New Project

I've just started a new project – ghostwriting a book for a lovely lady, who has an inspirational story to share. I can't say much more about it here, but we're both very excited about it and I have no doubt that it will be as much of an emotional and enlightening journey for me as working on the bushfire book, Beneath Dark Skies, was.


So the puppets will have to bide their time on the shelf above my desk. I try not to look up at them too often as it means several sets of eyes looking at me and asking 'why'. Except for the one that's cross-eyed – he just looks confused.

Wrap-up of 2011

I spent most of 2011 moving/writing through a fog of illness, which has finally been correctly diagnosed. As long as I completely avoid wheat and gluten I can rebuild my immune system and, hopefully, always feel fit.


A large amount of my writing time was spent editing Beneath Dark Skies: a collection of Black Saturday bushfire stories from Callignee, Koornalla, Le Roy and Traralgon South. It was a huge job and a very emotional journey. I learnt as much about people as I did about fire and made some wonderful new friends.


Now that my health is back on track I started the year by entering Writer's Weekly 2012 Winter 24-Hour Short Story Content and am pleased to say I received an honourable mention.


I have also started a new blog about my own journey through two years of illnesses, misdiagnoses, living gluten-free and the changes I've made to my and my family's lives. It's still under construction, but I hope to start posting by the end of March.
You can find it at http://finding-my-star.blogspot.com.au/


I haven't given up on my puppets and writing for children with them, but have decided to focus on using modern technology to build a following. I hope to make some progress with this during the year as well.

It has been almost a year since I posted on this blog and I apologise for this. Much has happened since my last post. 

Further research into building a business entertaining kindergarten children with my puppets and creating books as keepsakes for the children has shown that it isn't viable unless I'm willing to be free entertainment all of the time. Instead, I will use my photography and writing to create adventure books with my puppets. The worst case scenario is that my children are the only ones entertained by them and I can certainly live with that.

I've also been doing some freelance editing work, which has kept me much busier than first anticipated. This has resulted in my own website being developed. As soon as it's up and running I'll post the link here. 

None of this sounds like anything to get excited about, especially when my dream is to become an author, but all of it is valuable learning experience that keeps me writing and working within the industry. 

One stepping stone at a time!

I've been pretty quiet on both blogs throughout October. 

That's because I've been busy gaining some valuable editing experience and finishing off this year's assignments. As everyone winds down for the year I'm pushing on with trying to build a reputation in the writing and editing industry. I even edited my first memoir!

I've had my publishing logo created and my Poetic Puppets logo is only a few weeks away. It won't be long before I start investigating the best options for a website.

My ventriloquist book has arrived and I've been busy scrawling notes on ideas to entertain the kindergarten kids. The closer we get to launching Poetic Puppets the more exciting it gets and the more nervous I get!

But for now, I must get back to refining my Short & Twisted submission and mastering InDesign.

Submissions for the 2011 Short & Twisted closes 30 November, so if you want to see your name in print and can write a great poem or story with a twist at the end, visit Celapene Press before you run out of time.

Short & Twisted Submissions

This year I've submitted a couple of twisted black and white photos and a story with a twist at the end.

I received an honourable mention in the Writer's Weekly 2010 Spring 24-hour Short Story Competition. 

The comp is run four times a year and costs USD5. Entries are limited to 500 people.

The link for anyone interested is http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.php

Once entered, you receive no further information on what you're writing about until the day of the comp (obviously you're given the date of the comp). They email the topic and word count at midday Saturday and you must write it and submit it before midday Sunday. This is US time, so you receive the email at 3am (Melbourne, Australia non-daylight saving time) Sunday morning and must submit before 3am Monday morning. 

It is a brilliant way to get the creative juices flowing and produce some interesting short stories. 

Good luck!

Poetic Puppets

Well my couple of large monkey puppets has turned into two monkey puppets, three bear puppets, a chicken, a monster and a dog puppet. Most of them have names and personalities and I'm slowly getting together clothes and accessories that match their personalities. 

A little presumptuous when I haven't started working with the kindergartens yet, but my children's kindergarten director liked my proposal and is more than happy to do a free trial run early next year to help me iron out the wrinkles and even if it does flop, my kids love the puppets. 

As I practise ventriloquism and perfect each puppet's personality, they become part of the family and the kids are always laughing at them.  I'm considering creating stories based on the puppet's adventures in the future (outside of what they do with the kindergarten kids).