I used to always think that one day I would write a book, however, it wasn’t until about five years ago that I had time to seriously think about pursuing my writing. Long hours spent out on a tinnie in the middle of the ocean fishing, allowed plenty of time for daydreaming and the story of, The Shack by the Bay began rolling around in my head. Once I started writing the words flowed easily and I knewthat I had found a new passion in my life – writing!
Genre – All of my books are different. The Shack by the Bay is contemporary historical fiction, Silkworm Secrets is contemporary fiction and Two Heartbeats is Romance. My favourite genre is historical fiction although I also love to read true-life stories.
Motivation – If you want to do something you should just have a go at it. I don’t think I ever considered failing, actually I don’t think about the end result that much, I just go for it. Really you have nothing to lose and once I start writing it’s hard to stop until the story is finished. The editing and parts that come after the actual writing for me are the hardest parts and I would love just to be able to write and to have someone else do the rest for me. But when this is not possible I stay motivated, buoyed along by the lovely reviews and comments I get from readers. With writing, it is not about the money that you make (because that is limited) but rather the motivation that comes from readers who love your books. One of the most exciting things is to look on the Brisbane library website and see that all 5 copies of your book are being borrowed!
Influencers – Probably the biggest influence for me in relation to my writing was the Australian author Coleen McCulloch. It was after I read her book, The Thorn Birds, in 1977, that I decided I would write a book. It took 40 years to have time to do that, but eventually, it happened.
Favourite Books – Just recently I read Boy Swallows Universe which is set in Brisbane so lots of familiar places and just a fabulous entertaining read. My Instagram page has a countdown of my top 50 books and these range from Mao’s Last Dancer to All the Light We Cannot See as well as, The Old Man and the Sea and Australian classics, The Cattle King and My Place. I have so many favourite books, but I do love historical fiction. The Garden of Evening Mists, A Good Muslim Boy and The Space Between Us are also some of my favourites.
If you want to do something you should just have a go at it
As writers, students, readers, we often hear, ‘where do all these ideas come from?’
There is no short answer to that question. Write what you know is not a mandatory ingredient to write well, to pique your readers’ interest.
Drawing from universal life experiences to create your work of fiction shapes characters and situations. At the heart of the story is the writer’s passion to either showcase a better world, expose the ills of the world or present hope in dark situations.
Thrillers can be inherently dark but genre in contemporary writing morphs into what the story becomes, often crossing more than one genre.
Crime Fiction will reflect the elements of the genre, as would Romance – what good would these be without a dead body, missing person, corporate embezzlement or terrorism etc. Crime Fiction without investigation is, for me, like eating apple pie without the apples. Imagine romance without lovers? While these might be diverse genres, the point of commonality is conflict.
Conflict keeps the reader, hanging on, will there be a resolution or does the tension mount, will the character I’m rooting for, be saved, loved, killed or elected etc?
To deny that conflict is a significant aspect of life (as much as we abhor it – oh the drama of life!) while creating a perfect world with perfect characters would no doubt be like having a dose of ‘soma’ as in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
In creating characters, the potentially ‘good’ characters that are fraught with conflict, are truly memorable ones. They represent the reality of life through fiction – a point of reader connection. Shakespeare’s mastery on the creation of the ‘good wayward’ character, is timeless, and there are many such writers who create unforgettable, quotable characters.
How do you imagine and create your character ideas? Where do they come from?
Observations of people in the bustle or stillness of life, the man sitting on a park bench or train alone, lost in thought – Who is he? Where does he come from? Why is here? Why is he alone? What is he thinking?- A story idea prompt is wherever you are in your day.
Who is he? What’s on his mind?
Turning to the works of influencers of the craft will create inspiration for story ideas:
To quote Stephen King, ‘You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.’ attests to ‘Reading a lot and writing a lot,’ as essential for generating ideas, developing and enhancing your writing style.
Reading gives the composer a storehouse of ideas to draw upon in creating a new, unique story world that readers connect to.
Keep reading, keep observing the hive of life, learning about new ways of thinking and behaving, story ideas abound around us.
Writers Block you say?
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…it was the spring of hope…we had everything before us (A Tale of Two Cities– Charles Dickens)
There’s much on the social and political landscapes, history in the making, story ideas can be a fusion of the past and present, to shock, delight, inform and move your reader.
No pain, no gain, no compassion, did the book you read make you feel, did it create a connection? Did you feel the fear, pain, joy, laughter, hope, and love or perhaps just one, maybe two of these emotional triggers through the characters and events in your book?
‘In a dark time, the eye begins to see’ ~ Theodore Roethke
Some of the greatest artistic expressions emanated from the seat of pain, ‘a dark time’. Sylvia Plath’s Ariel comes to mind, her suite of poems on life and pain.
Emotion brings art to life, inviting the beholder to stop, listen, and absorb, to feel the pulse of the writer’s being.
In a dark time, challenges and struggles turn the eye and ear inward. Stop… still yourself from thought and action – listen and connect to your internal landscape. When writing grows from such a place, compassion is born through created events and characters.
Emotion, regardless of whether it’s negative or positive, draws us in, more so when love and understanding emerge through the connection. We are emotional beings. While Descartes said, ‘I think therefore I am’ (Cogito, ergo, sum) – it can be said, ‘I feel, therefore, I connect’ or ‘I feel, therefore, I understand, appreciate…’
Giving in to the emotion-feeling the pain to redefine your world (pixabay image)
Stories should build connections, to validate the reader by bringing characters and their challenges to life. When readers leave a review on the connections the writer’s prose created for them, this provides valuable feedback and acknowledgment.
Here’s an extract from my latest novel, Souls of Her Daughters when the realization of where her life is at, comes crashing down on the protagonist… too much has happened, the past and present collide…
Grace walked around the hospital grounds, confused, lost in thought on the uncertainty of life. Visions of what her mother would have done came to mind. She walked to her car, sat back in the seat and sobbed for all she had lost in her life, and that poor Mrs. Beresford lay dead for the better part of a day, waiting for someone to claim her – Grace understood the pain of loneliness.
Loss and loneliness are sadly, but realistically universal. With the protagonist feeling the emotional weight of both, in a single moment, empathy is elicited and might perhaps connect with the reader, offering solace that we essentially are not alone in what we feel.
Emotional connections whether through song, literary fiction or a life-size painting, draw us in by the intensity of the emotion expressed.
Alternately, there are light-hearted moments in the novel, to lift the weight of the struggles the protagonist and the women around her undergo. The blurb concludes, ‘A timeless tale of every woman’s story…’ Timeless on the struggles and celebrations of life, of women from different cultural contexts and professional backgrounds but nonetheless women with collaborative fighting spirits.
Tapping into the essence of our humanity through any art form, is a way forward, to capture the moment in its rawness, to allow us to walk away from the wars of the world, to look at the pleasure and beauty of life, to let the time of struggle pass. Appreciation and compassion are bred from challenges – how do you know the dark side, if you have not felt it? So too, characters’ lives should represent life through art to make fiction sing with timelessness.
Souls of Her Daughters captures the dark side of life, but the positive emotions swell in the relationship between mothers and daughters. Amidst tears, there is laughter, the reality of the experience of life. I hope you read this tale which will leave you with the message – never deter telling the truth, no matter how painful it might be.
I leave you with this timeless TED message from Susan David, that encapsulates the essence of Souls of Her Daughters, on embracing your emotions in its truth.
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You will enjoy the process of creating the story you have always wanted to write.
What’s holding you back?
Fear and Time?
Counteract fear by writing the best story you can. Temper your inner critic, the belief that you’re an imposter in the craft – avoid this or you become your own worst enemy. Trust your desire to write and turn to the supportive person in your life who will allow your light to shine.
Find time in your day to get down as many words as you can. Do it consistently to keep yourself inspired to go on to complete your novel. Fifteen minutes a day is better than not writing at all.
Will you be a pantser or plotter?
Would you meticulously plan scenes, with graphs and maps etc or let your creative energy lead you with just the basics planned out for your novel? There are various schools of thought on being a pantser or plotter. I’m somewhat hybrid on that. Mental planning with a few scribbled thoughts here and there make me more a pantser than a plotter.
Pantser or Plotter
Challenges that could occur
Shut the door as you write, as Stephen King advises in, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, ( I gained the courage to finish and publish my books drawing from the advice in this book), until you are ready to tell the world.
Once you begin to tell others, be prepared for either cynicism or support. The cynics are not worth your time – leave them to their cynical worlds and do what you have to do – write the best story you can!
Writing is an emotional process that often dives into a point of long-held pain or passion. When dubious eyes, lopsided smiles, and tongues that doubt, disturb your orbit, it’s time to turn them down or off.
Consistent writing, turning to influencers of the trade and reading books on how to write well or listening to podcasts on writing and signing up for webinars on the craft is the way to pay your way forward in your growth as a writer.
No story is not worth telling if your aim is to enlighten or connect with your reader or you know what you have to say will make a difference- write that story.
And there’s more…
Writing the story is not all you have to consider, you should then research traditional and self-publishing options and find your best fit. Know your genre, research writers in the genre you want to write in and carve your approach, your own style. Once the final product, the actual book, with a professional cover, professional editing, blurb, author biography, ISBN, date, publisher, and place of publication etc are in place, the marketing of your book begins. Whether you opt for traditional or self-publishing, the onus is squarely on your shoulders to market your book.
Don’t put off writing your book. Now is the best time.
It took me several years to finally master the fear to turn to my beta reader to have a look at my work.
We need more stories, stories that speak of angst and optimism and stories that make us laugh out loud, hold us in suspense, evoke disbelief or leave us in meditative contemplation.
We need stories that remind us of our essential humanity.
Write your book today. Publish it in 2018!
Don’t you know yet? It is Your Light that lights the worlds – Rumi
Does this resonate with you? Please share your thoughts in the message box below.
How often have we heard that first impressions are lasting? Does the same apply to the opening lines in novels?
An attention-grabbing opening to a novel, not the head-standing, acrobatic, high energy stuff but a carefully crafted opening is a sure-fire way to spark the curiosity of the reader to continue reading.
Leading the reader in without saying too much by judiciously leaving out some essential details elicits intrigue for the reader to pursue the tale to its conclusion. The reader should discover aspects of a character’s world by being invited to be part of the journey. Those discoveries do not have to be palatable to the reader. A favourite character might reveal a side of their personality that perturbs the reader. The unexpected sustains the intrigue. In the real world, perfection is an illusion, to quote Alexander Pope, to err is human, to forgive divine. I fondly recall the podcast with Sevgi Yildiz, coordinator of the Sydney Bookclub, who said she ‘threw the book’ when her favourite character from her reading of Across Time and Spacewas not as saintly as she had wanted her to be. Emotional connections are indeed what keeps readers wanting more.
A sequel carries a known backstory but it should also be satisfying to read on its own without knowledge of the first book. Without summarising the first book, the opening lines should invite the reader in with glimpses into what went before which puts all the pieces of the larger plot puzzle together.
Opening lines of a book often take several redrafts to ensure that the right balance is achieved that leads to a natural flow from the first book into the sequel.
This is a skill that improves with each book written after several self-edits before the professional edit is solicited.
My writing career started in a somewhat circuitous way with writing stories for an audience of one for many years until a story emerged that ran through to become my debut novel, Across Time and Space. It was then that the decision to publish emerged with some coercion from those closest to me.
My journey was a cart before the horse situation as all that I am about to outline to you happened after my debut novel was in the process of being published by a publisher.
It is for this reason that I decided to write this post to pass on what needs to be done, in the initial stages, before the process of writing begins.
As a writer, aspiring writer or fully-fledged published author we all need additional writing tools to sharpen the craft for an enjoyable and less stressful writing journey.
What do you do? Where do you go to set yourself on your merry, enjoyable writer’s journey?
Here are a few questions:
Before you begin writing:
do you have a plan for your writing journey?
are you following influential writers?
are you reading extensively into your preferred genre?
are you attending book festivals and conferences?
have you started creating an online presence?
Before you publish:
If you self-publish you should consider all of these and if you are going the traditionally published route some of these steps have to be undertaken as marked by my asterisk
do you have a Goodreads reader/author profile?
have you set up your Amazon account and author profile in the countries you hope to sell your books?
do you have a Kobo account?
do you have an iBooks account?
do you have a Draft2Digital account to have it all done for you?
do you use Ingram Spark/Createspace/Smashwords or all publisher/distribution channels?
do you belong to writing organisations online or groups in your hometown?
do you have a Facebook Page/Meta where you create an engaging presence?
do you have a Twitter/X Account?
do you have an Instagram account?
do you have a website or blog site?
have you started blogging and have an engaged audience?
if you are self-publishing, do you have a freelance editor and cover designer enlisted?
have you bought your ISBN for your book?
have you registered your title?
have you lodged your book with the National/State Library (Australia)
if your books are in public and school libraries- have you registered for PLR and ELR?
do you have proof-readers?
are you able to enlist legitimate (ARC) reviewers?
While you are writing
What software do you use?
do you do a handwritten first draft?
do you use Microsoft Word to type up your manuscript?
have you sourced other software to write and format your manuscript?
would you dictate your novel? do you have the software for your audio needs for dictation?
After you’ve published your book:
How do you market your book?
Even if you are traditionally published – you have to do your own marketing. The onus is upon you to get your book out there.
Will you have a ‘live’ book launch or will you have a Facebook or website launch of your book?
Will you be open to giving talks to aspiring writers?
Will you engage the media?
How much will you invest in marketing your book? Consider the ROI and check all options.
Do you want your books in bricks and mortar stores only?
Do you have print and eBooks published?
Have you considered creating an audio version of your book?
After my roundabout entry into writing and publishing, I am trying new tools for my third book and will report back in a few months on how I fare with my new researched tools.
I encourage you to continue pursuing your writing dreams and hope you can take something away to begin your writing journey.
The world will be a dreary, sad, isolated place if our stories were not written and shared. – Mala Naidoo
Please share where you are in your writing journey and what works fantastically well for you in the comment box below. If you are thinking of starting out, let’s begin the shared conversation today.
The world is a melting pot, an ever-increasing paradise of voices that need to be heard if tolerance and understanding are to reign for peaceful coexistence.
Migrant literature, while evident through powerful voices, needs new sounds to add to the colourful history that should be shared if we are to live side by side.
Knowledge is necessary to foster understanding and compassion to move us closer to our innate humanity. Living in international communities in the 21st Century is a goldmine of multiculturalism that offers rich insights on culture and values.
What better way than to extend understanding through the literature we read and write. This could be a work of fiction, a non-fiction book, or a blog that creates connections to our neighbours near and far.
Literature is and should continue to be a vehicle that dispels ‘otherness’ or the ‘outsider’
When I ask ‘Are you particular about dates?’ – I’m not referring to the dating game or romance.
Here’s my reason for asking.
I recently published Vindication Across Timeas the print version late in September to coincide with my father’s birthday.
The digital version on Kindle, Kobo, iBooks, BN will be released next week on my mother’s birthday. It’s up for preorder on these sites now.
I can hear you ask, ‘Pray do tell us more!’
Some of the themes reflected in Vindication Across Time– the pursuit of truth and justice is a value I grew up with. The truth no matter how painful had to be acknowledged and implemented.
Lies were severely admonished in my childhood home regardless of any perceived justification for stretching the truth.
Truth and lies are dominant in the novel as in different versions of the truth. The bearers of fake truths are soon discovered and good karma visits those who steadfastly adhere to the truth. My understanding is that there is only ONE truth. If a man has been gunned down, there might be one person directly responsible and others who helped expedite the heinous act.
Justifications offered for why this happened does not remove the truth that a defenseless man was gunned down in cold blood. The next truth to be served is that justice must prevail regardless of individuals’ motives and challenges.
There, in a nutshell, is why the print version of Vindication Across Time was released on my father’s birthday as an acknowledgement of his respect for truth and justice.
What about my mother made me choose to release the Kindle and eBook versions on her birthday next week?
The expression of culture and values through strong female characters in Across Time and Space, led to greater nuances of imperfect lives in Vindication Across Time. This is where my mother’s love, compassion, and strength shaped these ideas.
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