Barbwired... a writer's life in the city and the country

A little bubble magic...

2009-07-18T03:03:00.000-07:00

Combine a little girl, a doting uncle and aunty and bubbles...

and... (as far as I'm concerned) you have magic.

Comfort reads...

2009-07-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

I've currently bypassed my TBR pile to return to an old friend -- over one thousand pages of Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher. She's still my all time comfort read. Unfortunately, she's now in her mid eighties and has stopped writing, but did you know she started out by writing for Mills and Boon?

I might have told this story before (deadline tends to fuzz the brain) but I first discovered Rosamunde Pilcher via a magazine story about her house, while I was staying in a cottage in France. It was just after I'd sold my first book to Mills and Boon and I'd been to London to meet the editors. I bought The Shell Seekers in Rome airport on the way home. All these details seemed to add to her magic for me -- and then there's the way she brings Cornwall and the north of Scotland to life. Books with a keen sense of place are my favourites. What about you? Do you have a favourite author or type of book that you find yourself returning to every so often, because you love the comfort of their story world?

The kind of mistake you don't want to make...

2009-07-14T04:31:00.000-07:00

In Northern Australia you can't take risks with water. A woman yesterday drove her vehicle into crocodile infested waters - and got stuck!. She thought this boat ramp was a river crossing. Eeek!!

I'm pleased to report that she escaped unharmed, but others haven't been so lucky.

Driveway music...

2009-07-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

You may have guessed that my deadline is looming and I have my head down. Can't think of much except what's happening to my characters.

But I did discover something new yesterday, while I was washing up and listening to the radio. It's the concept of driveway music - music on the car radio that's so gorgeous (substitute adjective of choice here) that when you get home, you can't turn it off. You have to stay in the car, in your driveway, and keep listening till you get to the end.

And then yesterday afternoon, I had a driveway music moment. I'd dashed into town for a couple of things, and as I turned in at our driveway (which is about 4 or 5 hundred metres long) they were playing the most fabulous music. Now, I have to tell you I don't usually go for brass band music, but this brass band was playing Freddie Mercury's Bohemian Rhapsody - and - it - was - amazing.

So yeah, I pulled up at the house and sat there and just - listened. Went back to work feeling uplifted.

Interview...

2009-07-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Ian Frazer from the Townsville Daily Bulletin published a feature story about my RITA nomination. I thought I'd share some his questions and my answers here.

I.F. Can you say anything more about the inspiration for Adopted Outback Baby? When was it written and how has it fared with readers?

B.H. Adopted: Outback Baby was written in 2007 and first published in July 2008. It seems to have been very popular with the readers, selling well in both the US and UK as well as being translated in quite a few languages.

The idea was born during a car trip between Townsville and the Atherton Tablelands. I was brainstorming with my husband, bouncing around rather ordinary ideas. As usual, I was saying: “No, that won’t work.’ ‘No, not good enough,’ and then, like the best ideas, the notion that the hero and heroine should be grandparents just “arrived”. I can’t remember who actually came up with it, but I immediately knew it was the story I wanted to write.

The ideas were further refined when I brainstormed them later with writer friends at a retreat in Queenscliff in Victoria.

For further inspiration, I made a collage of images and word pictures that were evocative of the mood that I wanted for this book. The collage included William Butler Yeat’s beautiful poem He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven.

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.
-- William Butler Yeats

I worked elements of this poem into my characters and into the story itself.

I.F. Does publicity about awards boost sales?

B.H. It’s hard to say. Very keen readers of romance would be aware of the awards. Editors and agents certainly take notice. Within my peer group, being a finalist in this competition is a really big deal.

I.F. Which of your novels has been most popular and how many have you written?

B.H. Outback with the Boss has sold the most copies so far. I’ve written thirty novels and two novellas.

I.F. Do the stories still unfold as you write, as Mary Vernon reported in `05?

B.H. Yes. I have a basic situation in mind and from there I start to develop characters and conflict. But I like to surprise myself as I go. It’s more fun than plotting ahead and knowing exactly what’s going to happen.

I.F. Are you still as disciplined?

B.H. I have to be disciplined. I have deadlines, but some days the words come much more easily than others.

I.F. Do you have time for reading fiction and if so what at present?

B.H. I love to read fiction. I think it’s one of life’s greatest pleasures, but I don’t read so much romance these days, because I’m dealing with it every day. Currently, I’m reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, and books lined up to follow that are Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay and The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff.

I.F. Was last year’s US romance writers’ conference the first you had attended?

B.H. No, I’ve attended other conferences in New York and Dallas.

I.F. What was your topic at the writers’ seminar (in San Francisco)?

B.H. I was involved in presenting a workshop with two other authors from the UK and USA, as well as an editor from the London office. Our topic was: Writing romance with global appeal, and as well as giving lectures, we ran group exercises. The groups then pitched ideas to the editor who gave useful feedback. As a former teacher, I enjoy passing on what I’ve learned to aspiring writers. Romance writers are surprisingly generous and nurturing. Perhaps because we’re mostly women??

I.F. Do you usually have any contact with other writers?

B.H. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet and email, I have daily contact with other writers. Writing is a lonely job, so this contact is a lifeline. I usually attend the annual Romance Writers of Australia conference, (which this year will be in Brisbane in August) but I also go on an annual retreat with a group of close writer friends. We stay in a guest house, work in our rooms during the day, but get together for meals and in the evening. We’re quite organised and have a list of topics we want to discuss that are related to either our craft or our industry.

I also chat to readers and writers via my blog.

I.F. How many other Harlequin/ Mills and Boon writers in Australia?

B.H. There are over 50 authors.

Happiness continued...

2009-07-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to my last post, I've just seen this news story which claims that Australia is the third happiest place on Earth. How about that?
It seems that Latin American countries have claimed nine out of the ten top spots for living happily. There's no mention of gorgeous Latin lovers, but they must play a role, surely?

Happiness

2009-07-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'm having a very eclectic time with my reading at the moment. Am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but I rather liked British philosopher, Mark Vernon's thoughts on happiness and living a good life, and I've ordered his book Wellbeing.
Actually, I've had a great time this week, ordering books from The Book Depository. Last night, I ordered "A Week at Waterloo" by Lady de Lancey. It's a book of letters written by a young Scottish bride who accompanied her brand new husband to Waterloo. Her husband was Wellington's main offsider -- I forget the correct military term, and he died eleven days after the battle in his wife's arms. Apparently, Charles Dickens cried when he read Magdalene de Lancey's account of the battle, and her tragic but terribly romantic ten week marriage. Did you know The Book Depository will post anywhere in the world for free?

OK, over to Mark Vernon... and how to be happy...
1. Don't focus on your happiness, focus on how you are living your life. Happiness is a by-product of a life lived well.
2. Don't ask yourself what you enjoy, ask yourself what is most meaningful to you. Dump the rest, and go for that.
3. Truly prioritize your life around what and who you love. Many would say their friends are the most important thing to them, even as they move to the other side of the world to take up a better paid job.
4. Don't be afraid of the spiritual, even if you aren't very religious. In art, architecture, music and novels human beings have always searched for what lies beyond. There is a good reason for that.
5. Pain and struggle is not necessarily bad and might be very good. Ask any parent: the agony of raising children is usually, at base, meaningful agony.
6. Take time and find a regular space to contemplate the world. Less is definitely more in the art of happiness.
7. Don't read too many self-help books. You'll end up living the programme not living your life!

inspiring "how to" writing books...

2009-06-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

I have two "how to" books by Donald Maass, which I've found invaluable. As soon as I read what he had to say about "tension on every page" I knew it was something I already strived to have in my novels, but would work even harder to maintain in the future.
Now he has another book out called The Fire in Fiction, and already word is spreading like... well... wild fire.
You might like to check out this interview with The Don which discusses his latest book and other pertinent matters. He hints at a technique called micro tension and I so want to know how to use it. Think I need that book NOW.

distractions...

2009-06-27T00:17:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest dangers to a writer is distraction. I have no idea how young mothers with little children manage. Perhaps being young is the secret????

I had a lovely morning this morning at the Yungaburra markets, buying all kinds of vegetables and fruit and homemade jams, as well as plants and locally made ciabata bread and biscotti (there's a strong Italian community in FNQ). Afterwards we read the weekend papers at a cafe while we enjoyed coffee and cake, and then on the way home we called in at the local sawmill and bought timber to make rustic garden seats.

This afternoon I've changed "Lizzie" to "she", and "Jack" to "he" and... then changed them back again... sigh... and not much more.

word magic...

2009-06-25T17:49:00.000-07:00

As writers and readers, we all love words... Rub two carefully chosen words together, and magic happens.

Writing friends on one of my loops have been discussing German words lately. Schadenfreude came up. It's a German word that wikipedia describes as largely unanticipated delight in the suffering of another, which is cognized as trivial ...
I'm sure we can all think of examples of this that we'd rather not mention..

But when it comes to emotions, I have always loved Sehnsucht, which means longing. From the moment I read the poem by Friedrich Schiller in high school, this word has entranced me. It seems to echo the pain and the sweetness and the necessary patience that comes with longing.

Definition according to google: Sehnsucht, is a German word that refers to longing, is a fleeting moment in which one feels an intense calling to a world completely unlike the one now lived ...

To me, it sums up what our books are all about.

Do you have a favourite word?

an experiment...

2009-06-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

It's too soon to report the latest findings in the Hannay investigation into brain function, writing output and diet...

However, I've found that some days my mind feels really fuzzy and unproductive and I can sit all day at the computer and squeeze out a few hundred words, while on other days a couple of thousand words can flow quite easily.

It's partly to do with the creative process and the muse, both of which are unreliable at the best of times. It's partly story problems and what else is going on in my life... but I'm also wondering about diet... and I'm experimenting with Vitamin B.

I'll keep you posted if I think it definitely helps.

our winter visitor...

2009-06-21T02:38:00.000-07:00

OK, this isn't exactly David Attenborough footage... but I'm very fond of this white heron. We bought our apartment on the edge of Ross Creek (and yes, still in the heart o' the city) in the winter of 2000. That winter and every winter since, this lone white heron has come to fish in the shallows at the half-tide.

I'm sure it's the same bird. It comes at the same time every year, always alone. I love to see him (her?), and I have no idea where he is for the rest of the year, but it's another of the wonderful cyclical mysteries of Nature, isn't it? Do you have any recurring visitors where you live?

Back to earth...

2009-06-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

Coming back to reality after the most amazing quick trip to Brisbane for (squeee) a Simon and Garfunkel concert.

Forty years ago (in the days when the flats I shared with fellow teachers dripped with candles in Chianti bottles and we stirred our coffee with cinnamon sticks, and we ironed our hair to try to straighten it, and had fondue parties) I bought my very first S&G LP (that's a long playing record for those of you who are too young to know such things).

I also used to teach Simon and Garfunkel songs as poems to my English classes and I lurrrved Simon and Garfunkel's music -- the beautiful, haunting harmonies, the evocative imagery, the emotion, the witty rebellion, the youthful angst, the intellectualism. Loved it all.

Never dreamed that forty years later I'd be sitting at their feet -- but we had front row seats in the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Wednesday night (what a shock when the usher led us to the front row!) and we loved every second of their concert -- all the old favourites, plus a few new, with all their fabulous backup artists.

During the applause that brought on two lots of encores, E gave Paul Simon a thumbs up and Paul actually looked E in the eye and returned the thumbs up. Swoon. How intimate is that? It was a night to remember. Occasional notes had been changed to accomodate aging voices (They're 68, after all) but on the whole they sounded as wonderful as ever -- even Art Garfunkel, with all those difficult soaring, high harmonies. Quite amazing really.

OK, count me as totally inspired. I'm back to work today. (Promise!)

Favourite song of the night? By a very, very narrow margin...

For Emily, whenever I might find her...

What a dream I had

Pressed in organdy

Clothed in crinoline

Of smoky burgundy

Softer than the rain

I wandered empty streets

Down past the shop displays

I heard cathedral bells

Tripping down the alleyways

As I walked on

And when you ran to me

Your cheeks flushed with the night

We walked on frosted fields

Of juniper and lamplight

I held your hand

And when I woke

And felt you warm and near I kissed your honey hair

With my grateful tears

Oh I love you girl

Oh I love you

Rescuing your dream...

2009-06-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

Do you have a manuscript that you love, but "people" (editors, contest judges) are telling you it isn't quite right? Check out Susan Meier's workshop: Can this manuscript be saved? on the Harlequin Romance authors' blog.

Too cute for words...

2009-06-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

Awwwww...... Isn't this baby boy beyond cute? This cover is so lovely, I have to pinch myself that it's on my book. Thank you... whoever's responsible.The Bridesmaid's Baby is out in October, the second book in my Baby Steps to Marriage duet.

a small progress report...

2009-06-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

Not a book progress report. I'm not going to give you a word count -- because I have good days and bad days and really, you wouldn't want to know about the bad days. And I end up ripping out so much of what I've written that there's not a lot of point in counting the words. Here today, gone tomorrow...
I promise I'm writing between gardening, viewing plays, catching up with family and playing with babies.
The other morning I took a photo (at bottom of blog) of our steps. If you've been hanging around this blog for some time, you might remember when we made these drystone steps. This first photo only shows E doing the work, but it was a team effort. I swear. I did a lot of supervising. :) Actually, while we were working on these steps, I discovered an excellent use for our digital camera. Not just for taking shots of my DH! When we worked out how the stones fitted together (like a jigsaw) I would photograph them in position, but then we had to take them out again, to bed them properly in sand. However, we could refer to the pictures to see how they should go. Worked well. (I've heard since of another use for cameras -- if you take a pic of where you've parked your car in a big car park, it will help you to find it again. Too cool.)

Anyway, because we're not at Tarzali all the time, and we have so many projects on the go(including writing books) the progress on the garden is slow, but it is steady, and I thought I'd show you what the steps look like now. The photo's a bit shadowy and some of the flowers don't show up, but you can get the general idea.

around the world...

2009-06-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

One of the very coolest things about this job is knowing that women all over the world might be reading my books...

Translations of my books that (to my knowledge) are available this month are...

First, in Germany... my RITA nominated book Adopted: Outback Baby

In France, a reprint of one of my personal favourites (of books by moi) A Bride at Birralee is available in this anthology.

And in Sweden and other Scandanavian countries, in a 2 in 1 with Jessica Hart, The Bridesmaid's Best Man.

the play's the thing...

2009-06-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

We writers often talk about the need to refill the creative well, so that our imaginations don't run dry.
There are many ways to do this... through travel, meeting new people, having new experiences (good and, unfortunately, bad), listening to music that speaks to us, reading wonderful books and poetry, watching movies... and less often, plays.
And you know... there's something about the tight construction of a really well written play and the immediacy of a live performance that can teach us a lot about characterisation, mining emotion, dialogue and plain, honest story telling.
Last night we went to see a play put on by the local amateur players. It was Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, which is one of Australia's most significant plays, written by Ray Lawler in 1959, and later made into a movie starring John Mills, Angela Lansbury, Anne Baxter and Ernest Borgnine.
It's about two cane cutters, Roo and Barney, who travel each year to North Queensland for 7 months of the year, then return to Melbourne for the lay off. Each year, when Roo comes back he brings a doll on a stick for his girlfriend, Olive . This summer is the seventeenth year he's returned -- and like all the best stories, it's a summer of changes, and the changes are hard for all the characters to deal with.

I loved every second of it, even though the actors weren't professionals, and I recommend checking out your local theatre to see what they're putting on. You might be pleasantly surprised -- and inspired.
And while I'm here, talking about plays... I thought I add these stanzas from an old Aussie favourite, a verse novel written in 1915... it's about a working class, courting couple who go to see "Romeo and Juliet".

THE SENTIMENTAL BLOKE by C.J. Dennis

V. THE PLAY
Wot's in a name? -- she sez . . . An' then she sighs,
An' clasps 'er little 'ands, an' rolls 'er eyes.
"A rose," she sez, "be any other name
Would smell the same.
Oh, w'erefore art you Romeo, young sir?
Chuck yer ole pot, an' change yer moniker!"

Doreen an' me, we bin to see a show --
The swell two-dollar touch. Bong tong, yeh know.
A chair apiece wiv velvit on the seat;
A slap-up treat.
The drarmer's writ be Shakespeare, years ago,
About a barmy goat called Romeo.

"Lady, be yonder moon I swear!" sez 'e.
An' then 'e climbs up on the balkiney;
An' there they smooge a treat, wiv pretty words
Like two love-birds.
I nudge Doreen. She whispers, "Ain't it grand!"
'Er eyes is shining an' I squeeze 'er 'and.

'Wot's in a name?" she sez. 'Struth, I dunno.
Billo is just as good as Romeo.
She may be Juli-er or Juli-et --
'E loves 'er yet.
If she's the tart 'e wants, then she's 'is queen,
Names never count ... But ar, I like "Doreen!"

A sweeter, dearer sound I never 'eard;
Ther's music 'angs around that little word,
Doreen! ... But wot was this I starts to say
About the play?
I'm off me beat. But when a bloke's in love
'Is thorts turns 'er way, like a 'omin' dove.

If you'd like to read the entire poem, you can do so here...

I'm tweeting

2009-06-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've caught the Twitter bug, and discovered it's easy and fun . You can find me here.

the table in situ

2009-06-08T21:17:00.001-07:00

To see the story of how this table used to be, check here...

memorable poetry...

2009-06-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

Downunder, autumn has actually progressed to winter now, but while I was writing today, I was thinking about the full moon. A bunch of words popped into my head and I found myself remembering a much loved poem that my recent blogs seemed to echo, so I thought I'd share it with you. It's one of five poems (yes, five only) written by T.E. Hulme and it was first published in 1912.

Autumn

A touch of cold in the Autumn night -
I walked abroad,
And saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge
Like a red-faced farmer.
I did not stop to speak, but nodded;
And round about were the wistful stars
With white faces like town children.

T.E. might have only written five poems, but he sure had a talent for imagery.

An author to lunch...

2009-06-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we were thrilled that fabulous Presents author Trish Morey and her husband could visit us. They'd flown all the way to FNQ from South Australia for the Queen's Birthday long weekend, and they zipped up from a resort on the coast for a day trip to the Tablelands in a snazzy sports car.

Of course we talked shop over lunch. Not entirely, but honestly, that's a big reason why writers like to get together, and our dear husbands understand this, the tolerant darlings. I was able to share with Trish some old Mills & Boons I found in the Salvation Army at Mareeba by treasured favourites from a bygone era -- Mary Burchell, Violet Winspear, Anne Weale, Sally Wentworth. As I was a late discoverer of M&Bs, I love the chance to read some of these older books. Even though romance stories keep changing with the time I still like to understand the genre's roots.

Thanks for dropping in, Trish, it was fab. Hope you're having a wonderful time for the rest of your weekend.

awakened by moonlight...

2009-06-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

If knew how, I'd put Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata as background music for this post. That music seems to speak to my very soul and it's one of the pieces I often write to.
It’s been rather cloudy here lately and I haven’t noticed what the moon was up to. Last night, however, at around a quarter to four, I woke and thought we’d left a light on outside.
When I got up and went to the window, I found the clouds had lifted and the sky was ablaze with stars, and a fat yellow moon was hanging in the western sky, sending light onto the laundry wall.
I went out into the kitchen to get a better view and wow! Our valley was filled with white mist, like a cauldron steaming with a magic potion, and the moon was lighting up the scene with a mysterious soft beauty.
Memorable - even better than this (public) photo, which I didn't take -you know why.

So if it's not too cloudy where you are, check out the moon tonight. What's it doing?

Now you're just going to have to believe me...

2009-06-03T15:58:00.001-07:00

... when I tell you that the table is coming along beautifully... but I can't show you, because the battery in our camera has died and we've left the recharger back in Townsville.

E was even down in the garage working on the table last night while I had my feet up watching State of Origin. (No, I don't feel guilty. E's actually enjoying himself.)

So I'll have to show you a pic of a North Queensland football star (and man of the match) instead. You should see JT kick a goal. As one of the commentators said last night: 'It's like a tracer bullet.'

New covers...

2009-06-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

Mills and Boon in the UK are bringing out new covers in August, and in many of the lines the books will be sold as 2 in 1s.

While I can't say I'm thrilled with this move, I am at least pleased that my first book in this format will be Expecting Miracle Twins, (the first book in my duet) will be teamed with Marion Lennox's first book in her new trilogy, Claimed: Royal Secret Son. Marion is an author I love both as a fabulous writer and a wonderful friend. Let's hope we bring each other good luck in this new format.

This is what the cover looks like. I'm afraid I couldn't save the larger version. What do you reckon?